Politicians Keep Jobs out of City of Milwaukee

Well, I guess congratulations are in order for Congresswoman Gwen Moore and Alderman Bob Donovan.

BuySeasons CEO rejects Milwaukee
Jalem Getz, president and chief executive officer of BuySeasons Inc., says he is no longer interested in moving his business to Milwaukee, even though the Milwaukee Common Council approved a plan this morning to clear the way for him to relocate to the Menomonee River Valley.

The council approved a plan to sell 9.2 acres in the valley to a developer who would build a 200,000-square-foot facility for BuySeasons.

Despite the vote, BuySeasons president and chief executive officer Jalem Getz told SBT this morning that he has already ruled out all of Milwaukee County as a possible new location for his company.

"Milwaukee County is no longer on our list,"” Getz said today. "It hasn't been on our list for a month. We haven't had any talks with the city for about a month. This is a non-issue for us. We made our decision. We're working on other projects."

Getz said Willow Tree Development, the developer of the building that BuySeasons would have occupied in the valley, could not assure him that the Milwaukee site would be ready in time for his company to move in by April 2007.

Getz declined to name other sites he is considering for his new plant.

BuySeasons is an Internet costumes retailer that has experienced significant growth in recent years. Last year, it was ranked the fastest-growing privately held company in Wisconsin by Inc. magazine. The company had $30 million in sales in 2005, occupies about 81,000 square feet of space in New Berlin and needs more room to expand.

Last month, BuySeasons dropped its plans to move to the Menomonee River Valley after Milwaukee Alderman Bob Donovan and U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, (D-Wis.) expressed concerns about the proposed sale of the land because of the quality of jobs that BuySeasons would be bringing to the valley.

Donovan said he had been told that BuySeasons' seasonal employees are paid as little as $6 an hour.

The company currently has 60 full-time employees and 300 to 350 seasonal employees and plans to hire about 400 seasonal workers this year, and more in future years, Getz said. The seasonal workers generally are paid between $9 to $16 per hour. Most of the full-time employees at the company started as seasonal workers, he said.

Moore and Donovan have displayed unbelievable arrogance and a fundamental disdain for the free market. Let's see how long that land is vacant and how many jobs eventually are 'created' there.

It must be nice to be a big city pol who can derail the addition of 60 full time and 400 seasonal jobs because they were not 'quality jobs.'

The mayor must be pulling out his hair in frustration over these jokers.