Within 10 years of their mid 80s start down the tourism road; Sedan had built up a tourist trade of around 30,000 people/year with their Yellow Brick Road attraction and the Emmett Kelly Museum, located in the former 1885 Sedan Opera House. Kelly was born in Sedan in 1898. The efforts of a handful of local citizens were starting to pay small dividends for tiny Sedan.
Their big break came in 1996 when Bill Kurtis of television journalism fame bought a large ranch, renaming it the Red Buffalo Ranch, a mile from Sedan after visiting his parents in nearby Independence and driving through the Flint Hills near the town. Kurtis said that the scenery reminded him of the plains of Africa, one of his favorite places.
The efforts of the SOS group to increase tourism and jobs in Sedan impressed Kurtis who began buying older, run-down buildings in the downtown and working with the group to increase tourism not only in Sedan but on more of a regional basis. Kurtis’ vision was not to just bring tourists into one town for a couple of hours but to make the region a destination location by combining tourist attractions regionally. It’s a strategy that too many towns don’t step back and look at like Kurtis.
Today Kurtis has acquired over 10,000 acres of ranchland including land that his parents and grandparents owned at one time. One of his holdings is the 3,000 acre setting that inspired Laura Ingalls Wilder to write the book, later made into a popular TV series, Little House on the Prairie.
Kurtis has purchased 14 buildings in Sedan’s downtown, fixed them up and rented them out for $1 for the first year to allow new entrepreneurs a chance to get a start in this burgeoning tourist town. He’s doing the same thing in Coffeyville and Independence, KS and Bartlesville and Pawhuska, OK. He’s investing millions of dollars into the region, brought great publicity to the region and given back greatly to his hometown region.
And, it might never have happened if a dozen local citizens in Sedan hadn’t sent out an SOS (Save Our Sedan) in 1988. Tomorrow, what you’ll find in Sedan.
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
Tuesday, May 03, 2005
Yellow Brick Road to Success
I toured Sedan, KS with Jeannie Walker, the Tin Man and Nita Jones, Dorothy, both from the Wizard of Oz. They were part of a group that called itself SOS, which stood for Save Our Sedan. And they saved their hometown first on the back of the Yellow Brick Road and later on other attractions. Theirs is a great story.
Sedan, KS (population 1,386) is the county seat for Chautauqua County, which only has a population of 4270. The county is roughly 30 x 40 miles so there are less than 4 people/square mile. It is 40 miles to a town of even 10,000 people. Chautauqua is a very rural county!
Its economy was built upon ranching and later oil. In the mid 1980s both collapsed. The year 1988 was probably the low point, when the Sedan State Bank, a 75 year old institution in the region, collapsed and 13 businesses on the downtown block closed their doors. Numerous ranches were foreclosed upon. It was a bleak period for the tiny town.
In many towns going thru these type of problems, people would have thrown up their hands, expressed frustration and then sat back to slowly watch their town die a slow, painful death. I’ve seen too many in my travels that have taken that approach. But, Sedan wasn’t like other towns, or at least it wasn’t because of a dozen local people. Jeannie, Nita, the local doctor and nine other locals started SOS—Save Our Sedan. They didn’t know what they were going to do, but they just knew that they had to do something. Jeane McCann, one of the dozen, watched the Wizard of Oz with her grandchildren and west to the SOS meeting with an idea of doing a Yellow Brick Road. The dozen talked with the city council and other people. Most thought it was a bad idea. There were after all similar roads in Liberal, KS and in Judy Garland’s hometown in NJ. But the SOS group persisted and got the city council to agree to let them try it at their November, 1988 meeting. What did they have to lose?
The city council still wasn’t too sure about this idea of a Yellow Brick Road in Sedan, so they made the group start their road in the middle of the block, not on one of the 2 ends of Main Street. Jeannie told me, “We thought that if we sold 100 to 200 bricks, it would be fantastic. In the first week we sold 400 at $10/brick. Now we sell them for $25/brick.” And from that start, they’ve now “sold 11,148 bricks (to people from every state in the USA and 28 foreign countries), growing the yellow brick road to 8 blocks in length, the world’s longest,” said Nita as she took my $25 so that I could be number 11,149.
And, from that start Sedan has slowly rebuilt itself and its economy. More on that tomorrow.
Sedan, KS (population 1,386) is the county seat for Chautauqua County, which only has a population of 4270. The county is roughly 30 x 40 miles so there are less than 4 people/square mile. It is 40 miles to a town of even 10,000 people. Chautauqua is a very rural county!
Its economy was built upon ranching and later oil. In the mid 1980s both collapsed. The year 1988 was probably the low point, when the Sedan State Bank, a 75 year old institution in the region, collapsed and 13 businesses on the downtown block closed their doors. Numerous ranches were foreclosed upon. It was a bleak period for the tiny town.
In many towns going thru these type of problems, people would have thrown up their hands, expressed frustration and then sat back to slowly watch their town die a slow, painful death. I’ve seen too many in my travels that have taken that approach. But, Sedan wasn’t like other towns, or at least it wasn’t because of a dozen local people. Jeannie, Nita, the local doctor and nine other locals started SOS—Save Our Sedan. They didn’t know what they were going to do, but they just knew that they had to do something. Jeane McCann, one of the dozen, watched the Wizard of Oz with her grandchildren and west to the SOS meeting with an idea of doing a Yellow Brick Road. The dozen talked with the city council and other people. Most thought it was a bad idea. There were after all similar roads in Liberal, KS and in Judy Garland’s hometown in NJ. But the SOS group persisted and got the city council to agree to let them try it at their November, 1988 meeting. What did they have to lose?
The city council still wasn’t too sure about this idea of a Yellow Brick Road in Sedan, so they made the group start their road in the middle of the block, not on one of the 2 ends of Main Street. Jeannie told me, “We thought that if we sold 100 to 200 bricks, it would be fantastic. In the first week we sold 400 at $10/brick. Now we sell them for $25/brick.” And from that start, they’ve now “sold 11,148 bricks (to people from every state in the USA and 28 foreign countries), growing the yellow brick road to 8 blocks in length, the world’s longest,” said Nita as she took my $25 so that I could be number 11,149.
And, from that start Sedan has slowly rebuilt itself and its economy. More on that tomorrow.
Monday, May 02, 2005
Oklahoma’s Regional Focus
I was in Chickasha, OK last week for a SW OK Rural Economic Development Summit. I was able to give my BoomtownUSA talk and my new talk entitled: Hometown Entrepreneurs: Your New Paradigm Shift in Economic Development. Oklahoma is a hotbed of economic activity since passage of their hard fought Right to Work Law and was coming to grips with workmen’s comp costs in the legislature when I was there. Secretary of Commerce and Tourism Kathryn Taylor has been pushing economic development in the state strongly for the past 2 years when she was appointed Secretary, coming from the private sector, always a strong combination.
Oklahoma is pushing regional initiatives, even providing financial incentives to communities that band together into regional efforts. We talked at the conference about the common problem of trying to put communities together into regional groups primarily because “we play each other on Friday nights.” It is unfortunate that this “Friday night” attitude spills over into too many towns. If they would only realize that they have more in common with area towns and that by banding together they can accomplish much more for everyone.
Secretary Taylor is on the right track. She uses a great analogy of a pie, talking about how to grow the pie bigger rather than worrying about your own small slice of the pie.
Oklahoma is pushing regional initiatives, even providing financial incentives to communities that band together into regional efforts. We talked at the conference about the common problem of trying to put communities together into regional groups primarily because “we play each other on Friday nights.” It is unfortunate that this “Friday night” attitude spills over into too many towns. If they would only realize that they have more in common with area towns and that by banding together they can accomplish much more for everyone.
Secretary Taylor is on the right track. She uses a great analogy of a pie, talking about how to grow the pie bigger rather than worrying about your own small slice of the pie.
Sunday, May 01, 2005
World Class Manufacturer’s Challenges
This past week I toured Excel Industries, Inc., a world class manufacturer of turf equipment. This plant makes zero turn mowers that are shipped all over the world from Hesston, KS.
The first thing I saw as I entered the plant were state of the art laser fabricating machines, which take a sheet of heavy gauge steel and cuts it exactly into various sizes. The computer program that controls the operation minimizes the amount of scrap steel. Excel recently installed a new 10-stage powder coat paint system, which is also highly automated. Their bottleneck at the present time is in their welding department, where they hire 45 welders. They could use another 10, but can’t find them, despite the fact that welders make in excess of $30,000/year.
The Mullet brothers, majority owners of Excel, have been able to continually increase productivity in their plant thru innovations and new tooling. In the 1970s they produced $25,000 of sales for each employee. Today they are doing over $300,000/employee. They are doing 10 times more in sales volume with 100 fewer employees.
These productivity gains are why I continue to think that we as a country have a wonderful future in manufacturing. We continually are innovating and developing new ways of producing products. Because we can do it with fewer people (the productivity miracle), we are able to pay those producers more each year and it is why the manufacturing sector has some of the highest paying jobs in many communities.
The downside of being a USA manufacturer? It didn’t take long for me to guess what a major problem for them might be and the Mullets quickly expressed their frustration with our present legal system. Bob Mullet told me, “The contingency fee system raises legal costs for everyone. When we get a claim, we settle early if we can or we find that the meter runs up very high on these cases.”
One of their frustrations with these product liability claims is that while governmental sales account for only about 5% of their overall sales, it accounts for over 90% of their claims. Why would there be this discrepancy? The product is the same and you would have to assume that the skill set to mow a lawn is similar from the private to public sector. The only explanation I could come up with is that too many governmental employees are “gaming the system”, trying to qualify for workers compensation. It is a shame and raises costs for all of us in the USA.
The first thing I saw as I entered the plant were state of the art laser fabricating machines, which take a sheet of heavy gauge steel and cuts it exactly into various sizes. The computer program that controls the operation minimizes the amount of scrap steel. Excel recently installed a new 10-stage powder coat paint system, which is also highly automated. Their bottleneck at the present time is in their welding department, where they hire 45 welders. They could use another 10, but can’t find them, despite the fact that welders make in excess of $30,000/year.
The Mullet brothers, majority owners of Excel, have been able to continually increase productivity in their plant thru innovations and new tooling. In the 1970s they produced $25,000 of sales for each employee. Today they are doing over $300,000/employee. They are doing 10 times more in sales volume with 100 fewer employees.
These productivity gains are why I continue to think that we as a country have a wonderful future in manufacturing. We continually are innovating and developing new ways of producing products. Because we can do it with fewer people (the productivity miracle), we are able to pay those producers more each year and it is why the manufacturing sector has some of the highest paying jobs in many communities.
The downside of being a USA manufacturer? It didn’t take long for me to guess what a major problem for them might be and the Mullets quickly expressed their frustration with our present legal system. Bob Mullet told me, “The contingency fee system raises legal costs for everyone. When we get a claim, we settle early if we can or we find that the meter runs up very high on these cases.”
One of their frustrations with these product liability claims is that while governmental sales account for only about 5% of their overall sales, it accounts for over 90% of their claims. Why would there be this discrepancy? The product is the same and you would have to assume that the skill set to mow a lawn is similar from the private to public sector. The only explanation I could come up with is that too many governmental employees are “gaming the system”, trying to qualify for workers compensation. It is a shame and raises costs for all of us in the USA.
Saturday, April 30, 2005
Victory Tour Across the USA—On a Mower?
Visiting entrepreneurial, locally owned manufacturing operations is one of my favorites when I’m touring small towns as part of my speaking tours. This week I visited one such firm, Excel Industries, in Hesston, KS. The company started 45 years ago to build tractor and combine cabs, a rarity at the time. They built those cabs for companies like John Deere until 2 years ago. John Deere accounted for 2/3 of their business, so losing that business to Deere’s in-house plants was a shock and required a major shift for the business.
Bob & Paul Mullet, majority owners of Excel, fortunately had another product that accounted for the other 1/3 of their business, zero turn mowers. They’ve expanded that business and grown it to replace what they lost to Deere. Refocusing from only commercial into residential and expanding the dealer base has allowed them to refocus the business, making it better. Bob Mullet told me, “One of our challenges is handling all of the growth. We’ve been up 40% per year for the last 3 years running.”
The zero turn mower was invented in 1963 in Hesston by John Regier who wasn’t an engineer but a “putterer” or mechanical genius who loved to work on equipment. Taking a design from Lyle Yost’s Hesston Manufacturing swather (that cluster thing again!), he adapted it to mowing his lawn. Excel named the new machine the “Hustler” after the Air Force’s workhorse B-58 Hustler fighter-bombers.
Excel developed the Hustler for commercial use only, selling the machine thru 80 dealers scattered around the country. When they lost the Deere cab business, they refocused the company solely onto the turf business, expanding into machines for the homeowner. From that base of only 80 dealers they’ve expanded to over 900 and gone into overseas markets. Only 5% of their sales are overseas today, but they expect it to grow to 25% within 5 years. It’s another example of American ingenuity developing markets around the world.
Their major residential mowing promotion this year is built around famous NASCAR racer Richard Petty and a fundraiser for Victory Junction Gang Camp, a children’s camp that he sponsors in North Carolina. Called the Mow for Victory Tour (www.mowforvictorytour.com), Josh Schmidt, 19 year old son of Excel’s sales manager, is driving a Super Z Hustler painted to look like Petty’s racecar from CA to NC. He left CA on February 26, is in western AL right now and should get to the camp on May 28th. They hope to raise $250,000 for the camp with this promotion.
When I asked Paul Mullet what the Mow For Victory Tour was costing the company he told me, “I don’t want to know what it is costing us. I just know that our marketing budget is way over budget.” I loved his follow on comment, “Next time we’re going to see how fast we can drive one of our Hustlers across the country.”
Tomorrow’s blog is on the challenges that US manufacturers like the Mullets face.
Bob & Paul Mullet, majority owners of Excel, fortunately had another product that accounted for the other 1/3 of their business, zero turn mowers. They’ve expanded that business and grown it to replace what they lost to Deere. Refocusing from only commercial into residential and expanding the dealer base has allowed them to refocus the business, making it better. Bob Mullet told me, “One of our challenges is handling all of the growth. We’ve been up 40% per year for the last 3 years running.”
The zero turn mower was invented in 1963 in Hesston by John Regier who wasn’t an engineer but a “putterer” or mechanical genius who loved to work on equipment. Taking a design from Lyle Yost’s Hesston Manufacturing swather (that cluster thing again!), he adapted it to mowing his lawn. Excel named the new machine the “Hustler” after the Air Force’s workhorse B-58 Hustler fighter-bombers.
Excel developed the Hustler for commercial use only, selling the machine thru 80 dealers scattered around the country. When they lost the Deere cab business, they refocused the company solely onto the turf business, expanding into machines for the homeowner. From that base of only 80 dealers they’ve expanded to over 900 and gone into overseas markets. Only 5% of their sales are overseas today, but they expect it to grow to 25% within 5 years. It’s another example of American ingenuity developing markets around the world.
Their major residential mowing promotion this year is built around famous NASCAR racer Richard Petty and a fundraiser for Victory Junction Gang Camp, a children’s camp that he sponsors in North Carolina. Called the Mow for Victory Tour (www.mowforvictorytour.com), Josh Schmidt, 19 year old son of Excel’s sales manager, is driving a Super Z Hustler painted to look like Petty’s racecar from CA to NC. He left CA on February 26, is in western AL right now and should get to the camp on May 28th. They hope to raise $250,000 for the camp with this promotion.
