As NCR leaves, our “leaders” forget their spines

I’m waiting for just one elected politician to stop and say, “Wait a second, before you leave, how about you pay us back all the breaks we gave you.”

But, it’s not going to happen.

As P&G announced that they were going to collect Iams and whisk them down to Mason, no one said, “But, you are still getting a tax abatement from us, if you renege, we want it back.” In fact, a case could be made that Iams’ former CEO Clay Mathile, and recipient of $2.1 billion from P&G should have repaid the citizens of Vandalia for their investment in Iams with the abatements that were granted his company.

As Georgia buys our 2nd largest employer out from under us, we should be declaring war against the peach state. Using tax dollars to poach jobs should be a federal crime.

As NCR announces that they’re pulling out, we’ve got the Governor waving your hard-earned money at them, a state senator waiting until the official announcement, and a county commissioner first complaining that the lines of communication were bad and now shutting up and “stunned.”

In the meantime, Dayton will be losing a ton of payroll taxes. If you trust the governor’s math- about $110 million a year between 1,300 employees. I highly recommend reading all of the Dayton Business Journal story:

Multiple sources say  NCR Corp. will relocate to Georgia and announce the move Tuesday.

The Atlanta Business Chronicle, a sister publication to the DBJ, is reporting that NCR NYSE: NCR will move its headquarters and 1,250 jobs to Duluth, Ga., as well as opening a 550,000-square-foot manufacturing operation in Macon, Ga., that will employ up to 880 people…

An official from Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland’s office, who spoke to the Dayton Business Journal Monday night, said NCR’s CEO Bill Nuti told Strickland that the company has been eying Georgia for some time now.

…with local officials expressing frustration that the company was not responding to their requests.

Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue is expected to make the official announcement Tuesday with NCR receiving tax incentives from the local officials in Georgia.

“NCR can’t recruit talent to move to Dayton, Ohio,” a source told the Chronicle.

Montgomery County Commissioner Dan Foley, sounding stunned when reached Monday night, declined comment….

The loss of 1,300 high-paying jobs from the city will have a negative impact on Dayton’s income tax receipts at a time when the city has faced multi-million-dollar budget deficits that have caused it to reduce its workforce and cut services.

State Sen. Jon Husted, R-Kettering, said he will retain hope until the company makes an official announcement.

“We have on multiple occasions reached out to NCR in an attempt to identify ways to secure their jobs and grow and be successful in Ohio,” Husted said Monday evening. “I am not willing to give up hope.”…

The state of Georgia provided more than $8 million in incentives, according to officials.

NCR, founded locally in 1884, is the Dayton region’s second largest company, with 20,000 global employees and $5.3 billion in revenue in 2008. The company, which sells ATMs and retail automation systems, is Dayton’s lone remaining Fortune 500 company…

In 2007, NCR announced it was relocating its executive offices to New York City and leasing an entire floor of the 7 World Trade Center building. But, on paper, its headquarters remained in Dayton.

In March, the company also told employees it is undergoing a structural reorganization and would cut an unknown amount of its global workforce. That same month, the company removed the language “world headquarters” from the sign at its Dayton campus, though it said at the time it was just temporary.

via Source: NCR to move headquarters, 1,300 jobs to Georgia – Dayton Business Journal:.

Note, the same thing happened when the state of New York bribed the NCR c-suite to NYC and the World Trade Center- see my post about it: Corporate Welfare will kill our economy.

If there is time for Federal intervention, it’s now. It’s time to stop this insanity. Reader TG sent this link, to which I believe we should be bringing a lot of attention and discussion to if we want to see our city survive: The New Rules Project: Eliminating Subsidies for Big Business.

If you believe that this practice of corporate carpetbagging has to stop, leave a comment.

[UPDATE JUNE 2] Now the Atlanta Journal Constitution, says GA offered NCR much more than $31.1 M.

[UPDATE 2 JUNE 2] It was $60 Million that Georgia offered: http://www.bizjournals.com/dayton/stories/2009/06/01/daily17.html?ana=from_rss

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