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Efforts To Steal Illinois Business Paying Off

Last updated on Friday, June 17, 2011

(UNDATED) - Indiana’s efforts to steal away business from Illinois appear to be paying off.

When Illinois enacted a cluster of tax hikes to rein in a ballooning deficit, Indiana Commerce Secretary Mitch Roob says he predicted a dozen Illinois businesses would migrate to Indiana by the end of the year.

It took six months.

Roob is counting two companies which picked Indiana over Illinois without any extra incentives.

Along with those, he says three companies have moved to Indiana, and seven more which had facilities in both states have consolidated operations in Indiana.

Indiana tried a similar strategy in California without much luck so far.

But Roob says dissatisfaction in Illinois runs deep.

He says he can't guess how long the exodus will continue.

But Indiana is trying to help it along, putting up 15 billboards in Illinois and Northwest Indiana asking, "Illinnoyed by higher taxes?"

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