Working Wednesday: Business Poaching

 Where does a city(I use the word to represent also any county, town, village) attract a new business to come there? That is a true panoramic view question. They could start globally and try for a company operating in another country. The city may decide first to narrow it somewhat, taking a slice of the panoramic view which they know they have edge in a particular business cluster due to geography, raw materials, scientists, etc. 


Perhaps they further narrow down the scope to a more specific topic. Not just medicine, but geriatrics.
Not just energy, but solar.  Not just agriculture, but organics.

Now they know what companies they want to attract and they very well may start with companies from another country, or state, or city, or suburb.... When it is next door, it is called "poaching". 

Companies take advantage of this all the time. They play one "burb" against another, or city, or state. It happens every day here in the U.S. They are looking for the best incentives, usually taxes, to move. The one that is talked about where I live is a classic. A company literally moved a few hundred feet from one suburb to another just to get a tax break and the second suburb were very proud of themselves. The big city does the poaching to the suburb, but screams when a suburb poaches the city. And so it goes.


Now, not even big companies are using this standard practice, but small businesses are too. Please see this report found in Forbes: 
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2011/07/08/business-us-ohio-business-sprawl-ohio_8555279.html

This can only be stopped if the pain becomes intense enough for all - the city and the suburbs get disgusted enough and come together to work as a region. There is much discussion about regional efforts right now, I know. But this one may be the topic that brings everyone to the table.


I can't leave company attraction/poaching without saying something about the real deep underlying issue. Grabbing each other's businesses, whether it being state to state, city to city, etc., is just moving the chess pieces around the board. Where we really need to be putting our funding/effort is not attraction, but supporting new ideas/inventions/ventures. That is what really keeps our economy moving forward. Support your local base of entrepreneurs and your return will be immeasurable.