Why are so many companies in OKC leaving? I mean Six Flags left us along with GM, Kerr McGee, and now Dayton Tire. Who’s next!? Also, will other companies replace these losses? :stars:

GM left because the state of Oklahoma hosed them after they opened the plant. GM was suppose to get tax rebates and be tax free for a couple of years, but the state reniged. So, when GM had the first realistic chance, they left.

Six Flags left because the new owner is an east coaster, and most of them want the company in their area.

Kerr McGee is leaving because of Texas. Texas and Oklahoma have been bitter rivals for decades. So, as with any company based there that buys an Oklahoma company, it is bye-bye.

As for Dayton? Blame Bill Clinton... It is called NAFTA and the other treaties that caused "out sourcing." Too many jobs are going to other countries. Lower wages that stick it to the consumer and the working stiff.

But who will do this next (i.e. leave OKC), and will the loss be replaced!??

All the same, we have gained quite a bit of jobs and our state economy is also growing. People are recognizing our state's workforce and many new jobs have come here, albiet not all high-paying, but nevertheless, it's always a good thing.

OUman

Mr. Anderson said: "GM left because the state of Oklahoma hosed them after they opened the plant. GM was suppose to get tax rebates and be tax free for a couple of years, but the state reniged. So, when GM had the first realistic chance, they left."

I do not think that is true about the state hosing GM. GM and some unknown authorities of the State of Oklahoma put together a tax abatement package that was a violation of the Oklahoma Constitution, and they got caught; consequently, GM had to pay the taxes that were due. It was a fair deal that GM had to pay the taxes.

General Motors Corp v. Oklahoma County Board of Equalization, 1983 OK 59, 678 P.2d 233

http://www.oscn.net/applications/osc...ite=1983+OK+59

Oklahoma Constitution Art. 10, Sec. 5 which prohibits a contract which surrenders, suspends, or contracts away the power of taxation. See General Motors.

I might could see it had it been some ole boy who got it like this, but GM surely has a battery of lawyers that could have seen the problem up front, so I have no sympathy.

See also State ex rel. Cartwright v. Dunbar, 1980 OK 15, 618 P.2d 900.

http://www.oscn.net/applications/osc...sp?citeid=4704

ETL, first you must understand that there are a variation of situations happening, and in the end, it is all for the good of Oklahoma City, although some do not see it this way. But keep this in mind, GM and Dayton Tire are not companies leaving OKC, just their presence. Only Six Flags and Kerr McGee are companies leaving OKC. But all have different circumstances.

Kerr McGee isn't actually "leaving" OKC. They got bought out. Think Anadarko would move to OKC? They just buult themselves a swank office tower just ten miles south of my house in The Woodlands, TX.

Six Flags was never a good corporate resident, and other than their generous fireworks show at the christening of the capitol dome, they did nothing but run Frontier City into the ground and kept their interests elsewhere. Premier Parks got too far ahead of themselves and bought into a huge problem.

GM retooled the Oklahoma City plant for SUVs. Big mistake. It was only a matter of time before gas prices shot through the atmosphere, and soccer moms would begin shedding the burden of such an oversized gas guzzler. GM had it coming.

Dayton Tire? They've been around OKC for 40 years. And let's face it... manufacturing for American companies are going overseas. I guess America got too expensive for American manufacturers.

The companies that left OKC in the past met a bad fate. Remember Fleming? After moving their headquarters to Lewisville, Texas, the company ran into serious financial trouble. Micron chose Utah over Oklahoma City, but never finished their Utah plant. United chose Indianapolis over Oklahoma City for an airline maintenance facility, and now Indianapolis is dragging United to court over unmet promises. Besides, it was United's rejection that got Oklahoma City's renaissance started to begin with. Be glad we didn't face what Michigan went through after thousands of manufacturing jobs disappeared.

From what I hear, MG is moving their North American headquarters to Oklahoma City. This is good news. Dell now has a good presence. Chesapeake and Devon Energy are now huge Oklahoma City landmarks. And they are both Oklahoma City born with a strong presence. Kerr McGee only had 200 employees left. Compare that with 900 sixteen years ago. Six Flags... your talking less than 100.

And remember all of these biotech companies that are clustering up the PHF Research park. For all we know, some major film studio and computer company may be looking close at Oklahoma City. If not then soon. Also, don't forget what's happening over at Tinker. Those are some high-paying jobs.

It's all about change. Some bad things have to happen in order for better things to come along. Imagine Oklahoma City as a bio-tech and software hub along with the motion picture industry. I like the sound of that.

__________________
Continue the Renaissance!!!
www.okcpulse.net

OKCPulse....

That was an excellent post! You summed it up quite nicely. You're in The Woodlands? I have been back and forth from Houston several times lately by car - and by air. I always like that part of the drive through The Woodlands, I always make a stop. Great place! It's off-topic, I know, but maybe you can PM me with what you think of the Houston area.

Thanks again for adding a quality post to the thread. You hit all the points and I found myself nodding my head up and down at about everything you wrote.

Have a great weekend!

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GM left because GM is in trouble on the whole. In Oklahoma, they made a product that was rapidly losing market share, so it got closed down. Companies don't keep making products out of a favor to the communities that make them. If they make a product no one wants, they will have to stop doing it. GM left because of the market pressures, even despite our attempts to manipulate that market with illegal tax packages.

Again, this was a poorly run company. It was bleeding revenue and market share. It got bought and there was no logical reason for the buyer to stay in OK. What's the motivation to buy a company and stay in the same place with the same people that were screwing it up?

These companies don't give a crap about the juvenile Texas/Oklahoma rivalry. They buy companies to make money. To do that they use their current administration efficiencies, instead of spreading them out and creating expensive redundancies by having several headquarters. It's about a good balance sheet for their share holders, not some attempt to spite Oklahoma. Houston has bought oil and gas companies all over the country and absorbed them into their Texas infrastructure.

This is the funniest one. Have you been to Wal-Mart? If anything the consumer is to blame for outsourcing. Companies need to outsource to low wage workforces in order to maintain their margins at the prices American consumers demand. Americans demand high wages and low prices. Those don't go hand-in-hand and eventually the consumer wins, sending the jobs overseas. We could force them to stay with anti-NAFTA-like legislation, but then you just go back to paralyzing inflation, which actually does stick it to the consumer and the working stiff.

The reality is that it's amazing we kept some of the companies as long as we did. For the future, I think we have to parlay our success in the fossil fuel commodities world into more innovation and service type industries. This is mainly education driven. If we can use tax revenue to improve education infrastructure, we may eventually create a good highly educated and affordable work force. If we can get the innovation to occur here, it is more likely that the manufacturing might occur here also. I like seeing a conscious effort being made to support the biomedical field in OKC and Oklahoma for these reasons. Technology is still an important sector as well and, even though we’re way behind most markets, we still should continue efforts to at least keep up with the more tech savvy communities.

MG is a long shot, imo. A pseudo-start up specialty sports car company? When was the last time that worked? It's sort of exciting, though, and will be interesting to watch. Like most long shots, if it does work, it could reap great benefits.

That was because the OIA had no authority to offer those rebates. And by rebates, you really mean that they were promised that they wouldn't have to pay property taxes. My father was with the A.G.'s office at the time and actually headed that case up along with a good family friend who represented the Mid-Del schools who stood to loose a lot of money in the deal.

It was the beginning of the downward spiral for the OIA -- a group of businessmen who took from the taxpayers and gave to themselves and their friends. In downtown OKC, we can see a fine example of their influence -- the concourse. Note that every building owned by an OIA member downtown has a concourse entrance inside.

At any rate, eventually, the A.G.'s office brought the OIA's dealings to a screaching halt. Much of what had been uncovered was outright tax fraud, multiple violations of the open records and open meetings acts, etc. Had Cartwright been reelected (Gaylord ran a fella named Mike Turpen against him in the primary, and skewered Cartwright in those famouse front-page editorials), Gaylord, and a lot of other powerful men would have either done time, or paid enormous fines for their criminal activity.

Thanks guys for the info!!!!:spin:

That Dayton plant had been losing millions every year so they finally decided to stop the bleeding...the plant manufactured 16 inch tires, which no one was buying any longer....the employees knew they were dead in the water for a long time...similar to the GM plant that was making a vehicle that didn't sell

GM also had to deal with the ridiculous activites of the local union, which has done nothing but harm the situation, as we can all see now.

Unions (almost always) are worthless. Thank God for right to work in Oklahoma.

Actually, I run on sixteen-inchers, but then I have a six-year-old car.

On a positive note, what about all the growth we've heard about in the city? Energy industry of course, followed by Dell, MG, etc... I don't think it's all bad news and believe it's just part of the economy. Fortunately Oklahoma's not such a terrible place to live that no new businesses arrive.

FYI, a few weeks ago I read Oklahoma's unemployment rate was at 3.6%. WOW.

duplicate post

devon could be next. the big oil companies dont explore anymore. they buy up the smaller guys (devon) to do that kind of stuff.
http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=33676

Devon would have to want to sell. They're held fairly closely. I don't think they're going anywhere.

well we'll see.

like midtowner said for Devon to leave something major would have to happen. They are to deeply rooted in OKC to leave us.

I think the big issue here is that OKC is in transition from a city that is primarily industrial and energy sector based to one with a more diversified economy...sort of a microcosm of what's happening nationally. Luckily we aren't totally reliant on either industry, so we can absorb some of these shocks to the local economy.