GoodBuyGuys Blog

Goodbuyguys.com is located in North Carolina. Its my home and a great place to live and work. It looks like we are going to be getting a new neighbor.

Google has announce their intention to build a server farm in Lenoir, NC, a town in the NC foothills, about 150 miles from here. There was a lot of excitement at first, with stories in all the local papers and coverage on newscasts. Google was promising an investment of as much as $600 million and at least a couple hundred jobs. This in an area of the state that has been really hard hit by job losses in the furniture and textile industries.

It wasn’t until the Governor’s office was ready to make the official announcement that the whole truth about the negotiations were made public. Google may pledge to “do no evil” but the taxpayers of North Carolina might not buy into their philosophy.

It appears that the game was “hardball” when Google executives came to the negotiating table. By the time the deal was sealed to build the server farm, the good people of NC had given up tax breaks and incentives to Google that could be worth $100 million over the next 30 years. This for 200 jobs.

Google will get abatements in propertya taxes, sales taxes, and infrastructure costs.

Most interesting is the level of secrecy this global information provider demanded during the negotiations. Google demanded that NC legislators never mention their name when discussing the deal that would give Google millions in incentives. They demanded to have a hand in writing the bill that would go before the legislature and threatened to pull out a number of times during the 13 month negotiation if they did not get their way.

Lets hope that Google’s move to North Carolina will improve the business climate that they found to be so appealing in the first place.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Electratrac and Coast Wire extension cords, OnStage Stand mic stands, and lots of other useful production supplies.

We’ve been selling gaffers tape for a long time, and Permacel 665 has always been the first choice for most of our high end customers when they purchase utility-grade gaffers tape. Permacel has had a few stumbles over the years, but they are still recognized as the market leader in this segment of the adhesive-backed tape market. That may be about to change.

A couple of years ago, the division of Permacel that makes 665 gaffers tape was acquired by a North Carolina company, Shurtape. Shurtape already made a competitive gaffers tape, so it was a bit of a mystery as to what they would do with the new brand.

In a move counter to other gaffers tape makers, Shurtape announced a price increase on this product, effective at the end of January. This, at a time when oil prices were the lowest in 9 months and cotton prices were at the lowest point in a year and a half. Petroleum based adhesives and cotton cloth are the primary raw materials in gaffers tape, so this price increase just didn’t make sense.

More importantly, Shurtape has now discontinued all colors for this product except black, white and grey. This will have a big impact on how brand sensitive buyers make their purchasing decisions. Those who have never tried another brand of tape because they could get every color they needed in the 665 line, will now have to turn to another manufacturer for colored tape. If they like what they find in the avialable market for colors, then they will probably give the competing brand a try for their black, white and grey as well. I think they will probably like what they find.

We will, of course, continue to offer Permacel 665 for those customers who are willing to pay a premium, but this may be the beginning of the end game for this venerable product.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Electratrac and Coast Wire extension cords, OnStage Stand mic stands, and lots of other useful production supplies.