Buck Knives is moving on to Idaho; costs cited (Energy, Work Comp & Politics)

The San Diego Union-Tribune ^ | January 15, 2003 | Matthew T. Hall

[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."

[Robert357]

Good observations.

I think that become California becomes a wasteland Wall Street and the courts will step in to cause some very painful changes. I see California now looking at selling Bonds to pay for CalPERS as a way of shifting money around through time. This kind of thing combined with the amount of power bonds sold, it likely to cause Wall Street to force some fiscal restraint upon California.

Similarly, when the schools get too bad, the courts have historically been brought in to run school districts and order school boards to raise taxes they didn't want to pass.

I think many states are going to be in for some harsh and painful times as they undue their fiscal irresponsibility.

[nicmarlo]

A mockery is being made of our citizenship, and our sovereignty is now a joke.

This makes my stomach turn.....and more than that, my heart is troubled about our country....

[alaskanfan]

The only trouble that I've seen with these Californians migrating to Idaho and Montana, is that they tend to bring their liberal political views with them.

I remember when Washington and Oregon were conservative majority states.

[freedumb2003]

>>I do think that this article and decisions like this at various companies should be a wake up call for legislators and politicians <<

and VOTERS (of which I am one). I still can't believe my fellow Californians voted Gray-Panic-Away-the-Surplus Davis.

I live in a state infested with idiot lotus eaters. They don't see the damage they are doing by electing all these Liberal Lefties -- maybe when the tax gets high enough for them to feel the pinch they'll get the message. I'll hang on tight, grit my teeth, pay the damn socialists taxes and wait for the shoe to drop.

[nicmarlo]

when the schools get too bad, the courts have historically been brought in to run school districts and order school boards to raise taxes they didn't want to pass.

True; I remember when there was forced bussing in California (I lived there at the time). It didn't work. Don’t know how many issues will work when they’re forced.....that’s the problem.....the Rats always find loopholes and make matters worse.

[Doctor Stochastic]

That will happen when economic conditions in the US get bad enough to make the move profitable.

[AnAmericanMother]

The Bucks aren't in the same league as, say, Randall.

But I'll take my old Bucks places I wouldn't dare take my Randalls . . . like on the river in my kayak. If I flip and have to swim (and I do, fairly frequently) I don't want to lose a really nice knife somewhere in the bottom of a souse hole.

. . . which reminds me, I went on a river trip last summer with our local canoe club. One of the canoeists (as opposed to us folks who like to sit down and do half the work . . . :-D ) had the biggest doggone dive knife I ever saw strapped to the front of her PFD. I asked her, "Whatya gonna do with that - cut your buddy if you see a shark?"

She grinned and pulled it halfway out and said, "No. RAFTERS."

(Me, I just keep it around for general utility and to cut myself free if I get tangled in fish line, etc. I got nothing against rafters, except when they run me over and whack me with a paddle and think it's funny.)

And I field dressed the first deer I ever shot with my little 3 1/2" folding Buck. Very good knife for the job.

[Robert357]

...these Californians migrating to Idaho and Montana, is that they tend to bring their liberal political views with them.

Actually, there is a running joke in the Seattle press about both Seattle Yuppies and Californians who move to eastern Washington and expect government services over there to be brought up to "their Yuppie standards."

It has gotten so bad that Chelan County has published a "Code of the West" to inform these folks among other things that in a range area, it is your responsibility to keep your neighbors cattle and sheep out of your property by your building a fence and that there are wild animals like coyotes, cougars and bears and you have some responsibility in protecting yourself and your pets from them. The County was tired of people complaining that now that these new arrivals had build their cabin at the end of the dirt road it was time for the County to pave it and that the Sheriff was taking too long to get to their house when they called about various animals getting in their yard.

Go figure.

[Robert357]

Since your from Washington, #139 may interest you.

