The other day when I read Steve Duin's column about Nike and how few taxes it pays, something just didn't seem right about it, but I didn't have the time to research it. Fortunately, I don't have to. Michael McBride (aka My Sandmen) has a great column about the hit piece at Townhall.com.

The point of Duin's column was that Nike supposedly supports local schools by making donations, but due to lobbying efforts, pays very little corporate income tax, thereby shorting the local schools of tax revenue.

However, as McBride points out, Nike contributes many more millions of dollars to the local economy - including schools - that what they don't pay in taxes.

First, he addresses the "huge" impact the reduction is taxes will have:

First and foremost he needs to be taken to task for his math skills. Any “journalist,” “commentator,” critic, should be able to divide the $16M that Duin weeps for, by the massive State budget of over $15 billion…billion with a “B”… and figure out, in the two thousand words or so he spewed onto page B1, that the resultant would comprise a whopping .10666% of the total budget. I guess they don’t have calculators at the Oregonian.

Additionally, any superior journalist type should be able also calculate that Nike’s stinginess is costing school districts a gargantuan $28 per student, per year. I am certain, in light of the nearly $10,000 per student the state will spend next year per student, that Nike’s miserliness will cause the demise of each and every student in the State of Oregon. No wonder Duin is apoplectic.

Next, the economic impact that Nike's existance in Beaverton has on the surrounding area:

Furthermore Duin’s myopia, centered simply on the figure of $16M, fails to consider the enormity of the economic impact that having Nike headquartered in the greater Portland area. Of course, that would take some in-depth analysis, some actual digging for something more than one dimensional facts, and coming to some alternative conclusions based on the whole picture, not just a single pixel in the left margin of a snapshot. His shallow and vacuous “analysis” is well below journalistic standards, and hits far below the belt.

I am not privy to the actual figures, but I will not be far off, and I will certainly not be exaggerating. Consider for a moment that the average salary for the 6000 Nike employees in Oregon, is likely around $40,000…average…don’t get excited. Add in about 50% for their generous fringe benefits, and Nike puts about $360M into the local economies via employee salaries and fringe benefits. Nike salaries bring in additional doctors to service these employees. Additionally, these 6000 employees require dentists, supermarkets, gas stations, schools, houses, banks, credit unions, teachers…all the goods and services that 6000 people use in the course of their daily lives. The $360M that Nike employees earn and distribute within our communities is multiplied across the families that are supported in the spending of those wages.

And what else did Duin miss?

One of my additional duties while at Nike was to manage Business Energy Tax Credit Pass Through Program. Nike was approached by the State to be the first company that would directly sponsor school energy projects, in return for equivalent tax credits taken over five years. In the three years that I managed the program, Nike invested $2M directly into school districts and their physical improvements. Of course this was essentially a revenue neutral proposition for Nike, but by investing in energy efficient projects, though an outlet not previously available, school districts could reduce their operating costs year-to-year…returning dollars directly to the districts’ operating budgets. I personally delivered those checks to School District Board meetings in Gervais, Douglas, David Douglas, Klamath Falls, Lane County, Astoria, and a half a dozen more. Those districts were not full of Duin’s venom, they were appropriately grateful and appreciative. On more than one occasion, I got re-thanked for the districts’ new Nike track, although that wasn’t my program.

Nike’s leadership eventually brought more businesses into the BETC Pass Through Program, including US Bank that committed over $40M in Pass Through dollars. The energy savings garnered by this direct infusion of money into the districts, bypassing the State’s inefficient monolithic monetary system, returns millions of dollars to the classrooms through reduced operating expenses. The State’s own figures estimate that over $215M a year is being saved by schools. Many other companies had the opportunity to participate, but declined. Nike’s leadership in this program is more than making up for the $16M that Duin is missing from his wallet. How selfish of Nike.

The article goes on to describe a few other ways that Duin twists the facts to support his point of view. I suggest you read it to fully understand how bad it is.

It just goes to prove what I've said a few times here; at the DFW, their motto seems to be "don't let the facts get in the way of a story."