It has happened again today, a major corporation announced it was leaving the State of Louisiana. Oreck Corporation, a company with long ties to the Jefferson Parish, has now decided to move its headquarters to Nashville, Tennessee. Several years ago, the company moved its manufacturing facility to Mississippi. After Katrina, Oreck moved the facility to Nashville, so now all of the operations will be consolidated in Tennessee.
This is a familiar story that we are getting tired of seeing. A company that started in Louisiana grew to national prominence in our state and then has decided to leave. With the departure, Louisiana will only lose 60 jobs, but it will be a major loss of prestige. Our area will lose another corporate headquarters. This has happened too frequently in the past few years.
Why do we keep losing these businesses? One important reason is that our taxes are too high and our bureaucracy is too large. In addition, we do not respond to the needs of our current businesses and do a horrible job of retaining our businesses and helping them grow in our state.
To its credit, Jefferson Parish tried very hard to retain the company in the area; however, it is unclear what if anything the Louisiana Department of Economic Development did to keep this corporation here, Stephen Moret, the Secretary of Economic Development, is currently earning $350,000. Governor Bobby Jindal insisted that Moret be given this huge salary, about $100,000 more than his predecessor. In my view, this salary should have been awarded only after performance in office. The problem is that Moret was given this huge salary, but has not delivered any tangible results for our state.
Just last week, we heard that General Motors will be cutting 800 jobs from their plant in Shreveport. On Friday, Jindal and Moret visited General Motors headquarters in Detroit to try to persuade the corporate giant to reconsider their decision. Unfortunately, they received no commitment to replace the jobs, only a vague promise to consider future expansions at the Shreveport plant.
These cutbacks come right after it was announced that the Michoud facility in Eastern New Orleans will cut about 1,300 jobs in the months ahead. So, with these major departures from Louisiana, what has Moret and his team done to boost our workforce? What has he done to earn his exorbitant salary? So far the results have been far from impressive.
Some might say that he is being judged too soon, but he has been in office seven months, plenty of time to accomplish some tasks and retain some jobs for our state. Unfortunately, all we have seen is more and more jobs leaving Louisiana, the same old story. It is getting old.
Jeff Crouere is a native of New Orleans, LA and he is the host of a Louisiana based program, “Ringside Politics,” which airs at 7:30 p.m. Fri. and 10:00 p.m. Sun. on WLAE-TV 32, a PBS station, and 7 till 11 a.m. weekdays on WGSO 990 AM in New Orleans and the Northshore. For more information, visit his web site at www.ringsidepolitics.com. E-mail him at jeff@ringsidepolitics.com.
Glad to see you post that KPF,,, Now consider that the owner of Oreck bought Minnie Pearls house which is NEXT to the Governors Mansion in Tennesse and you might discover one of the prime motivating factors for the move...... It is simple, to bring his employees with him, closer, because he is not interested in retiring, and he is surely not interested in living in New Orleans, and he sure isn't going to commute to Louisiana every other day, that is what semi-retirement means........ I guess it is a personal choice, and everyone is free to make them in America to a certain extent I suppose.... Written by
on 8/20/2008
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I'm all for doing what can be done now... right now. But to expect our workforce and communities to become attractive to employees overnight is not realistic. My company - and another large engineering firm my fiancé worked for downtown - has trouble getting their employees to move here despite offering bonuses and additional pay to live and work here. When people decide to stay away from New Orleans even though they could get more pay and a bonus to move here... well, that speaks volumes. Written by kpf
on 8/20/2008
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Funny when some people talk about waiting 40 years for things to change, on August 19, 1917, the legendary pitcher Christy Mathewson and manager John McGraw of the New York Giants got themselves arrested at a benefit game at the Polo Grounds in New York City for violating New York's blue laws. According to the laws, no professional baseball or baseball players were to play the game on Sunday. Imagine that!!! Blue Laws, and getting arrested for doing something charitable because they could/couldn't on God's time..... I guess all the benefits went into the City's coffers as a result of the fines........ Yes, there are sort of interesting parallels here folks.... Written by
on 8/19/2008
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Sorry KPF, but Patience my Ass........... I want to build things............. To effect positive change right here, right now, right away...... To improve things, and I can and could if only the Guv would............................ But guess what? We have a lot of complacency sitting on the sidelines........ From Slidell to Holly Beach, from Venice to Lafayette, From Lake Charles to Baton Rouge and every point in between.... I hear the complaints, I see the lack of progress, and just like Tony G. I want to do something about it but I am shackled to a 3 million pound lead weight......................... Wutever..................... Written by ..............STRONGCONCRETE......................
on 8/19/2008
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Although I am quite nearsighted my youth - unfortunately - is but a distant memory. I realize that "we the people" are responsible for this mess. I am much too cynical about those who achieve elected office to expect anything from them. Nevertheless, I also stand by my assertion that it is too soon to judge Jindal's administration on this matter. I forgot to absentee vote and so did not vote in the last governor's election and voted for Blanco in the previous election; so I am not a "Jindal supporter." It is simply too soon to expect "results" on making our workforce attractive to business - it may (like obtaining oil production from offshore drilling) take a decade or more to reap benefits. Some "change" requires patience. Written by kpf
on 8/19/2008
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No amount of effort in retaining jobs will work until the people of Louisiana get serious about educating and rearing their children. Companies don't leave Louisiana because the governor did not do enough to keep them: they leave because the workforce is very poorly educated and lacking in self-discipline and work ethic. And because the people themselves are the cause of the public corruption: too many of us are personally corrupt and ignore corruption in our public officials. How many folks brag about getting traffic tickets fixed? Or seek property assessments that are unfairly low? How many parents never both to read to their children, or instill polite behavior?
