Manufacturers flee California, few to stay

The East Bay Business Times ^ | February 27, 2004 | Jim Cole

[FormerACLUmember]

"The movement of manufacturing out-of- state is not necessarily bad, said UCLA Anderson Forecast Senior Economist Chris Thornberg, who follows the East Bay economy. He said the loss of lower-paying manufacturing jobs is even beneficial ..."

Wow! UCLA "professors" get ALL the good drugs!

[goldstategop]

The Bay liberals should be happy. They've finally achieved their socialist Nirvana. Congratulations!

[Check6]

The power to tax ... is the power to kill.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

The company I was working for spent a couple hundred thou trying to put a small manufacturing plant in Stockton. After the state clean air board, the county board and the neighborhood board worked us over for 15 months, we put the thing (and the jobs) in Reno.

[LoneRangerMassachusetts]

It is the pool of smart people flowing from Bay Area universities and venture capital flowing into startups that will feed the next generation of Bay Area manufacturing.

?

I hear a big gushing sound of stupid, illiterate, illegal third world types flowing north. What dope is the author on?

[Lancey Howard]

...land is expensive, the cost of living is high, and health care and workers' compensation costs aren't helping.

Hahaha! "Not helping".
Funny the author didn't mention TAXES. No, not funny - - incredible.

[kezekiel]

I visit Phoenix several times a year. Last week, on the flight out, the sprawl was mind-boggling. Lots of old California jobs down there, and lots of former Californians too.

Power is a good 30% less down there, it's cheaper and easier to build, and its booming like a mutha down there. I can't blame CA companies for bailing.

[Standing Wolf]

I don't understand why the People's Republic of California doesn't just tax its way back to prosperity.

[Lancey Howard]

The company I was working for spent a couple hundred thou trying to put a small manufacturing plant in Stockton. After the state clean air board, the county board and the neighborhood board worked us over for 15 months, we put the thing (and the jobs) in Reno.

Wow. Why in God's name would a company deliberately try to establish a business or expand to California? Sounds like your company wasted a couple hundred thou that a little research or a little newspaper reading could have saved.

[dalereed]

"Our labor markets are getting hit because we don't have the new wave of innovation."

And they will probably starve or move before they find the "new wave"!

[Lakeside]

No, no, no! You don,t understand. There are no more smarter people in the whole state,nay, the whole world as those who live in the Bay area. Just ask them. They have all the answers. Seriously, I've never met such snobs as those who live in Pleasant Hill, Concord, & especially Walnut Creek. We lived in Antioch which is a nice town with "real" people who have fled the Bay area with all its joys.

Even so, the owners of the paper manufacturing company (100% recycled fiber, no less) my husband worked for saw the handwriting on the wall & closed down that mill & moved it to Georgia. Poor California. They imagine they are the geometric center of world intelligence but they (most,anyway--but not all) are so stooopid. Cutting off their collectivist noses to spite their faces. Utopia, indeed.

[dropped1]

As a former Bay Area dweller, I feel comfortable in saying that the area is just too expensive, and the taxes far too burdensome. For example, then Big 5 accounting firms (3+ yrs ago) simply could not get partner level talent there. They could not offer them sufficient incentives. Why? Partners making $500k+ per year living in Dallas, Phoenix, etc. live a great lifestyle. They have a large home (3500+ sq. ft) maybe worth $1mm and a commute of less than 1/2 hour usually.

So if you are a partner making $500k+ per year, what is your incentive to go to the Bay Area, triple (yes, triple) your housing costs for a comparable home in similarly situated town/neighborhood, double (at least) your commute time, all for the joy of the State of CA and localities to take more than 2x the state & local taxes. Not to mention schools for kids, etc. There is no incentive.

On another level, there is little to no incentive to stay if you are a young professional. The average housing price over the 9 counties (yes, 9 counties) last I heard was approximately $475k. That means you need to earn approximately $150k per year, just to get into something average, and yes that average includes condos. All of this means you will still live with your bikes hanging in your living room just like you did in college . . .

The Bay Area is a beautiful place to be sure, with many great things about it, but if anything, I believe the jobs will continue to shrink there over time.

[Lakeside]

don,t = don't

Oh, and NOT ONE of the powers that be in the Antioch or Contra Costa County gov. did a thing to make it worth our while to keep the company there. Definitely not manufacturing friendly.

[BurbankKarl]

CNET reported Gateway Computers was cutting 1000 workers today, and WSJ reported that Warner Bros Records was cutting another 1000.

[Dante3]

More businesses and taxes will be lost. Relatively conservative businesses might be scared off by the spectacle of the mayor of San Francisco getting away with breaking any laws he wants to. Who knows what he may impose on businesses? In any case, it signals a movement toward anarchy.

[lucysmom]

After the state clean air board, the county board and the neighborhood board worked us over for 15 months, we put the thing (and the jobs) in Reno.

A successful manufacturer I know in Reno told me that he moved his business from Connecticut 20 years ago to cut costs. He said that due to gambling and related drinking, among employees, in retrospect, he could have grown his business much faster had he stayed in Connecticut. Sure labor and other costs are cheaper in Nevada, but cheaper is not always a bargain. There is an undercurrent of sleaze in Nevada that takes a toll.

[clamper1797]

Ever been to Mac's ol' house ...

[KevinDavis]

Gateway computers - CRAP

You can blame the Warner Bros Records layoffs due to people downloading music.

[KevinDavis]

Why blame Bush for this??