When I asked Paul Mullet what the Mow For Victory Tour was costing the company he told me, “I don’t want to know what it is costing us. I just know that our marketing budget is way over budget.” I loved his follow on comment, “Next time we’re going to see how fast we can drive one of our Hustlers across the country.”
Tomorrow’s blog is on the challenges that US manufacturers like the Mullets face.
Friday, April 29, 2005
Can Even an A+ City Build a Mountain?
The stats looked great! High school grads 12% above national average, bachelor’s degrees 30% higher and families below poverty 1/3 of national average were all not bad for a town of 3,509. But what took my breath away were the amenities that don’t show up in statistics.
Hesston, KS is a relatively young town, incorporated in 1921 with 500 people and had only grown to about 600 by 1960. But, Lyle Yost’s starting of Hesston Manufacturing in 1956 catapulted the small town forward. Yost invented the swather and the Hesston swathers and balers became world famous. He sold the company in 1980 and after passing thru several owners is today owned by AGCO, which has consolidated plants in MO, OH and TX into Hesston. The High School mascot is a Swather, probably the only one in the country.
AGCO and other manufacturers in the town give the community a strong industrial base with over 1500 jobs. But, what really struck me were the amenities that the community has added over the years, especially for a town this size. I’ve been in a lot of towns in the past year and this one gets an A+.
They’ve got 5 new subdivisions opening up as there is a shortage of housing. 83% of the manufacturing workforce is from out of town. One area of town is filled with new retirement and senior housing. The Hesston Wellness Center, which includes an indoor pool, would be the envy of cities of 20,000. Ditto to the Dyck Arboretum! They also developed their own 2 year college which offers aviation, nursing and other 2 year courses.
In the mid 70s Hesston looked at either building a lake or a municipal golf course. They got some help from the federal government and built a beautiful 18 hole course that Golf Digest in 2004 ranked as one of the top 200 in the USA for value. It has been self sustaining for the town since it was built.
They are doing a 1.7 mile hiking trail (cost $750,000) that will link the new housing areas with the schools and other areas of town.
One of the most innovative new projects I saw was an intergenerational child care center that is being built adjacent to the Schowalter Senior Living Center. This non-profit Mennonite Foundation hopes to have the elderly read to the children and have other interactions that are beneficial for both. Neat idea!
And, it is a neat, tidy town. Shana Smith, head of the Chamber and John Carder, City Administrator, gave me a tour. Carder, who has been an administrator in other towns, told me, “Last year we had to only send out one weed notice for someone to mow their lawn compared to about 150 that I used to send out in a similarly sized town that I was at before.” Smith and her husband moved back here from Denver when their oldest daughter was ready to start school, because of the wonderful quality of life in Hesston.
And the mountain? Actually, it’s not exactly a mountain. This is Kansas after all! When the only sledding hill that the kids could find to ride down was at the interstate, the people of Hesston built their own hill. And, it’s a big hill! Right in the middle of one of their many parks. They call it Mount Hesston!
Hesston, KS is a relatively young town, incorporated in 1921 with 500 people and had only grown to about 600 by 1960. But, Lyle Yost’s starting of Hesston Manufacturing in 1956 catapulted the small town forward. Yost invented the swather and the Hesston swathers and balers became world famous. He sold the company in 1980 and after passing thru several owners is today owned by AGCO, which has consolidated plants in MO, OH and TX into Hesston. The High School mascot is a Swather, probably the only one in the country.
AGCO and other manufacturers in the town give the community a strong industrial base with over 1500 jobs. But, what really struck me were the amenities that the community has added over the years, especially for a town this size. I’ve been in a lot of towns in the past year and this one gets an A+.
They’ve got 5 new subdivisions opening up as there is a shortage of housing. 83% of the manufacturing workforce is from out of town. One area of town is filled with new retirement and senior housing. The Hesston Wellness Center, which includes an indoor pool, would be the envy of cities of 20,000. Ditto to the Dyck Arboretum! They also developed their own 2 year college which offers aviation, nursing and other 2 year courses.
In the mid 70s Hesston looked at either building a lake or a municipal golf course. They got some help from the federal government and built a beautiful 18 hole course that Golf Digest in 2004 ranked as one of the top 200 in the USA for value. It has been self sustaining for the town since it was built.
They are doing a 1.7 mile hiking trail (cost $750,000) that will link the new housing areas with the schools and other areas of town.
One of the most innovative new projects I saw was an intergenerational child care center that is being built adjacent to the Schowalter Senior Living Center. This non-profit Mennonite Foundation hopes to have the elderly read to the children and have other interactions that are beneficial for both. Neat idea!
And, it is a neat, tidy town. Shana Smith, head of the Chamber and John Carder, City Administrator, gave me a tour. Carder, who has been an administrator in other towns, told me, “Last year we had to only send out one weed notice for someone to mow their lawn compared to about 150 that I used to send out in a similarly sized town that I was at before.” Smith and her husband moved back here from Denver when their oldest daughter was ready to start school, because of the wonderful quality of life in Hesston.
And the mountain? Actually, it’s not exactly a mountain. This is Kansas after all! When the only sledding hill that the kids could find to ride down was at the interstate, the people of Hesston built their own hill. And, it’s a big hill! Right in the middle of one of their many parks. They call it Mount Hesston!
Thursday, April 28, 2005
Notes From Race City USA
Mooresville, NC is one of my favorite agurbs®. It was a one horse town with 5,600 jobs in the textile mill industry in the early 1980s, way too many for a town of only 10,000. Residents decided that even though textiles were doing well at the time, they needed to diversify their job base. They started a new 250 acre industrial park on the outskirts of town and brought in a stable of new companies.
One of the early companies that located in Mooresville was NGK Ceramics USA, a Japanese manufacturer of catalytic converters. This month they completed a major expansion with a new 100-yard-long kiln that will increase production from the current 50,000 catalytic converters they produce per day for virtually every auto producer. The $60 million investment solidifies the 500 high paying manufacturing jobs at this plant, according to Melanie O’Connell Underwood, economic developer for the community.
Another initiative of Mooresville in the 1980s was branding their town as “Race City USA”, hoping to encourage race teams to locate in this high quality of life community. From only one team in 1989, 48 more teams have moved their headquarters, plus another 150 entrepreneurial racing suppliers to Mooresville. Mooresville is the epicenter of racing in NC, an industry that provides 24,000 jobs in the state and generates over $5 billion in economic impact to the state. The state is looking at building a new testing and research center in the state and I’m guessing that Mooresville will be on the top of the list of where that facility should be located. It’s another example of the impact of clustering on a community and region.
One of the early companies that located in Mooresville was NGK Ceramics USA, a Japanese manufacturer of catalytic converters. This month they completed a major expansion with a new 100-yard-long kiln that will increase production from the current 50,000 catalytic converters they produce per day for virtually every auto producer. The $60 million investment solidifies the 500 high paying manufacturing jobs at this plant, according to Melanie O’Connell Underwood, economic developer for the community.
Another initiative of Mooresville in the 1980s was branding their town as “Race City USA”, hoping to encourage race teams to locate in this high quality of life community. From only one team in 1989, 48 more teams have moved their headquarters, plus another 150 entrepreneurial racing suppliers to Mooresville. Mooresville is the epicenter of racing in NC, an industry that provides 24,000 jobs in the state and generates over $5 billion in economic impact to the state. The state is looking at building a new testing and research center in the state and I’m guessing that Mooresville will be on the top of the list of where that facility should be located. It’s another example of the impact of clustering on a community and region.
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
Cessna Test Flies Their New VLJ Also
I’m out in KS and OK this week, but spending most of my time driving and touring not writing. Today I drove 400 miles starting in Hesston, KS; and visited Sedan, KS; Bartlesville, OK; Perry, OK; and ending in Chickasha, OK. I’ll have several blogs on several of these great towns in the next week. I’m doing two talks tomorrow at the Rural Economic Development Summit in Chickasha, including my new “Hometown Entrepreneurs: Your New Paradigm Shift in Economic Development.”
I flew into Wichita on Tuesday where Cessna test flew their new entry-level business jet, the Citation Mustang, this week for the first time. Eclipse and Adams are both testing similar Very Light Jets (VLJ), but at much lower price levels than Cessna. Cessna plans to deliver the new Mustang in 2006.
DayJet intends to fly the Eclipse, test flown in 2004, and made in Albuquerque.
I flew into Wichita on Tuesday where Cessna test flew their new entry-level business jet, the Citation Mustang, this week for the first time. Eclipse and Adams are both testing similar Very Light Jets (VLJ), but at much lower price levels than Cessna. Cessna plans to deliver the new Mustang in 2006.
DayJet intends to fly the Eclipse, test flown in 2004, and made in Albuquerque.
New On-Demand Airline
What if you could marry high speed computers, sophisticated databases and the new Very Light Jet (VLJ) aircraft? I wrote about the future impact of just this on where we live in my book and saw its possibilities when I visited Eclipse Aviation’s Albuquerque headquarters last year. This week another player entered the field, DayJet of Delray Beach, FL. This follows Pogo, another start-up being launched by former AA CEO Robert Crandall and People Express founder Donald Burr.
DayJet CEO Ed Iacobucci, founder of the software company Citrix Systems, calls his new service a combination of a private jet charter and an airline. Customers would log onto the company’s website, entering the cities that they want to fly between. They would enter the dates that they want to fly and parameters like, “arrive there no later than _____ time; depart by __________ time; etc.”
DayJet would confirm your flight, matching it up with others going in similar directions and time of day. There will be business people on tight schedules and grandparents that are more flexible. All would fly and fly at a price that is only slightly more than full fair coach tickets today.
It will revolutionize how we travel by air, opening up the 10,000 airports in this country to more travel, even as the 150 that currently handle 98% of our air travel diminish in importance. No longer will busy travelers have to live near O’Hare, DFW or Newark. Think of how this will change where people will live?
DayJet CEO Ed Iacobucci, founder of the software company Citrix Systems, calls his new service a combination of a private jet charter and an airline. Customers would log onto the company’s website, entering the cities that they want to fly between. They would enter the dates that they want to fly and parameters like, “arrive there no later than _____ time; depart by __________ time; etc.”
DayJet would confirm your flight, matching it up with others going in similar directions and time of day. There will be business people on tight schedules and grandparents that are more flexible. All would fly and fly at a price that is only slightly more than full fair coach tickets today.
It will revolutionize how we travel by air, opening up the 10,000 airports in this country to more travel, even as the 150 that currently handle 98% of our air travel diminish in importance. No longer will busy travelers have to live near O’Hare, DFW or Newark. Think of how this will change where people will live?
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
A Shooting Star Fades Away
Sparta, IL and my hometown, Effingham, have both been way stations for a corporate star that faded way too quickly. I reminisced with several people when I was in Sparta last Thursday giving my Boomtown talk. While it was a great run while it lasted and left many long term benefits for both communities, it was a painful loss for both towns.
World Color Press (WCP) printed comic books for decades in Sparta. When the company expanded into magazine printing in the 1960s they built their second plant in Effingham in 1969. At the time it was the largest printing room in the world. Magazine printing became their main focus and they moved their corporate headquarters here, but continued to print comic books in Sparta.
During the 70s and 80s they grew into other southern Illinois towns like Salem, Mt. Vernon, Flora and Altamont. They also added plants in TN, CA & OK. Times were good! Perhaps too good. Rather than risk a strike WCP generously acquiesced to union demands.
Times change but change is often difficult for many. Magazine printing got more competitive, companies consolidated, and suddenly WCP was a small part of a larger company. And the new company demanded efficiency and an adequate return on investment, something that huge, highly structured plants often have difficulty adapting to. In the end the new company closed all of the plants in IL, while the more flexible plants in the other states have remained operational.
Yes, several offshoots of WCP are still around and operating (that cluster thing again!). And, Sparta, Effingham and the other towns will pick up the pieces. It was great while it lasted, but painful when the company left town.
The moral: Ever town must be prepared for change. It will happen, you just don’t know when. You’ve got to continually be innovating as a community and constantly looking to how you can improve and innovate.
World Color Press (WCP) printed comic books for decades in Sparta. When the company expanded into magazine printing in the 1960s they built their second plant in Effingham in 1969. At the time it was the largest printing room in the world. Magazine printing became their main focus and they moved their corporate headquarters here, but continued to print comic books in Sparta.
During the 70s and 80s they grew into other southern Illinois towns like Salem, Mt. Vernon, Flora and Altamont. They also added plants in TN, CA & OK. Times were good! Perhaps too good. Rather than risk a strike WCP generously acquiesced to union demands.
Times change but change is often difficult for many. Magazine printing got more competitive, companies consolidated, and suddenly WCP was a small part of a larger company. And the new company demanded efficiency and an adequate return on investment, something that huge, highly structured plants often have difficulty adapting to. In the end the new company closed all of the plants in IL, while the more flexible plants in the other states have remained operational.
Yes, several offshoots of WCP are still around and operating (that cluster thing again!). And, Sparta, Effingham and the other towns will pick up the pieces. It was great while it lasted, but painful when the company left town.
The moral: Ever town must be prepared for change. It will happen, you just don’t know when. You’ve got to continually be innovating as a community and constantly looking to how you can improve and innovate.
Monday, April 25, 2005
Tumbleweed, Oil and a Question?
I sometimes pinch myself to make sure that I’m not dreaming. Who would believe that people would pay me to travel around the country, touring wonderful communities, meeting dynamic town leaders and getting to share my passion for the agurbs®?
It was a beautiful spring day for the 2 hour drive from Lubbock, TX to Lovington, NM late last week. The roads were fine and fast (no speeding tickets!); farmers were in the fields; and country music was flowing from the radio. I even saw some tumbleweed! Oil rigs were pumping away and new wells were going in right and left. I saw 10 oil rigs drilling in a 10 mile stretch in TX and 6 in one small spot in NM. The oil boom is beneficial for many, especially the many towns that are at its epicenter.
One such town that looked like it could use some help was Brownfield, TX (population 9,500). Brownfield’s downtown had more vacancies than occupancies and almost looked like a ghost town. It’s sad, terribly sad to see a town of that size in such bad shape. As I sped out of town I wondered why it looked like it was dying when across the border Lovington had so much more vibrancy.
“Why do some towns boom, even as others die?” continues to drive me on my quest across the country.
It was a beautiful spring day for the 2 hour drive from Lubbock, TX to Lovington, NM late last week. The roads were fine and fast (no speeding tickets!); farmers were in the fields; and country music was flowing from the radio. I even saw some tumbleweed! Oil rigs were pumping away and new wells were going in right and left. I saw 10 oil rigs drilling in a 10 mile stretch in TX and 6 in one small spot in NM. The oil boom is beneficial for many, especially the many towns that are at its epicenter.
One such town that looked like it could use some help was Brownfield, TX (population 9,500). Brownfield’s downtown had more vacancies than occupancies and almost looked like a ghost town. It’s sad, terribly sad to see a town of that size in such bad shape. As I sped out of town I wondered why it looked like it was dying when across the border Lovington had so much more vibrancy.
