Over the past few months we’ve been keeping track of the number of residents and businesses that are fleeing California for greener pastures in Arizona, Nevada and Texas.
Reading about large numbers of businesses in the aggregate is a macro study.
But today, through the lens of the Dallas Business Journal, I want to look at the micro side of the great maker exodus from California and relate the story of a single businessman and why he left the formerly Golden State.
Alex Wilcox, is the Chief Executive Officer of JetSuite, a company running a small charter airline between various southern California cities and Las Vegas, Nevada.
Wilcox had been considering a move to the Dallas Fort Worth area for some time and now that’s he’s made the move, he describes it as a "welcome change."
"Not being viewed as an enemy, but being viewed as an asset is so refreshing," he explained.
In leftist California wanting to make a profit and using fossil fuels to do it, automatically puts the owner on the suspicious list.
The difference between the attitude of officials in California and that of Texas is stark. "I tried to start flying out of Santa Monica, California. And they sued me because I was trying to bring a service to the city," Wilcox said. "When I got to Dallas, literally, people in city hall were like, 'How can we help you?'"
Here’s what California’s anti-business attitude cost it:
Counting executives and line employees, over 60 taxpayers will move from California to the Dallas Fort Worth area. Once JetSuite is up and running, another 180 to 200 Texans will be hired to fill jobs at the new employer.
As JetSuite grows its fleet of small jets to 100, Wilcox predicts a revenue stream between $55 and $60 million. But that’s just the beginning. After he expands destinations and rolls out what he calls JetSuiteX — a Lyft for aircraft where passengers can purchase a single seat on a charter for a one-way fare beginning at $129 — Wilcox anticipates that within six years revenue will approach $1 billion. And that’s $1 billion in revenue, and the jobs it provides, that will be located in Texas — not California.
California leftists have declared war on business and it is the only struggle they appear to be winning. "Inequality," "homelessness," and drug abuse, as well all the other social justice campaigns the left runs there don’t appear to be very successful.
Once the goose that pays the golden taxes has finally been killed in California, I wonder where the leftists plan to obtain the revenue necessary to build their utopia on earth after most of the makers have departed?
Michael Reagan, the eldest son of President Reagan, is a Newsmax TV analyst. A syndicated columnist and author, he chairs The Reagan Legacy Foundation. Michael is an in-demand speaker with Premiere speaker’s bureau. Read more reports from Michael Reagan — Go Here Now.