California Enterprise Zone Not Enough - Again

Back in November I posted an article from the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal about electric-car maker Tesla Motors' search for a site to build their new 300 employee factory. Many different states were trying to entice the company and California was offering its Enterprise Zones as a major incentive. There was a particularly bitter line that I highlighted at the end of that article:

Because the company is based in Silicon Valley, has support from some wealthy technology investors and makes an expensive product, some in Sacramento think the company should just reach deeper in its own pockets to find that $15 million.

Well, today the Contra Costa Times reports that Tesla chose Albuquerque, NM over semi-finalist Pittsburg, CA:

Hoping to entice electric-car maker Tesla Motors to make Pittsburg the site of its first U.S. auto assembly plant, city officials assembled an offer for the startup larger than any pieced together there before. But the package wasn't enough to keep Tesla from choosing to head to New Mexico instead....Tesla's vice president of marketing, Darryl Siry, said Albuquerque's edge over Pittsburg can be explained in three key reasons: It's considered the No. 1 city in the country for business; it's a better location for a supply base; and the prevailing wage need not be as high compared with the Bay Area for workers to earn a good living.

Related: The Buck Stops Here