Chase-ing $$ down South
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has joined the growing list of corporate executives who are touting the advantages of expanding their business footprints in Sun Belt states like Texas and Florida that, in his words, are “pro-America, optimistic, pro-business.”
“We love Florida, we’re growing in Florida left and right,” Dimon told Bloomberg News Monday.
Dimon singled out Florida and Texas as states that “like business, they want you to come.”
“We now have more employees in Texas than in New York state,” Dimon said. “It shouldn’t have been that way but Texas loves you being there.”
JPMorgan Chase, the largest bank in the US, has expanded its presence in Florida, which has had a large influx of migrants flocking from high-tax states such as New York, Illinois and California.
“Small businesses, large companies, we got, I forgot how many total employees we have here,” Dimon told Bloomberg. “I’m on my way to Tampa, we’ve got major operations there, Orlando major operations, we’re opening branches, and so the mayor just joined us at a small-business event we did here.”
Dimon added: “We’re very pro, pro-Florida.”
Dimon, whose net worth is estimated by Forbes to be around $1.7 billion, praised Florida’s political leadership.
“If you were running the state . . . you should be thinking, ‘How can I make the state well off for my people?’ ” Dimon said. “So Florida likes business. They want you to come.”
Dimon also hailed the Lone Star State, where JPMorgan Chase recently unveiled a new, state-ofthe-art campus in the Dallas-Fort Worth area that the bank says accommodates some 6,500 jobs.
“Texas is the same way [in its pro-business attitude],” Dimon said.
“If I [were] some other states, I would be thinking about, ‘Why do people like going to these states?’ ”
He added: “It’s their taxes, it’s [that] they’re pro-business, they want a better life for their people.”
‘ We now have more employees in Texas than in New York ’ state.