It's getting to be an almost monthly thing, Greensboro failing on one
list or another. In the past I've made long lists like Attention CEOs: Why You Don't Want To Bring Your Company And Your Family To Greensboro, North Carolina, AKA: Greensboro Sucks and More Reasons CEOs Will Want To Avoid Greensboro. And if you haven't seen then in a while, those lists keep growing.
Take for instance the Milken Institute Best Performing Cities rankings where Greensboro was ranked 175 out of 200 for comparable city's in 5 year job growth. (Hat tip George.) Click on the graph to view it full size.
In my ongoing series, Incentives in Greensboro, I've been debunking Greensboro Mayor Nancy Baracat Vaughan's December 29, 2013 article titled, City Handles Incentives Effectively in which she made wild claims like:
"It's irresponsible to suggest the council haphazardly offers incentives to every company that makes a request."
And
"All economic incentive requests are thoroughly reviewed by staff and a strategic formula is used to determine the level of inventive that can be offered by the city."
And
"As part of our economic development focus, we have been diligent in identifying locations in east Greensboro that can serve as areas for future development...."
And how about this one?
"We've also focused on creative concepts to offer opportunities to businesses that want to grow in Greensboro."
Or this one?
"As a City Council, we have taken an aggressive approach to economic development over the last two years."
Seriously folks, if an aggressive approach combined with creative concepts, focus and Mayor Nancy Baracat Vaughan's word that Greensboro's staff and City Council are doing incentives the right way can only put Greensboro in the bottom 25% of the class then why do incentives at all?
I'll tell you way? So that Mayor Vaughan and her Irving Park neighbors don't end up bankrupt and renting apartments like former Mayor Perkins, that's the one and only reason.
The rate of poverty in Greensboro has risen 663% (Not a typo) and Mayor Vaughan has the audacity to claim the Greensboro City Council has used incentives effectively? I think everyone thinks the evidence suggests otherwise.
And Mayor Vaughan, You are more than welcome to chime in anytime you wish.
Continue reading Incentives In Greensboro: Part 12.
