LAT: Arizona boycott results mixed

[pinboy3niner]

In Arizona, boycott over immigration is less crippling than feared
The state has lost $141 million in lost meeting and convention business — disruptive but not devastating. One company lost a $3-million construction bid in Santa Monica.


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Seven months later, the effects of the boycott are coming into focus, showing it has been disruptive but nowhere near as crippling as originally feared.
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Still, some Arizona businesses have taken a big hit. In August, officials in Santa Monica recommended that Phoenix-based Cavco Industries be awarded a $3-million contract to replace 20 aging mobile homes in a city-owned park. But the city council refused to give the contract to Cavco — the low bidder — because the company is Arizona-based, and Santa Monica had passed a resolution imposing sanctions.

The pain also has been felt by the convention industry. An estimated 15 million visitors come to Arizona each year for vacations, conventions and sporting events such as the Fiesta Bowl, pro golf tournaments and baseball spring training. The state tourism office estimates that conventions and other tourism-related activity brought in $16.6 billion in 2009 and that 157,200 people were employed in the industry.

An analysis commissioned by the Center for American Progress put hotel industry losses during the first four months after the signing of the law at about $45 million. Visitors would have spent an additional $96 million during their stays, said Angela Kelley, the group's vice president for immigration and advocacy.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-arizona-boycott-20101120,0,1661546.story

[DCKit]

1. We're not doing it right. n/t