Jan, 31-Feb, 6 2014 print edition of The Business Journal there was an article by Catherine Carlock entitled, Other states seduce as GSO mulls options in which she wrote:
"At Monday's meeting, Greensboro Economic Development Alliance President Dan Lynch outlined how the Partnership and Alliance will travel from France to California on Marketing trips. He outlined how the Alliance in 2013 landed eight projects, six of which were expansions that yielded 682 jobs in Greensboro. The 682 jobs fell short of the annual 1,100-job goal the Greensboro Partnership had set for 2013.
"We're not satisfied with that," Lynch said. "We're not happy with that. It is what it is, and we will have to double down our efforts."
In Part 21, Faking The Numbers,I pointed out that of the 682 jobs claimed to have been brought to Greensboro by the Greensboro Economic Development Alliance and the Greensboro Partnership, 354 of those jobs were actually outside of Greensboro. And LabCorp?
"They promised 373 new jobs and to move 52 employees to Greensboro from Burlington but only delivered 87 worker bees. What's up with that?"
It's going to take a lot more than "double down" to fix this mess. It's going to take a completely different game.
I have for you the City of Greensboro's List Of Incentives Since 1996. I'm told that's as far back as records go. If memory serves me correctly it was along about that time such incentives were first made legal in North Carolina. If you'll check out who got the incentives you'll note the vast majority of them are located near Piedmont Triad International and in industrial parks far from where Greensboro's highest levels of poverty exist. I asked the City for a neighborhood by neighborhood accounting of where incentives were placed. They replied they had no such information. In my opinion, if Greensboro leaders really cared they would have been keeping up with such things.
As documented by the City of Greensboro, the last 2 major investments in east Greensboro were in the late 1950s:
"This lively community began to wind down in the late 1950s and 1960s when, under the guise of "urban renewal," thousands of people and more than 80 businesses (many minority-owned) were displaced. Most of those businesses never reestablished."
How'd that work out?
And again in 2008 when the City of Greensboro invested Millions in the Streetscaping of East Market Street. I asked the City about the results of their economic development efforts on the East Market Street Corridor:
"We apologize that your request has taken so long to complete. We have requested several departments to review your request to see if they had any information pertaining to your request. Unfortunately, the City has not measured the economic impact directly attributable to the East Market Street streetscape project."
Apparently that one hasn't worked out well either. Hey, no one has to tell me, I live in east Greensboro-- been here since the 1950s. They do realize of course that I will someday be asking them about the positive economic impact directly attributable to the Lee Street-- High Point Road Project that is just now beginning, right? I think it's time someone downtown started compiling that neighborhood by neighborhood list of incentive recipients as part of an effort to put the jobs in the most distressed neighborhoods where the unemployed live.
Councilman Zack Matheny, the Greensboro Partnership and the rest of the economic development "gurus" have been pushing shovel ready sites and logistics but as former economic developer for Guilford County government, Rob Bencini points out:
"Despite promises of a multitude of high-paying jobs, warehousing represents the bulk of the jobs in the growth industry of logistics. This is why logistics certifications would pay dividends, local residents were told. The Logistics Certificate would raise the level of knowledge and, therefore, the earnings capacity of the worker. It would provide more job security.The other problem with spending our resources working to recruit logistics firms lies in this Business Journal story, Greensboro-based Epes Logistics opens office in Colorado Springs: You see, there comes a time when every logistics company's only option to grow is away-- far away from Greensboro. It's not that Epes is leaving Greensboro-- they're not-- but in order for their business to grow their investments must be in cities far beyond Greensboro. I spent the better part of 28 years in logistics, trucking companies have to go where the freight is, that's just the way it works.
The reality turned out to be something different: A laborer enters the workforce at FedEx Ground making $11.10 per hour. After completing the logistics curriculum, filled with high hopes for the future, he’s still worth $11.10 an hour. And for every person entering this line of work, there are two more waiting for an opening."
We need to be looking at businesses who can continue to grow by investing their growth in Greensboro.
And it wasn't like Greensboro wasn't warned many times before.
Using Greensboro tax dollars to fund non profits who place jobs in Kernersville, Gibsonville, Liberty and other areas beyond the Greensboro City Limits is unacceptable behavior-- always has been. Giving incentives to companies whose very business models will force them to invest elsewhere, rather than Greensboro, isn't acceptable either. In Part 36 I'm going to go back to the plan I started in Part 31: A Different Light. Suggestions as to how to make the plan better are always welcome
Please continue reading Incentives In Greensboro: Part 36: Laying The Foundations
