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* There’s something missing from this Quinn campaign press release…
Quinn for Illinois is continuing to take a closer look at Republican billionaire Bruce Rauner’s business record, including his strategy of outsourcing jobs overseas to drive GTCRauner’s profits. The Polymer Group, a multinational corporation formed with Bruce Rauner that produced non-woven fabrics, including feminine hygiene products and wipes, is the latest Rauner business to be profiled.
KEY QUOTE: “Their strategic story is very compelling.” -Bruce Rauner in 1998 on PolymerGroup’s use of foreign labor.
THE STORY: Bruce Rauner served as a director of the Polymer Group, operating factories around the globe that produced feminine hygiene products and wipes. Controlled by GTCRauner, the group was heavily invested in low-wage labor markets opened up by “free trade” agreements such as China and Mexico, reaping millions in profits. Rauner exited the firm around the time they declared bankruptcy, leaving investors on the hook for $600 million in debt obligations.
THE TIMELINE:
1994: GTCR Acquires Majority Stake in the Polymer Group and Rauner takes a seat on the board of directors. [Polymer Group, SEC S-1/A, 05/07/96]
1995: Polymer Expanded and Increased Manufacturing in Mexico Shortly After NAFTA Went into Effect in 1994. According to a Polymer SEC S-1/A Filing in May 1996: “The Company recently completed an expansion in Mexico with the installation of a new 4.2 meter SMS line with unique and proprietary capabilities…. The Company continuously evaluates opportunities to expand its existing production capacity or enhance production technologies. The Company has invested approximately $50.0 million in capital improvements since 1992 to either debottleneck existing assets or to add new capabilities and capacity. The largest of these projects is a state-of-the-art SMS line at the San Luis Potosi, Mexico facility, which line began commercial production in the third quarter of 1995.”[Polymer Group, SEC Filing S-1/A, 5/7/96]
1995: Nearly Half of the Company’s Sales Were Derived from Operations Conducted Outside the United States. “The Company manufactures certain of its products in Germany, Canada, Mexico and the Netherlands. In 1995, approximately 42% of the Company’s net sales ($182.3 million) were derived from operations conducted outside the United States.” [Polymer Group, SEC Filing S-1/A, 5/7/96]
By 1999, Polymer Operated 23 Manufacturing Facilities “Strategically Located” in Eight Countries on Three Continents, Including Mexico and Argentina. Polymer reported in its 1998 Annual Report that, “PGI is currently in the final stages of building/acquiring new facilities in Colombia, Turkey, and China. With these new facilities, PGI will operate plants in 11 countries on four continents.” [Polymer Group, 1998 Annual Report]
Between 1993 and 2002, Sales From Polymer’s Foreign Manufacturing Facilities Increased From $28 Million to $404.6 Million. [Polymer Group, SEC Filing 10-K, 04/14/03]
2000: GTCRauner Exits Polymer Group. [Private Equity International, 05/04]
December 2001: Rauner and another GTCRauner Principal Remain on the Board of Directors. [Polymer Group, SEC Filing 10-K, 04/12/02]
May 2002: Polymer Group Files for Bankruptcy. [Associated Press, 05/13/02]
Subsequent filings show Rauner no longer listed as director after May 2002. [Polymer Group, SEC Filing 10-K , 05/1/02 (Amendment) , 04/14/03]
I get that “jobs outsourcing” is usually a bad thing for businessman candidates like Bruce Rauner, particularly when the story ends in bankruptcy.
But usually those stories include emotional tales of laid-off American workers. I don’t see any references to Americans losing their jobs here. Sure, he can be criticized for not opening American plants and hiring American workers, but this isn’t the best “hit” I’ve ever seen.
But, hey, maybe I’m wrong. Your opinions, please?
posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Aug 18, 14 @ 10:51 am
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A clinical examination of business transactions with a clinical ending doesn’t get people to think someone is good or bad…
…the results of what happens after the clinical examination and the clinical explanation of the ending need the, “how did that effect people?” close…
Otherwise, thus looks like a report from a stockholders’ meeting and not the hit piece they are trying to make it.
Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Aug 18, 14 @ 10:59 am
Quinn is saying that Rauner hates feminine hygiene products?
Comment by VanillaMan Monday, Aug 18, 14 @ 11:01 am
Does this mean Quinn is the leading outsourcer of Illinoisans?
Pay no mind to me, for I have nothing to run on. Just focus on being afraid of the other guy.
Comment by Formerly Known As... Monday, Aug 18, 14 @ 11:09 am
I’m sure the stories will be coming. The is the opening salvo. Why would any politician fire all their rounds right off?
Comment by admin Monday, Aug 18, 14 @ 11:11 am
Rich, you’re not wrong at all. Since most, if not all, of Team Quinn have never been off a public payroll, let alone had to meet one of their own, they struggle with business analysis.
Comment by Arthur Andersen Monday, Aug 18, 14 @ 11:11 am
expansion of an exisiting non-us business?
Factories are not cheap, I dont buy this as outsorucing. if he closed a factory in S IL, such as a long standing bakery, and moved it and those jobs thats another story….
Comment by Ghost Monday, Aug 18, 14 @ 11:12 am
This just continues the practice of “missing” by the Quinnsters…there is sure to be more.
Comment by JS Mill Monday, Aug 18, 14 @ 11:15 am
This is a lame hit. Still waiting to see his campaign explain why Quinn should be re-elected.
Comment by Cassiopeia Monday, Aug 18, 14 @ 11:16 am
More specifically, Rich hits the nail on the head.
After reading the press release twice, it seems to be missing the most crucial ingredient. No American plants closed, no American jobs shipped off, just a successful overseas company that continued expanding overseas.
It would have been interesting to learn more about the timing of his departure just before the bankruptcy. That could have been powerful stuff. Did he see the smoke early and head for the exits before anyone else could get out? Did he hang his fellow investors out to dry? How did the company go bankrupt with his expertise on the board?
But this? That is the big “hit”? Nope. Nada. Zero.
Comment by Formerly Known As... Monday, Aug 18, 14 @ 11:17 am
So they sell stuff all over the world and they made stuff all over the world?
It would almost seem logical to make some of that stuff sort of near where people use that stuff. It would seem that the shipping costs of light bulky items might preclude them from being made in just one location.
I could see how this would be a hit if they made all of it outside the US for the US.
Comment by OneMan Monday, Aug 18, 14 @ 11:20 am
It has now been 5 months since Quinn assembled his team experts. This is the best those wily vets of the Obama campaign and the de Blasio run can do?
No wonder Quinn traditionally has such little use for campaign “strategists” like them. It is a miracle any candidate wins with “expertise” like this at their service.
Comment by Formerly Known As... Monday, Aug 18, 14 @ 11:27 am
oh my gosh. what a ridiculously long press release. what kind of cracker jack operation are they running there?
Comment by Easy Monday, Aug 18, 14 @ 11:33 am
They need to hit Rauner on the aviation company in Waukegan where GTCR laid off 30% of workers.
Comment by Precinct Captain Monday, Aug 18, 14 @ 11:40 am
What is missing in the news release is “news.”
Make a campaign ad of it if you like.
But this story is at least 12 years old.
It needs a fresh hook: current voters outraged, investors left on the hook, accuse Rauner of hypocrisy, connivance, something.
Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Monday, Aug 18, 14 @ 11:40 am
Outsourcing is a red-meat issue for blue-collar men, a group Quinn has problems with. If he can dirty up Rauner and put him on defense, it lends itself to whole vulture capitalist/tax dodger theme.
Comment by wordslinger Monday, Aug 18, 14 @ 11:47 am
Well, there’s a story here, but the Quinnster’s aren’t smart enough to frame it correctly, much less understand it.
This was obviously a business failure. There’s an old adage in the military that goes something like this:
“You rarely learn anything new from your successes. You learn from your failures”.
