Thread: Arizona Boycott not too harmful-la times

In Arizona, boycott over immigration is less crippling than feared
The state has lost $141 million in lost meeting and convention business — disruptive but not devastating. One company lost a $3-million construction bid in Santa Monica.
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Associated Press

November 19, 2010|5:50 p.m.
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Phoenix — A boycott brought on by Arizona's controversial immigration crackdown raised the specter of vacant convention centers, desolate sports arenas and struggling businesses throughout the state.

Seven months later, the effects of the boycott are coming into focus, showing it has been disruptive but nowhere near as crippling as originally feared.

Businesses have lost lucrative contracts and conventions have relocated, performers called off concerts, and cities and counties in about a dozen states have passed resolutions to avoid doing business with Arizona. A report released this week says the boycott has cost the state $141 million in lost meeting and convention business since Republican Gov. Jan Brewer signed the law in April.

But the state's economy hasn't come to a screeching halt — as some boycott organizers hoped.

Many conventions decided not to move, despite questions from their members. At the Phoenix Convention Center on Thursday, about 1,300 exhibitors, distributors and buyers were attending an annual show put on by the National School Supply & Equipment Assn.

"We just kind of kept our eye on our members, and at least in our industry, they were coming whether that law was there or not," said Bill Duffy, the group's vice president of operations and meetings.

The most controversial parts of the law are on hold, including a section that would require police officers who are enforcing other laws to question the immigration status of those they suspect are in the country illegally. A suit by the federal government seeking to invalidate the law awaits a decision from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

Groups had called on people not to fly Tempe-based US Airways or rent trucks from Phoenix-based U-Haul. There was talk of fighting Major League Baseball's plans for holding the All Star Game in Phoenix next year.

Most of those protests haven't come to fruition. The midsummer classic is still on, and a spokeswoman for Tempe-based US Airways said the company saw no effect from the boycott call. A U-Haul International executive said the same thing.

"In fact, year over year, we're up," said Jim Pena, the Phoenix-based rental firm's president for Arizona.

Cities that called for boycotts, including Los Angeles and San Francisco, largely found themselves with few contracts to cancel and little Arizona travel to avoid.

"Ultimately only a few city employees' travel was changed and the few contracts we had with Arizona companies were allowed to go forward for economic reasons," said Tony Winnicker, a spokesman for San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. A city of Los Angeles spokeswoman said only a few contracts were not continued, none large.

Still, some Arizona businesses have taken a big hit. In August, officials in Santa Monica recommended that Phoenix-based Cavco Industries be awarded a $3-million contract to replace 20 aging mobile homes in a city-owned park. But the city council refused to give the contract to Cavco — the low bidder — because the company is Arizona-based, and Santa Monica had passed a resolution imposing sanctions.

The pain also has been felt by the convention industry. An estimated 15 million visitors come to Arizona each year for vacations, conventions and sporting events such as the Fiesta Bowl, pro golf tournaments and baseball spring training. The state tourism office estimates that conventions and other tourism-related activity brought in $16.6 billion in 2009 and that 157,200 people were employed in the industry.

An analysis commissioned by the Center for American Progress put hotel industry losses during the first four months after the signing of the law at about $45 million. Visitors would have spent an additional $96 million during their stays, said Angela Kelley, the group's vice president for immigration and advocacy.

"This is as much I think to serve as a warning to other states, particularly those who rely on tourism and conferences and conventions, that there is an economic impact to it," Kelley said. "We feel like this is a very modest slice, just a piece of what the economic impact is, and we don't think that we're overstating it or overselling it."

The study was paid for by the group, a liberal-leaning think tank, and conducted by Scottsdale-based economic firm Elliott D. Pollack & Co.
Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld ... 1546.story

The study was paid for by the group, a liberal-leaning think tank, and conducted by Scottsdale-based economic firm Elliott D. Pollack & Co.

Hmmmm....

Most of those protests haven't come to fruition. The midsummer classic is still on, and a spokeswoman for Tempe-based US Airways said the company saw no effect from the boycott call. A U-Haul International executive said the same thing.

"In fact, year over year, we're up," said Jim Pena, the Phoenix-based rental firm's president for Arizona.

So much for the illegal invaders and their advocates trying to hold the state if Arizona hostage through their pro-invader boycotts! It didn't work! I suspect there's going to be a whole lot more Arizona-type legislation passed around this country in the next two years!

So keep your useless boycotts up, because it only gives us more resolve to pass more legislation to rid ourselves of this criminal element around the country.