Hum...look at California at 47.Originally Posted by LT
And of course Texas at #2 overall sounds about right. But #41 at quality of life??
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Hum...look at California at 47.
And of course Texas at #2 overall sounds about right. But #41 at quality of life??
Honeywell is building more facilities in the Baton Rouge area as well.
Start-up car company like the natural gas car company that was going to take over the Guide plant in Monroe
Hey Louisiana move from dead last to 43rd, now that is progress
I think the lack of tax breaks and such is what killed that venture. Elio has been given that and more.Start-up car company like the natural gas car company that was going to take over the Guide plant in Monroe
deeper than that....when you play politics, you have to be ready when the party opposite takes power.....a certain businessman in ruston learned that lesson.....anyway, the deal was a complete waste of taxpayer money
Gov't should not be in the business of picking winners and losers....
''Don't be a bad dagh..."
Local governing bodies should enable business/industry relocation/expansion with tax incentives like no property tax for some period, say 5 to 10 years. Ask DeSoto Parish about extending IP 10 years tax free...back in 1982, and ask them how much revenues they have garnered since 1992. Oh yeah! Great investment for the parish. And, it's not like the local parish/area didn't immediately benefit beginning in 1982. The construction permits (money!) and all the smaller businesses that flocked to DeSoto all contributed to an expanded tax base from the get-go. But, tax incentives alone, can't get the job done. That was the gist of CNBC's 43rd ranking for Louisiana. Local workforce development (education!) and quality of place play bigger roles in B&I relocations.
Sometimes it's a fine line between a proper incentive and a kickback/waste -
But incentives can work if implemented properly, but that is not picking the winners and losers like I mentioned -
''Don't be a bad dagh..."
Planners and econ developers get this. Sometimes even Chambers understand it. Local politicians, esp in small towns, rarely grasp it.
Too often a small town mayor or councilman will get elected with a promise of "creating jobs". They will clear cut a lot, pave a slab, run some utilities, and put up a sign saying "City of Bugtussle Industrial Park" .... and then they wait for something to happen. When nothing happens, they start cutting city revenue (and services) and wonder some more why nothing happens. Then they start offering "incentives" (ie. cash) to new businesses. When no new businesses want to move into a town with no services, the mayor will start offering incentives to existing businesses to not relocate. These business owners then bankroll the mayor's reelection campaign and tell all their friends how great the mayor is because he "saves" jobs with his mad econ development skills.
The story outlined above is happening right now in no less than 100 dying towns in La. and 100 more apiece in Miss & Ark. And that's a low estimate.
The towns that actually get the jobs invest heavily in their schools, their downtown, and their local festival(s). And they raise the revenue to make it happen. This is the kind of public spending that creates jobs -- by raising a generation of smart people in a community to which they feel a deep, personal connection. These people start their own new businesses right where they are. And outside business find these towns like a blue-light special and relocate there without incentives. A decent cadre of smart people in a well-loved town trumps any cash incentive.
The problem is the payoff can take 15-20 years. And it can be tough for a small town to retain competent, ethical leadership for that long.
I re-did the bathroom at my shop and hired an extra high school kid! I also bought a new, kick-ass, convection oven. How's that for helping Louisiana's Business Frontier?
“Towie Barclay of the Glen, Happy to the maids, But never to the men.”
Met your preacher electrician the other day...
''Don't be a bad dagh..."
Good points. The "head hunters" of B&I re-location, those hired scouts that scour the nation looking for suitable locations (Walmart does that in-house using black vans and helicopters) will tell you, yeah, tax incentives are great and can be the determining factor, but ONLY if everything else is equal! The number1 factor is the quality of the local workforce which = education. Right behind that is "quality of place." Natchitoches missed out on the Sundrop Oil plant because the CEO didn't think there was a suitable inventory of mansions for he and his top executives.
Wayne?
“Towie Barclay of the Glen, Happy to the maids, But never to the men.”
Yes
''Don't be a bad dagh..."
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