“Why do some towns boom, even as others die?” continues to drive me on my quest across the country.
Sunday, April 24, 2005
We Want Back Our Hospital!
Their hospital closed in the late 60s and in most towns it would have stayed closed. People would have moved on, chalking it up to a typical occurrence in rural towns. In my travels I’ve yet to see where someone has reopened something as complex as a hospital. That was, until last week.
Lovington and nearby Tatum resolved to reopen their hospital, creating a new hospital district. Today the Nor-Lea General Hospital is a thriving entity in Lovington, NM, employing 180. It recently completed a $7 million expansion, draws patients from a 90 mile radius and does 95% of its revenue as an outpatient facility.
Its CEO, David Shaw, who moved to Lovington 5 years ago, was selected as Lovington’s Citizen of the Year at the event I spoke at. He is dynamically expanding the vision of the hospital and also of the community.
The people of Lovington and Tatum showed a real “Can Do” spirit in not giving up on their closed hospital. It is often the real key to success of successful towns compared to others.
Lovington and nearby Tatum resolved to reopen their hospital, creating a new hospital district. Today the Nor-Lea General Hospital is a thriving entity in Lovington, NM, employing 180. It recently completed a $7 million expansion, draws patients from a 90 mile radius and does 95% of its revenue as an outpatient facility.
Its CEO, David Shaw, who moved to Lovington 5 years ago, was selected as Lovington’s Citizen of the Year at the event I spoke at. He is dynamically expanding the vision of the hospital and also of the community.
The people of Lovington and Tatum showed a real “Can Do” spirit in not giving up on their closed hospital. It is often the real key to success of successful towns compared to others.
Friday, April 22, 2005
Brian Urlacher’s Hometown
Lovington, NM (population 9471) is a county seat town in a county that is approximately 40 miles wide by 110 miles long (4393 sq. mi.), four times bigger than Rhode Island. It is a BIG county. It started as a ranching town, boomed when oil was found in the 20s, but is always going thru the busts that inevitably occur in the oil patch. It’s starting to boom again. Retail sales are up over 40% from two years ago.
In the past several years dairies have become an emerging cluster for the region. Goff Dairy, a locally owned family operation has been milking for over 40 years. Its success has encouraged other dairies from ND, NE, CA and even overseas to move here. Dairy farms are much larger here than found in WI, which I wrote about March 30th, ranging from 400 to 4500 cows (Goff Dairy).
These new dairies have resulted in resurgence in agricultural production, with farmers raising feed for the cows. A cheddar cheese plant was moved here from the Dakotas in the 90s. Several other service businesses have sprung up due to all of the cows and diaries. It is a classic case of how a cluster can impact an area.
Brian Urlacher, the Chicago Bear All-Pro Linebacker, is from Lovington and gives back in excess of $100,000/year to the local school system. It’s nice to see that he hasn’t forgotten his roots.
If you’re in Lovington on the 4th of July be sure to attend their “World’s Greatest Lizard Race.” They race ‘em all, small geckos to giant iguanas. It’d be a hoot to see.
In the past several years dairies have become an emerging cluster for the region. Goff Dairy, a locally owned family operation has been milking for over 40 years. Its success has encouraged other dairies from ND, NE, CA and even overseas to move here. Dairy farms are much larger here than found in WI, which I wrote about March 30th, ranging from 400 to 4500 cows (Goff Dairy).
These new dairies have resulted in resurgence in agricultural production, with farmers raising feed for the cows. A cheddar cheese plant was moved here from the Dakotas in the 90s. Several other service businesses have sprung up due to all of the cows and diaries. It is a classic case of how a cluster can impact an area.
Brian Urlacher, the Chicago Bear All-Pro Linebacker, is from Lovington and gives back in excess of $100,000/year to the local school system. It’s nice to see that he hasn’t forgotten his roots.
If you’re in Lovington on the 4th of July be sure to attend their “World’s Greatest Lizard Race.” They race ‘em all, small geckos to giant iguanas. It’d be a hoot to see.
Thursday, April 21, 2005
Big City Blues
In the past month both Chicago and New York Magazines have featured articles about the higher level of stress in large cities and bigger states. New York’s title was “You’ll never have stress in this town again: 91 ways to kick the tension habit.” Both cities seem very preoccupied with too much stress in their metros.
The fact that there is more stress in large cities didn’t surprise me at all. In fact I think that part of the success of my book Boomtown USA, is that so many people are looking at getting out of the rat race of large cities to more tranquil places like my agurbs®.
The average number of psychologists per 100,000 residents in the USA is 31. The top 10 states with from 42 to 161 per 100,000 are DC, VT, MN, MA, NY, CO, IL, RI, NH, and PA. The lowest 10 states with from 11 to 18 per 100,000 are: LO, MS, SC, NV, AL, AR, OK, TX, KY and IN.
What was particularly interesting to me was that the top 10 states with most psychologists have 57 agurbs® compared to 84 agurbs® in the lowest. Also of interest is that, with the exception of CO, the highest ratio of psychologists to residents all voted for Kerry in the past presidential election. The lowest ratio states…all voted for Bush.
The fact that there is more stress in large cities didn’t surprise me at all. In fact I think that part of the success of my book Boomtown USA, is that so many people are looking at getting out of the rat race of large cities to more tranquil places like my agurbs®.
The average number of psychologists per 100,000 residents in the USA is 31. The top 10 states with from 42 to 161 per 100,000 are DC, VT, MN, MA, NY, CO, IL, RI, NH, and PA. The lowest 10 states with from 11 to 18 per 100,000 are: LO, MS, SC, NV, AL, AR, OK, TX, KY and IN.
What was particularly interesting to me was that the top 10 states with most psychologists have 57 agurbs® compared to 84 agurbs® in the lowest. Also of interest is that, with the exception of CO, the highest ratio of psychologists to residents all voted for Kerry in the past presidential election. The lowest ratio states…all voted for Bush.
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
From Moo to You!
There is an old joke in agriculture, “How do you make a million dollars in agriculture?” “You start with $5 million!” George Shetler was like a lot of small farmers. He was going broke slowly, painfully slowly. In the 20 year period from 1974 to 1994 almost 400 farms/week went bankrupt. And Shetler would have probably gone down that path if he hadn’t made a shift from commodity production to niche marketing.
Shetler was a dairy farmer, 25 miles from Traverse City, MI, who milked 40 cows. He was a small fry in an industry that was dominated by giants. To survive he had to do something radically different.
In 1995 he surveyed local food retailers to see if there was a market for his grass fed milk. He wrote out a one page business plan which included one infamous line: “Pray!!” He built a micro creamery out of used equipment and started delivering his own milk.
Today he has 38 cows and sells 1,300 gallons of milk and dairy products twice a week to 50 stores in the region. His delivery truck has a set of Texas longhorns bolted to the roof of the cab, which is painted as you would expect in a black-and-white Holstein pattern. The slogan on the side of the truck is “From Moo to You.”
Today he has seven employees and has grown revenues by over four times. Two of his oldest sons have moved back to the farm. Instead of throwing in the towel George Shetler goal now is, “to have something here for the grandkids.”
Shetler is a great example of the path that more farmers should be going down. Unless you can constantly be a low cost producer of commodity products, in the long term commodity production is extremely difficult. By developing niches like Shetler, a farmer can differentiate their product and develop a brandable product that commands higher prices and better margins.
Shetler was a dairy farmer, 25 miles from Traverse City, MI, who milked 40 cows. He was a small fry in an industry that was dominated by giants. To survive he had to do something radically different.
In 1995 he surveyed local food retailers to see if there was a market for his grass fed milk. He wrote out a one page business plan which included one infamous line: “Pray!!” He built a micro creamery out of used equipment and started delivering his own milk.
Today he has 38 cows and sells 1,300 gallons of milk and dairy products twice a week to 50 stores in the region. His delivery truck has a set of Texas longhorns bolted to the roof of the cab, which is painted as you would expect in a black-and-white Holstein pattern. The slogan on the side of the truck is “From Moo to You.”
Today he has seven employees and has grown revenues by over four times. Two of his oldest sons have moved back to the farm. Instead of throwing in the towel George Shetler goal now is, “to have something here for the grandkids.”
Shetler is a great example of the path that more farmers should be going down. Unless you can constantly be a low cost producer of commodity products, in the long term commodity production is extremely difficult. By developing niches like Shetler, a farmer can differentiate their product and develop a brandable product that commands higher prices and better margins.
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
Dallas Smart Money was Wrong
I’m sitting at the DFW Airport this morning waiting on a plane to Lubbock. It is absolutely the worst hub airport as I always seem to have to get onto the tram that links the various terminals as opposed to being able to quickly walk to connecting gates at other airports. Today I had to go from C21 to B9, another 15 minute tram ride. I was at school in Dallas when DFW was being built, remembering the excitement of its completion.
At the time the smart money thought that DFW was the 8th wonder of the world. At the same time they also thought that Southwest Airlines didn’t stand a chance against mighty Braniff. They were wrong on both counts.
DFW was built in the pre-security world. The terminals were designed in giant circles so that passengers could drive right up to their gate, park their car and get onto their plane. It was a great system…for about 5 years. But in today’s world, it is a mess.
Those same experts didn’t understand how a pipsqueak airline like Southwest, with only 3 planes, could possibly compete against mighty Braniff Airlines with its hundreds, if not thousands of planes. When Southwest had to shrink to only 2 planes because of Braniff’s competition, it only reinforced their expert opinion. Again they were wrong.
Competitive environments change. What looks like a sure thing, often isn’t. The experts were wrong. Towns need to take the same approach. Often the sure thing, isn’t. And the LT company that is going to be in your town forever, isn’t. Times change and so must communities.
At the time the smart money thought that DFW was the 8th wonder of the world. At the same time they also thought that Southwest Airlines didn’t stand a chance against mighty Braniff. They were wrong on both counts.
DFW was built in the pre-security world. The terminals were designed in giant circles so that passengers could drive right up to their gate, park their car and get onto their plane. It was a great system…for about 5 years. But in today’s world, it is a mess.
Those same experts didn’t understand how a pipsqueak airline like Southwest, with only 3 planes, could possibly compete against mighty Braniff Airlines with its hundreds, if not thousands of planes. When Southwest had to shrink to only 2 planes because of Braniff’s competition, it only reinforced their expert opinion. Again they were wrong.
Competitive environments change. What looks like a sure thing, often isn’t. The experts were wrong. Towns need to take the same approach. Often the sure thing, isn’t. And the LT company that is going to be in your town forever, isn’t. Times change and so must communities.
Traverse City—A Golden Eagle
It’s always a thrill for me to get a chance to tour one of the top 100 (Golden Eagle) agurbs® that our research identified as outstanding communities. I always go with a bit of trepidation, not wanting to find that our Golden Eagle might be a Mole instead. Traverse City, MI didn’t let me down.
I could tell that it was a special kind of town when I walked into the airport. I have seen a lot of airports in the past year and theirs is one of the coolest I have seen for a town of 14,532. It utilizes the local stone as an accent to the northern lodge look for the airport. It is definitely not a sterile, typical airport.
Bob Gluszewski, Area Manager for Consumers Energy gave me a whirlwind tour on our way to the Rural Partners of Michigan Conference on small towns and rural development. Traverse City is a regional draw with lots of big boxes, but what I really loved was their vibrant downtown area. I didn’t see any vacancies and noticed a number of dwelling units both in upstairs apartments and nearby condos that are helping to create a very unique “sense of place.” They are redoing their old opera house into a community center. They do a summer music festival in the downtown area that is nationally known. I rated it as the second best downtown I’ve seen of this size, second only to Oxford, MS.
They’ve developed as regional retailing, ag, golf and medical center. Their many area lakes make them a great tourism destination. They’ve leveraged their status as the Cherry Capital of the World (70% of the cooking cherries and 50% of the sweet cherries are grown within a 50 mile radius) to develop the Cherry Festival, which is held for one week around July 4th to bring in over 130,000 visitors each year. The area has recently also become a winery cluster with 14 already operating, including one owned by Madonna’s dad.
A local family is building a new baseball stadium to host the Beach Bums, a new class A team. Great Wolf Lodge has a huge waterpark and there are plans for another 2 more in town. Do I sense another cluster starting?
It was quite impressive for an agurb® of less than 15,000 population.
I could tell that it was a special kind of town when I walked into the airport. I have seen a lot of airports in the past year and theirs is one of the coolest I have seen for a town of 14,532. It utilizes the local stone as an accent to the northern lodge look for the airport. It is definitely not a sterile, typical airport.
Bob Gluszewski, Area Manager for Consumers Energy gave me a whirlwind tour on our way to the Rural Partners of Michigan Conference on small towns and rural development. Traverse City is a regional draw with lots of big boxes, but what I really loved was their vibrant downtown area. I didn’t see any vacancies and noticed a number of dwelling units both in upstairs apartments and nearby condos that are helping to create a very unique “sense of place.” They are redoing their old opera house into a community center. They do a summer music festival in the downtown area that is nationally known. I rated it as the second best downtown I’ve seen of this size, second only to Oxford, MS.
They’ve developed as regional retailing, ag, golf and medical center. Their many area lakes make them a great tourism destination. They’ve leveraged their status as the Cherry Capital of the World (70% of the cooking cherries and 50% of the sweet cherries are grown within a 50 mile radius) to develop the Cherry Festival, which is held for one week around July 4th to bring in over 130,000 visitors each year. The area has recently also become a winery cluster with 14 already operating, including one owned by Madonna’s dad.
A local family is building a new baseball stadium to host the Beach Bums, a new class A team. Great Wolf Lodge has a huge waterpark and there are plans for another 2 more in town. Do I sense another cluster starting?
It was quite impressive for an agurb® of less than 15,000 population.
Monday, April 18, 2005
ND Final Thoughts—Renewal thru Angels
When Scott Molander, Mike Fladeland, Deb Dragseth and others were touring me thru western ND and eastern MT, I marveled at the natural beauty of the region. I was most impressed with the people that I met, especially their attitude toward trying to do things for the betterment of their communities and region.
One thing though that really bothered me from that week was a bumper sticker that several people told me about. It obviously made an impression upon many people because of the number of times I heard about it and the fact that the bumper sticker was probably last seen in 1985, over 20 years ago.
So what could make this kind of impression? And what can we do about it today?
The bumper sticker was fairly straightforward. It said, “Lord, Give Us One More Oil Boom. We Promise Not to Blow it This Time!”
Today the Williston Basin in western ND and eastern MT is going thru another oil boom, their third in 50 years. And just like the first two, this one is going to end in a bust at some point in time, although no one can tell you when that bust will occur. But, it will be ugly, just like the first two. And, it’s not a question of IF, but WHEN!
My question is: Will there be any lasting benefits from this current boom of $50+ oil?
Scott and I spent a lot of time talking about this subject in our 700 miles together in the car driving from town to town, giving talks and touring communities. He has been involved in an angel investor network in Indiana and I think that such a network could work in the region that we visited. It would take coordination, determination and salesmanship, but I think that it could be something that could act as a catalyst to help foster more entrepreneurial activity.
And I can’t believe that it wouldn’t be an attractive investment for some of the many people who are going to be making “windfall profits” in the coming years with this current oil boom. People who love their towns and region, understand that they’ve got to continue to progress or they run the risk of their towns continuing to “age in place.”
