Chiquita moving HQ to Charlotte? (Columbus, Cleveland: leases, loans, gated)

[Synopsis101]

Originally Posted by TomJones123

Ehh, looks like they downgraded to me.

Nice building

[kjbrill]

Originally Posted by TomJones123

Ehh, looks like they downgraded to me.

Even though Chiquita had their name on the building they just leased a portion of it. They never had the employment in Cincinnati to come close to filling a building that size. I bet the same holds true for Charlotte.

[minibrings]

Originally Posted by kjbrill

Why is it always the tax structure to be blamed, other than by those against any taxes? Ohio offers a quality of life for employees second to none in the nation. Relatively low cost of living, especially when compared to the coasts. This has to rank high on the ability of companies to recruit top level personnel to work here. People moving here from the coasts can double the house they can afford.

I am getting pretty tired of hearing how Ohio is anti-business. Businesses need top-quality people to make them successful, and Ohio has some of the best incentives going to attract such families.

Note I said families. Let the twenty-somethings go elsewhere to seek their fortrunes and then realize they are suddenly 30, or the dreaded 40, with nothing to sustain them.

We live in one of the most desirable locations in the country. If a few companies move to areas with lower corporate taxes, which feathers the nest of the top executives, so be it. By the time NCR moved they were no longer the business force which drove Dayton, but just a shell. Chiquita may be the same for Cincinnati, a global name but just a blip in the local employment scheme.

My comment is don't let your tail hit you in the a** on the way out of town.

I hate to burst your bubble but Cinci is not on the radar of most desirable locations in the country. Logistically and air connections dont compare to other cities.

The attitude of dont let your tail hit you is not sustainable. Any loss of jobs to any city, in this economy is a negative, not a positive. Are you happy when your friends or neighbors lose jobs? A friend of mine in Charlotte is being offered a job with Chiquita, replacing a woman in Cinci who could not move due to family. Thats a gain for Charlotte and a loss for your city.

[kjbrill]

Originally Posted by minibrings

I hate to burst your bubble but Cinci is not on the radar of most desirable locations in the country. Logistically and air connections dont compare to other cities.

For a City which is not on the radar, Cincinnati seems to be doing very well in retaining its top companies. And it seems like every other day I am reading about some new office tower breaking ground or in the final stages of financing. Cincinnati is on a definite uptick.

As far as logistics, Cincinnati only sits on one of the highest volume goods highways in the country, I-75, along with I-71, I-74, and I-70 a little north in Dayton and Columbus. Companies locate here due to the ease in distribution of their products. Cincinnati is within 500 miles of over half the population of the US. Is that not the definition of logistics?

The airport does a high and increasing volume of freight traffic. The Ohio River remains a large transporter of heavy, bulk goods. It may appear unsophisticated, but river barges can still beat railroads or other methods for many bulk items. For things such as natural resources, the distribution hub for natural gas pipelines from the west to the entire northeast is just north of Cincinnati. If you want to fire an electric plant with natural gas in New England, you will be negotiating with a distributor who pipes it through Cincinnati.

As far as air connections, we all admit the number of flights has decreased considerably since the now defunct hub system. But we can still match or exceed cities of our size. And I expect that to change for the better also since Delta is being displaced as the sole major tenant.

And I will go back to my original statements, desirable to whom? We don't need to capture everyone, just a percentage of those desiring a great place to raise their families, and a COL they may actually be able to afford to send their kids to college, let alone look forward to possible retirement.

Thanks, but Cincinnati does not need your endorsement as it is doing just fine. The amount of advancement is amazing. We may argue among ourselves as to the best way to address the future, but the future is being addressed. All I can say is watch our dust!

[TomJones123]

Originally Posted by minibrings

I hate to burst your bubble but Cinci is not on the radar of most desirable locations in the country

Ohh....poor, poor Cincinanti.....guess we are gonna dry up and blow away in the near future.

BTW - great post, kjbrill. Left me with little else to say on the subject.

[abr7rmj]

Again, for the Charlotte posters that for some reason are coming over here to stir the pot telling us we aren't "desireable," do some research on this new company of yours. It's a nomadic, scandal-plagued outfit that plays cities like violins in its little corporate welfare game of hopscotch. I'll reiterate: Cincinnati wasn't Chiquita's first city and Charlotte certainly won't be its last.

