Business leaders, lawmakers talk jobs at Harper forum

When Schaumburg-based Motorola Inc. splits into two companies early next year, how many jobs could be lost here? Or how many jobs could officials keep here by making Illinois a more business-friendly state?

Motorola, along with several other business executives, suburban officials and state lawmakers gathered Tuesday at Harper College in Palatine seeking ideas on how to keep and create more jobs in Illinois when the brutal recession eases.

But the testimony leaned heavily on what was wrong in Illinois, and how jobs continue to be at risk with laws that the business leaders said are either outdated or too burdensome for businesses.

"Government and business can be more productive working together... rather than mandating unworkable, expensive programs," said Motorola's government affairs Director Darcy Davidsmeyer.

About 50 business leaders and lawmakers gathered before the House' Bipartisan Job Creation Task Force, a statewide group making a whistle-stop tour around Illinois to gather ideas about job creation. Such meetings already have been held in Rockford, Decatur and Springfield led by state Rep. Lou Lang, a Democrat from Skokie. State Rep. Fred Crespo, a Democrat from Hoffman Estates, organized the Palatine meeting to give suburban business leaders a voice on future legislation that could help them.

Ideas from the meetings, overall, have included streamlining certain permits, reducing fees or providing more tax credits. Much of what was presented in testimony focused on laws that businesses say cost too much, are too burdensome with paperwork, or take too long to accomplish.

"We're looking for specific ideas and issues so we can draft the bills to address them," Crespo said.

While the task force members weren't necessarily there to hear about views on workman's comp, health care reform or other hot-button issues, that's what they got. Some suburban businessmen were worried about extra expenses they said may reduce their abilities to expand and hire more workers.

David Bear, a second-generation franchisee with 500 workers at 10 McDonald's restaurants in Elgin, South Elgin, Streamwood, Hoffman Estates and West Dundee, said minimum wage is expected to increase to $8,50 in July. That, along with the uncertain costs associated with health care reform, could curtain his expansion plans.

"We want to grow our businesses and provide additional opportunities so that individuals can enter and become productive members of the work force," said Bear. But minimum wage increases add to the company's expenses and Bear said he would automate rather than hire more workers in order to cut costs.

Golan Mor, general manager of Wheeling-based Garden Fresh Markets, which has eight grocery stores in Chicago and the suburbs, agreed that the rising costs associated with minimum wage and health care don't provide incentives to expand. The company already has put three new stores on hold because of the recession, he said.

"Minimum wage keeps going up, but our sales have gone down," Mor said. "Our interest and payments with the bank are also going down. There's deflation in certain areas of our industry. We can't afford to expand and hire more workers."

Laurie Stone, president of the Schaumburg Business Association, and other business leaders focused on improving suburban infrastructure and mass transportation to make it easier for job seekers to apply throughout the region and easily get to work.

"They should also rewrite the telecom law to focus on new technologies," Stone said. "We have companies like AT&T here and we'd like to see them expand."

But the biggest issue was the recession, which continues to leave the business community and its work force vulnerable, including giants like Motorola.

"What is standing in your way from expanding your business here in

Illinois?" Lang asked Davidsmeyer about Motorola, after reports recently surfaced that co-CEO Sanjay Jha favored California as a new location for the Mobile Devices business.

"The economy has definitely had an effect," Davidsmeyer said. "And when a business looks at its state, it's looking for clarity, consistency and stability. Those are the most important things. So we know what to expect."

Davidsmeyer said it's been too expensive for a global company like Motorola to do business in Illinois. She cited one example of a state law involving e-waste, the disposal of electronics in a safe manner, which the company said it has voluntarily done for many years. But a state law has added thousands of dollars annually for quarterly audits of e-waste disposal, she said.

"It's expensive doing business in this state," she said.