If Scott or someone else decides to put something together, I’d like to invest. That’s how sure I am of the merit and chance of success that it has from what I saw on my trip.
One thing though that really bothered me from that week was a bumper sticker that several people told me about. It obviously made an impression upon many people because of the number of times I heard about it and the fact that the bumper sticker was probably last seen in 1985, over 20 years ago.
So what could make this kind of impression? And what can we do about it today?
The bumper sticker was fairly straightforward. It said, “Lord, Give Us One More Oil Boom. We Promise Not to Blow it This Time!”
Today the Williston Basin in western ND and eastern MT is going thru another oil boom, their third in 50 years. And just like the first two, this one is going to end in a bust at some point in time, although no one can tell you when that bust will occur. But, it will be ugly, just like the first two. And, it’s not a question of IF, but WHEN!
My question is: Will there be any lasting benefits from this current boom of $50+ oil?
Scott and I spent a lot of time talking about this subject in our 700 miles together in the car driving from town to town, giving talks and touring communities. He has been involved in an angel investor network in Indiana and I think that such a network could work in the region that we visited. It would take coordination, determination and salesmanship, but I think that it could be something that could act as a catalyst to help foster more entrepreneurial activity.
And I can’t believe that it wouldn’t be an attractive investment for some of the many people who are going to be making “windfall profits” in the coming years with this current oil boom. People who love their towns and region, understand that they’ve got to continue to progress or they run the risk of their towns continuing to “age in place.”
If Scott or someone else decides to put something together, I’d like to invest. That’s how sure I am of the merit and chance of success that it has from what I saw on my trip.
Sunday, April 17, 2005
Mushroom Season
Well it's that time of year again. Mushroom season!
It is one of my favorites. It is a wonderful time to be out in the woods with the birds chirping and the buds starting to pop. It is a time of renewal and newness.
My only disappointment is that once again, for probably the 20th straight year, my wife found the first mushroom. She also found the most. Even though I found only a few of the 20 or so that we found, I don't mind eating 1/2 of them.
Well, there's always next year. Maybe I'll find that first one.
It is one of my favorites. It is a wonderful time to be out in the woods with the birds chirping and the buds starting to pop. It is a time of renewal and newness.
My only disappointment is that once again, for probably the 20th straight year, my wife found the first mushroom. She also found the most. Even though I found only a few of the 20 or so that we found, I don't mind eating 1/2 of them.
Well, there's always next year. Maybe I'll find that first one.
Selling 15 Million/Year that You Can Get for Free!
He got the nickname, “The Badger”, because he was always battling guys bigger than him in his days playing basketball in North Dakota. And Scott Molander never lost that competitive spirit, even as he has moved onto great success in the business world.
He graduated from DSU in 1988 and “wanted to get out and see the world”, taking a job with Footlocker. His first job with the company was in Chicago. He freaked out when he got to his first toll booth outside of Chicago calling home to ask what you did at them. At his first day at an inner city store, when a customer asked him, “Is it ok if I take these shoes and come back to pay you later?” he didn’t think anything about it. His boss quickly set him straight that he wasn’t working in Crosby, ND anymore.
He quickly became retail savvy, moving onto running a store. He traded hats with other stores in the country, quickly taking his store from #1800 in hat wear to #63. But he got fed up with the politics of the big company, yearning to do something on his own.
He and another Footlocker employee, Glen Campbell also from a small town near Cape Girardeau, MO, decided that they should do something together. Glen was a great salesman and Scott was the finance and accounting part of the equation. They looked at buying a sports store franchise but finally Scott asked, “Glen what if we only did hats?” They developed a business plan, spent over a year shopping it to investors and finally got one of Scott’s former business professors from ND to assist them, raising $110,000 to start their first store on November 3, 1995 in Lafayette, IN. They did $110,000 in sales during that first Christmas season, often sleeping in the back of the store to save on the cost of a hotel. Someone with that type of dedication and willingness to sacrifice is a big step ahead of most.
Scott told some interesting stories of his start-up to the students at the DSU Entrepreneurship Conference. When he was thinking of quitting his job at Footlocker to start Hat World he went home to tell his parents. His dad’s reaction was, “You are going to quit your job and do WHAT? I can go down to the feed store and get a new hat every week, if I wanted one.” His future wife’s reaction when she met him two months after starting that first store, “If I were you, I’d keep my day job.” His mom’s reaction? She didn’t say a thing. She just wrote out a check so that she could be his first investor. Don’t you love moms?
His mom and those first investors didn’t do too badly either. A $2,000 investment became $80,000 when he and Glen sold the company last year for $177 million after it had grown to 500+ stores, doing $300 million in sales. At $20 per hat that is 15 million hats sold!
I traveled with Scott all over western ND for four days and here are some of my favorite quotes from him, “Our goal was to build a great company that was fun to work at. We weren’t focused on the money at all.” He still gets choked up talking about the “kids who joined him at Hat World. Now they have grey hair just like me.”
“Wal-Mart and others tried to go after us. They would come into our store, buy a hat and then blow up a photo of the receipt to show that they were selling their hats for $10 per hat less. We beat them on service, selection and training. Besides, who is going to go into a Wal-Mart to buy a hat? It is an impulse item.”
Today Scott is giving back to his hometown of Crosby, ND and to his alma mater Dickinson State University. My guess is that he will start another runaway success like Hat World in the near future.
He graduated from DSU in 1988 and “wanted to get out and see the world”, taking a job with Footlocker. His first job with the company was in Chicago. He freaked out when he got to his first toll booth outside of Chicago calling home to ask what you did at them. At his first day at an inner city store, when a customer asked him, “Is it ok if I take these shoes and come back to pay you later?” he didn’t think anything about it. His boss quickly set him straight that he wasn’t working in Crosby, ND anymore.
He quickly became retail savvy, moving onto running a store. He traded hats with other stores in the country, quickly taking his store from #1800 in hat wear to #63. But he got fed up with the politics of the big company, yearning to do something on his own.
He and another Footlocker employee, Glen Campbell also from a small town near Cape Girardeau, MO, decided that they should do something together. Glen was a great salesman and Scott was the finance and accounting part of the equation. They looked at buying a sports store franchise but finally Scott asked, “Glen what if we only did hats?” They developed a business plan, spent over a year shopping it to investors and finally got one of Scott’s former business professors from ND to assist them, raising $110,000 to start their first store on November 3, 1995 in Lafayette, IN. They did $110,000 in sales during that first Christmas season, often sleeping in the back of the store to save on the cost of a hotel. Someone with that type of dedication and willingness to sacrifice is a big step ahead of most.
Scott told some interesting stories of his start-up to the students at the DSU Entrepreneurship Conference. When he was thinking of quitting his job at Footlocker to start Hat World he went home to tell his parents. His dad’s reaction was, “You are going to quit your job and do WHAT? I can go down to the feed store and get a new hat every week, if I wanted one.” His future wife’s reaction when she met him two months after starting that first store, “If I were you, I’d keep my day job.” His mom’s reaction? She didn’t say a thing. She just wrote out a check so that she could be his first investor. Don’t you love moms?
His mom and those first investors didn’t do too badly either. A $2,000 investment became $80,000 when he and Glen sold the company last year for $177 million after it had grown to 500+ stores, doing $300 million in sales. At $20 per hat that is 15 million hats sold!
I traveled with Scott all over western ND for four days and here are some of my favorite quotes from him, “Our goal was to build a great company that was fun to work at. We weren’t focused on the money at all.” He still gets choked up talking about the “kids who joined him at Hat World. Now they have grey hair just like me.”
“Wal-Mart and others tried to go after us. They would come into our store, buy a hat and then blow up a photo of the receipt to show that they were selling their hats for $10 per hat less. We beat them on service, selection and training. Besides, who is going to go into a Wal-Mart to buy a hat? It is an impulse item.”
Today Scott is giving back to his hometown of Crosby, ND and to his alma mater Dickinson State University. My guess is that he will start another runaway success like Hat World in the near future.
Saturday, April 16, 2005
Leveraging Coal Resources to Their Fullest
Beulah, ND has the highest per capita income in the state. Lignite coal lies close to the surface of the surrounding rolling hills. The town has several electric generation plants and one of only two coal gasification plants in the world. The other is in South Africa. Jobs are plentiful and pay well.
Many communities would just sit back and “let the good times roll.” But a community that is the hometown of Jerome Strom, who I blogged about yesterday, isn’t the type of town to just sit back and let things happen on their own.
Beulah has contracted with Dr. Marian Chertow of the Yale University Center for Industrial Ecology to develop a plan for all of the by-products that could be harvested. Some are obvious such as anhydrous ammonia and ammonia sulfate. But her study, which is to be presented on May 1st will hopefully offer other ideas for Beulah and the surrounding area.
Duke Rosendahl, head of economic development for neighboring Hazen emailed me after my talk of why a community can NEVER stop doing economic development, “The work is NEVER done... there's no slack time .. take it (the job of growing) seriously because.. most others won't ..It only takes a few to make things happen.... but those few are rare and precious and have the "can do" spirit that makes a community a winner.”
I saw that type of spirit in Beulah.
Many communities would just sit back and “let the good times roll.” But a community that is the hometown of Jerome Strom, who I blogged about yesterday, isn’t the type of town to just sit back and let things happen on their own.
Beulah has contracted with Dr. Marian Chertow of the Yale University Center for Industrial Ecology to develop a plan for all of the by-products that could be harvested. Some are obvious such as anhydrous ammonia and ammonia sulfate. But her study, which is to be presented on May 1st will hopefully offer other ideas for Beulah and the surrounding area.
Duke Rosendahl, head of economic development for neighboring Hazen emailed me after my talk of why a community can NEVER stop doing economic development, “The work is NEVER done... there's no slack time .. take it (the job of growing) seriously because.. most others won't ..It only takes a few to make things happen.... but those few are rare and precious and have the "can do" spirit that makes a community a winner.”
I saw that type of spirit in Beulah.
Friday, April 15, 2005
Giving Back to the Roots of Their Success
“What we did in our business was because of the deep inbreeding of principles that we got from growing up in small towns in North Dakota and from our education at Dickinson State University,” is how Jerome Strom relayed the success of he and his late wife Rosie Ann in building Yale Investment Company. “Don’t promise what you can’t deliver.”
He and his wife met at DSU, at the time a small teacher’s college where 85% of graduates ended up teaching. The Stroms also followed this tradition, teaching in Oregon and then in California. They started a restaurant, Jerry’s Burgers, which they ran for 10 years. In 1974 they saw a need for supplemental retirement income, starting Yale Investments. Their specialty was income producing property, primarily apartments.
Even though the Stroms were making their living in Palo Alto, they never forgot their roots. They have given back, providing the largest scholarship fund at DSU, sponsoring the entrepreneurial conference and providing funding for other projects. This giving back is something I find often with small town individuals. They never seem to forget where they came from and are very generous in giving back.
Mr. Strom’s philosophy in business was particularly inspiring to me, “Find a need within your own community. Find a way to be of service to people who live there. Meet their needs and you will find the rewards are more than you can imagine.”
He and his wife met at DSU, at the time a small teacher’s college where 85% of graduates ended up teaching. The Stroms also followed this tradition, teaching in Oregon and then in California. They started a restaurant, Jerry’s Burgers, which they ran for 10 years. In 1974 they saw a need for supplemental retirement income, starting Yale Investments. Their specialty was income producing property, primarily apartments.
Even though the Stroms were making their living in Palo Alto, they never forgot their roots. They have given back, providing the largest scholarship fund at DSU, sponsoring the entrepreneurial conference and providing funding for other projects. This giving back is something I find often with small town individuals. They never seem to forget where they came from and are very generous in giving back.
Mr. Strom’s philosophy in business was particularly inspiring to me, “Find a need within your own community. Find a way to be of service to people who live there. Meet their needs and you will find the rewards are more than you can imagine.”
Thursday, April 14, 2005
We’ll do it Ourselves Town
I wish that there were more towns with a “Get out of the way, cause we are going to do this ourselves,” when they face obstacles in their way. One such town is Watford City, ND (population 1,435). A small town like this has to utilize ALL of their resources, including state and federal funding, to be able to accomplish projects that are important for the community. But too often when those funding sources fail to produce, many towns give up. Not Watford City!
I was amazed at what can be accomplished with this type of approach. Watford City has built a new aquatic park for $1.5 million; a 30,000 sf multi-purpose building for ice skating, soccer and other indoor events (cost $1.0 million); a tourist visitors center ($1.0 million); and new country club house. And all in the past five years! They also have a wonderful library, wellness center and 22,500 sf meeting area that includes a 10,000 sf auditorium and racquetball courts.
The story of how they did the tourism welcome center was particularly interesting. The town wanted to tap into the tourists that were headed to the Theodore Roosevelt National Park and Lake Sakakawea. They wanted to build a nice welcome center but didn’t have the funds to do so. They finally put together a deal with the municipally owned liquor store and local museum to build it. It is the only combination of such that I have seen, but it works. And works very well!
Hopefully more towns will follow Watford City’s approach of “If we can’t find help, we will just do it ourselves.”
I was amazed at what can be accomplished with this type of approach. Watford City has built a new aquatic park for $1.5 million; a 30,000 sf multi-purpose building for ice skating, soccer and other indoor events (cost $1.0 million); a tourist visitors center ($1.0 million); and new country club house. And all in the past five years! They also have a wonderful library, wellness center and 22,500 sf meeting area that includes a 10,000 sf auditorium and racquetball courts.
The story of how they did the tourism welcome center was particularly interesting. The town wanted to tap into the tourists that were headed to the Theodore Roosevelt National Park and Lake Sakakawea. They wanted to build a nice welcome center but didn’t have the funds to do so. They finally put together a deal with the municipally owned liquor store and local museum to build it. It is the only combination of such that I have seen, but it works. And works very well!
Hopefully more towns will follow Watford City’s approach of “If we can’t find help, we will just do it ourselves.”
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
The Cure for Higher Prices is Higher Prices
Sidney, MT is going thru a new oil boom. The city has a vitality and newness about it. It is amazing what $55/barrel oil can do.
In the early 1980s, at the peak of the last boom, “Seven rigs/day was considered a lot,” according to Leslie Messer of the county economic development agency. “Today we’ve got 19 rigs going. We’ve got one company that has 400 well staked out in the county, ready to drill.”
These new drilling rigs are drilling down 9,000 to 10,000 feet and then drilling out horizontally in four directions up to 2 1/2 miles away. Taxable sales in North Dakota’s oil extraction sector were up 252% in 2004 compared to 2003. Amazing technology and high oil prices will result in more oil production and ultimately lower prices.
In the early 1980s, at the peak of the last boom, “Seven rigs/day was considered a lot,” according to Leslie Messer of the county economic development agency. “Today we’ve got 19 rigs going. We’ve got one company that has 400 well staked out in the county, ready to drill.”
These new drilling rigs are drilling down 9,000 to 10,000 feet and then drilling out horizontally in four directions up to 2 1/2 miles away. Taxable sales in North Dakota’s oil extraction sector were up 252% in 2004 compared to 2003. Amazing technology and high oil prices will result in more oil production and ultimately lower prices.
