Fascinating new development on the Ogden City business development front. Scott Schwebke reports this morning that Descente Ltd., the first of a dozen or more ski companies to have moved to Ogden during the past several years, is now considering "flying the coop." We incorporate Mr. Schwebke's lead paragraphs below:
OGDEN -- Descente Ltd. is considering relocating its North American corporate office and warehouse from Ogden to Layton, a company official said Tuesday.Here's the full story for those readers who'd like to bone up:
The winter sports apparel firm is involved in talks to consolidate the corporate office and warehouse in a single facility in a Layton business park, said Ryan Westenskow, chief financial officer for Descente North America.
"It's more efficient (to have one building)," said Westenskow, who declined to provide the address of the Layton building under consideration by Descente, which is headquartered in Osaka, Japan.
"It's suitable for what we need."
Descente's North American corporate office is presently at 2550 Washington Blvd., and its warehouse is at 159 23rd St., both in Ogden.
• Apparel firm may consolidate Ogden locations in Layton / Winter clothing company says efficiency is keyMr. Schwebke also reports that this news came from out of the blue, and hints that it's apparent that Ogden City officials feel they've been blindsided:
John Patterson, Ogden's chief administrative officer, said he was unaware that Descente may move to Layton until contacted Tuesday by the Standard-Examiner.We confess we're at a loss to explain the true meaning of this startling development. Does this spell the beginning of the unravelling of the Boss Godfrey's "Ski Hub Concept", we ask? Or are the Samurai from Osaka merely jockeying for a sweeter "sweetheart deal" from the Ogden City Administration?
"I would hate to see it happen," he said. "They are such a fixture here."
The city has made proposals to Descente that include consolidating local operations under one roof at its 23rd Street warehouse location and or in a facility at Business Depot Ogden, said Mayor Matthew Godfrey.
"Clearly, we want them to stay right here in town," he said. "We've made them very attractive offers to do so."
One thing's for sure. We already know that Descente Ltd. operates with a bean-counter mentality, and that Descente's Osaka executives really don't give a hoot about Ogden... or its economic revival. And there's one thing more: The departure of Descente would have a fairly significant economic impact on Ogden, inasmuch as this company's Ogden payroll is a purported million dollars a year, and Descente allegedly pays $125,000 annually in sales tax to Ogden City, according to a 5/2/06 statement from former Descente Ltd. CEO Curt Geiger, (see the article linked directly above for details) .
Time for Boss Godfrey and his bloated Economic Development Department drones to get off their keisters on this, we believe. It should be painfully obvious that it serves no long-term economic benefit to initially land these ski companies, if they later "hoof it" to a neighboring city.
Time for some fancy dancin', wethinks:
Prominent Ogden City Prima BallerinasStrap on yer dancin' shoes, Matt and the Boyz!
And what thinks our gentle readers about all this?
