Angie's List has said Bye-Bye to expansion in Indianapolis.
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (March 28, 2015) — Angie’s List announced Saturday that they will not me moving forward with a planned expansion on the city’s eastside. They cite the recent passage of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act as the reason.Angie's List now joins Salesforce.com as businesses across the country express their revulsion at Indiana's Republican-inspired backslide into hatred and bigotry against gay, lesbian and transgender persons, as well as religious minorities and people of color.“We are putting the ‘Ford Building Project’ on hold until we fully understand the implications of the freedom restoration act on our employees, both current and future,” said Angie’s List CEO Bill Oesterle. The company was expected to break ground on the project within days.
“Angie’s List is open to all and discriminates against none and we are hugely disappointed in what this bill represents,” Angie’s List CEO Bill Oesterle said in a statement. The company said it would begin reviewing alternatives for its headquarters expansion.Oesterle characterized Indiana's new "Religious Freedom Restoration Act," which legitimizes and encourages bigotry and discrimination in the state of Indiana, as a "national embarrassment." He also rejected the suggestion that the law was somehow being mischaracterized by unfriendly media:
“We don’t favor the legislation at all,” Oesterle told reporters. “We view it as unnecessary. It has nothing to do with creating jobs, nothing to do with educating children. It has nothing to do with attracting talent to the state of Indiana. Our basic question is: what do we need it for in the first place?”The Act, which was signed Thursday by Indiana Republican Governor Mike Pence, prompted a public outcry in Indianapolis today.
Thousands of people gathered in downtown Indianapolis on Saturday to protest the passage this week of a controversial "religious freedom" law that critics say could allow discrimination against gays and lesbians.In halting the venture, which would have converted a 100-year old Ford assembly plant into offices, Oesterle will be taking away a $40 million project expected to add at least 1000 jobs to the city. Angie's list currently has approximately 1800 employees in Indianapolis, and Osterle said that the legislation would not have an immediate effect on the company's existing headquarters. The expansion proposal was awaiting final approval from the City Council at the time of Oesterle's announcement.The protesters chanted and held signs as they marched from Monument Circle to the Indiana Statehouse to express their displeasure with Republican Gov. Mike Pence, who signed the legislation Thursday.
"No hate in our state,""Who's State? Our State!" and "Fix the bill" were some of the chants heard in the background at the rally.
Angie's List is a US-based, paid subscription supported website containing crowd-sourced reviews of local businesses. For the quarter ended June 30, 2014, Angie's List reported total revenue of US $78,896,000.See also this Diary by Manfrommiddletown with an alternate take on Angie's List's motivation here.
Here is video of the original announcement of the expansion of Angie's List's headquarters in October, 2014, with Angie's List Co-founder Angie Hicks, flanked by a beaming Governor Mike Pence: