news-record.com

American Express probably hasn't put an end to corporate incentives in Guilford County, but it's made it harder for other companies to ask.

The financial services giant chose eastern Guilford County locations for a $600 million data center last week and never asked for millions of dollars in incentives that the Greensboro City Council and Guilford County Board of Commissioners were prepared to consider. Amex found other reasons to make its selection.

That's in keeping with the company's character. It's been a great corporate citizen since opening a call center near the airport in 1985, where it employs 2,000 workers. It operates on an ethic of giving to the community, not taking from it, and now it has enhanced that reputation many times over.

Even so, all companies are in business to make a profit. Incentive money was practically there for the taking, and Amex really couldn't be blamed for seeking the best deal it could get, here or somewhere else. It's practically unheard of for a firm offering a project of this magnitude not to ask for, and get, tax breaks and other inducements. It showed uncommon altruism by declining to press its advantage.

Now, thanks to the Amex decision, the future advantage may shift a little.

The next company asking for incentives can be held to the American Express standard. Why should it receive tax breaks when Amex, with its mega-investment and willingness to pay its full tax obligation, declined? Why can't the next company see the same benefits of locating in Guilford County that Amex saw?

The American Express decision should strengthen the resolve of local officials who worry this area can't attract new businesses without trowing money at them. Some were willing to make a lucrative offer to Amex, for good reason. There was a lot to be gained. But it turned out to be unnecessary to conduct business as usual with American Express, and now there's hope that a new business as usual is possible.

Amex isn't the first big company to locate in Guilford County without incentives. One, Lenovo, opened a computer distribution center without a deal in 2008. But it's the biggest. And it has shown how to establish goodwill at the start of a relationship.

Companies that drive a hard bargain, playing one competing state or region against another -- Dell comes to mind -- foster mixed feelings from the beginning. The jobs and investment are welcome, but it's often uncertain that they're worth the price. Resentment increases when the business doesn't produce everything promised.

Now, the feeling across the Triad and North Carolina will be that every company should come in like American Express -- finding a healthy business climate, good quality of life, willing work force, outstanding higher education and other benefits -- and asking for little other than the opportunity to thrive.

Why can't that become the expectation from now on?