Post Falls, ID gets boost from Buck Knives

Since Buck Knives announced plans to relocate to Post Falls, companies have been calling the city with requests for relocation information.

From staff reports The Spokesman Review

About a dozen companies — mostly from site selection firms — have contacted the city since January, when Buck Knives announced that it would move its manufacturing plant to Post Falls from the San Diego area in early 2004. The site selection firms want information about population growth, local schools and Idaho’s tax structure, said Gary Young, city planning director.

"I think the economic climate in California has generated a lot of these calls," Young said.

C.J. Buck, president and CEO of Buck Knives, cited savings in electrical rates and labor costs as reasons for the move, along with Idaho’s Republican Legislature. The 101-year-old maker of sport and utility knives expects to employ 200 to 250 people in Post Falls.

Southern California has been fertile ground for Jobs Plus, a nonprofit job recruitment agency that worked to bring Buck Knives to the area. Jobs Plus targets manufacturing firms or corporate headquarters in high-cost areas. Harpers Inc., now called flexcel-Post Falls, is another California recruit.

Buck Knives "has definitely helped our cause," said Rick Carr, Jobs Plus president. "A few companies have no doubt read the news in San Diego and Los Angeles. … We’ll see what else might shake out."

Stories about Buck Knives’ relocation reached a national audience through a USA Today article, said Post Falls Mayor Clay Larkin. That kind of exposure is tremendous for the city, said Larkin, a long-term community booster.

"It shows you how significant Buck Knives is for us."

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/news-story.asp?date=030103&ID=s1310878&cat=section.business