And what does it tell you that a significant number of Chiquita execs chose to leave the company altogether rather than relocating to Charlotte? Seems to me that if the new city is so enticing and the company so great, you make the move - particularly in this job-scarce economy, no?

As for Cincinnati not being desirable for business, what would P&G, Macy's, Kroger, Western & Southern and the five other Fortune 500s that call our growing metro (it's bigger than Charlotte) home say about that? Probably that you have no idea what you're talking about.

[TomJones123]

^^ Yep, something often overlooked by the ignorant: the number of Fortune 500 companies that call Cincinnati home. An especially impressive number when taken per capita.

[CinciFan]

Originally Posted by minibrings

The attitude of dont let your tail hit you is not sustainable. Any loss of jobs to any city, in this economy is a negative, not a positive.

Pretty much everyone I know (and I'm in business) thinks Chiquita is an absolute disgrace of company. Not only do they not seem to have any sense of business ethics, but their earnings have been steadily decreasing for years. People in Cincy are thrilled they are not here anymore. Charlotte got played like a fool.

By the way, within about two weeks after Chiquita's announcement that it would leave Cincy (and 300 jobs would be lost), it was announced that about 1,100 jobs would move here from out of state. We are doing just fine.

[motorman]

Originally Posted by minibrings

I hate to burst your bubble but Cinci is not on the radar of most desirable locations in the country. Logistically and air connections dont compare to other cities...

There was never a question of Cincinnati being one of the "most desirable locations in the country," say, on par with Tier 1/Tier 2 cities, but, as other posters have affirmed, the Queen City is a formidable player in the Midwest. (Let's put it this way...all the Tier 3/4/5 cities within a 500-radius of Cincinnati best sleep with one eye open.)

The attitude of dont let your tail hit you is not sustainable. Any loss of jobs to any city, in this economy is a negative, not a positive. Are you happy when your friends or neighbors lose jobs? A friend of mine in Charlotte is being offered a job with Chiquita, replacing a woman in Cinci who could not move due to family. Thats a gain for Charlotte and a loss for your city.

No denying that several hundred Chiquita employees (including their families) and numerous CBD businesses who catered to Chiquita (downtown eateries, for example) were severely affected by the move to Charlotte. And no denying that many of those lost jobs were of a corporate salary and prestige level. So, admittedly, losing a Fortune 500 company was a painful experience for many people in the city. But, as has been so clearly pointed out by posters, it was no secret that long before it moved to Charlotte, Chiquita was a flawed company commandeered by a corrupt management. Perhaps we were lucky to lose them when we did--and today we look at our city as one of the fortunate survivors. Charlotte's next.

[minibrings]

Originally Posted by kjbrill

For a City which is not on the radar, Cincinnati seems to be doing very well in retaining its top companies. And it seems like every other day I am reading about some new office tower breaking ground or in the final stages of financing. Cincinnati is on a definite uptick.

As far as logistics, Cincinnati only sits on one of the highest volume goods highways in the country, I-75, along with I-71, I-74, and I-70 a little north in Dayton and Columbus. Companies locate here due to the ease in distribution of their products. Cincinnati is within 500 miles of over half the population of the US. Is that not the definition of logistics?

The airport does a high and increasing volume of freight traffic. The Ohio River remains a large transporter of heavy, bulk goods. It may appear unsophisticated, but river barges can still beat railroads or other methods for many bulk items. For things such as natural resources, the distribution hub for natural gas pipelines from the west to the entire northeast is just north of Cincinnati. If you want to fire an electric plant with natural gas in New England, you will be negotiating with a distributor who pipes it through Cincinnati.

As far as air connections, we all admit the number of flights has decreased considerably since the now defunct hub system. But we can still match or exceed cities of our size. And I expect that to change for the better also since Delta is being displaced as the sole major tenant.

And I will go back to my original statements, desirable to whom? We don't need to capture everyone, just a percentage of those desiring a great place to raise their families, and a COL they may actually be able to afford to send their kids to college, let alone look forward to possible retirement.

Thanks, but Cincinnati does not need your endorsement as it is doing just fine. The amount of advancement is amazing. We may argue among ourselves as to the best way to address the future, but the future is being addressed. All I can say is watch our dust!

I was not criticizing Cincinnati by any means, just pointing out that you should care about every job loss
How is that so impossible to grasp? Perhaps if you lower your defensiveness abiut your city its not a difficult concept to grasp. Im sure it has its advantages and are better logistically or worse tha others.. But a loss is a loss. Period.