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Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Lots of advice for Nutter to reform business climate

This had been the week that the Mayor’s Task Force on Tax Policy & Economic Competitiveness was originally due to provide its recommendations on how to improve the business climate in Philadelphia.

However, Mayor Nutter has given the 17-member group an extension to Oct. 15. (Will Pennsylvania and Philadelphia have their budgets settled by then?)

But if you just can’t wait to read a report that tells city officials what they should do, but have lacked the will to pursue in the past, I recommend the Committee of Seventy’s “Tackling True Reform” report.

While the watchdog group certainly hopes that its call to pursue innovative policies inspires public officials to act, I found the examples of bureaucratic inertia and political muscle-flexing providing new reasons for businesses to think twice about locating in the city.

The report really is a challenge to Nutter to wield the reformer’s sword he flashed so effectively during his campaign.

The mayor still seems to receive enthusiastic applause when he drops in on business events. But, as the Committee of Seventy writes, Philadelphia is “no more business-friendly than it was during the years when John Street - who was often perceived as being anti-business - was mayor.”

Steel Yourself

Concord Steel Inc. has closed its factory in Essington, Delaware County.

The company had announced a layoff there earlier this year, but its business, which specialized in making steel counterweights, was walloped by a drop-off in orders from customers in the infrastructure, construction and residential sectors.

Warren, Ohio-based Concord filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 on Monday. The move came after the manufacturer had gutted its workforce companywide by 75 percent over the last 18 months, cut salaries, and tried to modify its credit agreement.

Concord, which was bought by Stamford Industrial Group Inc. for $45.2 million in October 2006, said it eliminated 93 jobs by closing the Essington factory at the end of August and making permanent previously temporary layoffs at its plants in Ohio and Illinois.
Posted by Mike Armstrong @ 9:35 AM  Permalink | File Under: Manufacturing | | Politics, Taxes | 6 comments
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:41 AM, 09/16/2009
    The state is going to have to take over the assessment and revenue functions of Philly. Philly can still have "home rule" but the state needs to take over the BRT, Dept. of Revenue, Register of Wills (inheritance taxes), Office of the Clerk of Quarter Sessions (collecting forfeit bail) and Sheriff (collecting overdue property taxes of half a billion owed the city). When the state took over the PPA it went from a cost to a steady revenue producer.
    — CleanupPhilly
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:42 AM, 09/16/2009
    There's no will in the city implement even the tiniest reform recommend by their own party. The state has to take over the money functions of the city, and tie state revenue to tax reform and collections.
    — CleanupPhilly
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:55 AM, 09/16/2009
    I couldn't agree more Cleanup. There is no political will, Nutter is just another Democratic party hack. I don't see one inkling of a chance that Nutter improves over where Street left off, in fact, he's making it worse by having failed to develop realistic budget projections from the start of his administration. Its time Republicans made Philadelphia a major target of their efforts to get local politcians elected.
    — 10andfitz
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:14 PM, 09/16/2009
    I agree that there are many business bankruptcy cases that have taken advantage of not giving good options to cheap labor to get future chances. The state should give more incentives to the ones that endeavor small business to accommodate the job's lose. (HTML deleted)
    — vedher
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:20 PM, 09/16/2009
    They taxed all the smart folks out of Philly.
    — theodotius


6 comments
About Mike Armstrong
Mike Armstrong, a business editor and writer for nearly two decades, is the Inquirer's business columnist and PhillyInc blog editor. Contact Mike via e-mail or at 215-854-2980
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