The Bad News Report

[videtur quam contuor]

I spoke to Joe, my mail carrier, Saturday and he said there is a 25% absentee rate out of Minuet Lane which is my Postal carrier office. "Are you making extra rounds?" "Every day" he says.

As for snow and ice, when I had my house I shoveled my steps and walk as soon as I could for every winter storm. Making a path for safety and an invitation for the carrier to bring my mail. Small things such as that are appreciated by your carrier.

Edited January 18, 2022 by tarhoosier

[atlrvr]

There's always a bigger fish.. 

SeaWorld today made an unsolicited bid to buy Cedar Fair.  If Cedar Fair accepts, then a HQ relo from Sandusky to Charlotte seems dead in the water.

[CLTProductions]

4 hours ago, atlrvr said:

There's always a bigger fish.. 

SeaWorld today made an unsolicited bid to buy Cedar Fair.  If Cedar Fair accepts, then a HQ relo from Sandusky to Charlotte seems dead in the water.

Oh that is already dead in the water. They commmitted to Sandusky a while back and Sandusky gave them a ton of $$

[kermit]

Not specifically Charlotte related but... Can't help but think that Boeing's troubles with 787 assembly in its North Charleston plant point out some region-wide workforce quality concerns and may create a few roadblocks in advanced manufacturing development throughout the region. To be fair, these problems have been around for long enough that they certainly could not continue without some pretty major management errors. Despite that, the 787 quality problems risk becoming a serious black eye on South Carolina’s manufacturing abilities.

Edited February 19, 2022 by kermit

[CLT2014]

23 hours ago, kermit said:

Not specifically Charlotte related but... Can't help but think that Boeing's troubles with 787 assembly in its North Charleston plant point out some region-wide workforce quality concerns and may create a few roadblocks in advanced manufacturing development throughout the region. To be fair, these problems have been around for long enough that they certainly could not continue without some pretty major management errors. Despite that, the 787 quality problems risk becoming a serious black eye on South Carolina’s manufacturing abilities.

Boeing's Seattle workforce and engineers designed 737 planes that fly into the ground... Most problems at Boeing are "Boeing" specific rather than region specific. The bizarre supply chain choices for the 787 were made by the Seattle team, et... The organization as a whole is just a train wreck at numerous facilities nationwide and needs a complete culture overhaul. Where Boeing goes.... Problems follow.

Airbus isn't having the same problems in Mobile, AL... But they also have far fewer problems as an organization.

Edited February 20, 2022 by CLT2014

[kermit]

2 hours ago, CLT2014 said:

Boeing's Seattle workforce and engineers designed planes that fly into the ground... Most problems at Boeing are "Boeing" specific rather than region specific. The organization as a whole is just a train wreck at numerous facilities nationwide.

Not an expert, but I was under the impression that the 737max (made in Seattle) was designed to be an aerodynamic  rock. OTOH, 787 issues (made in Charleston) were related to sloppiness in construction with jagged metal edges which cut into wiring and hydraulics and “debris” (like ladders) left inside mechanical voids after construction is complete. We’re these issues solved after these stories about the Charleston plant came out a few years ago?

Regardless the details the Boeing story does seem to reinforce that companies are far better off when run by engineers instead of MBA bros. (Same thing can be said about Norfolk Southern).

in reference to your original point, it does not appear that the airbus factory in Mobile suffers from the same issues as Boeing’s N. Charleston facility. So perhaps this is more of a management issue than a regional labor skill deficit.

Edited February 20, 2022 by kermit

[KJHburg]

HondaJets are made in Greensboro and Gulfstream has a huge plant in Savannah and there does not seem to be problems.   As @CLT2014said it sounds Boeing specific and not any problems with the local SC workforce. 

[RANYC]

List of top metros for employment growth among the largest 100 metros was published in a Bizjournals article and we aren't in the list.  Order is by percentage growth. 

1. Las Vegas, Nevada
2. Spokane, Washington
3. Orlando, Florida
4. Portland, Oregon
5. Austin, Texas
6. Colorado Springs, CO
7. Los Angeles, CA
8. Albuquerque, NM
9. Rochester, NY
10. Honolulu, Hawaii

 

Edited February 21, 2022 by RANYC

[videtur quam contuor]

Sunday NYTimes has article about Spokane and how the influx of people seeking affordable living has made the city unaffordable:

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/20/business/economy/spokane-housing-expensive-cities.html

[KJHburg]

1 hour ago, RANYC said:

List of top metros for employment growth among the largest 100 metros was published in a Bizjournals article and we aren't in the list.  Order is by percentage growth. 

1. Las Vegas, Nevada
2. Spokane, Washington
3. Orlando, Florida
4. Portland, Oregon
5. Austin, Texas
6. Colorado Springs, CO
7. Los Angeles, CA
8. Albuquerque, NM
9. Rochester, NY
10. Honolulu, Hawaii

 

some of this is from the states the most shut down like NY, HI and CA.  I am not worried about this and I saw it.   Rochester NY is not a growing city and Honolulu was completely shut down until recently. 