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
From Bust to Boom
Oil was first discovered in the Williston Basin in 1951 and Williston, ND has been thru two booms and busts since then, in the 50s and 70s. At the end of the last bust in the early 1980s the city was left with a $27 million bad debt for special assessment districts that were used for infrastructure. The population fell from 17,000 to 12,500. In 1990 the city started a 1% special sales tax, 75% of which was used to retire this bad debt and 25% for economic development in the region. The debt was paid off and today the $1.3 million annual tax is being used for the betterment of the community and the region.
Ward Koeser, who has been mayor for 11 years remembers the oil boom crash vividly, “My wireless communication business did 95% of its business with oil field companies. We saw an 80% drop in our business. It was painful but we’ve rebuilt it. Today only 15% of our business is in the oil patch.”
Williston is going thru another oil boom due to $55/barrel oil, but it is less of a one industry town. For example, Holland America is moving their travel agent sales and reservation center from high priced Seattle to Williston. The population has rebounded to 14,000 and appears much better prepared for this third oil boom.
Ward Koeser, who has been mayor for 11 years remembers the oil boom crash vividly, “My wireless communication business did 95% of its business with oil field companies. We saw an 80% drop in our business. It was painful but we’ve rebuilt it. Today only 15% of our business is in the oil patch.”
Williston is going thru another oil boom due to $55/barrel oil, but it is less of a one industry town. For example, Holland America is moving their travel agent sales and reservation center from high priced Seattle to Williston. The population has rebounded to 14,000 and appears much better prepared for this third oil boom.
Monday, April 11, 2005
18 Docs in a Town of 1,300?
Dr. Gerry Sailer is retired now but the legacy he has created in out-of-the-way Hettinger, ND is one of legends. Most towns of 1,300 are lucky to have one doctor or possibly two, but Dr. Sailer had a vision of his adopted town reaching out to neighboring towns and ranches. He recruited in recent medical school grads, many from other small towns in the state, with a message of, “rural areas like this are where you can make a difference, not necessarily make the most money.” All of the 18 physicians work in the same group. All of them travel to their satellite offices. They work as a team, helping each other.
The locally owned, not-for-profit hospital, West River Health Services is a critical access hospital with 25 beds. It owns eight outlying sites and services four others. There are only 20,000 people living in its 20,000 square mile coverage area, which is larger than the state of Rhode Island.
Jim Long, CEO of West River, understands that places like Hettinger face some critical issues due to past out migrations and the rapid aging of its population. With a medium age of over 50 years compared to a national average of 35 years he told me, “We have 15 years to change these trends or we will slide downhill over a quick period of time.”
Places like Hettinger still have that chance, but they’ve got to create more jobs and opportunities if they are going to survive. It’s people like Bob Kudrna, Dr. Laura Walker, Wes Cvach, Dr. Gerry Sailer and Jim Long that make such a difference in places like Hettinger.
The locally owned, not-for-profit hospital, West River Health Services is a critical access hospital with 25 beds. It owns eight outlying sites and services four others. There are only 20,000 people living in its 20,000 square mile coverage area, which is larger than the state of Rhode Island.
Jim Long, CEO of West River, understands that places like Hettinger face some critical issues due to past out migrations and the rapid aging of its population. With a medium age of over 50 years compared to a national average of 35 years he told me, “We have 15 years to change these trends or we will slide downhill over a quick period of time.”
Places like Hettinger still have that chance, but they’ve got to create more jobs and opportunities if they are going to survive. It’s people like Bob Kudrna, Dr. Laura Walker, Wes Cvach, Dr. Gerry Sailer and Jim Long that make such a difference in places like Hettinger.
Sunday, April 10, 2005
Dakota Cabin Quilts to the World
Despite the fact that I never could pronounce the town name to the locals’ satisfaction I found Hettinger, ND (population 1,300) an incredibly progressive regional community. Bob Kudrna, the county’s dynamic economic development head showed us around. We saw a new manufacturing plant that has 40 new employees in a new building in the downtown, a $170,000 conversion of the old J. C. Penney store into a 145 seat theater and several interesting locally owned retail stores.
The most compelling stop was when we pulled up in front of Dakota Cabin Quilts (www.dakotacabinquilts.com) on Main Street. The company is owned and run by Laura Walker and her husband Wes Cvach. She is a local physician. He is a rancher.
Laura was a quilter who couldn’t always get exactly the right fabric for her hobby. She also wanted to buy in bigger quantities for better pricing. She and her husband started Dakota Cabin in their home. Ten months ago they set up shop in a building that Hettinger had fixed up in anticipation that someone just like them would occupy it. They are now in the 2400 sf completely remodeled shop with over $100,000 of inventory, which would be way too much inventory for most towns of this size. But they do ¼ of their business over the internet all over the world, ¼ at trade shows and only ½ out of the store. Bus tours have started stopping at their store and Glassworks, a stained glass artisan’s gallery just down the street, because of their uniqueness.
If you go to Hettinger remember to pronounce the GER, like in Ti-GER. I’m practicing the pronunciation because I hope to go back.
The most compelling stop was when we pulled up in front of Dakota Cabin Quilts (www.dakotacabinquilts.com) on Main Street. The company is owned and run by Laura Walker and her husband Wes Cvach. She is a local physician. He is a rancher.
Laura was a quilter who couldn’t always get exactly the right fabric for her hobby. She also wanted to buy in bigger quantities for better pricing. She and her husband started Dakota Cabin in their home. Ten months ago they set up shop in a building that Hettinger had fixed up in anticipation that someone just like them would occupy it. They are now in the 2400 sf completely remodeled shop with over $100,000 of inventory, which would be way too much inventory for most towns of this size. But they do ¼ of their business over the internet all over the world, ¼ at trade shows and only ½ out of the store. Bus tours have started stopping at their store and Glassworks, a stained glass artisan’s gallery just down the street, because of their uniqueness.
If you go to Hettinger remember to pronounce the GER, like in Ti-GER. I’m practicing the pronunciation because I hope to go back.
Saturday, April 09, 2005
Fantastic Trip thru Western North Dakota
Yesterday I boarded a plane in Bismarck, ND having spent all week in the western part of the state giving talks twice a day in seven towns. Mike Fladeland of Montana-Dakota Utilities, which sponsored my trip, Scott Molander, one of my favorite entrepreneurs, along with Deb Dragseth and Scott Hanson of Dickinson State University accompanied me on this 800 mile journey. We were on the road from 7 in the morning until 10 or 11 at night every day, touring communities, meeting entrepreneurs and hopefully inspiring a person or two of what they can do for their community at each of my 7 talks. And, I had a great time!
The scenery was breathtaking (especially the Badlands), the wildlife abundant (we must have seen a hundred pheasants from Dickinson to Hettinger), the conversation stimulating (Scott and I came up with a great idea to capture permanent benefits from the current oil boom—more on that in a blog next week), but the highlight was meeting so many local residents who were working to better their small towns. They were genuinely looking for ways to create more opportunities so that their kids and grandkids would have the type of opportunities that they enjoyed. I’m going to be writing about some of them over the next week, including this weekend just because I’ve got so much great material.
Dickinson State is taking a very proactive approach to developing the skills of entrepreneurs in North Dakota. They were hosting their fifth annual Entrepreneuring in North Dakota Conference, which had over 400 attendees. It is underwritten by a couple who graduated from DSU, taught school, ran a restaurant and then made it big in Silicon Valley real estate. I’ll have more on their story in a future blog.
The people were very friendly. I hope to get back very soon.
The scenery was breathtaking (especially the Badlands), the wildlife abundant (we must have seen a hundred pheasants from Dickinson to Hettinger), the conversation stimulating (Scott and I came up with a great idea to capture permanent benefits from the current oil boom—more on that in a blog next week), but the highlight was meeting so many local residents who were working to better their small towns. They were genuinely looking for ways to create more opportunities so that their kids and grandkids would have the type of opportunities that they enjoyed. I’m going to be writing about some of them over the next week, including this weekend just because I’ve got so much great material.
Dickinson State is taking a very proactive approach to developing the skills of entrepreneurs in North Dakota. They were hosting their fifth annual Entrepreneuring in North Dakota Conference, which had over 400 attendees. It is underwritten by a couple who graduated from DSU, taught school, ran a restaurant and then made it big in Silicon Valley real estate. I’ll have more on their story in a future blog.
The people were very friendly. I hope to get back very soon.
Friday, April 08, 2005
Get Over It!
In the late 90s a group of farmers in Divide County, ND decided to build their own pasta plant. They were tired of only getting $2.50/bushel for their durum wheat which is used to make pasta. Over 80% of the durum wheat raised in the USA is produced within 150 miles of Crosby, the county seat for Divide County.
The $10 million project was financed with $3 million in equity from 283 area farmers and local citizens; $1 million in a grant from the USDA; $3 million in loans and a $3 million building that was leased. The company opened its doors in 2001 with 75 employees, a huge economic boost for the 1,000 population town. However, the plant only operated for 18 months, quickly closing its doors.
Les Knudson was chairman of the board of the plant and showed me around the modern facility. He explained to me what went wrong, “From a macro standpoint the Atkins diet was hitting its peak and the co-packing business that we were counting on never materialized. From a micro view we never learned how to make good pasta. We had 2 experienced managers but we just couldn’t make a consistent product. It killed us.”
Les Knudson has already picked himself up and is rapidly developing his own company, Superior Grains. However, other people in the town can’t forget the closing and still bemoan ever trying a project like it.
One of my main concerns for towns like Crosby is that they don’t put projects like the pasta plant behind them. They rehash failures like this over and over at the local coffee shop and are afraid to do other projects like it because of this misstep. That is a BIG mistake. Crosby needs to learn from what went wrong but in a positive sense in continuing to forge ahead. Crosby natives like Les Knudson and Scott Molander understand that. I wish that others in the community would too.
The $10 million project was financed with $3 million in equity from 283 area farmers and local citizens; $1 million in a grant from the USDA; $3 million in loans and a $3 million building that was leased. The company opened its doors in 2001 with 75 employees, a huge economic boost for the 1,000 population town. However, the plant only operated for 18 months, quickly closing its doors.
Les Knudson was chairman of the board of the plant and showed me around the modern facility. He explained to me what went wrong, “From a macro standpoint the Atkins diet was hitting its peak and the co-packing business that we were counting on never materialized. From a micro view we never learned how to make good pasta. We had 2 experienced managers but we just couldn’t make a consistent product. It killed us.”
Les Knudson has already picked himself up and is rapidly developing his own company, Superior Grains. However, other people in the town can’t forget the closing and still bemoan ever trying a project like it.
One of my main concerns for towns like Crosby is that they don’t put projects like the pasta plant behind them. They rehash failures like this over and over at the local coffee shop and are afraid to do other projects like it because of this misstep. That is a BIG mistake. Crosby needs to learn from what went wrong but in a positive sense in continuing to forge ahead. Crosby natives like Les Knudson and Scott Molander understand that. I wish that others in the community would too.
Thursday, April 07, 2005
Consummate Entrepreneur
I knew he was a consummate entrepreneur when I walked into his office and his friend Scott Molander pointed out that the vending machines we were looking at were owned by his three sons, aged 7, 10 and 14. Les Knudson explained to me, “The boys borrowed $2000 to buy the machines and have to keep them filled up. My son Noah, who was six at the time, was the youngest person to ever borrow money at that bank. He signed N-O-A-H in big block letters on the loan documents.”
Les was born and raised on a farm that is within sight of the Canadian border. He went away to college to become an engineer and worked in the aerospace and cabinet industries. His wife was a manager of a clothing store. But they wanted to get out of the big city. As Les told me, “We wanted a life style change so we moved back here in 1994 to farm.”
Les’s dad, Jerome, was an entrepreneur in his own right. Besides farming he invented a hillside tractor that used a mercury filled tube and hydraulics to keep his big 300+ hp tractors level. He only made 26 of his Knudson Tractors, so it wasn’t a big success, but some of the lessons that Les learned from seeing his dad struggle are serving him well today. “Dad tried to do everything himself. He didn’t delegate well. I’m trying to develop a team that can allow us to grow.”
Les started Superior Grains, Inc. in 1998, shipping his first carload of product in March, 1999. He ships specialty crops such as lentils, peas, chickpeas and organics all over the country and world. He employs 40 people, will do $20 million in business this year and has already outgrown the operation that he started on the family farm. I visited his new modern, state of the art processing plant in Williston that will start up production next week. This plant, built right on the main line of the BN from Chicago to Seattle, will allow him to ship 2000 railcars/year compared to the 400/year from his first plant. The original family farm plant will be converted into even more specialized products that Les is dreaming of producing.
Visiting Les Knudson’s dream on the Canadian border reminded me of why I love traveling around the country giving talks on my book and research. I get to meet so many people like him that are making a difference in their small towns.
Les was born and raised on a farm that is within sight of the Canadian border. He went away to college to become an engineer and worked in the aerospace and cabinet industries. His wife was a manager of a clothing store. But they wanted to get out of the big city. As Les told me, “We wanted a life style change so we moved back here in 1994 to farm.”
Les’s dad, Jerome, was an entrepreneur in his own right. Besides farming he invented a hillside tractor that used a mercury filled tube and hydraulics to keep his big 300+ hp tractors level. He only made 26 of his Knudson Tractors, so it wasn’t a big success, but some of the lessons that Les learned from seeing his dad struggle are serving him well today. “Dad tried to do everything himself. He didn’t delegate well. I’m trying to develop a team that can allow us to grow.”
Les started Superior Grains, Inc. in 1998, shipping his first carload of product in March, 1999. He ships specialty crops such as lentils, peas, chickpeas and organics all over the country and world. He employs 40 people, will do $20 million in business this year and has already outgrown the operation that he started on the family farm. I visited his new modern, state of the art processing plant in Williston that will start up production next week. This plant, built right on the main line of the BN from Chicago to Seattle, will allow him to ship 2000 railcars/year compared to the 400/year from his first plant. The original family farm plant will be converted into even more specialized products that Les is dreaming of producing.
Visiting Les Knudson’s dream on the Canadian border reminded me of why I love traveling around the country giving talks on my book and research. I get to meet so many people like him that are making a difference in their small towns.
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
Voters say "NO" to supercenters
Last Friday (April 1) I wrote about a pending referendum in Monroe, WI regarding the approval of big-box retailers in the city, specifically Wal-Mart. This morning the Green County News reports that the referendum was overwhelmingly beaten. The advisory vote in Monroe received nearly 69% no votes and 31% yes votes, asking if the city should approve construction of large super center retail stores. The vote was prompted by Wal-Mart's proposal of building a new super outlet north of Highway 11 and east of Monroe Truck Equipment. The Town of Monroe also had an advisory vote on the same question with the “no” votes totaling 70%. Apparently the people of Monroe don't want M&Ms.
To North Dakota from the SW
I’ll be in western ND and eastern MT all this week giving a series of talks in small and medium sized towns. Scott Molander, co-founder of the 500+ store Hat World chain and ND native, and Mike Fladeland, community coordinator for Montana-Dakota Utilities, both sponsored and are giving me a great tour of this beautiful state. The landscape reminds me of western Brazil, where I spent 7 great years when I was in my 20s, bringing back wonderful memories for me.
