Stephen Jenks: Education, not low taxes, attracts businesses

In the April 19 Business article “Trilliant is moving global headquarters to Cary,” it’s revealing that the CEO “cited the region’s technology talent, quality of life and cost of living as factors that led to the decision to move to Cary.”

Notice that a low corporate tax rate was not a factor for a company able to pay an average annual wage of $104,348. In fact, more important was the recent passage of compromise legislation to replace House Bill 2.

So the Republicans in the General Assembly have once again gotten it wrong: Companies are rarely swayed by low tax rates but instead look for the presence of factors that are facilitated by state and local government, such as education. Cutting corporate tax rates is actually counter to economic progress in the state.

This story was originally published April 26, 2017 at 6:28 PM with the headline "Stephen Jenks: Education, not low taxes, attracts businesses."