{"id":30342,"date":"2016-02-25T14:35:08","date_gmt":"2016-02-25T20:35:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=30342"},"modified":"2016-02-25T14:35:08","modified_gmt":"2016-02-25T20:35:08","slug":"illinois-hopes-to-emulate-other-states-with-new-business-development-partnership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/illinois-hopes-to-emulate-other-states-with-new-business-development-partnership\/","title":{"rendered":"Illinois hopes to emulate other states with new business development partnership"},"content":{"rendered":"

By H. Will Racke<\/strong><\/p>\n

Illinois is the latest state to establish a public-private economic development corporation in hopes that it will spur business investment. It’s especially needed now as the state continues to lose jobs and residents to its neighbors.<\/p>\n

Modeled on similar groups in other states, the new Ilinois Business and Economic Development Corporation<\/a> will marshal resources from the state\u2019s private sector to showcase the advantages of doing business in the Land of Lincoln.<\/p>\n

The ILBEDC is currently more aspirational than operational, but state officials have said that its formation was inspired by successes of quasi-public corporations like those in Florida and Texas.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Looking south for inspiration<\/h2>\n

The Sunshine State\u2019s economic development corporation, Enterprise Florida<\/a>, was created in 1996 and today comprises over 70 state government officials and business leaders. According to director of communications Stephen Lawson, Enterprise Florida has helped to diversify Florida\u2019s economy, which has traditionally depended on its tourism and agricultural sectors.<\/p>\n

Lawson explained that semi-public corporations can spur business investment by highlighting a state\u2019s natural economic advantages and negotiating incentives to relocate. Enterprise Florida does not replace the state\u2019s department of commerce, but rather acts as a marketing and recruitment firm for the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cEnterprise Florida are the people trying to sell the state,\u201d he said. \u201cThe department [of commerce] handles the money and contracts of the deals that we do. We work hand in hand with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Texas utilizes a similar arrangement, with the privately-funded Texas Economic Development Corporation<\/a> working in concert with the Economic Development and Tourism division of the governor\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

The Texas EDC\u00a0was established in 1991 as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization. Through its Texas One program, it conducts trade and industry events, business recruitment missions, and advertising campaigns extolling the benefits of doing business in Texas.<\/p>\n

President and CEO Tracye McDaniel says the group works effectively in close cooperation with the state government and private sector partners that include small businesses, Texas-based Fortune 500 companies, and city chambers of commerce.<\/p>\n

\u201cTexasOne and the Office of the Governor also maintain a strong team of allies within various state agencies as well as local economic development partners in communities across the state, allowing us to streamline the regulatory and permitting process in expansion and relocation projects,\u201d she wrote in an e-mail.<\/p>\n

In a recent relocation project, the Texas EDC used grants from its enterprise fund as an incentive for Toyota to move its North American headquarters from California to Plano, Tex. Similar grants were used to entice GRI Renewable Industries, a Spanish wind power manufacturer, to build a new plant in Amarillo.<\/p>\n

Those two projects alone brought 4,300 jobs and $390 million in capital investment to Texas, said McDaniel.<\/p>\n

The new Illinois BEDC, which is seeking tax-exempt status from the IRS, hopes to foster a similar working relationship with the state Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. Gov. Rauner\u2019s directive ordered the corporation to \u201cassist the department in carrying out its economic development work and, in particular, to lessen the burdens of government of the State of Illinois.\u201d<\/p>\n

The executive order did not include specifics as to the composition of the corporation\u2019s leadership and staff, but\u00a0Commerce and Economic Opportunity\u00a0spokesperson Kyle Ann Sebastian wrote in an e-mail that the corporation will \u201cwill be governed by a board of directors comprised of diverse civic and business leaders from across the state.\u201d The membership and leadership of the board have yet to be determined, she said.<\/p>\n

According to Sebastian, the Illinois corporation\u00a0will be funded entirely with private donations through the current fiscal year ending in June, and\u00a0the Commerce\u00a0and Economic Opportunity\u00a0Department\u00a0will \u201cmaintain key functions, including federal program administration, final authority over grant making, and grant and incentive monitoring.\u201d<\/p>\n

While that vision is similar to the models used by Texas and Florida, Enterprise Florida spokesman Lawson cautioned that loans and tax incentives alone are not enough to attract sustained business investment. \u201cWhat we do in terms of incentives is just one piece of the puzzle,\u201d he said. \u201cA lot of companies don\u2019t need incentives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Companies that decide to relocate are primarily attracted by the state\u2019s underlying economic and tax policies, according to Lawson. He\u00a0cited low personal and corporate taxes, lighter regulation, a good credit rating, and well-developed transportation infrastructure as key factors a business takes into account when deciding to locate in a state.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of those things are tremendously important to businesses, and not having them can negatively impact your ability to attract business,\u201d said Lawson.<\/p>\n

