Shortly after Roe v. Wade was struck down on Friday, World Business Chicago took to Twitter to beckon corporations, like Disney and Goldman Sachs, to consider expanding their presence to the city, signaling the state’s support of reproductive rights.
Michael Fassnacht, president and CEO of the organization, told Crain’s, “Chicago continues to be welcoming city for everyone. We respect everyone and their own uniqueness.”
He continued: “The values that the city and state have matter more and more. . . .Are you inclusive, are you embracing diversity or are fighting it? Are you respecting your employees’ individuality or not?”
For corporations relocating to Texas, Florida and other tax-friendly states, the CEO said that those companies must realize that they’re moving to “a climate where more than half of their employee base is not respected” because of who they are.
Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman similarly questioned the lure of abortion-restrictive states such as Florida and Texas in the wake of the high court’s ruling.
“The knowledge economy has wanted to gravitate towards big cities with highly educated populations,” Krugman said in a Bloomberg Radio interview Friday. “And now there’s going to be an additional factor, which is, if companies want the kind of workers that they can get in those locations, are they going to want to locate in the states that are going to have really regressive social policies?”
Krugman said the court’s ruling probably won’t have a broad impact on the economy, but “there may be some regional aspect.”
“How does Texas or Florida fare in this kind of competition for business in this new legal environment?” he asked.
Before Friday’s ruling, news had emerged about two major financial firms planning expansions in Texas and Florida. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. plans to occupy a new office tower in Dallas that would hold thousands of employees, with incentives approved this week by the city council. Meantime, billionaire Ken Griffin is moving Citadel’s headquarters from Chicago to Miami.
Weeks earlier, heavy machinery maker Caterpillar announced it is moving its headquarters from north suburban Deerfield to Irving, Texas just outside Dallas.
Bloomberg contributed.
Source: chicagobusiness.com
