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* Michael Holewinski is the chairman of the Illinois Manufacturers Association and president of Ace Industries. He has a must-read op-ed in today’s Tribune…
A lot has been said over the last two years about the business climate in Illinois and, unfortunately, very little of it has been positive. In particular, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who is speaking Tuesday in Springfield, seems to enjoy using us as a foil to detract from the challenges he faces in his own state. Does Illinois have problems? Of course. Our financial difficulties are serious and must be addressed.
A thoughtful analysis, however, shows that Illinois is a great place to do business because it is where the business is. This isn’t an attack on Wisconsin. While Wisconsin is a great place to vacation, Illinois is where you want to locate your company.
According to a comprehensive state-by-state analysis by the 2012 Competitiveness Redbook, our state has twice the population of the Badger State and our workers earn 12 percent more than their Wisconsin counterparts — that’s more consumers with more money to spend.
Our workers are more productive. Wisconsin ranks 46th nationally in worker productivity. We have twice the gross domestic product of Wisconsin and export twice as much. More businesses are started in Illinois and we rank higher in high-tech employment opportunities. As the nation recovers from the recession, Illinois is creating jobs at a rate 10 times greater than Wisconsin. We are spending more on research and development. We have five times the venture capital investment. We are producing more people with science and engineering advanced degrees. While the recession has been brutal, we are working our way out of it. We are investing in our people and our businesses.
Make extra sure to go read the whole thing.
I’ll have a live video feed of Walker’s speech, which is expected to start at 10 o’clock. The video will be on a separate post, so you can chew on this one until then.
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Apr 17, 12 @ 9:16 am
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The guy is a longtime pat quinn donor and friend. Hat tip to the quinn people for the nice stunt. But to me this reads like an indictment of his administration. The “positives” he discusses-the size of the state population, the private universities in chicago, really having nothing to do with his administration.
http://www.newsmeat.com/fec/bystate_detail.php?city=Chicago&st=IL&last=Holewinski&first=Michael
Comment by Shore Tuesday, Apr 17, 12 @ 9:32 am
He shoots and he scores!
Excellent representation of the Illinois advantage. It doesn’t slam Wisconsin, it simply points out (with verifiable facts) why Illinois offers more.
Comment by Aldyth Tuesday, Apr 17, 12 @ 9:35 am
Wouldn’t everyone want to work where they go on vacation?
Just a bunch of talking points.
e.g. workers earn 12% more in Illinois than in WI. How much extra does hosing cost in Illinois than in WI. That alone kills any wage advantage.
Comment by Plutocrat03 Tuesday, Apr 17, 12 @ 9:43 am
Plutocrat03 - We do indeed get extra hosing in Illinois.
Are you sure that wasn’t a Freudian slip?
Comment by Aldyth Tuesday, Apr 17, 12 @ 9:55 am
@ Shore - So you’re trying to say the only factor in industrial plant siting is whether you like the governor?
Comment by olddog Tuesday, Apr 17, 12 @ 9:55 am
===Wouldn’t everyone want to work where they go on vacation?===
Um, no.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Apr 17, 12 @ 10:01 am
Just pray that Illinois, Wisconsin Indiana and other states stop the race to the bottom. We can’t keep giving tax breaks on top of incentives to lure companies across state lines. We really do end up hurting ourselves.
Comment by Fed up Tuesday, Apr 17, 12 @ 10:10 am
Holewinski makes some strong arguments- more venture capital investment, more science/engineering grads. But “workers earn 12% more in Illinois than in WI” is a weak argument designed to keep/recruit employers - “hey, potential employers, you have to pay 12% more in Illinois than Wisconsin!”
Comment by Robert Tuesday, Apr 17, 12 @ 10:13 am
Big fan of the way Holewinski writes this. It almost comes straight from the Quinn press shop.
For example, our higher labor costs are nothing for businesses to concern themselves with, since these are strictly “consumers with more money to spend”.
I respect the man for taking his time to write a defense of our state, especially with Walker in town. But some of these lines… seriously?
Comment by Freeman Tuesday, Apr 17, 12 @ 10:14 am
“Um, no”
Then why go there in the first place? :’)
Comment by Plutocrat03 Tuesday, Apr 17, 12 @ 10:14 am
Robert - The flip side is that those employees have 12% more income to spend. Business is a little more complex than just getting people to work for as little as possible.
