A Dell of a Deal

Dell Computer's largest assembly plant opens today in Forsyth County. Congratulations to the company, its new employees and the region on this landmark occasion. All was not sweetness and light, in getting to this event, however.

Just eleven months ago Dell announced it would locate in the Piedmont Triad of North Carolina, but it was uncertain just where in the Triad the computer giant would actually locate its assembly plant. Guilford, Davison and Forsyth Counties worked hard to get their recruiting "a-games" going. Each tried their best to come up with the most attractive combination of tax incentives, locations and give-backs to win Dell's eye. It may have been just another day at the office in the industrial recruiting game, but the process angered many folks in the state. Those folks argued the state's overly generous incentives package (worth over $240-million to Dell in a twenty year period, including $225 million in tax credits plus a $14.1 million job development grant and job training assistance from the state) amounted to corporate welfare at best, and bribery at the very least.

Forsyth County was eventually able to out-incentive its Triad brothers and win the contest, if, as some might say, you can call "giving away the store" a "win". The county will be granting Dell an additional $32 million in incentives.

Granted, in the world of economic development, there are plenty of positives to help offset the cost of incentive packages. Just the fact a top shelf company is located in your community is alone worth a huge amount -- it will be seen as a major reason for other companies to locate there, which will bring more jobs and more growth and development to the community.

Be that as it may, the cost to the taxpayers of encouraging Dell to locate in the Triad works out to well over $200,000 per job created. When the vast majority of those new jobs are said to be in the 26-28k per year category, the taxpayers of the state and of Forsyth County will essentially be paying those workers for seven years. Not a bad deal for Dell, at all. Let's hope the major investment by North Carolina and Forsyth County in Dell will be proven to be a smart one.