The people who know Chiquita best -- Cincinnati residents -- say their loss is Charlotte's considerable gain.
Some in Cincinnati had been trying to portray the departure of the banana company as no big deal. But The Cincinnati Enquirer bemoaned the move, calling it "deeply disappointing."
"Through the years, Chiquita has been a good corporate citizen, contributing to many civic efforts, and we will miss them," the Enquirer's editorial board wrote. "We may understand their decision, but we still regret it..."
The Enquirer seemed undecided on whether the $22.7 million in state and local incentives are worth landing the Chiquita headquarters and its 400 jobs. At first blush, it doesn't seem outlandish to us, given the realities of economic development these days. The Enquirer also rightly pointed to Charlotte/Douglas International Airport and its 700 daily departures -- more than triple Cincinnati's -- as key to the deal.
We welcome Chiquita (and its well-paying jobs) to Charlotte, and hope it will be an active corporate citizen here as well, working for the good of this community beyond its office doors.
-- Taylor Batten
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Chiquita a strong player in the community?
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4 comments:
Union, Iredell, and York counties thank Charlotte's contribution to their communities. No one one who has done research would buy property in Charlotte and send their kids to CMS.
** it doesn't seem outlandish to us, given the realities
Yeah, let's have folks who are getting evicted and foreclosed and forced to work at Wal-Mart give $22 million to a multinational corporation.
As long as Taylor "I am the 1%" Batten and his government-leech wife can keep that million-dollar house with a pool it's all good, right?
Observer Board = Socialist imbeciles
Hey Taylor, I am thrilled Charlotte landed Chaquita and when it employs apx 400 residents, Chaquita is already a strong player in the community in my book..but...here's the part that bothers me. Chaquita moved into the Nascar HofF built and owned by city taxpayers and operated by city govt. So, have we now created an environment where the private sector landlords and developers are competing against the govt.? and is the govt. able to stack the deck and undercut the very private sector by offering lease rates that other landlords would have trouble matching??
(cont) maybe the office space was part of the incentive package. Either way, it seems govt. has found its way into using taxpayer dollars to build, own, and operate multiple landmark properties and then competing against the private sector and offering rates that only govt. can make work
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