8 thoughts on “Today is not as great a day in SC as yesterday was: Bose shutting Blythewood plant”

1. Brad Warthen Post authorJanuary 22, 2015 at 1:39 pm

   To be clear: Nikki has every right to tout ecodevo successes; I said as much to Bobby Hitt when I ran into him just the other day. (I didn’t mention his boss specifically; I just alluded to all the success they’ve been having).

   I’m just saying that it’s a good thing for her speech last night that this bad news wasn’t ringing in people’s ears at the time.

   There will always be bad news mixed amid the good, even if our economic development strategy is perfect…

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2. Kathryn Fenner January 22, 2015 at 3:10 pm

   I’m guessing that iPods and iPhones, and satellite and internet radio have rendered a lot of Bose’s product line moribund.
   It’s too bad. Those were good jobs.

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   1. Doug Ross January 22, 2015 at 3:14 pm

      Bingo! If I can buy a bluetooth speaker that sounds 80% as good as a Bose at 20% of the price, why wouldn’t I? Bose had a niche and lost it.

      This is just the business cycle. Adapt or die.

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      1. Brad Warthen Post authorJanuary 22, 2015 at 3:29 pm

         It’s one thing to say that about companies.

         It’s another to say that about people who just lost their jobs.

         #socialdarwinism

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         1. Brad Warthen Post authorJanuary 22, 2015 at 3:32 pm

            You know, Doug, some people are not gifted with creativity, or the ability to see the next trend coming, or the even rarer ability to see the way to monetize that trend.

            Some people have only their honest labor to offer. And they work hard, in good faith, until it is all yanked out from under them.

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            1. Doug Ross January 22, 2015 at 4:21 pm

               Yes, it’s a shame everything just can’t stay the same and never change. I should have stuck with programming my Radio Shack TRS-80 computer back in 1978. Why would anyone need anything better than that?

               The company I worked for from 1978 to 1995 went from 140,000 employees to nothing in the span of a dozen years. Why? Markets changed and the company didn’t respond. In fact, they ignored the realities of the market.

               Companies don’t disappear overnight. There are usually YEARS of downward trends that should be warning signs. The news release on the closing has two facts:

               “The Bose plant previously laid off 200 employees back in 2012.”

               Red flag. Two years ago. How many employees saw that and sign and left? How many ignored it and spent the past two years just hanging on?

               “The company says it will will move some of the operations currently performed in South Carolina to facilities in Arizona and Mexico.”

               If you want a global economy, you can’t complain when jobs that don’t require any special skills go to places where labor is cheaper.

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            2. Kathryn Fenner January 22, 2015 at 4:47 pm

               That’s why we need a social safety net.
               I was just reflecting on how, when I started practicing law in 1984 in a so-called silk-stocking law firm, things had been the same for decades—just practice law and send out the bills, working fairly reasonable hours, and you will be set for life. Then, bam: competition hit and mergers and young Turk law firms, and people willing to work 80+ hours every week in exchange for ridiculous amounts of money, and …. My dad worked for Savannah River Site, as it is now called, his entire career. He carpooled everyday. Zero overtime. Made a great living.
               Times have changed. Income inequality keeps getting greater as the Gospel of Reaganomics and the Church of Unfettered Capitalism take over.
               I believe some heavy-duty wealth transfers are in order.

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3. Brad Warthen Post authorJanuary 23, 2015 at 11:14 am

   Here’s a piece from The State with more details about the Bose closing.

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