Some executives complained that the rush of companies and workers is pushing up living costs at least in big Texas cities. And finding skilled employees can be difficult. But executives and employees interviewed for this story generally said they haven’t looked back.
It’s no small matter. The top 1 percent of California income-tax payers now finance a third of the state’s general fund, so their ability and willingness to pay taxes is central to the state’s fiscal health.
The plant pays an average wage of $24 an hour, plus benefits. The region is losing very good middle-class jobs, said Antonio Castro, president of Local 59G of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union.
Citing Nevada’s ability to cut through red tape, the chief executive of Tesla Motors Inc. confirmed Thursday that his electric-car company has chosen a site near Reno for a 6,500-job battery factory.
Speaking with Gov. Brian Sandoval in front of hundreds of supporters on the steps of the Capitol, CEO Elon Musk said “time to execution” was the biggest reason he chose Nevada for the coveted factory. He said speed was more important than financial incentives, which state officials said would total between $675 million and $1.1 billion over 20 years.
California, in particular Gov. Jerry Brown, had lobbied hard to persuade Musk to build his battery factory in the state, where Tesla has its headquarters and where it already builds its popular but expensive vehicles.
It’s not just pro-business Texas anymore, or Utah or Nevada or Arizona. Now even New York, a state sometimes ranked as a worse place to do business than even California, is going after Golden State businesses and jobs.
Drone manufacturer Ashima Devices announced Tuesday that it will move its headquarters from Pasadena, Calif., to Reno, Nev., and is expected to bring about 400 jobs with it.
For more than a decade, Texas Gov. Rick Perry has touted the “deal-closing” Texas Enterprise Fund and other cash incentives as a “job-creation machine.” A fifth of the companies that Texas attracted during the last funding cycle, in 2011 and 2012, were based in California.
California has experienced rapid population growth for most of its history, but that trend has come to an end. California’s population grew by 2.9 percent over the last three years, only slightly above the nation’s 2.4 percent increase. Over the last few decades, millions of Californians have left the Golden State for opportunities elsewhere.
Glendale-based Nestle USA is closing its Chatsworth Hot Pockets plant and moving the work to its operation in Mount Sterling, Ky., investing $13 million in expanding the facility and hiring 150 workers.
With films like G.I Joe, The Butler and Enders Game shot in the Bayou State, last year it topped Film L.A.’s Feature Film Production Study as the number 1 location for motion picture filming. From 2002 to 2012 (the last year data was available), the industry created more than 14,000 jobs — more than half of which were between 2010 and 2012, according to the Louisiana Department of Economic Development.
Walls’ massive database reveals San Diego region lost a net 3,440 jobs to out-of-state business moves from 1989 to 2011, or about .25 percent of current estimated employment in the area. California as a whole lost a net 231,000 positions, which amounts to about 1.5 percent of the latest statewide employment projections.
Encore Semi Inc., a California-based semiconductor chip designer, has opened an Austin development office as part of a four-city national expansion.
Omnitracs, a fleet management services company, said Friday that it will relocate early next year, generating 450 jobs and investing $10 million in Dallas. It plans to keep offices in San Diego and Baltimore.
In a blow to San Diego’s economy, Active Network will relocate to Dallas thanks in part to an $8.6 million check from the Texas Government.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry announced Thursday that the Active Network, which specializes in cloud-based software, will open a headquarters in downtown Dallas, and create 1,000 jobs at an average salary of $72,000 per year. This is the second San Diego company owned by Vista Equity to be lured to Texas this year. In February, Perry authorized $4.5 million to Websense to move its headquarters to Austin.