First stop on Monday was Crosby, ND (population 1089), Scott’s hometown, which is only 6 miles from the Canadian border. Scott has invested and given back greatly to the community. I talked at the High School to the junior and senior class in addition to a good representation of citizens from Crosby. Crosby went to state this year in basketball and has won the state Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) competition for the past three years. And those young people knew their stuff…they had some wonderful questions for me after my talk. Great group of kids!
Crosby is pushing hard for people to move to the town, even offering free building lots. They’ve had a family move from CA who is developing a call center for a Silicon Valley company. Shawn and Esther Oehike moved their electro optics company, SEO Precision, to the community. Their story was very interesting.
The Oehikes lived in Albuquerque but were frustrated by the lack of support for non-Venture Capital backed companies. They found Crosby on the web (another example of why communities must have a good web site), visited the community, found them to very receptive and moved here 2 years ago. Esther is CEO and Shawn is the Chief Engineer. He was one of the designers of Ronald Reagan’s star wars programs, working on laser weaponry. His expertise was on the steering mirror, which Shawn explained to me, “is the enabling component that allows for the laser tracking. Without it, nothing would work.” He showed me how precise his laser is, able to bounce it beam off of a steering mirror that can hit a dime 20 miles away and keep it there. SEO is turning that star wars technology into consumer products.
I saw their prototype product which will allow a single light, enhanced with SEO’s patented spinning mirror, to light up 40,000 sf with a single bulb that only draws the power of a 50 watt bulb. Imagine the benefits to night farming and other activities that take place in out of the way places!
The Oehikes have adjusted well to small town living. Their 2 sons are both in High School, were members of the state winning FBLA team, are participating in local sports and have easily made friends. In the words of Esther, “It was a very good move for us and our boys have both got much more involved in things like sports than what they ever did in Albuquerque.
Crosby moved the Oehikes into a retrofitted J. C. Penney store that has offices on the first floor, apartments on the second and lab space in the basement. The city is developing a Tech Center for other small businesses in the building that it hopes to attract to the town. Crosby is a small town on the move with a great approach on how to continue to grow their community, creating opportunities for the young people that I talked to at the High School.
First stop on Monday was Crosby, ND (population 1089), Scott’s hometown, which is only 6 miles from the Canadian border. Scott has invested and given back greatly to the community. I talked at the High School to the junior and senior class in addition to a good representation of citizens from Crosby. Crosby went to state this year in basketball and has won the state Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) competition for the past three years. And those young people knew their stuff…they had some wonderful questions for me after my talk. Great group of kids!
Crosby is pushing hard for people to move to the town, even offering free building lots. They’ve had a family move from CA who is developing a call center for a Silicon Valley company. Shawn and Esther Oehike moved their electro optics company, SEO Precision, to the community. Their story was very interesting.
The Oehikes lived in Albuquerque but were frustrated by the lack of support for non-Venture Capital backed companies. They found Crosby on the web (another example of why communities must have a good web site), visited the community, found them to very receptive and moved here 2 years ago. Esther is CEO and Shawn is the Chief Engineer. He was one of the designers of Ronald Reagan’s star wars programs, working on laser weaponry. His expertise was on the steering mirror, which Shawn explained to me, “is the enabling component that allows for the laser tracking. Without it, nothing would work.” He showed me how precise his laser is, able to bounce it beam off of a steering mirror that can hit a dime 20 miles away and keep it there. SEO is turning that star wars technology into consumer products.
I saw their prototype product which will allow a single light, enhanced with SEO’s patented spinning mirror, to light up 40,000 sf with a single bulb that only draws the power of a 50 watt bulb. Imagine the benefits to night farming and other activities that take place in out of the way places!
The Oehikes have adjusted well to small town living. Their 2 sons are both in High School, were members of the state winning FBLA team, are participating in local sports and have easily made friends. In the words of Esther, “It was a very good move for us and our boys have both got much more involved in things like sports than what they ever did in Albuquerque.
Crosby moved the Oehikes into a retrofitted J. C. Penney store that has offices on the first floor, apartments on the second and lab space in the basement. The city is developing a Tech Center for other small businesses in the building that it hopes to attract to the town. Crosby is a small town on the move with a great approach on how to continue to grow their community, creating opportunities for the young people that I talked to at the High School.
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
Sidney, NE—Once Down, Now Booming
One of the participants at the NMPP Annual Meeting last week was Gary Person, who has been with the city of Sidney, NE for 27 years as city manager and economic development director. This town of 6,800 people is a great example of how a community can transform themselves and why they were chosen as one of my agurbs® in BoomtownUSA.
Forty years ago virtually all of the jobs in this far western Nebraska town were controlled by the federal government or large companies. Major employers were an army ammunition depot, a minuteman missile base, oil and gas exploration, and the railroad. Big employers can be great, but when they close down it is devastating. Gary told me, “We have worked very, very hard for many years to build something special here after losing about 75% of our private sector jobs in the late 1960s and 1970s. Those jobs were controlled by outside forces.”
By depending upon local entrepreneurs rather than the big, outside employers Sidney has transformed themselves. Gary, “We have tripled our economy in the past 15 years.” The most famous local entrepreneurs are Dick and Jim Cabela who started the world famous Cabela’s retail chain after a Furniture Mart trip to Chicago. But, there are several other local entrepreneurs who have also had a huge impact upon the local work force. Gary calls it one of the entrepreneurial capitals of small town America.
From what he’s told me, I’d have to agree. I’m hoping to get there this fall to see for myself. I’m featuring Sidney in a new talk I’m developing entitled, “Hometown Entrepreneurs: Your New Paradigm Shift in Economic Development.”
Forty years ago virtually all of the jobs in this far western Nebraska town were controlled by the federal government or large companies. Major employers were an army ammunition depot, a minuteman missile base, oil and gas exploration, and the railroad. Big employers can be great, but when they close down it is devastating. Gary told me, “We have worked very, very hard for many years to build something special here after losing about 75% of our private sector jobs in the late 1960s and 1970s. Those jobs were controlled by outside forces.”
By depending upon local entrepreneurs rather than the big, outside employers Sidney has transformed themselves. Gary, “We have tripled our economy in the past 15 years.” The most famous local entrepreneurs are Dick and Jim Cabela who started the world famous Cabela’s retail chain after a Furniture Mart trip to Chicago. But, there are several other local entrepreneurs who have also had a huge impact upon the local work force. Gary calls it one of the entrepreneurial capitals of small town America.
From what he’s told me, I’d have to agree. I’m hoping to get there this fall to see for myself. I’m featuring Sidney in a new talk I’m developing entitled, “Hometown Entrepreneurs: Your New Paradigm Shift in Economic Development.”
Monday, April 04, 2005
Observations from Nebraska
I was in Hastings, NE on Thursday giving a talk to the Nebraska Municipal Power Pool’s (NMPP) Annual Meeting. This is an association of municipal power providers in NE, IA, SD, CO and WY. They had a great program with lots of take home ideas, especially for smaller towns.
As I drove from Hastings to Grand Island, one of my NE agurbs®, I saw hundreds of sandhill cranes along the Platte River bottoms. They are in their annual 14,000 mile migration from TX, NM and northern Mexico to their breeding grounds in Canada, Alaska and even Siberia. More that 500,000 gather for up to six weeks to rest and refuel before they head north. I had first seen these birds in south TX and was reminded that bird watching is one of the fastest growing spectator activities in the USA today.
Grand Island looked great, except for their downtown area! They had way too many vacant store fronts and need to work on developing a sense of place in their downtown.
I learned that Henry Fonda was born in Grand Island, another Nebraska native, who made it big in the entertainment business. Johnny Carson, from Norfolk, was another one. What is with the water here?
As I drove from Hastings to Grand Island, one of my NE agurbs®, I saw hundreds of sandhill cranes along the Platte River bottoms. They are in their annual 14,000 mile migration from TX, NM and northern Mexico to their breeding grounds in Canada, Alaska and even Siberia. More that 500,000 gather for up to six weeks to rest and refuel before they head north. I had first seen these birds in south TX and was reminded that bird watching is one of the fastest growing spectator activities in the USA today.
Grand Island looked great, except for their downtown area! They had way too many vacant store fronts and need to work on developing a sense of place in their downtown.
I learned that Henry Fonda was born in Grand Island, another Nebraska native, who made it big in the entertainment business. Johnny Carson, from Norfolk, was another one. What is with the water here?
Sunday, April 03, 2005
Harley Passes GM—The Lessons for the Agurbs®
This past week Harley-Davidson passed General Motors in market value, $17.7 billion vs. $16.2 billion, despite the fact that GM sales of $193 billion are 38 times Harley’s. Both companies started within a year of each other (Harley in 1907 and GM in 1908), have been close to bankruptcy (Harley in 1985 and GM in 1992), and have faced stiff Japanese competition for many years.
However, Harley has built a marvelous brand since a management buy-out in 1981. It has leveraged its unique American heritage to create incredibly strong customer loyalty and passion for the product.
We just completed a new Harley dealership here in Effingham that is built like a barn, right along the interstate. Have you ever noticed how many of these unique Harley dealerships you see from the interstate? It isn’t an accident. It is part of their strategy of building the brand.
The lessons for agurbs®? It is important to build your brand and stay close to your customers. And, it isn’t always the big guy that wins.
However, Harley has built a marvelous brand since a management buy-out in 1981. It has leveraged its unique American heritage to create incredibly strong customer loyalty and passion for the product.
We just completed a new Harley dealership here in Effingham that is built like a barn, right along the interstate. Have you ever noticed how many of these unique Harley dealerships you see from the interstate? It isn’t an accident. It is part of their strategy of building the brand.
The lessons for agurbs®? It is important to build your brand and stay close to your customers. And, it isn’t always the big guy that wins.
Saturday, April 02, 2005
Mayor Daley’s Airport Closing
Two years ago Mayor Richard Daley closed Chicago’s downtown airport, Meigs Field. Crain’s Chicago Business editorial said it best, “The decision to close Meigs was a bad one. Though tiny, it played a vital role in the city’s commercial infrastructure, mainly serving as a close-in landing spot for business aircraft shuttling executives to and from Chicago’s central business district.”
Meigs handled 30,000 to 40,000 flights/year and its closing hasn’t been picked up in added flights to other Chicago airports. In other words, business has gone elsewhere because of the hassle of flying into Midway, O’Hare, etc.
I’ve written extensively about the new jets like the Eclipse that will revolutionize air travel in our country. Meigs was ideal for these new jets. Chicago will rue the day that they bulldozed this wonderful downtown asset.
Meigs handled 30,000 to 40,000 flights/year and its closing hasn’t been picked up in added flights to other Chicago airports. In other words, business has gone elsewhere because of the hassle of flying into Midway, O’Hare, etc.
I’ve written extensively about the new jets like the Eclipse that will revolutionize air travel in our country. Meigs was ideal for these new jets. Chicago will rue the day that they bulldozed this wonderful downtown asset.
Wal-Mart Dances around Store Size Limit
Yesterday I wrote about Monroe, Wisconsin’s upcoming vote on the expansion of the state’s first Wal-Mart in the town to a new location. I’ve seen other communities and states try to thwart innovative companies like Wal-Mart. In the end, they all end up losing and are much worse off for the battle. Rather than mounting emotionally and financially costly campaigns against companies like Wal-Mart, they should be spending their time and effort on more productive, positive things for their towns.
Trying to pass laws to prevent expansion by certain businesses is usually counter productive. Virtually every time laws like this have passed, I’ve seen the “Law of Unintended Consequences” kick in. In happened in Vermont where the state passed laws to essentially ban Big Boxes. Wal-Mart built on both sides of the state, just over the state line, driving retail dollars and sales tax out of the state. Vermont saw the economic impact and quickly revoked their new laws. Other cities have tried to pass laws to keep companies like Wal-Mart out and, if successful, usually see the company build in the next city. Again, retail and sales taxes are sucked out of the original town.
Here is the latest example. Last August Dunkirk, MD, an upscale but older demographic town (population 2,363) thirty miles outside of Washington DC, passed an ordinance limiting the size of commercial retail buildings to 75,000 sf. Wal-Mart normally builds from 100,000 to 200,000 sf. Wal-Mart is proceeding with plans to build a 74,998 sf store next to a 22,689 sf garden center, also owned by the company. Both stores would have their own entrances, utilities, bathrooms and cash registers.
Kenneth E. Stone, professor emeritus of economics at Iowa State University, who has studied Wal-Mart for the past 30 years, said of the move in Dunkirk, “It almost points out the futility of municipalities developing ordinances and laws that restrict the size of stores. There’s always a way around them and an outfit as big and smart as Wal-Mart will think of a way.”
Trying to pass laws to prevent expansion by certain businesses is usually counter productive. Virtually every time laws like this have passed, I’ve seen the “Law of Unintended Consequences” kick in. In happened in Vermont where the state passed laws to essentially ban Big Boxes. Wal-Mart built on both sides of the state, just over the state line, driving retail dollars and sales tax out of the state. Vermont saw the economic impact and quickly revoked their new laws. Other cities have tried to pass laws to keep companies like Wal-Mart out and, if successful, usually see the company build in the next city. Again, retail and sales taxes are sucked out of the original town.
Here is the latest example. Last August Dunkirk, MD, an upscale but older demographic town (population 2,363) thirty miles outside of Washington DC, passed an ordinance limiting the size of commercial retail buildings to 75,000 sf. Wal-Mart normally builds from 100,000 to 200,000 sf. Wal-Mart is proceeding with plans to build a 74,998 sf store next to a 22,689 sf garden center, also owned by the company. Both stores would have their own entrances, utilities, bathrooms and cash registers.
Kenneth E. Stone, professor emeritus of economics at Iowa State University, who has studied Wal-Mart for the past 30 years, said of the move in Dunkirk, “It almost points out the futility of municipalities developing ordinances and laws that restrict the size of stores. There’s always a way around them and an outfit as big and smart as Wal-Mart will think of a way.”
Friday, April 01, 2005
A Wal-Mart Supercenter in Monroe, WI—YES or NO
Next week the citizens of Monroe, WI will vote in a non-binding referendum on the building of a supercenter in the SW Wisconsin town of 11,000. I’m not exactly sure why they are having the referendum, other than it is the “cause du jour”. Monroe is wonderfully quaint regional shopping center. Its downtown has some very unique architecture, unique stores, bars and restaurants.
After my talk there last week we went downtown to Baumgartner’s, a local landmark, where I sampled Limburger cheese. It is best to not smell it before eating it. Monroe is the only place in the USA that makes Limburger. Matt Urban, executive director of the Monroe Chamber, explained to me, “Limburger cheese is a niche market and it doesn’t take much cheese to fill up that niche.”
But, I digress. Back to Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart built their first Wisconsin store in Monroe. They’ve been a good corporate citizen. The store they are in is old and they want to expand. Will it impact the downtown area? The local Wal-Mart store manager probably said it best, “We sell M & M’s, and they sell truffles.” Monroe will be much worse off, with retail trade going to other locations if they vote NO to Wal-Mart. I’ll post the results next Wednesday.
After my talk there last week we went downtown to Baumgartner’s, a local landmark, where I sampled Limburger cheese. It is best to not smell it before eating it. Monroe is the only place in the USA that makes Limburger. Matt Urban, executive director of the Monroe Chamber, explained to me, “Limburger cheese is a niche market and it doesn’t take much cheese to fill up that niche.”
