I hope the NB government markets the heck out of this. It is a very flattering editorial on New Brunswick and its recent round of tax cuts. The writer ends his piece with this conclusion:
You may recall that, a few years ago, Ohio’s then-governor, a Republican, took similar measures, which were subsequently embraced by his Democratic successor, Ted Strickland. To my mind, that policy and Ohio’s three consecutive Site Selection Governor’s Cup Awards and its Department of Development winning the 2008 Competitiveness Award (page 310) are no coincidence. Congratulations, again, to Ohio and to the winning communities in this year’s Top Groups recognition. And way to go, New Brunswick!
It doesn’t really matter that Ohio businesses pay far more in taxes (total) than New Brunswick businesses (relative to overall taxes collected). In New Brunswick, before the tax cut, businesses only contributed about 2.3% of the overall government revenue. In Ohio, it is much higher. Companies have to pay income tax, sales tax and a host of other taxes. So corporate tax cuts in Ohio are likely to be more impactful than the corporate tax cuts here (which amount to about the cost of a cup of Starbucks coffee per day for the average business in New Brunswick).
But I’ve made that point before to no avail. So now if the government can get marketing value out of these tax cuts – I say go for it. Site Selection magazine is delivered to the desk of the VP Real Estate of most large companies in the United States. This is good PR.
Good PR, with a LOT riding on it. We saw how Bernard Lord did with lower taxes, since the WHOLE idea of NB’s budget is attracting outside businesses and professionals, we’ll see exactly how many companies take advantage of it.
Site Selection Magazine may not be the be all you think it is, it is obviously VERY right wing. You might want to check out “The Plot to Save the Planet: How entrepreneurs and Corporations are Re-Inventing themselves”. After manufacturers fled from most of the states to Mexico, it was only a matter of time before state’s started taxing them if they are selling within its borders. It’s interesting that the writer here doesn’t assume PRODUCTS are a ‘physical presence’-only manufacturing facilities and employees. Those are the states with half a brain.
But now with BNB’s new blog, we’ll see how many bites this gets..its also interesting that the clip at BNB is about Graham talking about Moncton and Fredericton in this contest, and NOT about the same thing this editorial is (and btw, Graham has been a politician for over ten years, he isn’t ‘new’ to public speaking).