Comment by Small Town Liberal Tuesday, Apr 17, 12 @ 10:17 am
- Then why go there in the first place? :’) -
You seem to struggle with the whole concept of vacation. I go to a music festival in Tennessee every year, but that’s pretty much the only attraction I have to that state. I also enjoy riding my motorcycle in Colorado and Wyoming, but I also don’t see myself moving to those states any time soon. Personally I like to live where the work gets done, and vacation where it doesn’t.
Comment by Small Town Liberal Tuesday, Apr 17, 12 @ 10:22 am
the competitiveness redbook is a study put out by the washington state chamber of commerce-that’s a long way to go to get your facts.
I would be curious to see how many of his members agree with his happy talk.
Comment by Shore Tuesday, Apr 17, 12 @ 10:31 am
Well, that explains why Disneyland gets so many resumes.
– MrJM
Comment by MrJM Tuesday, Apr 17, 12 @ 10:40 am
Some people refuse to hear anything positive about Illinois. Why they stay here is beyond me. Perhaps they’d be malcontents no matter where they are.
The facts of the matter are that private investment has made Illinois the fifth largest state economy.
Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Apr 17, 12 @ 10:47 am
Apparently Plutocrat is unfamiliar with the phrase, “What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas”
Comment by hisgirlfriday Tuesday, Apr 17, 12 @ 10:48 am
@ plutocrato3
==Wouldn’t everyone want to work where they go on vacation?==
Took the family out to Yellowstone 2 years ago in June. Beautiful country, wonderful vacation.
Have no desire to LIVE in the same spot where it snowed 6″ in a few hours IN JUNE, closing all the road for 12 hours, and leaving us stuck in our hotel for nearly an extra day.
Great to visit, terrible place to live.
Comment by How Ironic Tuesday, Apr 17, 12 @ 11:13 am
@Shore
You seem to ignore, arguably, the best research university in the state: the University of Illinois in Urbana. Not in Chicago. Not any worse, and in several aspect much better, as a research university than UChicago or Northwestern.
Comment by Aaron Tuesday, Apr 17, 12 @ 11:36 am
Imagine, the head of the IMA touting his state, instead of bad-mouthing it the way Republicans are wont to do.
An inconvenient fact he cites is the 2011 Ernst & Young study that ranked IL as the 5th lowest state in effective tax rate, considering all state an local taxes. Fith lowest. You’d never know it listening to the bash-Obama’s-home-state crowd.
Comment by reformer Tuesday, Apr 17, 12 @ 1:54 pm
It’s a nice article, and thanks for sharing it. I know someone who lives and works here but hates Quinn and the tax increase. This person could always go to Wisconsin, which has a progressive income tax, and where this person would pay something like a 6.5% state income tax as opposed to 5% here.
Comment by Grandson of Man Tuesday, Apr 17, 12 @ 3:23 pm
“e.g. workers earn 12% more in Illinois than in WI. How much extra does hosing cost in Illinois than in WI. That alone kills any wage advantage.”
If Illinois has more people earning higher than the average personal or household salary than Wisconsin, then it seems that it would negate the higher housing costs. I would bet that Illinois has more wealthy people than Wisconsin.
Comment by Grandson of Man Tuesday, Apr 17, 12 @ 4:10 pm
True Dat, Wordslinger!
Some more Inconvenient Truths for self-loathing Illinoisans:
Last Month, Site Selection ranked Chicago as the second-best metropolitan location for business in the country, right behind Houston.
Wisconsin didn’t make the list.
In November, Illinois ranked 21st in the country for business climate. While we can and should do better, its worth noting that Wisconsin didn’t make the Top 25, nor did South Dakota and Delaware, which have the most corporate-friendly tax codes in the country.
I know folks hate to admit it, but things like R&D, good transportation networks, reliable energy, fast internet, and a skilled workforce far outweigh tax policy, tort law, union rules and other items on the GOP agenda.
Most importantly, every CEO asks themselves “Do I really want to live and raise my family in Tulsa?” when deciding where to locate their corporate HQ.
Should Pat Quinn take credit for the fact that Illinois is a great place to do business? Not 100%, or even close.
But should Pat Quinn, IMA and the Illinois Chamber be reminding everyone what a great place Illinois is to do business? Absolutely.
YDD
P.S. I don’t see anywhere in that oped where the IMA gives Quinn credit.
Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Tuesday, Apr 17, 12 @ 4:59 pm