My questions for Team Rauner would be:
1) Was this a success or a failure, If a failure, what did you learn?
02 If a failure, there were obviously some invalid business assumptions made? What were they, and why?
To me, that’s useful. I want to see how Team Rauner thinks, when they analyze problems, and results. That’s what the State of Illinois needs. We already see how Team Quinn thinks (or doesn’t), so I want a comparison.
—————–
In the above example, I’d point toward “installation of a new 4.2 meter SMS line with unique and proprietary capabilities”
Back originating in 1998 (only 16 years ago), and with failure occurring about 10 years ago, it’s pretty clear that changes in the marketplace occurred which clearly doomed this investment.
What were they, and what did Team Rauner learn from them?
It’s just too bad that Team Quinn seems to be incapable of performing the same types of analysis on their own failures.
Course, with Team Quinn, it seems to be more along the lines of “We gives them books to read, and they eats the covers”.
Comment by Judgment Day Monday, Aug 18, 14 @ 11:49 am
Another thing to remember here is Rauner’s responsibility. He’s not investing to create jobs. He’s investing to maximize return for his investors, which included plenty of public pensions from around the country. (As an aside, I don’t think the IL pensions were investors in the GTCR fund that held this company but not 100% sure.)
These funds have 10-year terms during which for the most part the investors’ money has to be put into companies for the intended purpose and then taken back out. It’s not a buy and hold type of investing. To say that GTCR “got out just before bankruptcy” may be nothing more than a question of needing to return investors’ capital as opposed to a “bail while we can” strategy.”
It’s also not unusual for PE-backed firms to have a member of the PE Fund on the firm’s board after the PE Fund exits the investment. The firms usually want it for transition and for the experience of the PE guys.
This may be inside baseball for most, but here you go.
Comment by Arthur Andersen Monday, Aug 18, 14 @ 11:49 am
What others have already said. Too long, too old and too international to resonate with voters.
Given Quinn’s economic credibility, he needs to contrast what he’d do with this “bad stuff” Rauner has done.
Oh wait. They don’t know what they’d do.
Comment by Sir Reel Monday, Aug 18, 14 @ 11:50 am
Agree that it is missing. Seems like the biggest thing Quinn is missing - the human interest story of someone affected by Rauner’s cutthroat business tactics. A relative of someone who stayed in a Rauner nursing home, a laid off employee of a Rauner company. Surely they are out there?
Comment by Robert the Bruce Monday, Aug 18, 14 @ 11:54 am
First —Caot Fax never wrong
Second — Real story is that Mr. Hands On, BizWiz sat on the board and helped the company got bankrupt…that sounds like a template for operations that IL needs at the top.
Be sure to catch all the gushing coverage of Mitt roaming around restaurants in central IL handing out free eats to his rentals.
Especially fun is how none of the media asks the adoring lifelong GOPies voters if they mind Mitt has totally reversed course on tax hikes = big lie in primary.
Comment by CircularFiringSquad Monday, Aug 18, 14 @ 11:56 am
“I don’t see any references to Americans losing their jobs here.”
This is a good point.
This is not 2012, and Bruce Rauner is not Mitt Romney.
From what I’ve seen, the Rauner Campaign is much better than Romney’s campaign.
The Quinn side should consider doing the nursing homes/long-term care homes and running the state like a business (while claiming to not know what executives were doing in the businesses, the “Sgt. Schultz” thing).
The nursing home controversy is ongoing because the plaintiffs are still trying to collect their massive awards, while the company may still be trying to go through the bankruptcy process.
Comment by Grandson of Man Monday, Aug 18, 14 @ 11:58 am
Quinn may be sliding down a slippery slope here.
How many state employees’ jobs have been “outsourced” in state government during his administration so that money could be freed up for corrupt boondoggles like NRI? From what I’ve read, the Illinois decrease in number of employees hasn’t actually been from less people doing the work, it’s from MORE outsourced workers participating and LESS direct state hires drawing paychecks.
