Boise, Idaho -- Idaho is better than our Northwest neighbors Oregon and Washington.
That's the word from Governor C.L. "Butch" Otter who said the Gem State is open for business. The Governor's office is going after some big companies to create jobs and they're finding they don't have to look that hard.
Recently our neighbors in the Beaver State approved new taxes on the wealthy and many businesses.
"As the Governor mentioned, as soon as the Oregon folks went ahead and passed over $700 million in taxes, our phones started ringing over here. Not only at the Governor's Office, but over across the street at the Department of Commerce," said Otter's Press Secretary Jon Hanian.
Nearly two months ago, Nike founder Phil Knight wrote a guest opinion in The Oregonian newspaper. He wrote, "Measures 66 and 67 should be labeled Oregon's Assisted Suicide Law II.They will allow us to watch a state slowly killing itself. They are anti-business, anti-success, anti-inspirational, anti-humanitarian, and most ironically, in the long run, they will deprive the state of tax revenue, not increase it."
His words have inspired Otter and the State Department of Commerce to add to the Micron's and Hewlett Packard's of Idaho with major corporations like Nike.
"When they feel pain, they start looking. I think they're starting to feel some pain in Oregon and Washington. And Idaho is here. We have less regulation, we have a great stable government and so we're reaching out to those businesses," said Idaho Department of Commerce Administrator Bibiana Nertney.
Knight pointed out several large companies have left the Northwest for greener pastures in states with lower taxes. Oregon companies such as US Bank and Georgia Pacific, along with Washington's Boeing corporation, have all moved their headquarters.
Otter and company believe Idaho is positioned to capitalize on the situation.
"We believe we can do that by attracting businesses. We're not going to do it by raising taxes. Which is why nobody, at least in this office, is talking about doing that," said Hanian.
Perhaps the Nike founder, who is a University of Oregon graduate with self-proclaimed webbed feet, could start a new trend. We'll just have to wait and see.supra skytop
The Tax Foundation ranks Idaho at 17th in the nation for corporate tax burden. That's a number that is more appealing than Oregon's ranking of 31.nike air yeezy
The governor's efforts are all part of his Project 60 initiative to increase the state's gross domestic product from $51 billion annually to $60 billion.
