On the surface, suggestions of giving preference to Chattanooga-area bidders for local jobs might seem reasonable. After all, wouldn't that mean more work for local employees and more tax revenue for Chattanooga and Hamilton County?
That's partly the claim of a new study paid for by a group that supports local hiring. The study says Hamilton County gets higher tax revenue when local, rather than out-of-town businesses are hired to do a job.
Unfortunately, that's not the only consideration. The study did not look at whether other communities "might try to restrict Chattanooga companies from selling goods in their cities," the Times Free Press reported.
In other words, if out-of-town firms were disadvantaged by unequal bidding procedures here, their cities could retaliate by setting tougher rules for Chattanooga bidders seeking work outside this area. Many Chattanoogans work for companies that bid for work far outside the city -- sometimes in Atlanta, Nashville or farther. They rely on that income when there may not be enough local jobs to keep them working. Local companies surely do not want to be penalized when they try to get contracts away from home.
Roger Tuder of the Associated General Contractors of East Tennessee pointed out the danger of bidding preferences that disadvantage out-of-town contractors. He said his organization opposes such rules because they can hurt local contractors trying to work elsewhere.
We certainly hope that area companies will offer attractive, highly competitive bids for local projects. But international protectionism deepened the Great Depression of the 1930s, and "local protectionism" would harm Chattanooga today.
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Reply to 'Local protectionism' a bad idea
Roger Tuder of the Associated General Contractors of East Tennessee pointed out the danger of bidding preferences that disadvantage out-of-town contractors. He said his organization opposes such rules because they can hurt local contractors trying to work elsewhere.
We certainly hope that area companies will offer attractive, highly competitive bids for local projects. But international protectionism deepened the Great Depression of the 1930s, and "local protectionism" would harm Chattanooga today.
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Where are all of the needed comments from the people who should be objecting to work/workers being brought into this area when there are qualified workers already here?
Usually, what this involves is the wages and benefits of the workers who come in from other areas, and whether the workers are Union members or non union in a "right to work state." When the companies can lawfully get by with paying lower wages, of course they will. Is that what the Global economy is all about? Global corporations have already been racing to the lower wage countries.
We have already seen what it takes to get a foreign company to locate in an area, such as the vehicle plant here in Chattanooga. How many State and County tax dollars were spent and what were all of the tax concessions given to get the company/companies to locate anywhere?
Just look what happened in Spring Hill, Tennessee. It's all about the dollar.
Why have so many of the foreign vehicle manufacturing companies moved into the US for assembling the vehicles, while also continuing to import their vehicles from the lower wage countries?
What is taking place with the wages and benefits of the workers who still have jobs. How much longer can the Nation afford the high wages paid to all of the Government workers including our elected people while we are losing the tax paying middle class, the decreasing wages, while the number of workers who pay taxes have been decreasing. Under our present conditions, during this recession and being in two wars, at some point, everybody from the top down, will need to "bite the bullet" while making adjustments to their new living standards and will see what is happening down on main street.