Posted on 01/15/2003 9:51:04 AM PST by Robert357
Buck Knives, one of the county's landmark businesses, said yesterday that it is leaving California and will move to Idaho early next year.
President and CEO C.J. Buck said California's rising cost of business forced the hand of the family, which has run the company for 100 years. He said that in April, too, when first discussing a possible move.
Buck said no more than a quarter of his 250 employees will move to the plant in Post Falls, Idaho. He said no layoffs will come this year, and added the company has not set a moving date beyond the first quarter of 2004.
Last year, Buck Knives celebrated its century mark. It was founded in Kansas in 1902, moved to San Diego after World War II and settled in El Cajon in 1968. Its knives are sold internationally and are favorites among outdoorsmen.
Buck, who was 8 when the company moved to El Cajon, said his father, Chuck Buck, made the final decision to leave the city late last week.
C.J. Buck credited local politicians and business leaders with working hard to retain the company in the spring, but said that after November's statewide elections the family didn't envision the business climate getting better in California.
East County Supervisor Diane Jacob said the problems faced by the company are "breaking the backs of businesses in this state."
"I think this is just the beginning of the exodus of businesses in the state unless there are sweeping reforms in the way we treat businesses," Jacob said.
Terry Saverson, head of the East County Regional Chamber of Commerce, said the departure of Buck Knives illustrates all businesses are having trouble with state laws and regulations. She said she knows of several businesses that are feeling pressure to leave.
El Cajon Mayor Mark Lewis said he hoped the departure would not create a domino effect, noting that some local businesses are suppliers to Buck Knives.
The company has struggled over the years, facing increased competition in an international market. Annual sales are off 25 percent since 1995. Twenty years ago, the company had 600 employees, more than twice what it has now.
The 10 acres the company owns near Gillespie Field went up for sale again yesterday at an asking price of $9 million. It was on the market last year, but the family took it off when no one made an offer.
Phil Duckett, the company's vice president of operations, said its new 12-acre home cost about $800,000.
The land price is but one of the incentives that Idaho offered Buck Knives. The company will receive $3,000 per employee from the state for training. In addition, wages, benefits, utilities and workers' compensation costs are much lower than California's, Duckett said.
In Idaho, the company's energy costs could fall 60 percent, workers' compensation costs 40 percent, and wages and benefits 20 percent, compared with here. Executives said they expect to employ the same number of people.
Duckett said the company's annual savings would be in the millions of dollars, but he declined to be more specific.
The company chose Idaho over states, such as Washington and Oregon, because it had the "best long-term, business-friendly legislative environment," Buck said.
He said the news disappointed but did not surprise workers. Buck told them yesterday to give them as much time as possible to find other jobs if they wanted to start looking.
"We ran the risk of giving too much notice and possibly losing people while we still needed them," he said. "That's a chance we decided to take."
The company is considering bonuses and incentives for workers who decide to stay to the end, Buck said.
He summed up his thoughts on the move, saying: "I adore East County, so it's very sad to have to make this decision that we have to relocate. On the other hand, Idaho is beautiful."
Yes, that is interesting. In my mind, what he says will speak volumes about Locke's desire to help solve problems vs his political ambition.
Locke is putting forward public image of bi-partisanship in state budget messages. I wonder if this will be a partisan hit piece on the national level. If it is (actually, I would be surprised if it isn't) it could mean that Locke may be putting his hat in the ring for a national position such as VP candidate.
If that is the case, then the Gore/Clinton Chi-Com election campaign money for the Dem's may be assured since Gary got a great reception in China when he went to visit them. Talk about a Manchurian Candidate!
Bingo, and as more companies leave to greener pastures, that means less money for the state, less property taxes, less sales taxes, less everything money! Those unemployed and low income types will he heading out too. Programs will fall, services cut, hand outs cut, etc.
It's already started, even the the majority of illegal aliens are no longer headed to Cal. LOL! The majority are headed everywhere but here. This is clear. And I have no problem with that.
Fortunately I don't have to worry about property values dropping, as I own and I have no intention of selling and moving anywhere. I plan on watching this dog and pony show collapse, and I will enjoy every minute of it.
If in four more years, when the AH from New York, Gray Davis leaves office and the state in financial ruin, it will be interesting to see who the Californians that are left here, vote for.
California tripped, and I am enjoying watching the leftist fall....
You're too naive. They're looking to turn back the clock to the hunter-gatherer stage of history, which matches their mentality.
No way. The greenie-weenie vegan morons would never survive as hunter-gatherers. They're too ignorant of nature, too squeamish, and too stupid. Go hiking with one of them, sometime. It'll really open your eyes. They "love nature" when it's on TV, but get them out in it, and they fall apart.
I have bought "Chicago" kitchen knives over the years, and found them to be exceptionally good. I bought some for a Christmas gift this year and was saddened to find that they were made in China. Damn...
LOL! Actually that doesn't sound too bad, compared to what we have in Sacramento now.
And when the big shots in Sac are driving mo-peds instead of Mercedes to work, I will have a big ol belly laugh.
Let their donkeys graze along the weeds sticking up out of Interstate 5 as they all go to what's left of their big government state jobs...
Correction on 01/13/03 -- A story in Saturday's Review-Journal incorrectly described a proposed tax on business income. The Republican Governor's Task Force on Tax Policy proposed a gross receipts tax of 0.25 percent.----
(R)Guinn and the legislators who back his tax proposals will change the course of Nevada history in a negative way, predicted Brent Buscay, director of operations for Laughlin Associates.
Laughlin Associates is a Carson City company that sells Nevada as a low-tax state to companies and venture capitalists interested in incorporating their businesses here.
"People incorporate here because we don't have a business tax," Buscay said. "With this tax legislation, we won't be perceived as pro-business and it will hurt our business. It will force us (his company) to do business in Wyoming." ......
A gross receipts tax is exactly what it says, a tax on business even when there's little or no profit.
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