Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue and U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., were on hand Monday to joyfully welcome NCR Corp. to Peachtree City near Atlanta.
And why not? NCR’s move to the sunny South is great news for Georgia, particularly in the midst of a national recession that has seen millions of jobs disappear throughout the nation. In sharp contrast to all the bad news, NCR — formerly known as National Cash Register and now the world’s leading provider of ATMs — is expected to create 916 new jobs in Peachtree City in the next two years, in addition to 1,250 jobs in Duluth, Ga., just north of Atlanta, where NCR is relocating its corporate headquarters, and 870 jobs in a new manufacturing center NCR is building in Columbus, Ga.
However, what is great economic news for Georgia is devastating news for Dayton, Ohio, which has been home to NCR since the company was founded in 1884. For the last 115 years, NCR has been as important to the economy of Dayton as Ashland Inc. was once to the economy of this community.
Earlier this year, economic development officials in Ohio complained loudly — and rightly so — because Georgia was planning to use a portion of the money it was to receive from the federal stimulus bill to lure NCR from Dayton to Georgia. At the time, this newspaper joined the political leaders of Ohio in contending that federal dollars intended to stimulate economic growth and pull the nation out of a deep recession should not be used to lure a company from one community to another.
NCR’s move certainly is good for Georgia’s economy, but the national economy benefits little when jobs are moved from one community to another as NCR is doing.
The move to Georgia is a business decision that NCR has a right to make, and it certainly is proper for Georgia to spend state taxes dollars to lure NCR and any other company to the state. But it is a misuse of federal stimulus dollars to aid the economy of one state at the expense of another. Not one dollar of federal tax revenue should be used to help move any company to another location inside the country.
