Stolman: Google's Deal with Motorola 'Hopefully' Good For Lake County

Lake County Board Chairman David Stolman says he was surprised to hear about today's acquisition of Libertyville-based Motorola by Google, but also expects Motorola to stay in Lake County.

“I’m hopeful that it’s going to be good for Lake County,” Stolman said. “Hopefully it will also attract new businesses to Lake County."

Stolman is cautiously optimistic because typically mergers between companies affects the size of the workforce. 

"Sometimes with mergers there are layoff, however, it’s not the situation in this case. (The acquisition) is outside of Google’s turf, so we are hoping that there will be no layoffs and more additions (to the workforce),” Stolman said.

Libertyville Mayor Glad Motorola is Staying

Libertyville Mayor Terry Weppler says Google’s $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. is good for the village.

“I talked to both the government affair officers from Google and Motorola today and I think it’s going to be a good thing. There are no plans to move the (Motorola) headquarters out of Libertyville,” Weppler said. “They are not going to guarantee that it’s going to be here forever, but they gave no indication that it was. Could it be moved in the future? Of course.”

The Village of Libertyville does not receive any sales tax from Motorola because the company’s handsets are not built in the community, but Motorola benefits the community in several ways.

“Number one, a lot of our residents work for Motorola, so we didn’t have the tremendous impact that would have happened if Motorola were to move. Number two, a lot of people (from Motorola) shop and eat in Libertyville, they bring people in from out of town who stay at our hotels,” Weppler said. “Motorola is an important resource for the Village of Libertyville.”

Google's Largest Deal Ever

The deal to buy Motorola is Google’s largest deal ever and puts the Internet search giant in direct competition with Apple Inc. It also strengthens Google’s patent portfolio, according to the Wall Street Journal.