The Governor’s Right
Date Posted: January 3, 2017
Posted In: Ideas,
From eMissourian: Governor-elect Eric Greitens calls it corporate welfare to subsidize the proposed new soccer stadium in downtown St. Louis. Governor Jay Nixon says it’s the price of doing business today.
Who is right?
Governor Nixon.
It can be galling to have to give incentives to build a new sports stadium or to help industries expand with new facilities, but if you want to be successful in economic development today, that’s the environment. If one city doesn’t embrace that climate, another does, and it is an opportunity lost.
To begin with, downtown St. Louis needs any new development it has an opportunity to obtain. No, don’t give the city away, but help the private investors with incentives.
We know in little Washington the need to give incentives to industries pays off. We have a number of industries in Washington that would not have located here had it not been for incentives from the state and city. Every state that is moving forward in economic development has had to pay this price of doing business in today’s climate.