Economic development comes from investment, right? Investors are the people who will drive our state back to success. If investors do not think California has a good legal, tax or regulatory climate, they will not locate in this state. Period.
So how many more studies does the Governor or the state Legislature need to have land on their desks before they get that legal reforms and other reforms are vital pieces of what’s needed to move this state forward? Is it because nearly 75% of our legislature comes from the public sector? Do they really think that the only jobs that need to be created are ones that in involve high speed rail or schools? I certainly hope not.
So along comes one more study by the New York-based Development Counsellors International. They surveyed 322 corporate executives and nearly half of the respondents indicated that their firm would make a decision in the next 24 months to move locations, expand or consolidate a manufacturing plant, offices, distribution center or other facilities. Every three years DCI conducts this survey to track trends in economic development.
The survey also asked the executives to rank the states as to who has the best business climate. Take a guess as to who was ranked highest? Come on… I know you are struggling with this one. Texas was ranked number one for its business climate, followed by North Carolina and South Carolina.
Who do you think ranked in the bottom three? I know you will get at least one of these right. California. Followed by New York and Illinois. So once again, California’s business climate ranks at the bottom in a survey of the people who will be making key decisions about where to locate businesses in the near future.
Study after study ranks California poorly for its business climate. You would think at some point we could all agree that we have a problem and start doing something about it. However, that is not the case in this state. Instead of passing legal reforms and other measures to improve our business climate, California continues to be stuck in neutral. Wake up and smell the coffee, before it is too late!