Can Ohio talk Teradata into staying? A local lawmaker thinks so

BREAKING NEWS: Teradata is moving its headquarters to San Diego

Antani asked Lund for a meeting to discuss what can be done to keep the company in Miami Twp. His letters to Kasich and and Minor encouraged them to also contact Lund about keeping Teradata in the Dayton region.

“Unfortunately we got the news yesterday that they would indeed be moving to San Diego at the end of the year,” Antani told this news organization. “Obviously I’m very disappointed. I still think there are things that we can do.”

Zach Dickerson, the Democrat running against Antani this fall, said the Teradata move “is a difficult loss of high paying jobs for our district” and “proof that a simple strategy of constant tax cuts is not an effective economic plan.”

“If we make the right investments in our state, we won't have to convince companies like Teradata to stay. That's why I support legislation, like restoring the Local Government Fund, so that we can make those investments," Dickerson said in a statement.

Teradata plans to move 275 of around 317 jobs to the west coast at the end of the year, according to Antani’s letter to Lund. Employees who do not move with the company are expected to receive a six-month severance package.

RELATED: 7 recent changes that influenced Teradata’s local presence

While Antani told Lund that he appreciates the heads-up, he also said “I strongly believe that it would be in your company’s best interest to keep its headquarters and employees at its Miami Township location.”

Antani praised Kasich for his administration’s attention to job growth over the last eight years but told the governor that the loss of Teradata “would be one of the largest for the Dayton region in recent years.”

With the company not planning to leave until the end of 2018 though, Antani said he thought there was still time to convince its leaders to stay in Miami Twp.

RELATED: Teradata CEO makes 137 times as much as his employees

“I believe we have a strong argument to make to them directly about our friendly business climate, including our low taxation rates and strong local workforce,” Antani wrote in his letter to Kasich. “I stand ready to help in any legislative way that I can.”

In a letter to JobsOhio’s Minor, Antani referenced a Feb. 12 meeting during which he expressed concerns to Minor’s staff that Teradata was planning to relocate. Antani said he and Minor discussed “what we could to prevent this from happening” but specific details of their conversation were not included in the letter.

“I think that our priority has to be jobs and the economy and to do anything we can legislatively or through the administration or through JobsOhio to keep these companies here,” Antani said.

State Sen. Peggy Lehner, a Kettering Republican, said that she hopes a lot of Teradata’s employees will choose to stay in the Dayton area. She and her colleagues will try to help those employees be able to remain in the Miami Valley, Lehner said.

Like Antani, Lehner said she learned of Teradata’s planned move yesterday.

“I was saddened to learn yesterday that Teradata will be leaving but I was not terribly surprised given the company’s deep roots in California,” Lehner said.

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