The story below explains why a nearly 50-year-old Tacoma manufacturer is leaving Washington, detailing the owner’s reasons, the local conditions he cites, and the broader message this sends about how policy choices affect small businesses and communities.
Delta Camshaft, a family-owned maker of camshafts in Tacoma since 1977, announced plans to relocate after decades in the same neighborhood. The owner says a combination of higher costs, crime, and political decisions made staying untenable, and that decision is part of a larger trend of businesses voting with their feet.
Business owners operate on thin margins and predictable rules; when those rules change dramatically or enforcement weakens, companies reassess whether a location still makes sense. That’s not just an economic choice, it’s a response to how governments prioritize public safety, taxes, and regulation.
For owners like Jon Bodwell, the calculus shifted. He describes rising operational costs and the feeling that civic leaders are not protecting property and public order with the vigor needed to keep small manufacturers viable. That sense of being squeezed from multiple directions drove the decision to move the business out of state.
A Washington manufacturer is leaving the state after nearly five decades, with its owner citing rising crime, taxes and a worsening political climate.
Jon Bodwell, whose family founded Delta Camshaft in 1977, said he has been forced to live inside his business because the cost of operating in Washington has become too high.
“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 told Fox News Digital in an interview Tuesday.
The owner specifically called out graffiti, insurance hikes, and what he sees as a legal environment that favors offenders over property owners. Insurance premiums on industrial buildings have climbed, shrinking already tight profit margins and making investment in facilities riskier. When reporting and arrest processes feel slow or ineffective, owners experience a practical loss of protection for their property.
Local residents feel the same pinch: higher taxes and fees with fewer visible services in return. Voters in cities facing these pressures often see fewer patrols, longer response times, and deteriorating public infrastructure, all while budgets expand and tax burdens rise. That combination changes the incentives for anyone running a manufacturing plant or a retail shop.
Small manufacturers are especially vulnerable because they lack the scale and lobbying power of large corporations. Their capital is tied up in buildings, equipment, and skilled labor, and when the local picture turns uncertain they either absorb the losses or move where the environment is more business-friendly. For many, relocation is the only realistic option to preserve jobs and remain competitive.
There’s a political angle to these departures. From a Republican perspective, government’s primary duties include protecting citizens and property while keeping taxes and regulation predictable. When local and state governments stray from those priorities, entrepreneurs respond by shifting operations to friendlier states.
Relocation often means jobs move too, and communities that once hosted stable, middle-class employers lose much more than a building. The ripple effects hit suppliers, service providers, and local tax bases, turning one company’s move into a broader local decline. That outcome matters to anyone who cares about neighborhood stability and economic opportunity.
Stories like this are not isolated incidents; they’re signals. Where leadership chooses higher taxes, softer enforcement, and a political climate that leaves business owners feeling exposed, relocation follows. States and cities that want to keep employers need to show they value property rights, public safety, and fiscal restraint.
Delta Camshaft says it will not close but intends to relocate and continue serving customers, a pragmatic move to protect its workforce and future. The reality is many small firms will make similar decisions if costs and risks continue to escalate, and policymakers should take notice before more anchors of local economies get pulled away.
Small manufacturers built much of America’s middle class, and their choices reflect how well local governments are doing their core jobs. As these businesses weigh their options, neighboring jurisdictions should consider how welcoming policies and dependable public safety can attract investment and the jobs that follow.
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