Evergreen Solar given dumptruck full of cash by Patrick
So Deval Patrick's posterchild for retaining companies by giving them giant wads of cash, Evergreen Solar, is touting how they're going to triple their employee count. It's a big thank you for that 44 million dollars Patrick gave them. Unfortunately, almost exactly a year ago, Evergreen Solar was bragging about how it'd double its workforce to 650. Well, it's April 2008, and the company has 300 workers; oops. That's a bit of a disappointment. Also curious that a company bragging about "increasing annual sales fourfold to approximately $100 million in 2006" (and just raised $200M in capital) was deemed deserving of such a massive handout. Talk about a great ROI for Evergreen.
Think of all the rural and urban small business loans that could have been given with that $44M (which would have come back to the state in interest) and would have strengthened the economy in a much more sector and geographically diversified manner. On the plus side, $44M pales in comparison to the one billion dollar handout to the poor, starving biotech industry.
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Tax Breaks
I think it's safe to say that businesses moving out of the commonwealth over the last few years has been pretty well documented. If there's anyone out there disagreeing with this, I haven't seen it. The question then becomes, how do we retain these businesses. I think it's also safe to say that businesses are moving out because of three things: 1) our complex business tax code; 2) our limited amount of space; and 3) our incredibly high cost of living. So, we can revise the tax code (which usually gets shot down by someone), or we can build more (which ALWAYS gets shot down by someone), or we can offer tax breaks (which people oppose but not to the extent that they don't get passed). So, to quickly sum up, it's either tax breaks, revise the tax code, or build more. Pick your poison!
strength comes from diversity
...because they're getting offered huge tax breaks we can't afford to offer. Everyone wants biotech- it's the new hot thing. Well, like that shiny new BMW, since everyone wants 'em, they're "expensive" to keep.
ONE BILLION DOLLARS. Gone, from the treasury, if Deval has his way. He wants to spend another 4 billion on roads. Where the fuck is this money going to come from, especially with residents leaving? Answer: your paycheck. That money is being handed to an industry that is rolling giddily in piles of gold and burning hundred dollar bills to keep warm, whilest collecting billions of dollars in grants from the Federal government for research, but then turning around and claiming that the reason they need to bend you over for your pills is "research and development costs."
Deval should have said, "you want to leave the largest collection of universities and colleges in the country? The largest, highest educated labor pool? Sure, be my guest", and then turned around and dumped a bunch of money into supporting all the various small industry sectors so that Massachusetts doesn't turn into the Biotech version of states that are completely dependent on cattle, coal, etc...and then get held over a barrel by those industries. Not to mention, spreading the wealth slightly beyond the 128 belt. You know, like on the Cape where residents are pretty much slaves of the tourist industry, and out west where Springfield has become a complete shithole?
But hey, let's keep Biogen happy...
Better Yet
If the state took that money and put it into universal health care, more people could afford to leave full-time corporate employ and have/run small businesses. Some of these small businesses would grow (and could grow, if they weren't crippled by health care costs) and create a diverse economy.
(yes, a bit utopian and off-the-cuff here, but I'd like to see a cost benefit analysis versus dumping big money on big players)
smartest thing you've said all year
...let the money trickle down to biotech, not the other way around.
Then again, most of the reason people need universal health care is because of how much drugs cost.
Case Study
Look at what happened with computer companies in the 80s and 90s. Why is everything in California and not Massachusetts? I'm not arguing for tax breaks, personally I think the problem centers around the high cost of living and the high cost of doing business. But until we are willing to address the tax code and the zoning code, tax breaks are the only tool we're left with. Don't like tax breaks? Then lobby your Reps to build more housing, more office/lab space, and a simpler tax code. But don't complain about the tax breaks like they exist in a vacuum.