From the Garden State to the Sunshine State

In 2013, Hertz Global Holdings announced a plan to move from its Park Ridge, New Jersey headquarters and relocate to the community of Estero, in Southwest Florida.

Three years later, on January 23, 2016, in a front page spread that appeared in Florida's The News-Press, Hertz CEO John Tague proudly announced the opening of a brand-spanking-new, shiny 248,600 square-foot headquarters facility in Estero.

Perhaps Hertz's move to Florida was inevitable.  Perhaps it was the too-attractive-to-match lure of Florida's warmth and sunshine, accompanied by a favorable business climate,  lower overall tax structure, and the economic package which Hertz was offered.

However, New Jersey's loss to Florida may not have been inevitable:

Recently, General Electric relocated its headquarters from Fairfield, Connecticut to Boston, Massachusetts -- certainly not because of a difference in weather patterns, but because of Fairfield's threat of higher business taxes, Boston's far more favorable economic conditions, proximity to its high-tech industries, a world-renowned university infrastructure, and an entrepreneurial talent pool.

As Hertz Global Holdings fills its Southwest Florida facility with 625 employees and adds new hires, all of which might possibly have been retained in a similarly new corporate headquarters building right here in the Garden State, let's remember this:

CEO decision makers will always lean towards establishing a business presence where they can find a favorable combination of economic incentives, a pool of well-trained and educated employees, and the benefits of a friendly tax structure for their firms and  employees.

Despite the fact that New Jersey has a skilled and well-educated talent pool, it is at the bottom of the list with respect to a favorable tax structure both for corporations and their personnel.

New Jersey's legislature would do well to consider these factors before imposing even more onerous tax burdens upon its constituents and the companies which provide them with their livelihoods.

Thanks for checking in, and remember to take care of yourselves.