How does this play with a “union backed” Governor Quinn base?
Comment by Arizona Bob Monday, Aug 18, 14 @ 12:02 pm
NAFTA? Really? That’s where everyone is going to stop reading.
I mean, there might be a Republican wave coming in November, but I didn’t realize it was 1994.
Have you guys heard that hot new band, Ace of Base? I just can’t get “The Sign” out of my head.
Comment by ChrisB Monday, Aug 18, 14 @ 12:05 pm
Judgment Day:
I think it is very difficult to make the argument that Rauner is a billionaire one day and a business failure the next.
The more difficult narrative is to paint a picture of a guy who has gotten ahead by stepping on everyone else.
It isn’t just that he avoided taxes. It is that we all are forced to make up the difference.
It isn’t just that he clouted his kid into Walter Payton. But some other kid was denied the same chance.
It isn’t just that he outsourced jobs, but he got rich by paying someone $2 a day.
It isn’t just that he wants to cut taxes for the wealthiest Illinoisans by $600 million, but he wants to raise sales taxes by $600 million to pay for it.
Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Monday, Aug 18, 14 @ 12:06 pm
lets not kid ourselves a lot of people are going to stop reading at
feminine hygiene products
Comment by OneMan Monday, Aug 18, 14 @ 12:13 pm
YDD -seriously you shouldn’t just give that sort of message development away for free. The Quinn campaign is wasting lots of money on people who are doing a worse job of it. Bottle that stuff and sell it YDD !
Comment by Siriusly Monday, Aug 18, 14 @ 12:18 pm
This is the lamest class warfare campaign I’ve see so far.
Hard to believe that there are paid consultants who are coming with this weak silliness.
Comment by plutocrat03 Monday, Aug 18, 14 @ 12:24 pm
- YDD -,
Nicely laid out. The Quinn Crew is foolish not going at this angle. They aren’t listening.
It’s the angle on the people effected by the the selfish, insider, choices Bruce Rauner has made in life. It’s who he really is, not the caricature Bruce Rauner is hoping to sell. Rauner is wealthy enough that he scoffs at hypocrisy, and the voters too.
You are On It, - YDD -.
Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Aug 18, 14 @ 12:25 pm
Agree with OW. YDD nailed it.
Rauner acted in the interest of shareholders and invested in companies working outside of the U.S. Makes good business sense - at least in this case (and many others, I’m sure). Check.
As Governor, his “shareholders” are now all citizens of IL, for whom the best interest is bringing jobs and revenue to the state. But, as a business owner, he appears to feel that IL and/or the U.S. isn’t the best place to invest. So what’s his argument now to CEOs, shareholders, etc.? Invest in this state/country that, when I was in your shoes, I wouldn’t? Do as I say, not as I do…or something like that.
Comment by Left Leaner Monday, Aug 18, 14 @ 12:35 pm
Arthur Andersen at 11:49 is on point as usual. “Inside baseball” or not, you do a nice job explaining some intricate points I did not want to get in to and could never have summarized so well.
Point being, there could be “scandal” to the fund’s timing and departure or it could be completely kosher”. Either way, if there were to be any “fire” behind the “smoke” of this press release, that is where it may have been found - not in this toothless “outsourcing” hit.
This ties into Yellow Dog Democrat’s 12:06 comment. If this is GTCR departing Polymer Group as part of normal fund operations, then “meh”. If this is GTCR profiting by abandoning ship and leaving others holding the bag, we have a story. If this is just a fund investing in an overseas company, then “meh”. If this is Bruce Rauner shipping Americans jobs overseas to increase his own bottom line, we have a story.
So far, the Quinn campaign’s aim seems to be a hair off from the bullseye.
