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  1. #1
    Senior Member Skip's Avatar
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    100 BUSINESSES MOVING OUT OF CALIFORNIA

    Monday, February 22, 2010

    California's Hostile Business Climate:
    100 'Moving-Out-of-State' Events



    It's no mystery what causes companies to leave California -- high taxes, undue regulation, workers’ comp costs, a legal environment stacked against businesses, and lengthy and costly construction permitting requirements.

    Other contributing factors include agencies being staffed with individuals unsympathetic or even hostile to business concerns. Wildly excessive government spending contributes to unpredictable government behavior at the state level and also the local level.

    Apparently, No state agency keeps track of enterprises that move out of California or which companies elect to expand in other states even though they are headquartered here. That lack of knowledge is quite convenient for elected officials who deny that state's anti-business attitudes and policies hurt commercial enterprises. Hence, without a central repository, it's difficult to determine how many jobs are lost specifically because of California's unfriendly business environment.

    In this blog, I've attempted to note facility moves and disinvestments in California on a catch-as-catch can basis based on incomplete media reports. Below is a roundup of activity that I've been able to find since I started this blog in July, 2009. This imperfect and incomplete list of 100 moving-out-of-state events is the "tip of the iceberg" about the loss of commercial enterprises in California:

    Abraxis Health, a unit of Los Angeles-based Abraxis BioScience Inc., opened a new plant that will create 200 jobs in 2010 -- in Phoenix. This follows the company's Phoenix expansions that occurred in 2007 and 2008.

    Alza Corp. in 2007 eliminated about 600 jobs in drug R&D while also exiting its Mountain View, Calif., HQ. At the time the company said that its 1,200-person Vacaville facility will continue to operate. But the Vacaville Reporter on Oct. 23, 2009 revealed that the plant is being offered for sale by J&J, its parent company. It's unclear if more layoffs are in the facility's future.

    American AVK, a producer of fire hydrants and other water-related products, moved from Fresno to Minden, Nevada.

    American Racing moved its auto-wheel production to Mexico, ending most of its 47-year operation in California.

    Apple Computer has expanded in other states, most recently with a $1 billion facility planned for North Carolina.

    Audix Corporation relocated from Redwood City, Calif., and to accommodate growth moved to a 78,000-square-foot facility in Wilson, Oregon.

    Apria Healthcare Group of Lake Forest is shifting jobs from California to Overland Park, Kansas, a K.C. suburb.

    Assurant Inc. cut 325 jobs in Orange County and consolidated positions in Georgia, Ohio and South Carolina.

    Automobile Club of Southern California placed 1,100 jobs in Texas.
    Barefoot Motors, a small "green" manufacturer, moved from Sonoma and will grow in Ashland, Oregon.

    Bazz Houston Co. located in Garden Grove, has slowly been building a workforce of about 35 people in Tijuana. In early 2010 the company said it expects to move more jobs to Mexico, citing cost and regulatory difficulties in Southern California.

    Beckman Coulter, a biomedical test equipment manufacturer headquartered in Brea, relocated part of its Palo Alto facilities to Indianapolis, Indiana, two years ago. In early 2010, it's making a multimillion-dollar investment to expand and create up to 100 new jobs in Indiana. The company said the area offers a "favorable business environment and lower total cost of operations, plus a local work force with strong skills in both engineering and manufacturing."

    Bild Industries Inc., which specializes in business news, directories and market reports, moved to Post Falls, Idaho, from Van Nuys, a part of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles.

    Bill Miller Engineering, Ltd., suffering under the "hostile business climate" in California and Los Angeles County, moved from Harbor City to Carson City, Nevada.

    BMC Select has conducted an unusual relocation. The company, which had shifted its headquarters from Idaho to San Francisco, relocated its H.Q. back to Boise in January 2010. The building materials distributor said that regaining its footing in Boise retained access to high-quality employees while reducing wage and occupancy costs.

    BPI Labs, which formulates, manufactures, and fills personal care products for the health and beauty industry, relocated from Sacramento to Evanston, Wyoming, a move the company's owner called "very successful . . . . It felt good and I’ve never looked back.â€

  2. #2
    Senior Member redpony353's Avatar
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    For one thing, 100 businesses is not very many. For another thing, businesses moving out of California does not really reduce jobs. There is still the same amount of consumers and the competitors of those businesses will expand and they will have to hire more employees to handle the expansion. Businesses dont create jobs, consumers create jobs. I would be more worried about consumers leaving California.

    And work comp is not really hostile to business, since business created work comp in the first place. It was to protect them from law suits...lol...and now they complain about it. Business complains about everything. They dont want to pay tax or insurance. Hey everyone has to pay tax and insurance and no one wants to. They dont want to pay employees or give them benefits. I guess they just expect to make pure profit....lol. What a bunch of cry babies.

