IKEA Archives - Tennessee Star

New Documentary Chronicles How Memphis’s Corporate Welfare Scheme with IKEA Backfired

September 15, 2021September 14, 2021 Chris Butler

A new documentary profiles examples of corporate welfare that shortchanged taxpayers and business owners, including in Memphis, where city officials bestowed a generous tax break upon IKEA. This documentary, Corporate Welfare: Where’s the Outrage?, debuted on public television and YouTube late last month. Free To Choose Media Executive Editor and Cato Senior Fellow Johan Norberg hosted the documentary.

Memphis IKEA Reportedly Fails to Live Up to Promises Made to Get Tax Incentives

April 21, 2019April 20, 2019 Chris Butler

Memphis officials gave IKEA nearly $10 million in incentives to set up shop there, but company officials reportedly can’t do what they promised. So, IKEA officials are giving up some of their previously approved 11-year tax abatement, according to The Daily Memphian. IKEA did not hire the number of jobs…

ID of Companies that Reportedly Want Memphis Corporate Welfare May Soon be Kept Secret

December 10, 2018December 13, 2018 Chris Butler

Memphis taxpayers may soon know less about the companies that want corporate welfare in exchange for expanding or relocating their business to Memphis, according to The Memphis Commercial Appeal. This, the paper went on to say, depends on a pending opinion from the state attorney general and how he interprets…

Memphis Ponders Whether It Hands Out Corporate Welfare the Right Way

September 23, 2018September 22, 2018 Chris Butler

There’s a lot of tussling going on in Memphis as the city’s movers and shakers debate the best ways to disburse corporate welfare. According to the Memphis Daily News, a seven-member city group is studying the effectiveness of EDGE – the city-county Economic Development Growth Engine. EDGE hands out tax…

IKEA Corporate Welfare Documentary Earns Beacon Center of Tennessee Nomination for National Award

September 2, 2018September 1, 2018 Jason M. Reynolds

Think tank Beacon Center of Tennessee is one of three finalists for a national award in the category of Best Issue Campaign. The Beacon Center was nominated for its award for a mini-documentary titled “Rigged: The Injustice of Corporate Welfare.” The Bob Williams Awards for Outstanding Policy Achievement celebrate state think…

Memphis Might Change How it Gives Out Tax Incentives

August 19, 2018August 18, 2018 Chris Butler

Memphis and Shelby County have an unelected board of 11 people who have enough power to grant millions of dollars in tax abatements to corporations. Shelby County Commissioner Heidi Shafer told The Tennessee Star that city and county officials aren’t getting results under the current way of doing things. “There…

Think Tank: Tax Incentives Hurt Small Business Owners in Tennessee

August 15, 2018August 14, 2018 Chris Butler

Tennessee’s economy would thrive even without local and state governments dishing out tax incentives to already wealthy corporations. What’s more, these tax incentives penalize Tennessee’s small business owners. This from the spokesman for the Nashville-based free market think tank The Beacon Center of Tennessee. “Simply put, corporate handouts benefit rich…

IKEA Coming To Nashville

May 25, 2017 Wendy Wilson

IKEA fans in Nashville can look forward to the day when they will no longer have to trek to Memphis or Atlanta to do their shopping. The Swedish home furnishings retailer has announced that an IKEA store will open in the Nashville area by summer 2020, reports NewsChannel 5. The…