So there, Boeing: put this in your smipe and poke it
Boeing is known for its complaining that Washington State is a lousy place to do business.
Yesterday (September 22) the Tax Foundation came out with its new state rankings for business-friendly tax states. Washington’s ranking: #9. South Carolina: #26. North Carolina (the runner up in the 787 Line 1 competition): #39. Texas (second runner up for Line 1): #11. The four-page Executive Summary is here. The 60-page full report is here.
Today (September 23), Forbes came out with its list. The results: Washington is #2 (up from #3). South Carolina: #25. North Carolina: #5. Texas: #8.
These lists will be music to labor’s ears because they constantly fight the perception that Boeing is an aggrieved company to Washington’s incompetent business system.
It’s not as simple as all this, of course, but these two new lists do take a little wind out of the sails of those crabbing about Washington State.
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Leeham News and Comment
- Comparing the 787, 777-200/300ER and the 777-8/9X May 17, 2013
- Assessing the A350 program May 16, 2013
- Boeing gets launch order for MAX 7 May 15, 2013
- Taking care of business at the airframe OEMs May 15, 2013
- EADS earnings and Airbus A350, A380 updates May 14, 2013
The problem as I see it, is that Boeing does not really care and seem to just do what they want as it suits them. If news comes out to support their assertions, they use it to its full potential. Should news come out that does not suit them, they merely ignore it.
I’ll pile on here. The all new 09′ Forbes ‘Best States For Business’ list is out just yesterday:
http://www.forbes.com/2009/09/23/best-states-for-business-beltway-best-states.html
Rankings:
Washington: #2
Texas: #8
North Carolina: #5
South Carolina: #25
All these ‘Washington is bad for Boeing and bad for business’ people need to take a breather. Including Boeing’s executive leadership.
There is increasingly little to back up your claims, and as for Boeing in particular, it looks more and more like a simple case of anti labor psychological warfare in combination with a taxpayer shakedown.
I’m sick and tired of people badmouthing Washington, especially those supposedly trying to “help” it.
Here’s the great collection of business-climate rankings (including last year’s Tax Foundation ranking that Washington just improved upon) that all show the Everegree State consistently outperforms its aerospace competitors.
http://www.wslc.org/reports/Outside-EC1.htm
Oops. “Evergreen State.”
While I’ve never believed the Boeing company line as far as business climate in Washington State, I’ve always read between the lines on that claim as really meaning they didn’t like their ‘organized labor’ climate.
Without looking at the criteria by which these business climate rankings were produced, one must wonder if any of the weighting criteria had any correlation to Boeing’s priorities. Heck, even I’d probably like to work for Boeing in Washington…if it were a “right to work” state.