SE Michigan battles to lure Sears headquarters (from IL), 5,000 jobs

[Bozita]

Source: Detroit Free Press

SE Michigan battles to lure Sears headquarters, 5,000 jobs
5:39 PM, Jun. 24, 2011
BY JOHN GALLAGHER
DETROIT FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER


With giant Sears Holdings Corp. mulling a headquarters move from its base in suburban Chicago, Southeast Michigan has jumped into the fray to try to lure the retailer.

A package of incentives worth at least $50 million is being offered to Sears to relocate its headquarters and some 5,000 jobs to metro Detroit, two sources familiar with the talks said Friday.

Two potential sites in metro Detroit are being offered to Sears. One is Regent Court, a Ford Motor office building on Ford Road in Dearborn. The other is the former Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan complex on West 11 Mile Road in Southfield, which is on the market as BCBSM moves employees to downtown Detroit.

Both Wayne and Oakland counties, as well as the Michigan Economic Development Corp., are participating in the attempt to lure the Sears headquarters, the sources said. MEDC had no comment on the effort.

Read more: http://www.freep.com/article/20110624/BUSINESS06/110624036/SE-Michigan-battles-lure-Sears-headquarters-5-000-jobs?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

---

The state and local tax breaks (AKA incentives) for Sears in Hoffman Estates, IL run out next year.

And this, boys and girls, is how bidness gets done.

[Drale]

1. Michigan moves up on the treason list in my opinion.

[Bozita]

2. And earlier today, Indiana went on mine ...

Same day, same state:


Last Updated: June 24. 2011 4:27PM
Solar firm moving headquarters from Brighton to Indiana
Paul Egan/ Detroit News Lansing Bureau


Lansing — The announced move of a solar technology company's U.S. headquarters from Brighton to Indiana has intensified criticism of Gov. Rick Snyder's decision to wean Michigan off tax incentives to attract and retain manufacturers.

But Michael Finney, CEO of the Michigan Economic Development Corp., said Michigan — which is phasing out tax incentives but still has use of them today — offered Fronius USA a bigger incentive package than what Indiana offered.

Fronius said Thursday it plans to move to Portage, Ind., where it will build a plant after it was lured by $4.25 million in state tax credits and other incentives. The company makes battery charging systems, welding technology and solar electronics.

more...
From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110624/BIZ/106240423/Solar-firm-moving-headquarters-from-Brighton-to-Indiana#ixzz1QEprQp9m

[blue_onyx]

7. Technically...

Kmart did buy Sears so it would kind of be a homecoming. Maybe they can move into the old Kmart headquarters which is still sitting empty.

[Imajika]

3. Bet Sears ends up going to a bright red state...

Michigan might be able to offer a lot at the moment, but Sears brass has to know the fact the GOP is running Michigan right now is an anomaly. If I had to bet they go with anti-union Texas or NC.

This problem with anti-worker states poaching business like this is a serious problem. This country seems to be going for the lowest common denominator.

[24601]

8. The union issue isn't as important for corporate headquarters as

it is for manufacturing sites. The competing states' taxes will be a bigger factor.

[joeglow3]

14. Exactly. Salaries drive this big time

You want to go to a state that excludes wages from their apportionment factor. Given the HUGE sums of slaries earned at the Corporate location, this can trnaslate into a LOT of state tax savings.

That said $50 million is nothing. We opened a plant in a state with a lot fewer people/jobs and got 32 million dollars.

[Corruption Winz]

4. As bad as Sears may be, I could understand Detroit...

They need all the help they can get.

[jaysunb]

5. Sears probably won't be in business in 2 years

the handwriting is on the wall. :shrug:

Ten Brands That Will Disappear in 2012

24/7 Wall St. has created a new list of brands that will disappear, which includes Sears (NASDAQ: SHLD - News), Sony Pictures (NYSE: SNE - News), American Apparel (NYSE: APP - News), Nokia (NYSE: NOK - News), Saab, A&W All-American Foods Restaurants, Soap Opera Digest, Sony Ericsson, MySpace (NYSE: NWS.A - News), and Kellogg's Corn Pops. (NYSE: K - News).

http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/112989/brands-disappear-2012-247

[mucifer]

6. Pure evil. Pure greed . Makes me SICK!!!

[TexDevilDog]

9. Michigan is going for corporate welfare

:eyes:

[madrchsod]

10. i did`t know michigan had enough money to give them 50 million...

i bet the people who work for sears are thrilled to move to the detroit area.

oh well, kmart is losing money on it`s vacant property and stores while the sears division is losing market share.good luck in detroit!

[Wink]

11. What if Illinois promises to give up their first born?

This competition to see which state can suck off corporations the most is disgusting.

[Psephos]

12. Sears Holdings (which owns Sears and K-Mart stores) is dying.

Shares have lost half their value in the past five years. Yearly sales are down at both stores. It doesn't take a crystal ball to foresee that one of the chains is going to get the axe.

Sears Holdings will do what it can to survive, and that includes cutting costs.

Michigan will do what it can to survive, and in part that includes bringing in new businesses to begin replacing the thousands that are no more.

The wound here is self-inflicted. Illinois has wasted many billions through corruption, cronyism, and unfunded promises, and then hides behind the skirts of finger-waggers as it hikes its taxes to cover the losses.

[No Elephants]

15. And corporate welfare is never a waste of taxpayer dollars?

Massachusetts offered a mint to, of all folks, Hollywood to encourage them to make movies here (which explains why you've been seeing so many more movies made in Massachusetts in the last decade). Supposedly, we were somehow supposed to make money on the deal.

Turned out, all it really did was cost Massachusetts taxpayers money.

We also gave Fidelity a boatload of tax breaks. Fidelity accepted them and moved out of state anyway. (The maroons who structured that deal should have been fired, but I very much doubt they were.)

And it goes on and on.

Maybe someday cities, towns and states will figure out that corporations do not enter "public-private partnerships" with the idea of giving as much as they get.

[fujiyama]

13. Quinn has cut deals with several companies

to keep them in IL including huge tax breaks. It's become kind of a joke. Company complains about IL taxes. Then they threaten to leave and then they get a great break. These incentives have prompted Navistar to move all operations to Lisle, IL (rather than keeping a significant number in IN). Caterpillar made threats but I don't see them actually leave Peoria - too big of a move. I thought IL was doing what they could to keep Sears Holding as well.

Don't be too surprised if Quinn out does the others. Just about every state is desperate for jobs now and it looks especially bad to LOSE a large number of them to another state, especially a neighboring one. The southern states have other advantages though. In some cases, weather could be a factor that would attract many employees to make the move. I'm not certain, but that may at least keep some on board, though of course they could just as well end up hiring people in those areas for much less.