April 22, 2013 at 7:13am
The new State Farm offices in Tacoma bring new jobs, a broader tax base and more customers for other downtown businesses. That's all good.
But there's more.
First, this was a complicated deal, pulled off amidst regional competition. The City - staff and electeds - and the Economic Development Board did well, giving us confidence in their ability to keep or bring other employers.
Second, while all new jobs are welcome, not all are equal. When a policyholder in Boise pays for someone in Tacoma to handle a claim, that's "outside money;" it grows our local economy.
The other kind of job - cashier at a retailer, for example - simply re-circulates "local money" and doesn't grow the economy.
Third, these are "clean" jobs. Remember: keyboards don't pollute. And State Farm has already shown sensitivity to downtown traffic; the concentration of jobs in two large spaces makes them prime for low-impact commuting.
Fourth, these will be family wage jobs with health care and other benefits, and most of the jobs will be accessible to a lot of people; they won't require a lot of higher education or special technical skills.
Fifth, these are private sector jobs and didn't require massive incentives. So they build, not weaken the tax base.
OK, the State Farm leases don't launch us into the economic stratosphere. Nobody wins a Nobel Prize for claims processing. But these are good, solid jobs with no obvious negatives. Good news any day.
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