I want to share parts of a comment that was posted on our local newspaper site. The site does not provide any ability to link to, or react to a comment, but I want to share this as widely as possible.
The RW of course are pretending to be outraged that Governor Dayton vetoed a set of bills written by Alec . The author of the blockquoted words is "swmnguy". (SWMN in this case most likely stands for SouthWest MN, not the other thing...)
Please Google the following phrase: "most fortune 500 companies per capita."
I work coordinating business meetings for Fortune 500 companies. I live and work in Minneapolis. I do a lot of traveling, and everywhere I go my local counterparts say, "It must be great to live in Minneapolis. You've got such a high standard living for such relatively low costs, great schools and arts and sports and culture, and all those Fortune 500 company headquarters!
[Snip]
[Snip] For the money I make and the business opportunities I earn, compared to the lower costs of living and higher standard, no way would I live in New York, LA, or Phoenix, Orlando or Las Vegas.
I make money in Minnesota too, and I agree with this sentiment.
I sit in corporate board meetings at the highest level. They complain a lot in public about our business climate, but never amongst themselves.
I don't sit in any corporate board meetings, but I know lots of wealthy people who love our state, even ones that live and thrive in Michelle Bachmans district!
Key indicator: JCPenney just hired Michael Francis, Target's former Executive VP of Marketing. JCP is headquartered in Plano, TX. Great business climate in Texas, right? JCPenney just opened a Marketing Headquarters in Wayzata, so Mr. Francis and his family wouldn't have to move to Texas, and to take advantage of the vastly superior marketing and business culture and resources in the Minneapolis area.
These are the kinds of verifiable back stories that we need to hear more of. One of my neighbors came here from a so called "business friendly" state to grow his business in a state with a better educated , harder working population.
If you're waiting for "the last business to leave the state [to] please turn out the lights," you're going to be waiting for a long, long time. Probably long enough that, given the pace of climate change, people aren't worried about our winters anymore.
Hear That!