But, I digress. Back to Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart built their first Wisconsin store in Monroe. They’ve been a good corporate citizen. The store they are in is old and they want to expand. Will it impact the downtown area? The local Wal-Mart store manager probably said it best, “We sell M & M’s, and they sell truffles.” Monroe will be much worse off, with retail trade going to other locations if they vote NO to Wal-Mart. I’ll post the results next Wednesday.
Thursday, March 31, 2005
Tiny Potosi Beats Out Milwaukee and St. Louis
Tiny Potosi, WI beat out both Milwaukee and St. Louis for the National Beer Museum. Potosi was home to the Potosi Brewery, which pumped out Potosi beer from 1852 to 1972. The old Brewery will be the new home for the national museum. Potosi, with 726 residents, perched on the banks of the Mississippi River in SW Wisconsin is probably the smallest town in the country with a national museum.
The American Breweriana Association chose the tiny town last year after the Potosi Brewery Foundation (www.potosibrewery.com) put together a proposal and funding for a project that includes the renovation of the former Potosi Brewery into a museum, a restaurant with beer garden, microbrewery and gift shop. The 30,000 sf facility will cost $3.4 million.
This project has the opportunity to put Potosi back on the brewery map.
The American Breweriana Association chose the tiny town last year after the Potosi Brewery Foundation (www.potosibrewery.com) put together a proposal and funding for a project that includes the renovation of the former Potosi Brewery into a museum, a restaurant with beer garden, microbrewery and gift shop. The 30,000 sf facility will cost $3.4 million.
This project has the opportunity to put Potosi back on the brewery map.
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
Turning a Cheese Cluster into the Napa Valley of Cheese?
I was in Green County, WI (county seat—Monroe) in SW Wisconsin for the keynote to their six county economic development organization. Unfortunately, I lost my voice. This is not a good thing for a speaker. I delivered the talk in a whisper, completely losing my voice only once. I felt pretty good when I got a standing ovation, which I thought was for the effort that I put into the talk. When I returned home my wife had another thought, “Perhaps they were just really glad that you were done and were standing up to head for the doors.” Sometimes it’s tough to get respect at home.
As I toured Monroe and Green County I was struck by how much potential they have to develop a niche as the “Napa Valley of Cheese.” Today cheese is considered a commodity product, much like wine 20 or 30 years ago. Thirty years ago there were only a couple of dozen wineries in California’s Napa Valley, churning out unexceptional products for an American consumer who had little taste for wine. Thru astute marketing, branding, and differentiation wine has changed their image as it has grown into a $22 billion industry. And, it appears to me that in many ways, cheese is a very similar product. And, SW Wisconsin has all of the ingredients to be at the center of it.
Green County’s Swiss heritage, rolling hills and dairy tradition (at one time there were more cows than people in the county) were all factors that turned the county into a major cheese producer. In 1930 the local producers started the Foreign Type Cheese Makers, Inc., focused upon keeping those producers on the cutting edge of technology. They’ve innovated such processes as turning whey from a waste product into a food additive and a secondary source of income.
Today Green County has more than a dozen cheese factories, most with less than 30 employees. The largest, Swiss Colony has 1000 and is headquartered in Monroe. This cluster has allowed companies to develop in the feed industry; animal processing; bakery (Swiss Colony); printing (food labels); stainless steel products; farm equipment (manure spreaders); trucking and warehousing. If the “Napa Valley of Cheese” were centered in Green County other companies would set up shop just as they have in the Napa Valley because of the burgeoning wine industry. Tourism would soar, art galleries would flourish and jobs would be created.
As it stands now, the master cheese makers are being recruited by other states. One left last year for Indiana. California has seen first hand the impact of Napa Valley. I hope that Green County, WI can maintain their cluster and develop it into the “Napa Valley of Cheese.” They’ve got all of the tools to do so. Now they just need a plan and a brand.
As I toured Monroe and Green County I was struck by how much potential they have to develop a niche as the “Napa Valley of Cheese.” Today cheese is considered a commodity product, much like wine 20 or 30 years ago. Thirty years ago there were only a couple of dozen wineries in California’s Napa Valley, churning out unexceptional products for an American consumer who had little taste for wine. Thru astute marketing, branding, and differentiation wine has changed their image as it has grown into a $22 billion industry. And, it appears to me that in many ways, cheese is a very similar product. And, SW Wisconsin has all of the ingredients to be at the center of it.
Green County’s Swiss heritage, rolling hills and dairy tradition (at one time there were more cows than people in the county) were all factors that turned the county into a major cheese producer. In 1930 the local producers started the Foreign Type Cheese Makers, Inc., focused upon keeping those producers on the cutting edge of technology. They’ve innovated such processes as turning whey from a waste product into a food additive and a secondary source of income.
Today Green County has more than a dozen cheese factories, most with less than 30 employees. The largest, Swiss Colony has 1000 and is headquartered in Monroe. This cluster has allowed companies to develop in the feed industry; animal processing; bakery (Swiss Colony); printing (food labels); stainless steel products; farm equipment (manure spreaders); trucking and warehousing. If the “Napa Valley of Cheese” were centered in Green County other companies would set up shop just as they have in the Napa Valley because of the burgeoning wine industry. Tourism would soar, art galleries would flourish and jobs would be created.
As it stands now, the master cheese makers are being recruited by other states. One left last year for Indiana. California has seen first hand the impact of Napa Valley. I hope that Green County, WI can maintain their cluster and develop it into the “Napa Valley of Cheese.” They’ve got all of the tools to do so. Now they just need a plan and a brand.
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Sheridan’s Issues for the Future
While I was totally enamored with Sheridan during my stay there, I saw some areas that I think that the community needs to be working on. And, from the leadership that I saw exhibited I’m confident that Sheridan will have most of the items I’m going to mention figured out on their own.
Like most small towns a key issue in a town like Sheridan is high paying jobs. Their government and mining industry pays well, but Sheridan has not built up a strong base in either manufacturing or high tech. They need to spend some time thinking of how to either recruit in or “grow their own” higher paying companies.
This agurb® has a wonderful entrepreneurial class, but needs to enhance it even more. Can you imagine what they might be able to do it their 39 local foundations jointly allocated 1% of their assets into a local venture capital or angel investor pool? Without any other contributions from the many wealthy individuals with second homes there (another untapped resource) they would have $2.5 million for new business creation.
Their lack of and cost of affordable housing is a problem. Marie Lowe, who toured the town with me, left her real estate job to join Volunteers of America to help solve this problem in Sheridan.
The town is aging in place, with a shrinking school age population. They have lost 25% (1000 students) of their school population in the past 20 years. They can’t let that trend continue.
Their land cost is very high, especially when compared to other areas of the country that I’ve seen. In my opinion this could be a limiting factor in their ability to recruit in high paying industrial and high tech jobs.
I was surprised that water wasn’t as much of an issue as I’ve seen in so many other western states. Despite being in the midst of a three year drought, Sheridan seems well positioned so that water will not be a limiting factor for them.
On balance, I was very impressed with Sheridan. I’m convinced that they are an agurb® on the rise and that you’ll be hearing a lot more of them in the national media.
Like most small towns a key issue in a town like Sheridan is high paying jobs. Their government and mining industry pays well, but Sheridan has not built up a strong base in either manufacturing or high tech. They need to spend some time thinking of how to either recruit in or “grow their own” higher paying companies.
This agurb® has a wonderful entrepreneurial class, but needs to enhance it even more. Can you imagine what they might be able to do it their 39 local foundations jointly allocated 1% of their assets into a local venture capital or angel investor pool? Without any other contributions from the many wealthy individuals with second homes there (another untapped resource) they would have $2.5 million for new business creation.
Their lack of and cost of affordable housing is a problem. Marie Lowe, who toured the town with me, left her real estate job to join Volunteers of America to help solve this problem in Sheridan.
The town is aging in place, with a shrinking school age population. They have lost 25% (1000 students) of their school population in the past 20 years. They can’t let that trend continue.
Their land cost is very high, especially when compared to other areas of the country that I’ve seen. In my opinion this could be a limiting factor in their ability to recruit in high paying industrial and high tech jobs.
I was surprised that water wasn’t as much of an issue as I’ve seen in so many other western states. Despite being in the midst of a three year drought, Sheridan seems well positioned so that water will not be a limiting factor for them.
On balance, I was very impressed with Sheridan. I’m convinced that they are an agurb® on the rise and that you’ll be hearing a lot more of them in the national media.
Monday, March 28, 2005
Entrepreneurial Think
I love talking to entrepreneurs. They have an inquisitiveness and sparkle that makes them interesting to interview. I never tire to hearing their stories. Here is one I met in Sheridan, WY.
Kim Love was born and raised in St. Louis, but he often spent summers in Sheridan where his family had a ranch. In the 1970s shortly after graduating from college he moved to Sheridan. He bought the local radio station and has grown his media company into four stations today.
At the time he purchased his first station Sheridan was a major BN Railroad crew center. Kim learned that the crews had to stay close to their phones to await a call from BN dispatching informing them of who would be manning trains for the following day. Kim approached the BN and asked if he could broadcast the crew assignments over his radio station, so that the workers wouldn’t be tethered to their house phones (this was in the days prior to cellular phones). The BN thought it was a great idea.
Yes it was a great community service, but Kim’s rational for pursuing it was the following, “I asked how many workers were affected and about how much they earned each year. When they told me 400 workers, earning $35,000/year it didn’t take me long to see the advantages of having a payroll of $12 million tuned into my radio station everyday.”
It’s no wonder he has been so successful. And at the same time he has given back to his adopted hometown. He led efforts to set up a sculpture center in the downtown, serves on the school, local foundation and economic development boards in addition to many other community activities. Entrepreneurs are wonderful for towns like Sheridan.
Kim Love was born and raised in St. Louis, but he often spent summers in Sheridan where his family had a ranch. In the 1970s shortly after graduating from college he moved to Sheridan. He bought the local radio station and has grown his media company into four stations today.
At the time he purchased his first station Sheridan was a major BN Railroad crew center. Kim learned that the crews had to stay close to their phones to await a call from BN dispatching informing them of who would be manning trains for the following day. Kim approached the BN and asked if he could broadcast the crew assignments over his radio station, so that the workers wouldn’t be tethered to their house phones (this was in the days prior to cellular phones). The BN thought it was a great idea.
Yes it was a great community service, but Kim’s rational for pursuing it was the following, “I asked how many workers were affected and about how much they earned each year. When they told me 400 workers, earning $35,000/year it didn’t take me long to see the advantages of having a payroll of $12 million tuned into my radio station everyday.”
It’s no wonder he has been so successful. And at the same time he has given back to his adopted hometown. He led efforts to set up a sculpture center in the downtown, serves on the school, local foundation and economic development boards in addition to many other community activities. Entrepreneurs are wonderful for towns like Sheridan.
Sunday, March 27, 2005
Even the French Sometimes Understand When They Are Wrong
I’ve written in the past about how governments can really mess things up with new laws and regulations when “The Law of Unintended Consequences” kicks in. Usually, nothing is done to correct these mistakes. But the French are in the process of overturning one of their biggest boo-boos.
It started about five years ago when unemployment was running in the double digits in France. The Socialist government, in power at the time, had a plan to get more jobs for the country. It was simple. It was direct. And, it didn’t work. In fact, just like what often happens under “The Law of Unintended Consequences” it had just the opposite affect.
I saw what happened at the time. We did a manufacturing plant for a French company that fled France, moving their production to Illinois because of the changes that the French government made in their work rules.
And what were these changes? And why didn’t they work?
The Socialist government decided that if x number of people were working under a 40 hour week, then if the work week were cut to 35 hours/week, approximately 10% more people would be working. Even more, they banned overtime and also did not let anyone have a second job. Voila!!! Unemployment would become a thing of the past. Unfortunately, they forgot about the laws of economics and productivity. It not only didn’t work. It bombed miserably, as our small project wasn’t the only French company that decided to move production out of France.
This past week France’s conservative-dominated National Assembly voted overwhelmingly to end the bold social experiment of shorter workweeks. With unemployment continuing above 10%, declining competitiveness and companies fleeing, France is going back to a 39 hour workweek. France still has other serious productivity and tax problems, but this is a step in the right direction to try to regain a competitive footing.
It started about five years ago when unemployment was running in the double digits in France. The Socialist government, in power at the time, had a plan to get more jobs for the country. It was simple. It was direct. And, it didn’t work. In fact, just like what often happens under “The Law of Unintended Consequences” it had just the opposite affect.
I saw what happened at the time. We did a manufacturing plant for a French company that fled France, moving their production to Illinois because of the changes that the French government made in their work rules.
And what were these changes? And why didn’t they work?
The Socialist government decided that if x number of people were working under a 40 hour week, then if the work week were cut to 35 hours/week, approximately 10% more people would be working. Even more, they banned overtime and also did not let anyone have a second job. Voila!!! Unemployment would become a thing of the past. Unfortunately, they forgot about the laws of economics and productivity. It not only didn’t work. It bombed miserably, as our small project wasn’t the only French company that decided to move production out of France.
This past week France’s conservative-dominated National Assembly voted overwhelmingly to end the bold social experiment of shorter workweeks. With unemployment continuing above 10%, declining competitiveness and companies fleeing, France is going back to a 39 hour workweek. France still has other serious productivity and tax problems, but this is a step in the right direction to try to regain a competitive footing.
Saturday, March 26, 2005
Small Town Publicity—Good or Bad?
Yesterday, a newspaper reporter from a small town asked me about recent publicity that several communities in the Plains states have generated with free land giveaways for people who have moved there. She indicated that several families had taken advantage of the offer in her town of 1,000, but that the columnist Bob Greene had written some very negative things about the offers, calling them desperate attempts on behalf of the towns.
I told her that I thought that the free land could make a lot of sense, depending upon the town. I thought that the risk/reward ratio was in favor of the towns and that the publicity, even if negative, was probably beneficial. I told her, “When you are one of 15,800 small towns in the USA, any publicity is probably good publicity.”
She indicated that her town had gotten some people to move to the community as a result of the offer. She cited an example of one retired couple that had moved to the town and later had several of their children and families move there also.
My wife gave me a slightly different perspective last night. She was reading the April, 2005 Smithsonian magazine, pointing out an article about the Scopes Monkey Trial which took place 80 years. The trial put tiny Dayton, TN (population 2,000 at the time) in the national news during the entire summer of 1925. The trial, which electrified the country at the time, started as a stunt to put tiny Dayton on the map.
When Tennessee passed a law that made teaching evolution illegal and the ACLU announced that it would defend anyone who would challenge the statute, Dayton’s business leaders decided to recruit a volunteer. They found their candidate in John Scopes, a new teacher who had recently graduated from the University of Kentucky. Although he had never taught evolution up to that point, he agreed to start doing so and as they say “the rest is history.” While the publicity probably didn’t help tiny Dayton in the long term, for a short period of time they were the center of the news universe.
I told her that I thought that the free land could make a lot of sense, depending upon the town. I thought that the risk/reward ratio was in favor of the towns and that the publicity, even if negative, was probably beneficial. I told her, “When you are one of 15,800 small towns in the USA, any publicity is probably good publicity.”
