Life in "Progress" State - California edition

They called it Paradise
The place to be
They watched the hazy sun
Sinking in the sea.......

A list of companies moving out of or expanding outside California has grown by 84 since the start of the year, says Joe Vranich, Irvine consultant who specializes in relocating companies.

He includes 25 Orange County companies – including Kyjen Company (Huntington Beach to Centennial, Colo.) and MotorVac Technologies (Santa Ana to Ontario, Canada) – that have expanded outside California or moved completely.

But he excludes companies like Irvine Scientific of Santa Ana, which is building a production facility in Japan, because it’s tied to a global expansion strategy, not California’s business environment.

Vranich has been compiling his list since July 2009, and every time he gives a speech to business groups or appears on talk radio, such as KFI’s John and Ken show, he says people call and e-mail him with rumors, tips and news of departures he missed. He verifies each one before adding it to his list.

The 84 in six months of 2010 compares to 44 in all of 2009 and 35 from 2006 through 2008, he says, adding that the moves represent $4.7 billion in capital shifted out of California.

“The exodus of capital and jobs has reached such an alarming point that California ought to declare a state of economic emergency just as we have emergencies resulting from floods, fires and earthquakes,” Vranich says. “Raising taxes or creating new regulations should be out of the question.”

He has long insisted that most of the moves are related to California’s “high taxes, undue regulations, excessive fines and fees, high workers’ comp (insurance) costs, a legal environment stacked against businesses and lengthy permitting requirements.”

But other than that, it's a great place to do business.

Creating a place for commerce to leave?

Now that's "Progressive"!

More.....