Attracting business is about much more than tax rates – Washington Post

The Feb. 21 Local Opinions essay “Keep Maryland open for business” promoted the false idea that tax rates alone drive business decisions. When General Electric announced it was moving its headquarters to Massachusetts, Jeffrey Immelt, its chairman and chief executive, said the company was attracted to Boston’s great colleges and universities, highly skilled workforce, state investment in research and good quality of life for GE employees.

Engaging our neighboring states in a race to the bottom on corporate tax rates does little to bring prosperity and jobs to Maryland. In fact, entrepreneurs and growing small businesses — not large corporations moving their headquarters — drive most of a state’s economic growth. Maryland should focus on helping those start-ups and young, fast-growing firms already in the state to survive and grow, not on cutting taxes and trying to lure businesses from other states, which studies show typically represent only 1 to 4 percent of job creation each year.

To create a strong environment for business growth, Maryland needs the resources it takes to support its colleges and universities, transportation network, police and fire departments, and other services that make the state a great place to work and do business.

Benjamin Orr, Baltimore

Published in the Washington Post Feb. 26, 2016.