It is time we stop feeding off of ourselves and start concentrate on bringing new corporate HQ to the metro. Companies based in California are especially vulnerable right now because of the its dubious economy and reported horrible business conditions. Jo Co business leaders should place emphasis on recruiting HQ from California and start ignoring recruiting KCMO businesses. KCMO could also really build up KC, North near the airport as a pseudo Coporate Woods II. We need to retain and expand KC-based businesses, but also need to capitalize on our educated population, work ethic, easy airport transportation, and affordablility that make KC one of the best places to do business in the country.
Here's an article I found about an area of Cali struggling to remain attractive to business...
Copyright 2003 The Press Enterprise Co.
THE BUSINESS PRESS/CALIFORNIA
April 7, 2003, Monday
SECTION: Pg. 1
LENGTH: 982 words
HEADLINE: Inland Empire Focus : Lights are on, but nobody's home : Large companies find other neighborhoods for corporate headquarters
BYLINE: Joseph Ascenzi; The Business Press/California
BODY:
By many accounts, California is a less-than-ideal place to
conduct business.
The state's economy is sluggish, its energy costs are high and
much of the state has poor air quality.
Most important for businesses, however, California's
environmental regulations are among the toughest -- if not the
toughest -- in the United States.
A survey released last summer by Development Counsellors
International, a New York firm that tracks economic development,
found that 57% of respondents rated California the "least
favorable" business climate of any state.
With those factors working against it, the Inland Empire may
seem unlikely to attract corporate headquarters, or western
regional headquarters, in the next five to 10 years.
But several economists and economic development specialists in
and outside the market say the two-county region is poised to
acquire its share of both during the next decade, either by
attracting business headquarters from outside the region or
growing the ones that are already in the region.
"With all of that negative sentiment, there are still a lot of
businesses that have no choice, they have to have a presence in
California," said Rob DeRocker, executive vice president for
Development Counsellors International. "It's going to be tough
to make what happened in the Silicon Valley happen in Riverside,
but it can be done."
Holes to fill
Only 16 companies with 200 or more employees maintain corporate
headquarters in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, according
to the Inland Empire Economic Partnership in San Bernardino, a
nonprofit agency that recruits businesses to the region.
For the region's economy to mature, attract more high-end jobs
and ultimately become more than the unofficial warehouse and
distribution center capital of the western United States, it
must attract more corporate offices, said Michael Beck, deputy
Riverside city manager and former economic development manager
for the University of California, Riverside Office of Economic
Development.
"The Inland Empire doesn't compete for this kind of business
with New York or Seattle, and it never will," Beck said. "Boeing
is never going to set up its headquarters here. But we can grow
our own, and we can do what Orange County has been spending the
last 20 years doing: attract more western regional headquarters.
There are a lot of businesses that want to have a presence here,
and we should go after them."
But obstacles to attracting corporate centers remain, said John
Husing, regional economist who tracks economic patterns in
Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
Corporate headquarters bring with them executives who usually
want high-end homes in the 3,500- to 4,200-square-foot range
with price tags of $ 500,000 to $ 750,000, Husing said.
For now, that kind of high-end housing in the Inland Empire is
rare, and its confined mainly to the Coachella Valley and
pockets of Temecula, Murrieta and south Corona, said Borre
Winckle, executive director of the Building Industry Association
Riverside County Chapter.
"We will get that kind of housing but it's going to come in
gradually," Winckle said. "It won't happen overnight."
Businesses want to place their offices in areas that have a pool
of well-educated workers from which to draw, which the Inland
Empire lacks, Husing said.
But the region is building more high-end housing, and it's work
force eventually will become more oriented to high technology,
which is the reason Husing believes more companies will call the
region home during the next 10 years.
"If you want to attract corporate headquarters, those are two of
the biggest things you need," he said. "In a way, it's the same
reason we don't have more high-tech companies. The work force
that you need isn't here yet."
The guaranteed future growth of Ontario International Airport
will attract corporate office, Husing said. The airport will
become increasingly important as Los Angeles International
Airport builds out and Orange County struggles to build a major
international airport.
"Corporations always want to put their headquarters near major
airports," he said.,
Most of the corporate headquarters in the Inland Empire, Husing
said, are businesses that were started and grew up in the area.
Other companies, like Indianapolis-based Guidant Corp., the
maker of stent devices used to improve blood flow, have major
facilities in the region.
"Those are the kinds of operations we need more of," Husing said.
Guidant's Temecula operation employs about 3,000 people but is
one of the three West Coast facilities the company maintains and
is technically not considered a headquarters, Guidant
spokeswoman Kim Boesche said.
Businesses in the state are so over-taxed and over-regulated
that attracting outside businesses to move their headquarters to
the two-county region will be a struggle, said Mary Jane
Olhasso, director of Ontario economic development.
The region's best approach will be to retain existing corporate
hubs and persuade growing businesses in the area to establish
their headquarters locally.
"Chief executive officers just aren't interested in doing
business in California, so we're going to have to grow our own,"
Olhasso said. "But look at the trend during the last 10 years:
Companies have been moving out of Los Angeles and Orange
counties, they haven't been coming in."
Olhasso cited the Development Counsellors survey, which is
conducted every three years. In 1999, only 25% of those who
responded said they believed California was the least favorable
place to conduct business. Three years later, that number
doubled.
DeRocker blamed much of the negative perception on the media,
which reported the state's energy problems but downplayed the
fact that the "crisis" was overblown to begin with, he said.
GRAPHIC: LARRY ROSE ; (1)Dock loader Tim Flock moves goods at Stater Bros.' corporate headquarter in Colton. Stater Bros. is one of a handful of large companies headquartered in the Inland Empire. (2)Dock loader Tim Flock moves goods at Stater Bros.' corporate headquarters in Colton.; PHOTOS