[DownEast]

49 minutes ago, KJHburg said:

some of this is from the states the most shut down like NY, HI and CA.  I am not worried about this and I saw it.   Rochester NY is not a growing city and Honolulu was completely shut down until recently. 

And considering the casinos employ everyone in LV, directly or indirectly. No surprise there. 

[RANYC]

1 hour ago, KJHburg said:

some of this is from the states the most shut down like NY, HI and CA.  I am not worried about this and I saw it.   Rochester NY is not a growing city and Honolulu was completely shut down until recently. 

i was prepared to dismiss as well until seeing how austin finds its way into every top ranking.  then again, after seeing all these trees felled around town and seeing the litter surge since moving here in 2019, I'm not so sure influx growth is to be celebrated at every turn.  Growth, meh.  Responsible, intentional growth, yes please.

Edited February 21, 2022 by RANYC

[KJHburg]

2 hours ago, RANYC said:

i was prepared to dismiss as well until seeing how austin finds its way into every top ranking.  then again, after seeing all these trees felled around town and seeing the litter surge since moving here in 2019, I'm not so sure influx growth is to be celebrated at every turn.  Growth, meh.  Responsible, intentional growth, yes please.

Yes Austin did probably gain more jobs faster.  It is booming even more so than Charlotte.  But Las Vegas and Orlando while both growing lost 1000s of tourism related jobs from Dec. 2020 to Dec. 2021 so when they gained them back it was fast.    Show me a 5 year job growth on these cities and yes Austin will be still be on it but Rochester NY will not.  

[RANYC]

6 minutes ago, KJHburg said:

Yes Austin did probably gain more jobs faster.  It is booming even more so than Charlotte.  But Las Vegas and Orlando while both growing lost 1000s of tourism related jobs from Dec. 2020 to Dec. 2021 so when they gained them back it was fast.    Show me a 5 year job growth on these cities and yes Austin will be still be on it but Rochester NY will not.  

Admittedly, I was left flummoxed by Rochester, Spokane, Albuquerque...to some extent, even LA.

[RANYC]

1 hour ago, KJHburg said:

Yes Austin did probably gain more jobs faster.  It is booming even more so than Charlotte.  But Las Vegas and Orlando while both growing lost 1000s of tourism related jobs from Dec. 2020 to Dec. 2021 so when they gained them back it was fast.    Show me a 5 year job growth on these cities and yes Austin will be still be on it but Rochester NY will not.  

Interesting take.  So you'd title this ranking "Metros Sustaining the Greatest negative COVID shock to their Economies with a resultant steep comeback in order to Recover - Austin the Exception"

Edited February 21, 2022 by RANYC

[rancenc]

Uh Oh!! Google is getting some push back for their "cheap wages" at the new Durham operations!!

https://www.newsobserver.com/news/business/article258555663.html

[navigator319]

While I usually stand with management I stand with the workers here. It’s irrelevant the location of the employee to his/her contribution. This I why I only work for small companies.

[elrodvt]

I think you should l look at it like similar skills and performance make the same salary (of course most large companies are notoriously bad at measuring performance!). Then there is a regional COL added. Seems fair to me. Now if you moved on your own, and not to locate near an office as requested by the company, then it shouldn't apply.

[KJHburg]

In terms of Google in Durham I read in one story they were changing salaries of people already hired.  They quoted one guy who moved there from out of the area and he was upset.   No joking here why didn't Google google average software engineer and cloud engineers salaries in the Triangle first before saying they would pay one thing and then pull back.   I heard they have 100 plus workers already in Durham now. 

6 hours ago, RANYC said:

Interesting take.  So you'd title this ranking "Metros Sustaining the Greatest negative COVID shock to their Economies with a resultant steep comeback in order to Recover - Austin the Exception"

short answer Yes I would.   in LA they were very restrictive on restaurants for much longer than anywhere else but NY and lots of the filming left LA during Covid to greener pastures like Atlanta, Canada other states and even Wilmington. 

Edited February 22, 2022 by KJHburg

[KJHburg]

I know many were disappointed when Costar moved to Richmond but I think we might have dodged a bullet.  Increasing the security at the HQ because they feel threatened by ex-employee?  National coverage of spying on employees working from home?   CEO issues? 

https://commercialobserver.com/2022/02/costar-boosts-virginia-hq-security-in-response-to-meme-page/

https://www.curbed.com/2022/02/costar-real-estate-employees-quit.html

Edited February 24, 2022 by KJHburg

[deleted account]

3 hours ago, KJHburg said:

I know many were disappointed when Costar moved to Richmond but I think we might have dodged a bullet.  Increasing the security at the HQ because they feel threatened by ex-employee?  National coverage of spying on employees working from home?   CEO issues? 

https://commercialobserver.com/2022/02/costar-boosts-virginia-hq-security-in-response-to-meme-page/

https://www.curbed.com/2022/02/costar-real-estate-employees-quit.html

Costar not coming here was the worst of many bad things that HB2 brought to Charlotte (thanks Dan Bishop). This article makes me feel slightly better but I would love for Costar to be taking one of the new South End towers. Instead, they are expanding in Richmond. 

