This article originally was published in the Journal Record. Click here to read the original article.

TULSA – A New Jersey engine developer on Wednesday announced plans for a manufacturing plant in Miami, Okla., to the surprise and consternation of some state economic development officials.

Coates International of Wall Township, N.J., reported signing a joint venture for a $300 million bond offering to start two manufacturing and production facilities, one in Miami and one near its headquarters.

No timetable or method was disclosed for raising the money or launching the plants, which would build two proprietary products, the Coates CSRV Industrial Electric Power Natural Gas Generator and the 18 Wheeler Tractor Trailer Diesel CSRV Engine.

In a press release, the company said it had reached an agreement with the state of Oklahoma enabling it to qualify for up to $750 million in business and tax incentives.

Oklahoma Secretary of Commerce Natalie Shirley said no such formal agreement exists.

The benefits quoted by Coates could represent potential savings calculated from sample formulas.

Coates also cited a deal with the state in an April letter to shareholders. That letter claimed the company had finalized an agreement with the Oklahoma secretary of commerce for a potential $787 million incentive package over 10 years.

In 2004, Coates said it had signed a letter of intent with a consortium to build an Oklahoma plant that would produce a spherical rotary-valve internal combustion engine invented by George J. Coates and his son Gregory.

Wednesday’s update addressed something Coates said it lacked in April: startup money. The company’s April report to investors said Oklahoma had not offered such funds, and that company officials intended to discuss that option with state leaders.

Potential misinformation or misconception reflects one danger of offering business incentive packages, said Russell Evans, director of the Oklahoma State University Spears School of Business Center for Applied Economic Research.

“I think a certain amount of that is probably inevitable,” he said. “That’s the nature of a city like Oklahoma City, or any city, being in a position of having to take every (expanding business) inquiry seriously. You take them serious and by virtue of taking them serious, there’s always the chance that someone may exploit you.”

Officials with the Oklahoma Department of Commerce declined to make any official comment on Wednesday’s press release.

Judee Snodderly, executive director of the Miami Area Economic Development Service, said she was under a confidentiality agreement to not disclose any information.

“We cannot release any information at this time, due to the fact that it is strictly confidential,” Coates Executive Secretary Alicia Ansbach said via e-mail. “However, more press releases will be coming soon, so you can keep updated through the releases.”

Analysts said commenting on such problems could damage relations with expanding companies or stop a deal from happening. On the other hand, they said premature discussions of plants that never materialize may damage consumers, either through something as simple as crushed hopes to something far more serious, such as an onlooker or investor who acts on such news.

“I don’t think the larger companies tend to put such feelers out there,” said Tulsa securities analyst M. “Jake” Dollarhide. “They don’t often announce months or years ahead of time on what they intend to happen.”

Evans said the situation reflects the “prisoner’s dilemma game” all cities and states face. Either they offer business incentives that undercut their vital tax bases or they risk losing those businesses altogether.

“It’s absolutely a legitimate fear,” he said, pointing to the Mercury Marine operation Stillwater expects to lose in part over competitive incentives. “Everybody’s playing the correct strategy. But if there was some way to get every community in the United States to get together and not compete against each other anymore, we’d all be better off.”