'Boy in Cookie Jar' forced to move

Maurice Lenell Cookie Company, a family owned institution famed for its "Boy in the Cookie Jar" logo, is being forced to consider relocating to Mexico due to labor costs and the price of domestic sugar. The Lenell Company will join Brachs, Hershey and other confection companies that have relocated to Mexico due to the high cost of domestic sugar. The sugar lobby has had legislation enacted to prohibit the importation of sugar. The Norridge Company employs between 100 and 160 people who will lose their jobs.

NAFTA, which was supposed to encourage trade between North American countries, instead encourages companies to relocate and enjoy cheaper labor and tax incentives in Mexico. This takes jobs and taxes away from our country. Additionally, legislation prohibiting the importation of sugar, apparently not part of the free trade agreement, has caused confectioners to leave our country. Our senators and congressmen succumbed to the wishes of the lobbyists of sugar producing states not the needs of their constituents. The Boy in the Cookie Jar will be moving.

John Culloton | Chicago