Wisconsin's "Open for Business" Campaign Needs More Knee-Jerk Reactions

Job-poaching campaigns have mixed success in Illinois. A few small firms have bade Illinois farewell, but a local expert isn’t impressed overall. (Rockford Register-Star, 8/20/2011)

Excerpt: For months, drivers had a hard time leaving Illinois without passing a billboard begging the state’s businesses to leave the Land of Lincoln, too.

Both Wisconsin and Indiana launched separate but equally pointed public relations campaigns after Gov. Pat Quinn approved a set of tax rate hikes in January. Although both states have cooled their ad campaigns, other states — South Dakota being the latest — continue to make public pushes in the Prairie State for disaffected Illinois businesses.

The campaigns have so far not netted any large business defections, despite threats from Caterpillar, Sears and CME Group to pack up. Although the signs may have been successful at planting the seeds of relocation in the minds of business owners, such decisions are usually the result of careful planning and analysis that can take years to complete.

“You’re dealing with people who have built their business over years of closely monitoring their finances. They’re not going to stop doing that because of a billboard,” said Eric Voyles, vice president of national business development at the Rockford Area Economic Development Council. “There is nothing about site selection that is knee-jerk.”