On that score, Illinois does\u00a0not compare favorably to states like Florida and Texas.<\/p>\n

Structural challenges<\/h2>\n

In addition to well-documented budget woes and pension shortfalls<\/a>, the state currently has the worst credit rating in the nation after receiving downgrades from both Fitch and Moody’s<\/a>\u00a0Investor Services\u00a0last October.<\/p>\n

Personal and corporate income tax rates\u20143.75 and 5.25 percent respectively\u2014are in line with national averages, but Illinois has the second highest average property tax rate, according to the Tax Foundation, a non-partisan tax policy organization that advocates tax code reform. Sales taxes are relatively high, as well. A 2015 Tax Foundation Study<\/a> found that Illinois had an average combined state and local sales tax rate of 8.19 percent, 10th highest in the nation.<\/p>\n

In any case,\u00a0the Illinois corporation\u00a0will have to convince businesses to relocate to\u2014or stay put in\u2014a state that now experiences net out-migration to other states.<\/p>\n

In a December report, Michael Lucci of the Illinois Policy Institute compiled U.S. Census Bureau data<\/a> that showed Illinois\u2019 population shrank by\u00a0more than\u00a022,000 between July 2014 and July 2015, largely the result of a domestic out-migration of more than 105,000 residents. It was the only Midwestern state with a population decline during that period.<\/p>\n

Changing the narrative<\/h2>\n

To overcome the negative publicity of budget fights and credit downgrades, the Illinois corporation\u00a0plans to highlight\u00a0the state’s\u00a0built-in advantages, including an extensive transportation and logistics network and a diversified economy anchored by the regional economic capital of Chicago.<\/p>\n

As he signed the executive order, Gov. Rauner emphasized this competitive edge and hoped that the Illinois corporation would help\u00a0the state\u00a0recover ground lost to other states.<\/p>\n

\u201cILBEDC will make us more competitive to put Illinois back in the game after years of sitting on the sidelines, idly watching neighboring states and others lure businesses and jobs away from Illinois,\u201d the governor said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Angela Griffin, chairman of the board at the Illinois Economic Development Association<\/a>, a private organization, agreed that the\u00a0new entity\u00a0could be a potential weapon in the fight to prevent further business and jobs losses to other states.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving a dedicated state-level effort is critical,\u201d she said. \u201cIt will change the narrative and the psychology about Illinois.\u201d<\/p>\n

Selling Illinois to bring back lost jobs<\/h2>\n

According to a statement from the governor\u2019s office, the new corporation’s mission is to draw upon private sector resources to boost Illinois\u2019 competitiveness for jobs and investment through marketing, sales, and recruitment efforts.\u00a0Jim Schultz, director of the Commerce and Economic Opportunity Department, said he hopes the creation of the public-private corporation will signal a change of course in the state\u2019s economic affairs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve lost tens of thousands of jobs and residents to other states in recent years,\u201d said Schultz. \u201cThe corporation will employ economic development best practices to help reverse these trends and bring businesses back to Illinois.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lately, the state\u2019s jobs landscape has indeed looked bleak.<\/p>\n

The latest regional and state employment report<\/a> from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that Illinois shed over 16,000 jobs in the month of December alone. Many of those came from the state\u2019s shrinking manufacturing sector, which lost 2.4 percent of its workforce that month.<\/p>\n

The statewide unemployment rate<\/a> currently sits at 5.9 percent, a full percentage point higher than the national average.<\/p>\n

Total non-farm jobs (in thousands) by state: January 2008 vs. December 2016<\/h2>\n

[field name=”chart”]<\/p>\n

The total number of Illinois jobs has not returned to its pre-Great Recession level. Missouri is the only state bordering Illinois that has not regained job losses suffered during the recession. (H. Will Racke\/ MEDILL)<\/div>\n

Eager to rein in those losses, business groups cheered the formation of the new corporation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re supportive because we\u2019ve seen it be successful in other states,\u201d said Todd Maisch, president and CEO of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce. \u201cIf you are trying to retain and recruit employers, it will be the tip of the spear, and using employers in the state is the way to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even modest success on that front would be a welcome change for a state that has become used to bad economic news.<\/p>\n

Photo at top: Welcome to Illinois sign on Route 17, Kankakee County, Illinois. (OZinOH\/ Flickr)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By H. Will Racke Illinois is the latest state to establish a public-private economic development corporation in hopes that it will spur business investment. It’s especially needed now as the state continues to lose jobs and residents to its neighbors. 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Will Racke Illinois is the latest state to establish a public-private economic development corporation in hopes that it will spur business investment. It’s especially needed now as the state continues to lose jobs and residents to its neighbors. 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