Let Us Cross Over The River ...

... and take the jobs to New Hampshire.

Comments

[Lazarus Long]

Ouch!

[James Ehlers]

From the article:
"Rockingham officials have been doing everything they could to convince the company to stay, including bringing in state economic development experts, but with the vote this week by the Walpole Zoning Board, it appears all but decided that the company will move to New Hampshire. ...

"We did what we could to help keep them here but if they were determined to go elsewhere then that's their business," Ewald said. "We have no other tricks up our sleeves."

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Again, we business owners do not need tricks, bribes nor "state experts" to convince us of what is best for our business. We need the competitive atmosphere afforded through less government involvement in the private sector, not more. Politicians may be able to dupe the public, but balance sheets are a little harder to fool. The bleeding will continue until Vermont officials concentrate on analyzing the regulations they have enacted and the costs these have created for business start-ups and operation. Then compare them to other states. No emotions. No tricks. We prefer reason. We prefer trade.

Every day another business doesn't locate here and never gets started because the numbers are run, and they do not add up in the black. And we will never read it about. It will just up in the numbers.

No new significant net private sector job growth since 2000. Wish that was a trick.

[G. Cross]

Read the facts of the case folks:

"Miller said the company has long ago outgrown its space in Rockingham and there were no options for purchasing more property nearby for expansion."

If you know anything about Rockingham, finding space for a new facility the size this operation needs is not a simple task. While the facility may move to NH, the workers will undoubtedly continue to live where they are now. It is time to stop thinking about the Connecticut River as a dividing line between two states and to start thinking about the valley on both sides of the river as an economic region. To a large degree this has already happened up the river a few miles in the Hanover/White River area. A new or expanding business on either side of the river is good for both states.

[James Ehlers]

Dear Mr. Cross,
I agree with you, finding competitive space is difficult--anywhere in Vermont. The costs are just too high, thus another business moves, and not to China, but across the river.

It is pleasant sounding to consider the NH portion of the CT River Valley as one with Vermont, but do you believe NH will contribute their corporate and property tax dollars to fund Vermont schools and other infrastructure? Looking at it another way, how much retail business growth is there on the Vermont side of the river, as opposed to the NH side?

Sincerely,
James Ehlers