Taking a cue from Mayor A C Wharton, here’s a look at what some other Southeastern cities and states reportedly paid to land big manufacturing plants and major employers in the last 18 years.
On Tuesday Wharton suggested that critics of incentives for Mitsubishi Electric and Electrolux read up on what other cities offer. I looked at car manufacturers because Wharton specifically mentioned Nissan and Hyundai at his press conference.
Conclusion: Memphis paid less for less.
Numbers are easy enough to find since public expenditures must be disclosed. But comparisons are harder to make and quantify when other factors are considered. How many spinoff jobs and industries? What average wage? What’s the inflation factor for an incentives package given years ago? And how desperate was the city and/or state for new jobs and a good story to tell?
And in this case we’re not talking apples to oranges, but cars to appliances and transformers. Or first-round draft choices and third-round picks, if you prefer.
One thing is indisputable. You have to pay to play. As then-NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue said in icy-cold tones in Chicago several years ago when Memphis and Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium finished out of the running for an expansion team, “You can win or you can be disappointed.”
With those cautions, here’s a look at some big car deals within 500 miles of Memphis and the two Memphis deals.
