Emerson Electric (Headquartered in Ferguson, Missouri) generated $25
billion in sales in the past year and is projected to have over $3.5 billion in cash
on hand, next year. Their recent
corporate donation of $4.4 million to fund scholarships and job training in the
Ferguson area is very admirable, but that donation will also serve as a quick
fix for a nightmarish public relations problem and of course, the donation is
tax deductible.
Considering the circumstances, I’m confident that there were
some very high-level meetings recently at Emerson’s headquarters and it was
decided to attack the “Ferguson problem”, with a generous donation. Again, I believe that was a noble gesture,
but it doesn’t begin to address what the real problem for Ferguson and its’
surrounding cities really is. Namely, a
lack of good paying manufacturing jobs for people who are willing to work hard
and provide for their families. Minimum
wage jobs and social assistance programs have never revived any cities
that I’m aware of. None. Ferguson was built primarily from the success
of nearby manufacturing plants like McDonnell-Douglas (Boeing) Ford, GM and
Emerson itself. It was those companies’ movements elsewhere and their
downsizing that have decimated Ferguson.
In today’s world, stockholder pressure and senior executive
profit incentives, force companies to ignore the communities that helped to
build their company in the first place.
Companies are now run by accountants who are constantly searching the
world for the cheapest labor and lowest taxes available, to show higher profits
on a short-term basis. Investors and
executives demand it.
Consequently, some simple research on Emerson’s own Web Site
reveals that the company operates more than 150 manufacturing plants outside
of the United States. Sure, many of
those plants may have existed previously through Emerson’s worldwide
acquisitions, but the question remains, how many new plants are planned to be
built in the United States? Or, better
yet, in Ferguson? How many?
Ferguson’s demise directly correlates with the demise of the
middle class in America and more specifically, North St. Louis County. Corporate profits are at an all-time high,
but workers’ wages have actually dropped when you figure inflation into the
equation. If things need to change and
we all know they do, why not start in Ferguson?
It has the focus of the world on it right now and Emerson is a worldwide
company. Emerson, please build a plant
in Ferguson. Build a big one. Be an example to the thousands of
corporations who forgot where their roots were and become a pioneer in helping
to rebuild the American Middle-Class.
Steve Erdelen
