A Washington manufacturer is leaving the state after roughly five decades in operations because of crime, taxes, and a toxic political environment.
Jon Bodwell’s family founded Delta Camshaft in 1977, and he said conditions in the state for business are difficult and too expensive, so much so that he has been living inside his business. The company makes and repairs camshafts for varied uses.
“A majority of it is the constant battle with the city over the graffiti and the crime stuff here, the constant massive tax increase, everything is increasing,” Bodwell said.
“The cost of power, the cost of insurance, everything is increasing by large increments. It’s not like one or two percent, it’s like, my insurance went up 20%,” he continued.
“My power bill is going up. The claim is [sic] supposed to be going up another 13%. But just last month, it almost doubled.”
Delta Camshaft said it plans to “relocate the business and continue to serve our customers for years to come.”
“Because crime is running rampant, my insurance policy on the building is skyrocketed,” Bodwell explained. “You know, quite a substantial amount in the past three to five years. And then, officers that I do speak with about the graffiti stuff like that they’ll say it takes longer for them to write the report than it does if they arrest the person,” he said. “The criminals basically have more protective rights than I do as the building owner.”
An FBI crime report released in 2024 found that Seattle, Washington, was ranked fourth out of the 30 largest U.S. cities for crime. A recent business survey found 44% of Washington’s business leaders are thinking about moving out of the state, Center Square reported.
“A few years ago, I should have sold it, sold the building when people were buying and moving into the downtown Tacoma,” Bodwell said. “And now there’s just a ton of buildings for sale in the market because everyone’s leaving.”
