The following is part of a series of real-time responses to the empty rhetoric made by Secretary Tom Wolf during tonight’s Pennsylvania Chamber Gubernatorial debate with Governor Tom Corbett.

THE SUCCESS OF THE WOLF ORGANIZATION

CLAIM:

Secretary Tom Wolf ran and operated a kitchen cabinet company that shared its profits with employees and saved it from fiscal ruin.

RESPONSE:

WOLF NEARLY DESTROYED WOLF ORGANIZATION

In 2006, Secretary Tom Wolf sold off his stake in the Wolf organization through a leveraged buy-out by the Weston Presidio investment firm and pocketed $20 million. That buy-out included over $40 million from the taxpayer-funded State Employees Retirement System (SERS). Shortly after the taxpayer-funded buyout, Wolf Organization went into a financial tailspin. Wolf then bought back in to the company at a discounted price, and with millions more from the taxpayer-funded Weston Presidio fund.

Wolf says he stabilized the company and made it “modestly profitable” and subsequently promised that SERS would be paid back before he was paid back. SERS still has not been paid back, but Wolf has been using his millions of dollars from the deal to run for Governor.

Further reading: Philadelphia Inquirer - Behind Tom Wolf’s business success, a more complicated picture

WOLF’S COMPANY DOES NOT PROMOTE WOMEN TO MANAGEMENT

Tom Wolf claims that he has “women in spades” in his company’s management. There are 26 senior level management and board of directors positions at Wolf Organization. There are two female senior managers and zero women on his board of directors.

Wolf also has refused to release a gender audit at his company to prove that women and men are paid equally. To quote Wolf’s fellow Democrat, Congressman Allyson Schwartz:

“Tom Wolf may think it’s ridiculous to ask legitimate questions about whether his company pays women and men equally. But women and men across Pennsylvania deserve to know whether Tom Wolf is practicing what he preaches in his television ads. Tom Wolf has centered his campaign on his business record, and these are legitimate questions about whether there is a wage gap for women at The Wolf Organization. We know for a fact there are no women on his board and only two in management. He might call that ‘women in spades.’ It’s not. Tom Wolf’s labeling of questions about pay equity at The Wolf Organization as ‘ridiculous’ is insulting to the hundreds of thousands of women who have heard the exact same response when they ask questions about wage disparities in the workplace.”

WOLF MOVED HIS COMPANY TO DELAWARE TO AVOID PAYING HIS FAIR SHARE OF PA TAXES

Tom Wolf is taking advantage of the Delaware loophole that allows Pennsylvania companies to pay less in taxes by incorporating in Delaware.

On April 21, 2006, Wolf incorporated his company in Delaware. On May 5, 2006, Wolf sold off all but 11 percent of his stake in Wolf Organization in his capacity of Chairman and CEO. Wolf bought back into his company in 2009, but remains incorporated in Delaware.

According to the Delaware County Daily Times, “Business experts have said there’s not much advantage [to Wolf keeping his company incorporated and headquartered in Delaware] other than the ability to get tax breaks from the loophole.”

WOLF FIRED 15% OF HIS COMPANY

From the York Daily Record: “The Wolf Organization, a York-based building materials supplier, announced the layoff of 34 employees Wednesday, said CEO Tom Wolf. The lost positions, ranging from office staff to warehouse jobs, come from Wolf locations across 18 states along the east coast. This includes 13 layoffs in York County, Wolf said. After the layoffs, the Wolf Organization will have 200 employees, he said.”

WOLF OUTSOURCES TO OTHER STATES

Tom Wolf says he wants to bring jobs to Pennsylvania, but he has repeatedly outsourced jobs to different states, mostly those with "right to work" laws. In 2011, Tom Wolf bragged about the Wolf Organization’s presence in other states, stating, “For example, our Wolf Classic Cabinets are made in Indiana by American workers using American components. Our PVC Trim boards are made in Texas and Alabama; our decking is made in Florida; our porch flooring is made in New Jersey; and our cultured marble tops are made in Pennsylvania.” Read more HERE.

WOLF PROFIT-SHARING PLAN INSTITUTED IN ANTICIPATION OF RUN FOR GOVERNOR

Company records show the profit-sharing plan at Wolf Organization wasn’t instituted until 2009 when Tom Wolf had stepped down as Secretary of Revenue and was preparing for his first run for governor in 2010.

###