You got to understand that Seattle's elected officials are the laughing-sock of the rest of the state. The only shame is that there are so many people in Seattle, that their elected officials has some clout.

There are lots of "206'er" jokes in eastern Washington about Seattle Residents who reside mostly in telephone area code 206.

How many 206'ers does it take to turn out a light bulb? About ten thousand to write letters to remove a hydroelectric dam, so that the power goes out.

[Quix]

Am glad they were sane enough to avoid Wash and Ore.

I knew a Buck brother--pastor of First Assembly in Spokane. His brother, Roland was long time pastor of First Assembly in Boise. Roland had the BELIEVABILITY type of personality like Walter Cronkite [in terms of the national people ranked by such].

Roland had what--14 extensive visits by angels and an extended visit to Heaven. His fascinating story is in ANGELS ON ASSIGNMENT.

His visit to Heaven began as he sat at his desk. He put his head down to rest and poof, instantly, he was in Heaven. That whole scene is alone worth the read. Anyway--while he was in Heaven, he was told 120 things that would occur in the future.

One included the next Pope--which was accurate. Several of the 120 items were interesting miraculous ministry experiences--which occurred exactly as predicted.

Particularly interesting was that when Roland came to himself back at his desk, raised his head up--he realized he had a velum/parchment sort of sheet with the 120 items written on it in a beautiful script.

Being a bit used to such dramatic things at that time and/or maybe a bit foggy from his Heavenly experience, he just laid the sheet with the 120 items on it down and went to bed. When he got up the next morning, it had started to sort of disintegrate. He swept the pieces into an envelope and a number of people saw them. Eventually they sort of just evaporated to nothing, as I recall.

One of my favorite parts is that they had two great dane dogs. And they could always tell when angels were manifesting more overtly in their home by the behavior of the dogs--who loved it when the angels came more overtly.

As I recall, the first event was Roland waking up in his king sized bed facing outwardly on his side and realizing that the bed beside him--between his body and the edge was sunk WAYYYY DOWN because a VERY BIG [8-9 feet? I forget exactly] A VERY BIG man was sitting on the bed beside him--as I recall--in somewhat radiant clothing--I forget whether it was armor or a white robed sort of affair. I think some of the time, the angels were dressed casually in turtle necks.

I think the book's still in print though Roland went to his Heavenly reward years ago. I heard him speak in the midst of his angel visitations. I was prepared to discount it wholesale as more A of G hoopla [I was reared in the A of G. And, his brother who introduced him and whom I've met with, was very typical A of G. But Roland was a real solid character. The closest personality I can come up with is Walter Cronkite IN TERMS OF HIS BETTER POINTS! --his unflappability and solid scrutiny of reality. You just knew no body was going to pull anything over on that man.

Of course a long list of pharisees in Christianity had a fit that God would never do things THAT WAY. Some claimed parts of the book were unBiblical but I never found such and read it at least twice.

No, keep your tinfoil hats to yourself, thank you.

[alaskanfan]

I attended a homeowners meeting in Ferndale Montana about ten years ago, where one of these transplants was trying to get a zoning measure passed that would require all the local homeowners to build outbuildings to store their farm equipment in or have it hauled away by the local sherrif. He didn't get much support.

[AnAmericanMother]

Somebody has posted the book on line.

Here it is: Angels on Assignment

As St. Joan said when asked if she was in a state of grace, "If I am not, I pray God put me in it. If I am, I pray God keep me in it."

[Quix]

GREAT! THANKS FOR THAT LINK.

BTW, I'm curious. What have been the responses of those you've shared the book with?

And what rang truest to you in the book?

What picture of The Father did you get from the book and how did that match with your reading of The Father in Scriptures?

SURE APPRECIATE THE MSG AND LINK.

[2nd amendment mama]

Send it back to buck - they'll fix it - most of the time at no cost. I know, I've used their knives for years and always carry at least one!

[It's me]

Thank you, Gov. Davis...