Comment by Formerly Known As... Monday, Aug 18, 14 @ 12:38 pm
@left leaner
=So what’s his argument now to CEOs, shareholders, etc.? Invest in this state/country that, when I was in your shoes, I wouldn’t?=
Pretty simple. His argument is that we’re going to get competitive in Illinois by reforming our workman’s comp costs down to the rates in Indiana and Missouri, we’re going become a “right to work” state to give you more control over your companies’ labor costs and not make you vulnerable to making big cuts here like John Deere,and we’re going to shift pension costs to local schools so that irresponsbile school districts will be resonsible for the excessive salaries they pay to senior faculty and pay for those “end of career bumps” they make to have the state pay far more than the employees earned through contributions.
Oh, yeah, we’re also going to make schools that can afford to pay 43 year old teachers over $120K for 177 days of work do it without state funding. If they can overpay by that much,they don’t need Illinois TAXPAYER money!
We’re also going to streamline permitting and regulatory requirements so that no business needs more than 30 days from application to opening their doors.
Actually, if you look at Illinois objectively and discount the “corruption factor”, the business costs really aren’t prohibitive, but this culture has branded Illinois with CEOs, and Rauner can change that brand with some reasonable action from the GA.
Last week a poll of 500 top CEOs came out, ranking the business climates of each state. This wasn’t necessarily knowlegeable CEOs who knew the facts; it was just a gauge of their perception of the state business climates.
Arizona came in as the sixth best, and I believe Illinois was in the bottom five.
A few pro business moves on pensions, right to work, WC,and education funding reform could give something on which to change that perception.
But you’re in Illinois, where the state song should include the line, ..and then we’ll allll go down…. together…” from that sixties tune.
Will the last business to leave Illinois please remember to turn off the lights…
Comment by Arizona Bob Monday, Aug 18, 14 @ 12:57 pm
==the Illinois decrease in number of employees hasn’t actually been from less people doing the work==
Think again Bob.
To the post . . . This is a swing and a miss, though he is at least swinging in the right direction. You need to pound away at Rauner for things like this. This is the only way you are going to ding his support in my opinion. Right or wrong the average person has a lot of disdain for big businessmen. They see them as getting rich off of everybody else’s backs.
Comment by Demoralized Monday, Aug 18, 14 @ 12:57 pm
When any of these class warfare attacks move the polling results wake me up ok. Right now it doesn’t seem to be working, what is plan B?
Lucky Pat needs to roll the dice here and pick a new strategy, its not too late.
Comment by Rod Monday, Aug 18, 14 @ 1:10 pm
i have been successful in every thing i`ve done? profit taking rules
Comment by Anonymous Monday, Aug 18, 14 @ 1:25 pm
Maybe — if the latest story on the Sun Times is true — Rauner is ready to punch someone?
That’s all we need. Yeah, that kind of talk sure gets the base fired up.
Comment by Frenchie Mendoza Monday, Aug 18, 14 @ 1:28 pm
debottle sounds like raiding not venture capitalism
Comment by Anonymous Monday, Aug 18, 14 @ 1:55 pm
===Pretty simple. His argument is that we’re going to get competitive in Illinois by reforming our workman’s comp costs down to the rates in Indiana and Missouri, we’re going become a “right to work” state to give you more control over your companies’ labor costs and not make you vulnerable to making big cuts here like John Deere,and we’re going to shift pension costs to local schools so that irresponsbile school districts will be resonsible for the excessive salaries they pay to senior faculty and pay for those “end of career bumps” they make to have the state pay far more than the employees earned through contributions.===
There is the - Arizona Bob - we all know;
Teachers bad! Unions bad! Tort reform!
All that swell analysis will not remotely help in governing.
Workman’s comp/Tort reform in this next GA? Not even remotely a possibility, given that neither chamber will change hands.
Teachers? Unions? Pensions?
If it were so easy, it would be done already, avid you seem to forget about the pesky Constitution.
I thought you would also like local control? If New Trier can steal away teachers for an agreed Union salary with an elected school board, isn’t that free market?
===Will the last business to leave Illinois please remember to turn off the lights…===
@FakeStatehouseChick - what a great line. I used it when I wanted to seem clever and cool with my writing. Glad you used it too! #LemmingThoughtfulness
Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Aug 18, 14 @ 1:56 pm
Playground Politics. Don’t look at me look at the other guy. I guess that’s what one does when they’re under federal investigation.
