Lumen (AKA CenturyLink) has their HQ in Monroe, LA despite all of the execs being in Denver. I always assumed this was some sort of lucrative tax scheme.
I was an intern at CenturyLink the summer they opened their new building in Monroe. Monroe was not fun to live in but the building was gorgeous and great to work in. From my understanding, the building sadly sits more or less empty now as more and more of the workforce moves to Denver (aka home of Level 3 who more or less took over CenturyLink after being acquired).
I don’t see what that scheme could be, it’s not like they can avoid state taxes by doing that.
The only benefit given by the state in exchange for “headquarters” is employing a certain number of people at a certain income. But if all your payroll stays somewhere else, then what could possibly be the incentive for tax breaks?
States will probably bend over backwards when you are 1 of their 2 Fortune 500s
"To secure the latest corporate retention project, the State of Louisiana offered CenturyLink a competitive incentive package that includes an annual performance-based grant, subject to company payroll performance. In addition, the agreement creates funding for information technology faculty, curricula and education at Louisiana Tech University, where the state has supported the Clarke M. Williams Professorship in Telecommunications in honor of the company’s founder."
