-- Rob Althaus, vice president of circulation for Gannett's Newspaper Division, in an April 2007 statement on plans for a customer service center in Tulsa, Okla., employing up to 500 people. Reporting on the project, the Tulsa World noted that "state incentives also were a draw. Gannett plans to be part of the Oklahoma Quality Jobs Program, which offers companies monetary incentives to locate in the state or expand their operations here if they meet certain criteria." Today, GCI disclosed that it's shuttering the center, transferring 131 jobs to existing centers in Greenville, S.C.; Phoenix, and Detroit.
Earlier: 300 CareerBuilder layoffs reported after tax break
[Image: Corporate welfare: All the rewards of capitalism with none of the risks, Left Wing Conspiracy]
So, does Gannett now double-dip, seeking tax breaks in Detroit, Greenville, and Phoenix for the 131 jobs getting moved?
ReplyDeleteHopefully OK will take action to reclaim the tax benefits they gave to this crappy company.
ReplyDeletei thought we were closing all the call centers?
ReplyDeleteInteresting that customer service went to hell when local circ service depts were closed and calls routed to call centers.
ReplyDeleteOklahoma should demand a return of all $$ involved in incentives and tax breaks.
Lord knows if a company did this to GCI
the legal dept. would be all over them
with litigation.
I wondered about those tax breaks and incentives--and whether they were tied to creation of a specific number of jobs.
ReplyDeleteThere was a meeting in Detroit yesterday where the move back to Detroit was announced but the subject of tax breaks did not come up. Given the state of the State of Michigan I doubt that Gannett received any tax breaks.
ReplyDeleteSo are the affected sites going to get some kind of notice about the change?
ReplyDeleteI am not in Circ, but I get occasional calls from Circ customers. Where do I refer them? Who's in charge of spreading the word?
Gannett is getting "breaks" for bringing jobs in through the front door at some sites while quietly sending different jobs out the back.
ReplyDeleteHey city/county/state!!! Give me $$$$ for creating jobs!!! (Yahoo) Shhhhh...but don't tell them about workers we plan to get rid of later in the year. (Design centers).
Government entities typically set targets for total employment at a location, at least the brighter ones anyway. The best ones have claw backs to recoup monies should companies fail to deliver on their promises. Did Gannett expose itself to that here?
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