"We're an increasingly minor outpost.... Over time, Massachusetts has become a less important part of IBM,"
then why....
"$5m in tax breaks going to IBM for Littleton project
The Massachusetts Economic Assistance Coordinating Council approved $5 million in state and local tax breaks for IBM Corp., which recently began a $63 million expansion in Littleton. IBM vice president Bob McDonald said the company plans to create 42 jobs at the site over the next decade. McDonald said the computer giant, based in Armonk, N.Y., has already begun renovating a building and hopes to move into it next month. McDonald said the tax incentives were important, but the company would have gone forward with the expansion without them. IBM has 4,000 employees in Massachusetts, including about 2,000 in Littleton (Boston Globe October 30 2008)."
Excuse me?
A $5 MILLION TAXPAYER GIVEAWAY that IBM DIDN'T EVEN WANT?
And WTF? WHO is LYING? Does a minor outpost get an expansion?
"Merger talk spurs worries about jobs; Sun, IBM employ about 6,000 in Mass." by Robert Weisman, Globe Staff | March 19, 2009
High-tech leaders, who've been working to position Massachusetts as a competitive research and development hub, are worried that a merger of IBM Corp. and Sun Microsystems Inc. could lead to a loss of jobs - and clout.
"If an acquisition was to wipe out the Sun Microsystems presence here, that would be disconcerting," said Mark Horan, executive director of the Massachusetts Network Communications Council, a technology trade association in Waltham.
The companies, out-of-state technology titans with substantial research centers here, together employ more than 6,000 workers in Massachusetts. Both have roots in computer hardware but are moving to capitalize on the "cloud computing" trend, delivering software and services to businesses over the Internet.
IBM, based in Armonk, N.Y., acquired Lotus Development Corp. of Cambridge in 1995 and has since snapped up eight other Massachusetts software companies. It operates a research lab at a former Lotus site near Kendall Square....
While both companies have shed jobs in Massachusetts in recent months, and Sun is in the process of cutting 6,000 jobs worldwide, neither would say yesterday how many workers they still employ here. Nor would they comment on news media reports that IBM is in talks to acquire Sun....
Translation: It's a done deal.
Forecasting a pickup of merger activity, investment bank Credit Suisse Group yesterday sent a note to its clients, suggesting there could be eyes on other Massachusetts tech players. It identified data storage provider EMC Corp. of Hopkinton as another potential takeover target.
EMC getting taken over! See: The EMC Exemption
EMC spokesman Michael Gallant said he hadn't read the report. "We don't comment on rumors or speculation," he said. "EMC is a very well-positioned company and poised to gain market share this year. We're looking for opportunities to acquire other companies."
I'm sick of shit fooleys, no matter were they are found.
Here in Massachusetts, the fear is that if IBM acquires Sun as part of a new wave of consolidation, the combined company could pare its state workforce. That's what happened when Compaq Corp. bought Digital Equipment Corp., and when Hewlett-Packard Inc. later purchased Compaq, in an earlier wave of technology deals.
"Unfortunately, we're an increasingly minor outpost for both organizations [IBM and Sun]," said Tom Davenport, professor of information technology and management at Babson College in Wellesley. "Over time, Massachusetts has become a less important part of IBM. And no one thinks of us as the center of the Sun universe. An acquisition like this is not a good thing for any remote outpost."
Especially when we GAVE THEM $5 MILLION DOLLARS for a TAX BREAK THEY DIDN'T WANT!
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