Comment by Empty Suit Monday, Aug 18, 14 @ 2:04 pm
Funny how something is somehow “class warfare” if it attacks a GOP candidate.
Equally ridiculous is the frequent charge of “racism” when people attack a Dem president.
Nonsense from both sides.
Comment by Anonymous Monday, Aug 18, 14 @ 3:03 pm
Thanks everyone.
Which job do you think would be more frustrating: trying to advice Team Quinn on communications, or trying to advise Team Rauner on public policy?
Both would probably drive me to drinking again, but many days I think if we could somehow combine Pat Quinn and Bruce Rauner, taking the best parts of both, we might actually have a governor worthy of this great state which my family has called home for more than 100 years now.
Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Monday, Aug 18, 14 @ 3:04 pm
When all is said and done, what of this professional experience reflects skills that Rauner could use to be a better governor? That is all that matters here.
Outsourcing, and maximizing profits for investors, while overriding and ignoring many other goals, demonstrate that Rauner was very good at his job — but those aren’t goals or options available for a governor.
Comment by walker Monday, Aug 18, 14 @ 3:35 pm
–Will the last business to leave Illinois please remember to turn off the lights… –
Catchy and original.
Obviously, you’re not following the commercial real estate market in the Chicago area. Money talks more than tired talking points.
Comment by wordslinger Monday, Aug 18, 14 @ 3:59 pm
@wordslinger
=Catchy and original.
Obviously, you’re not following the commercial real estate market in the Chicago area. Money talks more than tired talking points.=
Yep, that’s why money is NOT in the Chicago commercial real estate market due to anti business policies. Retail and industrial is leaving, and little is getting replaced with new tenants.
Law offices are shrinking space.
The downtown vacancy rate is still over 14% and the suburban office vacancy rate I believe is still over 23%. That stinks compared to national averages in recovery of 11-12%.
If the jobs aren’t there, the twenty and thirty somethings downtown and in Lincoln Park won’t stay, depressing the housing market.
I still own affordable rental property in Cook county, and the rental market is great in that area where people have lost their homes and taken pay cuts. Cap rates are over 10%, and ROI after financing are in the 25-30% range.
There really isn’t much growing in Illinois. Some tech, but it isn’t nearly as attractive as Austin or Palo Alto.
When the Dems dump the burden on businesses and taxpayers for all those excessive pension benefits they refused to fund , look for the mass exodus!
The illinois future does not look bright for anyone except the political class and ag, until the pols suck the state dry. MAYBE then people will hold those “Precinct Captains”, “Wordslingers” and “Left Leaners” accountable and make a real change to bring the sate back. When that happens, and hope returns, I’d love to come back despite the weather!
Comment by Arizona Bob Monday, Aug 18, 14 @ 5:12 pm
Bob, is there anything upon which you are not qualified to opine? You never cease to amaze me.
So, you’re still invested in Illinois RE despite having personally fled to AZ? Those slumlord cap rates are just too good to pass up, eh.
Comment by Arthur Andersen Monday, Aug 18, 14 @ 5:54 pm
@Arizona Bob:
It was business groups and the tycoons like Rauner who blocked efforts to fund pensions at the state level and in Cook County.
Do you think Daley was looking out for working families when he dumped $270 million in costs for Millennium Park on Chicago taxpayers? Can you imagine if that had gone into the pension system ten years ago instead?
Instead, we have an edifice to the corporate giants of Chicago downtown with their names plastered all over it, funded primarily at taxpayer expense.
Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Monday, Aug 18, 14 @ 8:19 pm
You just have to love those “free trade” agreements! These types of stories used to surprise me, but not so much anymore. It’s easier to leave the investors on the hook for the bill!
Comment by LA Bankruptcy Attorney Wednesday, Aug 20, 14 @ 6:58 pm