If we could get Republicans to stop their Two Santa Claus policy we would be much better off. Unfortunately, enough folks believe their propaganda and we get this.
Local is too small to actually deal with these behemoths. Look at what happens when these large companies play municipalities off each other to get factories and facilities built in their jurisdiction.
But if you have two desperate communities that are really looking for jobs, how do you prevent them from racing to the bottom? In some sense that is the 'correct' market solution. Government is a form of collective bargaining for citizens (amongst many other things of course).