Georgia's Gains Are Ohio's Pains - Jobs and Congressional Seats

AJC: Ohio's pain is Atlanta's gain

First up was NCR, the famed, 125-year-old cash register company that moved its headquarters from Dayton, Ohio, to Duluth last June.

Then came Fischbein, which announced in July that Suwanee, not Cleveland, would be the site for a new production line.

Finally, earlier this month, aluminum can maker Novelis quit Cleveland and moved its North American headquarters to Buckhead.

For those keeping score: Atlanta 3, Ohio 0.

And that’s just in the last eight months.

Poaching business from the Rust Belt isn’t a new phenomenon. Midwest companies have been heading to the Sun Belt for decades to take advantage of balmy weather, tax breaks and non-union workers.

But the quantity, and quality, of the relocations augurs well for Atlanta. NCR, Novelis and Newell Rubbermaid moved headquarters – and hundreds of well-paid, white-collar jobs – from the Midwest to Atlanta, burnishing the city’s reputation as a corporate magnet.

In all, 43 Midwestern companies have established headquarters, warehouses, distribution centers, factories, branch offices or testing labs across the region since 1999, according to the Metro Atlanta Chamber. Ohio alone has shipped 20 of those companies or their units down Interstate 75. Only three other states -- California, Florida and Texas -- have been more generous toward Atlanta.

Philly Inquirer: John Murtha's Seat Likely To Disappear

Ohio is expected to lose two seats, with New Jersey, New York, Michigan, Massachusetts, Iowa, Illinois, and Louisiana considered possibilities to lose one seat.

New Jersey would drop from 13 House members to 12 if the estimates prove accurate. Ten years ago, the state stayed even, but in 1992 it went from 14 districts to 13. Two Democratic-held districts were merged into one, and one of the representatives retired.

Texas could gain as many as three seats, and Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, South Carolina, Utah, and Washington would gain one new seat each if projections hold. Although many of those states lost population in last year's estimates or stayed level because of the recession, gains from earlier in the decade will boost them in reapportionment.

Despite being a "Yankee" by birth - this is music to my ears.
Sadly certain people who will migrate from these lands who's policies have proved to be a failure are going to try and "fix" the South - bringing their own "hillbilly" policies learned in the North with them.