Tyson Foods announced this week they are fleeing Chicago to Arkansas. 1,100 employees work at their Chicago facilities. Caterpillar and Citadel also recently announced moves out of Chicago to different locations outside Illinois.
The companies are leaving Chicago due to its crime rates and unfriendly business environment.
But it’s not just Chicago. Businesses continue to flee Democrat-run cities due to rampant crime and looting.
Democrats cheered the “defund the police” movement and now this is where we are.
The Chicago Sun-Times reported:
Americans are more worried about crime than they have been in decades. A recent poll found that 8 in every 10 Americans say they worry about crime either “a great deal” (53%) or “a fair amount” (27%).
This fear is driving businesses large and small out of cities and neighborhoods with rising crime rates. By abandoning these high-risk locations, these businesses take with them any job opportunities they provide to poorer residents.
Local and state governments must focus on reducing violent crime, not just as necessary to protect human life but also because doing so is a prerequisite to real economic opportunity in poor communities…
…Starbucks announced it would close 16 locations in Portland, Seattle, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., over safety concerns. Walgreens is closing five stores in San Francisco due to rampant crime. Small businesses from Seattle to Minnesota are citing crime as the reason they’re closing their doors.
While large businesses may not be the most sympathetic victims of the nation’s dramatic increase in violent crime, the people this crime hurts the most continue to be those from the most socially isolated and economically disadvantaged communities.
Studies have repeatedly found that increases in violent crime reduce economic mobility and hamper private sector job growth.
