Andrew Scott Contributes Op-Ed Piece to Crain’s Chicago Business

Andrew Scott, Chicago-based member in the Real Estate Practice Group whose practice concentrates on governmental entitlements and a broad array of economic development incentives that include tax increment financing, tax sharing and corporate tax credits, authored an opinion piece—“Should Illinois give ADM that tax break? You bet.”—that appears in the October 16, 2013 issue of Crain’s Chicago Business online edition, ChicagoBusiness.com, and will also be published in next week’s printed version of the publication. Crain’s Chicago Business is one of the largest weekly metropolitan business publications in the nation, with nearly a quarter of a million readers each week.

In his editorial, Scott outlines a variety of business reasons why companies such as Archer Daniels Midland look for tax relief from state and municipalities. Scott argues that “a company that does not seek the benefits of existing economic development programs arguably is not meeting its basic corporate obligations.”

Scott also details why states such as Illinois look to confer tax breaks on companies who explore relocating their corporate headquarters. Among them: the economic impact the company, its high-level executives and support staff (as well as vendors and clients who come to Illinois) has on state revenues; and the reputational benefits that accrue to having a major enterprise headquartered in the state. According to the 2013 list of Fortune 500 companies, Archer Daniels Midland is the 27^th largest company in the U.S. and the largest based in Illinois, with annual revenues of $89 billion.

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