| Businesses Running From California By Michael Reagan Maybe Oklahoma was just loaning the residents who fled to California during the 1930s Dust Bowl. (The Dust Bowl, incidentally, was a genuine weather crisis that went away without expensive government regulation regarding the size of dust motes, how far one could travel each day over dry ground and airborne water interdiction. One could say the climate changed and for the better.) Another California company has announced it's pulling up stakes. After 103 years in the Los Angeles area, Farmer Brothers coffee is heading east for either Oklahoma City or Dallas–Fort Worth. Editor's Notes: Special: Are You Sabotaging Your Heart With Statin Drugs? Are You an AARP Member? Please Read Immediately... Farmer Brothers has a different business model from that of Starbucks. Farmer Brothers doesn't hire recent gender studies graduates to serve as caffeine bartenders in an environment of leftist ambiance. Instead the company sells coffee without ideology to other beverage resellers. Farmer Brothers, which began selling coffee door–to–door and grew into a nationwide presence, joins Toyota and Nissan as another high–profile company driven out by storms of rules, regulations, and costs whipped up by gale–force political demagoguery. Along with the company and its prestige, California will lose 350 jobs, with paychecks ranging between $40,000 and $80,000, it can't spare. In the short run, the move will be expensive. According to the Los Angeles Business Journal, "Farmer Bros. expects to incur roughly $35 million to $40 million in new facility costs with an additional $20 million to $25 million in anticipated capital expenditures for machinery, equipment, furniture and other necessities." Some of that cost theoretically will be covered by the sale of the company's Torrance headquarters. But I have my doubts. Not many firms are moving into California and finding a local company ready to endure the Golden State's punishing gauntlet of regulations, regulators and assorted red tape could be tough. Still, once the move is complete and the company is up and running in the Sooner state or the Lone Star state it expects to save $12 to $15 million annually over what it would cost to operate in California. Now that's a sunny business climate. The response on the part of California officials is typical: Farmer Brothers was unhappy about being taxed and micromanaged by politicians and bureaucrats with no business experience? Well no one told us! Maybe not — instead the company voted with its feet, just as residents have been doing for decades. California has had a net outward population migration that's bleeding the middle class dry. Now it appears business is moving to greener pastures, too. Michael Reagan is the son of former President Ronald Reagan and chairman of the League of American Voters. His blog appears on reaganreports.com More Links: 5 Things to Flush 40 Pounds of Unwanted Fat Out of Your Body ALERT: Millionaire's Blueprint Revealed: Discover the Secret Today | 
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