After the recent riots which saw multiple large stores looted, some retailers are having second thoughts about remaining in certain cities. In Chicago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot has been talking to these retailers and asking them not to leave the city. Not only do these companies make it possible for residents to get the things they need, they pay tons of taxes which the city relies on.
Walmart and other large companies are strongly considering closing up shop permanently there due to heavy damages inflicted by Chicago rioters, and that's entirely understandable. Chicago has a long history of criminal violence, and just two days ago brought the highest rate of shooting deaths and injuries in 60 years. It's not a safe place. Why do business there?
It's the same story in Minneapolis:
A Minneapolis manufacturing company has decided to leave the city, with the company’s owner saying he can’t trust public officials who allowed his plant to burn during the recent riots. The move will cost the city about 50 jobs.
“They don’t care about my business,” said Kris Wyrobek, president and owner of 7-Sigma Inc., which has operated since 1987 at 2843 26th Av. in south Minneapolis. “They didn’t protect our people. We were all on our own.”
Many business owners have criticized the city, saying their pleas for help went unanswered.
Wyrobek said it is too late to keep his company in the city. 7-Sigma is a leader in the production of precision rollers used in high-speed printing systems used to produce bank statements and social security checks.
And the man has fabulous prospects everywhere he looks because...Minneapolis ranks near the very rock bottom on its climate for doing business. The charts here are stunning. Even if he goes to far-left blue Illinois, he'll get an improved business climate. Minnesota ranks 46 on the Tax Foundation's business tax climate ranking. Illinois ranks #23. Texas is a popular choice, ranking #14. But his best prospect is a lot closer, in neighboring South Dakota, which ranks #2. Relocation costs and employee retention might just be pretty manageable.
Unsurprising; the plant was totally destroyed, as were some 67 other businesses (and that's in addition to the dozens of others that were vandalized.