Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee responded Tuesday to criticism from Curt Schilling, who claimed the governor's comments about the struggles of Schilling's video game company contributed to its demise.
Schilling claimed that an investor pulled out upon hearing Chafee say that the state was working to keep 38 Studios afloat.
"The governor is not operating in the best interest of the company by any stretch, or the taxpayer, or the state," Schilling said in a Providence Journal story that appeared Monday. "We're trying to save this company and we're working 24/7. The public commentary has been as big a piece of what's happening to us as anything out there."
Chafee fired back at a Tuesday press conference at the State House.
"An investor's not going to be scared away by some governor's comments," he said. "It just defies logic."
Chafee also insisted that the problems at 38 Studios were not evident until last month, coming to a head when the company missed a $1.1 million loan payment to the state due May 1.
"The red flags were just not there," Chafee said. "They were meeting their benchmarks."
Chafee announced Tuesday that Lynn Singleton, who heads the Providence Performing Arts Center, resigned from the board of the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation. Board director Keith Stokes and vice chairman Helena Foulkes previously stepped down in the wake of the collapse of 38 Studios, which received a $75 million loan guarantee from the state.
Links:
[1] http://www.weei.com/category/boston/red-sox