Kaiser Aluminum, a 76-year-old manufacturing company that had been based in Orange County, this month moved its headquarters and 70 executives to suburban Nashville, Tennessee, the Orange County Business Journal reported April 25.
As part of the relocation, the company is investing $3 million and creating 80 jobs in Williamson County, Tennessee, the newspaper reported.
Plans for the move were announced last summer. Keith Harvey, the company’s chief executive officer, said at the time: “Williamson County provides the benefit of a corporate friendly business environment and access to a highly talented workforce that fits well with Kaiser Aluminum’s corporate value of being a preferred employer and a great place to work.”
Tennessee officials said the company considered four states for the move. Tennessee provided a $1.2 million cash incentive to attract the employer, the Business Journal reported.
Tennessee does not have a state personal income tax. California’s top state income tax rate is 13.3 percent, and the Business Journal noted that state legislators have proposed bills to significantly increase that rate.
“We’ve more recently been more successful in incentivizing companies from California,” a Tennessee business development official said.