PayPal on the other hand can go screw themselves. 

I'll never fully understand why Charlotte was punished for passing a nondiscrimination ordinance...

[Guest]

Counterintuitively, it was the state being punished for their bill in response to ours. 

[RANYC]

1 hour ago, JBS said:

Costar not coming here was the worst of many bad things that HB2 brought to Charlotte (thanks Dan Bishop). This article makes me feel slightly better but I would love for Costar to be taking one of the new South End towers. Instead, they are expanding in Richmond. 

PayPal on the other hand can go screw themselves. 

I'll never fully understand why Charlotte was punished for passing a nondiscrimination ordinance...

Can you explain the PayPal reference?

The articles illuminate a point.  With all the focus on corporate culture and workplace dynamics, do State/City/County officials have at least some slight responsibility to gauge or dig into the corporate culture, culture strategy, workplace wellness frameworks of those companies getting government incentives/grants?  Perhaps they already consistently and systematically do this, but I bristle at the idea of companies getting huge payouts, only to discover that the company is behind the curve on supporting the wellness of its people and fostering an inclusive culture.  Perhaps it wouldn't be our business otherwise, but when getting direct incentives to relocate here and expand here, shouldn't we at least gather data and ask some questions on this?

As for losing Costar to Richmond...good riddance.  This business of doling out incentives to have outsiders establish a presence here at any cost is just something I reject.   Could care less about some company being here so I can gawk at some gleaming high-rise that I'm not even allowed into, while it has a 37% annual attrition rate.

Edited February 24, 2022 by RANYC

[CLT2014]

42 minutes ago, RANYC said:

Can you explain the PayPal reference?

The articles illuminate a point.  With all the focus on corporate culture and workplace dynamics, do State/City/County officials have at least some slight responsibility to gauge or dig into the corporate culture, culture strategy, workplace wellness frameworks of those companies getting government incentives/grants?  Perhaps they already consistently and systematically do this, but I bristle at the idea of companies getting huge payouts, only to discover that the company is behind the curve on supporting the wellness of its people and fostering an inclusive culture.  Perhaps it wouldn't be our business otherwise, but when getting direct incentives to relocate here and expand here, shouldn't we at least gather data and ask some questions on this?

As for losing Costar to Richmond...good riddance.  This business of doling out incentives to have outsiders establish a presence here at any cost is just something I reject.  

PayPal canceled a 400 person job expansion in Charlotte because the state countered Charlotte's non-discrimination ordinance with HB2, that limited the statewide protection of LGBTQ individuals. Some felt like PayPal was really hurting the very city (Charlotte) that was trying to pass a non-discrimination ordinance more than it was actually hurting the state / conservative GOP. Most of the employers that backed out of NC during the HB2 fiasco were in all the most liberal areas... which really made most of the conservative areas rather happy that HB2 was only punishing the cities. Ultimately it took the public shame of the NCAA refusing to host any championships in North Carolina (bye bye precious ACC basketball) for some GOP members to get on board for voting for a partial repeal.

PayPal ultimately never opened a 400 person job expansion in Charlotte or any other location. 

Also.... if you want the state to be responsible for vetting corporate culture / inclusiveness.... I suspect we would be disappointed the controlling parties in the state legislature would find many companies TOO progressive / inclusive if that was a factor in getting incentives. NC Legislature: "This company requires at least 20% of the board to be women... NOPE! PASS. No Incentives."

Edited February 24, 2022 by CLT2014

[deleted account]

1 hour ago, CLT2014 said:

PayPal canceled a 400 person job expansion in Charlotte because the state countered Charlotte's non-discrimination ordinance with HB2, that limited the statewide protection of LGBTQ individuals. Some felt like PayPal was really hurting the very city (Charlotte) that was trying to pass a non-discrimination ordinance more than it was actually hurting the state / conservative GOP. Most of the employers that backed out of NC during the HB2 fiasco were in all the most liberal areas... which really made most of the conservative areas rather happy that HB2 was only punishing the cities. Ultimately it took the public shame of the NCAA refusing to host any championships in North Carolina (bye bye precious ACC basketball) for some GOP members to get on board for voting for a partial repeal.

PayPal ultimately never opened a 400 person job expansion in Charlotte or any other location. 

Perfect summary of events (and my view of things).