    I am going to find out who they are and encourage all Californians to boycott them. Dont want Californian employees? You dont get Californian dollars.
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    Senior Member LuvMyCountry's Avatar
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    I cant believe Northrop is leaving. Business dont mind paying their share but whats going on in Calif is off the charts. Calif. is in trouble. There will be nothing there for people to consume.

  4. #4
    Senior Member Skip's Avatar
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    For one thing, 100 businesses is not very many.
    These are National bussinesss and this list is just the tip of the iceberg.

    I would be more worried about consumers leaving California.
    American Citizens are leaving California in droves. The state population would actually be shrinking if it were not for the millions of non-Taxpaying Illegal Aliens rushing in to take their place.

  5. #5
    Senior Member Skip's Avatar
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    By Tiffany Hsu

    February 26, 2010


    THE ECONOMY

    Initial jobless claims rise; orders and shipments of durable goods slip

    First-time filings for unemployment benefits rose by 22,000 last week, to 496,000. In California, however, initial claims show the deepest drop. New orders for durable goods fell 0.6% in January.

    As the economy struggles to recover, there were two discouraging bits of news Thursday: Initial jobless claims rose last week, and shipments and new orders of durable goods showed weakness in January.

    The number of workers filing for unemployment benefits rose by 22,000 last week, to 496,000 from 474,000, according to the Labor Department.

    But California saw the deepest drop in the number of claims, with 5,540 fewer filings after layoffs eased in the service industry for the week that ended Feb. 13.

    Kentucky had the sharpest jump in jobless claims, with 2,510 more that came after auto industry and manufacturing job cuts.

    New orders for manufactured durable goods, excluding transportation equipment, slipped 0.6% in January, to nearly $131 billion, after increasing 2% the month before, the Commerce Department said Thursday.

    Excluding lagging new defense orders, January orders increased 1.6%.

    Transportation equipment was a bright spot, increasing 15.6% to $44.8 billion, led by orders for nondefense aircraft and parts.

    Overall, new orders rose 3% to $175.7 billion. Shipments fell, however, after four consecutive increases (including a 2.4% rise in December); they slid 0.2% to $180.7 billion in January.

    In this category, transportation equipment performed poorly, plunging 3.5% to $44.6 billion after two previous increases.

    Inventories remained relatively even in January at $302.6 billion after falling steadily over the last 13 months.

    But stockpiles of computers and electronics plunged 1.2% to $42.9 billion.

    tiffany.hsu@latimes.com

    http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-r ... 8591.story

  6. #6
    Administrator Jean's Avatar
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    Heard this guy, from thebusinessrelocationcoach on the John and Ken show yesterday. They spent almost an entire hour with him. He said he knew of 100 businesses so far but since no one keeps track it has been a slow going process to document. He asked if anyone knows of other businesses leaving to let him know. Being a relocation expert, he said no one has approached him about relocating to CA. Evidently CA is now considered the 48th in the nation as being business friendly. Sounds like our school ranking now.

    So sad to see how our once top rated state has fallen to such depths in almost every catagory. Oh yeah, we rank #1 in having the most illegals.
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  7. #7
    Senior Member redpony353's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Skip
    For one thing, 100 businesses is not very many.
    These are National bussinesss and this list is just the tip of the iceberg.

    [quote:2a2aam8g]I would be more worried about consumers leaving California.
    American Citizens are leaving California in droves. The state population would actually be shrinking if it were not for the millions of non-Taxpaying Illegal Aliens rushing in to take their place.[/quote:2a2aam8g]

    Yes citizens are leaving. That is something to worry about. The cost of housing is astronomical. And those businesses that are leaving are part of the cause. There are too many businesses here and they pay cheap wages to visa workers. All those visa workers coming here drives up the cost of housing and rent. But the businesses attracting them do not raise wages to meet the rising cost of housing that they are causing. I am glad to see them go. Many of the citizens that are leaving are visa workers, so that could be a good thing. But also, some long time California residents are leaving because of the cost of living be driven up and we are being invaded by illegals at an astounding rate. That is something to worry about. Consumers leaving. But of course the cost of housing will go down...so that is one good thing ....since it was artificially high.
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  8. #8
    Senior Member redpony353's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by LuvMyCountry
    I cant believe Northrop is leaving. Business dont mind paying their share but whats going on in Calif is off the charts. Calif. is in trouble. There will be nothing there for people to consume.
    There are plenty of businesses in Cali. In fact there are too many businesses. And I have to disagree. Businesses DO MIND paying their fair share. They whine and moan about every single law and regulation. All of the laws were necessary to make businesses do what THEY SHOULD ALREADY BE DOING BUT DONT HAVE THE INTEGRITY TO DO ON THEIR OWN. So they have to be forced to do it. Let them go. They dont hire American citizens anyway so we wont miss them. They can take their visa workers with them and drive up the cost of housing somewhere else.
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  9. #9
    Senior Member Skip's Avatar
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    Is California Climate Getting Too Chilly for Business?