We keep looking for magic bullets to solve our problems. There are no magic bullets, just a decades long process ahead of rearing and educating good children into becoming contributing adults. Written by chaubert
on 8/18/2008
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KPF, I have been waiting for 40 years for those things that you said takes time to come to fruition. Isn't 40 years long enough to wait before coming to realize that some things will never happen in many of our lifetimes? That reminds me of every police chief in New Orleans saying that they are working toward getting to 2,000 police officers. They are working toward that goal but never getting there. Same thing with Louisiana we are always waiting for some things that take time, but never come to fruition. Last year Riviana Foods which processed and packaged red beans, black beans, success rice and mahatma rice moved to Houston. We always have some business to talk about which has left or will leave Louisiana but, how many new substantial businesses such as Riviana or Oreck coming into Louisiana to talk about. You must me young and blind as I used to be. The records show that businesses and people have been escaping Louisiana for the last 15 years! Louisiana is the only gulf south state that has had a greater out migration than the rest of the gulf south that has had a greater in migration. All that you have to go on is to say some time. I see that businesses and people have been moving out for some time now and you have not bothered to notice that. Written by Anonymous
on 8/18/2008
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That was written directly in response to your question "Why do we keep losing these businesses?" Written by
on 8/18/2008
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I could probably write some fairly astute observations as to the causes of some of the ailments that seemingly ‘plague’ sectors of the Louisiana economy and its associated workforces as well as the lowering of certain quality of life indicators…. But instead I opt to simply offer up an aloof explanation Louisiana style; “Well, that’s just business”. The reason why I do so? Why it is simply elementary, it is because for the most part apathy and complacency are the trademarks of the day if not out and out greed and angst on a large scale that is being practiced by a vast majority of the upper hierarchy…… Written by
on 8/18/2008
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I saw Walter Boasso on WWLTV yesterday, it was a plesure to see him still taking interest in Louisiana Economics and not simply retiring to his 'Game Ranch' in Mississippi...... He had a number of interesting things to say, and a realistic vision of many of the obvious potentials of Louisiana...... It is a shame that he did not make Governor.... Time? The current Governor, our Economic Development Guru too? Facts are that if a company is going to establish an operation in Louisiana, it is going to do so because it is logistically prudent to do so... Changing distribution patterns, markets, availability of raw materials, etc. are some of the defining subjects when location considerations are made.... Of course market is another good topic..... Perhaps outside business perceives that there is a bigger concern for festivals and mardi gras than there is for getting work done around Southern Louisiana... Maybe it is crime, maybe its a number of things that simply make higher tier exectutives tired..... There is only so much Louisiana labor to spread around, and that for the most part is top notch in some areas, and in other areas, well, the proof is in the roux..... I keep wondering why we had to import so many Mexicans just to get New Orleans up and running........ And the constant squealing and begging for money by Mary Landrieu.............. And Piyush making like a salesboy going to Detroit Motor City...... Let's see, 800 jobs to be lost.... How fast is the 'Piyush Lousiana fast track special' going to 'retrain' these folks for other billets and industries? Looks like a testing of Piyush's philosophies are becoming advent.... Unemployment benefits? Of course Mary Landrieu will be making an ass of herself screaming for extensions and Federal aid on this too probably, surprise!!!! Lot's of other folks in the United States are out of work too....... Let's see, Louisiana, one of the lowest unemployment benefits providers in the nation..... 6th, 7th, 8th, something.... Average around $200 per week..... all total, GM may be at the bottome of around 4 million or so dollars out... Oh, and retraining? Let's see, the average school kid costs around 900+ dollars per year to train, sooooo.... There goes around another million dollars in vo-tech or related expenses as well....... And then I wonder about home forclosures..... Hope it doesn't hurt them.... Is this Pi's fault? No, is it Stephen Moret's fault? No..... And Oreck? I thought they had a small plant in Mississippi that was wiped out during Katrina..... In looking at the company profile I see headquarters are in TN...... The 60 jobs in Louisiana, what exactly are they? Is that the old RCA distribution center in New Orleans???? Who knows, maybe it is high rent, and taxes, and inconvenience that is causing the move.... Nashville is fairly well central to the United States in as far as the Eastern section goes... Shipping costs, fuel, labor, etc..... Hey, just another story on another loss I suppose.... I know how we can fix this, put up another gambling casino in Shreveport and a small truckstop gambling casino in New Orleans!!!!! Written by
on 8/18/2008
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I disagree Jeff - we did not get in this mess overnight nor shall we fix it that soon. While I cannot say whether Mr. Moret is earning his pay, it is too soon to expect results as concerns our workforce. I know the media likes sensationalism and much of their audience have short attention spans, but some things take time. Written by kpf
on 8/18/2008
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It has happened again today, a major corporation announced it was leaving the State of 
