According to the Daily Californian today, Bayer pharmaceutical is considering outsourcing the purification process of its hemophilia drug, Kogenate, which is produced at the Bayer facility in Berkeley, California.
According to another article today in the Berkeley Daily Planet, the mayors of Berkeley, Oakland and Emeryville are collaborating to expand the Oakland Enterprise Zone to include West Berkeley and the Bayer facility — in an effort to stave off the possible loss of jobs. Also, “on July 28 the Oakland City Council unanimously approved a motion to ask the state to include West Berkeley businesses within Oakland’s enterprise zone.” Expanding the enterprise zone would make millions of dollars in tax incentives available to Bayer and to other businesses in the region.
Bayer has not yet confirmed nor denied union allegations that the jobs may be outsourced. Bayer’s spokeswoman, Trina Ostrander has commented, however, saying “We cannot forget that by various indicators doing business in California is very expensive…. We are currently exploring various options, however at this point it is premature to provide any speculation on future plans.”
Commentary: Is it not interesting that while certain California legislators murmur and complain against the state’s only major tax incentive program, local governments continue to recognize the California enterprise zone program’s value as a tool to keep and attract jobs?