    February 09, 2003 | Marla Dickerson , Times Staff Writer

    Chuck Buck has used his company's knives to filet salmon, skin deer and dress a pronghorn antelope in the field. But after 58 years in San Diego County, Buck Knives Inc. can no longer cut it in California.

    High electricity rates, soaring workers' compensation premiums and relentless foreign competition have gutted profits, according to the company's 66-year-old chairman. The state's Democratic-controlled Legislature and massive budget deficit have him worried about tax increases. So he's moving the privately held company to Idaho next year, taking 260 manufacturing jobs with him.

    "We just came to the point where it seemed riskier to stay in California than to leave," said Buck, the grandson of the founder.

    California's business climate, always a heated topic in business circles, has tempers boiling once again. Struggling with sluggish sales and wilting profits in a listless economy, companies are taking a hard look at their costs. Many don't like what they see.

    The state's botched electricity deregulation plan has burdened companies with some of the highest energy rates in the country, while a string of perceived anti-business legislation passed in recent years has made it more costly to employ people.

    Workers' compensation premiums have skyrocketed, more than doubling for some companies. State minimum wage increases and new overtime rules inflated payroll costs just before the economy tipped into recession.

    With California's jobless rate hitting a five-year high of 6.6% in December, employers are being socked with higher contributions to prop up the state's unemployment insurance program.

    And last year, California became the first state to approve comprehensive paid family leave, an employee-funded program that businesses say will cost them a bundle in absenteeism and temporary staffing when it starts next year.

    "There is a level of anger that I haven't seen since the early 1990s," said John Husing, an Inland Empire economist and small-business consultant. "I think we're going to see more companies leaving."

    Such dire predictions tend to ebb and flow with the health of the economy. Complaints about California's business climate crested during the recession of the early 1990s and dissipated in the subsequent boom. What's more, whining is a favorite pasttime among some company heads no matter how the economy is doing.

    http://articles.latimes.com/2003/feb/09 ... s/fi-buck9

  10. #10
    Senior Member Skip's Avatar
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    California job losses grow

    By George Avalos
    Contra Costa Times



    Posted: 03/01/2010 04:30:00 PM PST
    Updated: 03/01/2010 08:40:09 PM PST


    California lost far more jobs last year than the state initially reported, according to a new report that provides an early glimpse into statewide employment trends.

    "The economy was a lot worse than everybody thought," said Howard Roth, chief economist with the state's Department of Finance. "The job market is weaker than we figured."

    According to an estimate from the state Employment Development Department, California employers shed 871,000 jobs in 2009. If that estimate holds up when final revisions are released this month, California's job losses would be far more grim than first believed. The agency reported as recently as Jan. 22 that California employers chopped 579,000 jobs from payrolls in 2009.

    That would translate into 292,000 more lost jobs.

    "If it comes to that number, it would be one of the biggest revisions ever," said Paul Wessen, an economist with the state EDD. "I can't remember a revision this big since the early 1990s, when we lost a lot of aerospace jobs."

    "This is the worst recession for California since the Great Depression," said Brad Kemp, director of regional research with Beacon Economics.

    Bleak economic conditions come as no surprise for Bay Area job seekers.

    "The job market is pretty tough," said Nyla Burt-Heeder, a Martinez resident who is seeking work as an administrative assistant in the medical industry. "It's fairly difficult to get the type of income that you want."

    Burt-Heeder has yet to get an interview. She's been looking since mid-January since she was laid off from her job at Contra Costa Regional Medical Center.

    Why are job losses so much worse than first thought? The EDD's monthly estimates depend in part on the number of employers it believes exist in California at a given time. But the recession has erased numerous companies.

    "Businesses went away and no longer existed that we originally thought were there," said Dennis Meyers, an economist with the state finance department.

    "When you have a recession this severe, you can have a variation like this," added Wessen, the EDD economist. "The monthly payroll survey predicts the direction the economy is heading. But it often doesn't get the magnitude of the change."

    If the job erosion intensifies, that could force state officials to revamp estimates for economic growth — and the amount of cash expected to enrich state coffers.

    "It means the revenue stream is going to be that much lower," Roth, the finance chief economist, said. "The job base on which revenues depend is lower."

    Some hopeful signs have emerged lately. A new report by IHS Global Insight predicts jobs in the state may grow 0.9 percent in 2010.

    "We are getting to the bottom of the job losses," said Kemp, the Beacon economist.

    That doesn't mean things will be noticeably better any time soon. Employers may need to see six to 12 months of profit improvements before they resume hiring.

    "Being at the bottom doesn't necessarily feel good," Kemp said. "Things aren't getting better. They just aren't getting exponentially worse."

    Contact George Avalos at 925-977-8477 925-977-8477 .

    http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_ ... ck_check=1

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