Farmer Brothers, which employs 1,200 and generates $200 million in annual sales to restaurants, hotels, hospitals and universities, is nationally headquartered in California.
But Farmer Brothers has announced that it will be moving its headquarters out of the Golden State – because of California’s high taxes and oppressive regulations.
The company announced that it will be in search of a state where business is appreciated. This exodus will follow the departure of Toyota, which has moved to Texas.
Further California business transfers include the following:
- Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems
- Occidental Petroleum
- Firearms retailer Rifle Gear
- Nissan
The Orange County Register in Southern California reported that these California-departing corporations are moving to Florida, Utah, Nevada, Colorado, Arizona or Texas.
The Tax Foundation found that California businesses face the third-largest state and local business tax burdens in the United States.
Governing magazine, which surveyed business owners, gave Texas, Utah, Idaho and Virginia the grade of A+ and Tennessee an A. But California, where it found businesses strangled by red tape, got an F.
Chief Executive Magazine has listed California last in its ranking of “best states/worst states.”
The Mercatus Center at Virginia’s George Mason University rated California 49th, noting that that state “taxes and regulates its economy more than most other states.” It ranks California last in regulatory freedom and 49th in occupational licensing regulations.
As a result, jobs in California are drying up, and workers realize it – as indicated by the fact that this year (for the fourth straight year) California will see a net outflow of residents moving to lower-tax states.
And how does one of the most colorful of all our state governors react to all of this?
Gov. Jerry Brown has pleaded with companies to remain in California – and has scolded those who have not and who intend to move.
But, in one of the most incredible of all gubernatorial estimates, he declared:
“We’ve got a few problems. We have lots of little burdens and regulations and taxes.”
But in addition to his mind-boggling estimate of “little burdens,” neither this governor nor the state Legislature in Sacramento is reported to have any plans to do anything about it.
That led the editorial page of the Washington Times to note:
“Until they do only the brave, if not foolish, set up a business in California.”
The Times editorial went on to conclude:
“Technology and an increasingly competent workforce enable companies to put their headquarters almost anywhere in America, and more and more companies are fleeing in search of places where they are appreciated, where they can provide jobs and return profits to their shareholders.
“The decision to leave by the company established by young Roy Farmer a century ago isn’t the aberration that many California ‘leaders’ try to think it is. It’s a fact of life. Soon the question won’t be, ‘Which business will leave California next?’ But: ‘Will there be any businesses left?'”
This raises the question: Of all of California’s daily newspapers, TV and radio stations (more than any other state), how many have published or broadcast anything like this Washington Times editorial, subheadlined: “A Hostile Business Climate Sends More Companies to Friendlier States”?
Media wishing to interview Les Kinsolving, please contact [email protected].
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