She indicated that her town had gotten some people to move to the community as a result of the offer. She cited an example of one retired couple that had moved to the town and later had several of their children and families move there also.
My wife gave me a slightly different perspective last night. She was reading the April, 2005 Smithsonian magazine, pointing out an article about the Scopes Monkey Trial which took place 80 years. The trial put tiny Dayton, TN (population 2,000 at the time) in the national news during the entire summer of 1925. The trial, which electrified the country at the time, started as a stunt to put tiny Dayton on the map.
When Tennessee passed a law that made teaching evolution illegal and the ACLU announced that it would defend anyone who would challenge the statute, Dayton’s business leaders decided to recruit a volunteer. They found their candidate in John Scopes, a new teacher who had recently graduated from the University of Kentucky. Although he had never taught evolution up to that point, he agreed to start doing so and as they say “the rest is history.” While the publicity probably didn’t help tiny Dayton in the long term, for a short period of time they were the center of the news universe.
Buffalo, WY—Bigger than it Appears
I had a change of travel plans due to weather problems in Denver which didn’t allow me to fly from Sheridan, WY. Oh for those new micro jets taxi systems that are on the drawing boards that would have allowed me to fly directly from Sheridan to Monroe, WI! Instead I had to drive 2 hours from Sheridan to Casper, WY; flew to Minneapolis; flew to Madison, WI; drove to Monroe. Total elapsed time was 12 hours compared to about 3 hours under the new system. I can’t wait!
One good thing that happened with the change of plans was that I got to drive thru Buffalo, WY one of the 397 agurbs® that I identified in the book. It is a quaint little town with a population of 3,600. However, it has the look and feel of a town two to three times that great. Buffalo has a great downtown with lots of local character. I hope to return someday.
One good thing that happened with the change of plans was that I got to drive thru Buffalo, WY one of the 397 agurbs® that I identified in the book. It is a quaint little town with a population of 3,600. However, it has the look and feel of a town two to three times that great. Buffalo has a great downtown with lots of local character. I hope to return someday.
Friday, March 25, 2005
Most Foundations & Dollars Per Capita
How is that one community of 15,000 can have 39 foundations with over $250 million in assets? The smallest has $400,000, several have tens of millions of dollars, and two have $80 and $90 million each. At a 4% spending rate that is $10 million in annual giving! I had to find out how Sheridan, WY ended with so many foundations. How did the first one get started?
Edward A. Whitney was born in Massachusetts and educated in Europe, but found his way to Sheridan in 1885 when the three year old town had less than 100 residents. He quickly started the town’s first bank and delved into ranching. Never marrying, he was a very frugal person, living his entire life in a small apartment above the bank. He never owned house, car or even a horse and buggy. However, he traveled extensively over the entire world.
When he passed away in 1917 he bequeathed his estate to the town he had grown to love in his 32 years of residency. His will read, “My estate does not belong to me. I’m only its steward: it belongs to the people and I dare not be careless with it.” He specified that the Whitney Benefits Foundation should have 3 areas of focus in Sheridan, offering interest free loans for students; development of a community center; and establishment of an agricultural school.
From an initial funding of less than $1 million the Whitney Benefits has grown to over $90 million today and has dramatically improved the quality of life in Sheridan. In the last 10 years it has given over $20 million to Sheridan College, a two year community college and ag school built on Whitney property. Over $15 million in loans have been made to almost 5,000 students in Sheridan. A beautiful YMCA, new ice rink (Sheridan won the state hockey tournament this year), park and other improvements to this thriving agurb® have also been completed. Plans are in the works to improve Sheridan’s already thriving downtown area.
Other citizens of Sheridan have followed the lead of Mr. Whitney, giving back to their hometown. I was amazed when I was researching these foundations. In my travels and researching of hundreds of small towns the largest foundation I’ve found has been $20 million in a community of 20,000. Sheridan has over 10 times that amount! It is incredible how the vision of one person can shape a community and a region for generations.
Edward A. Whitney was born in Massachusetts and educated in Europe, but found his way to Sheridan in 1885 when the three year old town had less than 100 residents. He quickly started the town’s first bank and delved into ranching. Never marrying, he was a very frugal person, living his entire life in a small apartment above the bank. He never owned house, car or even a horse and buggy. However, he traveled extensively over the entire world.
When he passed away in 1917 he bequeathed his estate to the town he had grown to love in his 32 years of residency. His will read, “My estate does not belong to me. I’m only its steward: it belongs to the people and I dare not be careless with it.” He specified that the Whitney Benefits Foundation should have 3 areas of focus in Sheridan, offering interest free loans for students; development of a community center; and establishment of an agricultural school.
From an initial funding of less than $1 million the Whitney Benefits has grown to over $90 million today and has dramatically improved the quality of life in Sheridan. In the last 10 years it has given over $20 million to Sheridan College, a two year community college and ag school built on Whitney property. Over $15 million in loans have been made to almost 5,000 students in Sheridan. A beautiful YMCA, new ice rink (Sheridan won the state hockey tournament this year), park and other improvements to this thriving agurb® have also been completed. Plans are in the works to improve Sheridan’s already thriving downtown area.
Other citizens of Sheridan have followed the lead of Mr. Whitney, giving back to their hometown. I was amazed when I was researching these foundations. In my travels and researching of hundreds of small towns the largest foundation I’ve found has been $20 million in a community of 20,000. Sheridan has over 10 times that amount! It is incredible how the vision of one person can shape a community and a region for generations.
Thursday, March 24, 2005
Where the Antelope Roam, a Polo Cluster Develops
I was in Sheridan, WY this week giving a talk and touring this wonderful agurb®. Sheridan is nestled next to the Big Horn Mountains and the Big Horn National Forest, offering some spectacular views and great outdoor recreational activities. It has become a favorite second home location for many wealthy and famous people. As I drove from Casper to Sheridan, seeing hundreds of antelopes and other wildlife I could see why many have fallen in love with the area.
The town has a wonderful downtown area with a great deal of character. I saw only one vacancy, confirming its economic vibrancy. The historic Sheridan Inn, inaugurated in 1893 with Buffalo Bill, a part owner, leading the celebration adds a certain historical flair to the downtown.
As those of you have been reading me for awhile know, I’m fascinated with the impact of clusters upon an area. I found one of the most unique in Sheridan….polo ponies! Polo ponies! It started when the English road the railroad to Sheridan in the late 1800s looking for a spot to raise and train an abundant number of horses for the Boar Wars. They stayed, polo caught on and today several new polo fields are being constructed in Sheridan. Queen Elizabeth even visited the community in 1985 because of the town’s polo tradition.
I’ve got some other great stories from Sheridan that I’ll share in the next couple of days.
The town has a wonderful downtown area with a great deal of character. I saw only one vacancy, confirming its economic vibrancy. The historic Sheridan Inn, inaugurated in 1893 with Buffalo Bill, a part owner, leading the celebration adds a certain historical flair to the downtown.
As those of you have been reading me for awhile know, I’m fascinated with the impact of clusters upon an area. I found one of the most unique in Sheridan….polo ponies! Polo ponies! It started when the English road the railroad to Sheridan in the late 1800s looking for a spot to raise and train an abundant number of horses for the Boar Wars. They stayed, polo caught on and today several new polo fields are being constructed in Sheridan. Queen Elizabeth even visited the community in 1985 because of the town’s polo tradition.
I’ve got some other great stories from Sheridan that I’ll share in the next couple of days.
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Community Survivors II
On Monday I was in Vancouver, WA, a magnificent community right across the river from Portland, Oregon for Maury Forman’s Community Survivors II program for communities and economic developers in the Northwest. It was a great program with talks on developing young entrepreneurs; utilizing your environmental advantage (a new subject for me); TechRanch in Bozeman, MT (one of my booming agurbs® that Rich Karlgaard has also written a great deal about); the importance of education and demographics and much more. Maury has one of the most innovative approaches to economic development education that I have seen.
I ran into friends from Colville, WA at the conference. Colville is one of my top 100 agurbs® that I visited last summer. I was pleased to learn that they had combined their chamber and downtown associations that previously had been fighting each other, into one organization. A small agurb® like Colville is WAY too small to have infighting going on like that and I counseled them when I was there to try to get everyone “onto the same page” and to reach out to other small towns. They are doing both.
The Dalles, OR, also one of the towns I visited last summer had big news to announce. They recently were selected by Google as the location for a new “server farm” that will initially hire 100 people. They are a town poised for great things.
I ran into friends from Colville, WA at the conference. Colville is one of my top 100 agurbs® that I visited last summer. I was pleased to learn that they had combined their chamber and downtown associations that previously had been fighting each other, into one organization. A small agurb® like Colville is WAY too small to have infighting going on like that and I counseled them when I was there to try to get everyone “onto the same page” and to reach out to other small towns. They are doing both.
The Dalles, OR, also one of the towns I visited last summer had big news to announce. They recently were selected by Google as the location for a new “server farm” that will initially hire 100 people. They are a town poised for great things.
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
The 3 W’s—How cool is that?
Yesterday I started on a three day journey that takes has me speaking in 3 of the 4 states that start with W. Yesterday I was in Vancouver, Washington. Today I’m in Sheridan, Wyoming and tomorrow I’m in Monroe, Wisconsin. How cool is that?
I’ll let you know what I find in each.
I’ll let you know what I find in each.
Monday, March 21, 2005
Regionalism in Fond du Lac
On Thursday I was to fly into Ripon, WI touring the county of Fond du Lac, addressing their 16 annual county wide economic development meeting. We iced up in Rockford, forcing me to drive to Fond du Lac, missing the tour of the county. And getting to tour agurbs® like Fond du Lac is one of my great pleasures in touring the country. I was sorely disappointed.
Ripon is the birthplace of the Republican Party, which was started by a group of “Freelanders” in the 1850s. The county is home of Mercury Marine, which headquarters a small engine cluster that accounts for 2/3 of all of the small engine manufacturing in the USA within 65 miles of Fond du Lac. With 31% of their jobs in manufacturing, Fond du Lac County has some of the highest wages in NE Wisconsin. And, Wisconsin has taken a lead in creating new manufacturing jobs when compared to other Great Lakes states.
The vision of increased regionalism evident in economic development in Fond du Lac impressed me greatly. A regional effort focused upon the Hwy 41 corridor from Fond du Lac to Green Bay and a 17 county NE Wisconsin economic development effort are steps in the right direction. No longer can agurbs® like Fond du Lac be an island unto themselves, but by working together with other communities the force of development is greatly enhanced.
Of particular interest to me in the NE Wisconsin study was an effort to create more clusters in the region and an emphasis upon entrepreneurial start-ups. Both are high on my radar screen from observing trends as I travel around the country. I particularly liked this quote from their report, “NE Wisconsin must abandon the economic strategy of a cost race to the bottom and embrace the concept of abundance theory—that by collaborating, the pie will increase with everyone getting a larger piece.” Fond du Lac is on the right track!
Ripon is the birthplace of the Republican Party, which was started by a group of “Freelanders” in the 1850s. The county is home of Mercury Marine, which headquarters a small engine cluster that accounts for 2/3 of all of the small engine manufacturing in the USA within 65 miles of Fond du Lac. With 31% of their jobs in manufacturing, Fond du Lac County has some of the highest wages in NE Wisconsin. And, Wisconsin has taken a lead in creating new manufacturing jobs when compared to other Great Lakes states.
The vision of increased regionalism evident in economic development in Fond du Lac impressed me greatly. A regional effort focused upon the Hwy 41 corridor from Fond du Lac to Green Bay and a 17 county NE Wisconsin economic development effort are steps in the right direction. No longer can agurbs® like Fond du Lac be an island unto themselves, but by working together with other communities the force of development is greatly enhanced.
Of particular interest to me in the NE Wisconsin study was an effort to create more clusters in the region and an emphasis upon entrepreneurial start-ups. Both are high on my radar screen from observing trends as I travel around the country. I particularly liked this quote from their report, “NE Wisconsin must abandon the economic strategy of a cost race to the bottom and embrace the concept of abundance theory—that by collaborating, the pie will increase with everyone getting a larger piece.” Fond du Lac is on the right track!
Friday, March 18, 2005
Henry Ford’s Amazon Misadventure
We visited Belterra, one of the two cities that Henry Ford set up in the Amazon during the 1930s when he tried to break Great Britain’s monopoly on rubber production. His other city, Fordlandia, was better known at the time. Despite pouring tens of millions of dollars into the development of millions of acres of land in Belterra and Fordlandia, Ford was never able to grow a commercially viable product due primarily to bad agronomy. He planted the trees too close together, which caused diseases to spread quickly in the humid tropics.
Ford’s operation was a typical top down model, with him trying to control all of the steps of production. The same fate would later occur in the 1970s and 1980s when another American billionaire, Daniel Ludwig, would try to do the same thing with cellulose production at his Jari Project in the Amazon. Again it was a top town, control-everything model. Neither Fordlandia nor Jari worked.
But, today the same land that Ford lost millions on is producing a much diversified agricultural economy. We saw soybeans, corn, rice, cassava, cattle, hogs, chickens, etc. being raised by hundreds, if not thousands of Brazilian farmers. But instead of a top down model, it is a bottom up one where the local farmers have experimented and learned a cropping system unique to the Amazon which allows them to productively and efficiently farm.
How does this relate to the agurbs®? I’m becoming more and more convinced that a “one size fits all” approach to economic development is not the way of the future. Our society is moving from a top down one to one that is fostering the creation of many new entrepreneurs. These new entrepreneurs are often from groups that have not been considered entrepreneurial in the past, but are going to blossom and thrive in the years ahead.
Ford’s operation was a typical top down model, with him trying to control all of the steps of production. The same fate would later occur in the 1970s and 1980s when another American billionaire, Daniel Ludwig, would try to do the same thing with cellulose production at his Jari Project in the Amazon. Again it was a top town, control-everything model. Neither Fordlandia nor Jari worked.
But, today the same land that Ford lost millions on is producing a much diversified agricultural economy. We saw soybeans, corn, rice, cassava, cattle, hogs, chickens, etc. being raised by hundreds, if not thousands of Brazilian farmers. But instead of a top down model, it is a bottom up one where the local farmers have experimented and learned a cropping system unique to the Amazon which allows them to productively and efficiently farm.
How does this relate to the agurbs®? I’m becoming more and more convinced that a “one size fits all” approach to economic development is not the way of the future. Our society is moving from a top down one to one that is fostering the creation of many new entrepreneurs. These new entrepreneurs are often from groups that have not been considered entrepreneurial in the past, but are going to blossom and thrive in the years ahead.
Thursday, March 17, 2005
Back & Raring to Go
My wife Betinha and I had a great time on the Amazon and Orinoco Rivers in South America. We also stopped briefly at Devil’s Island, made famous by the movie Papillion.
I was very pleased with the variety of items that Megan Beeler blogged on in my absence. I’m glad that she didn’t tell you in the George McGovern blog that I voted for him for President. My family still gives me grief for that vote.
I’m off to Fond du Lac, WI later today for a talk and then have numerous talks lined up for the next several months. I hope to have some great things to report to you from the roads across America.
I was very pleased with the variety of items that Megan Beeler blogged on in my absence. I’m glad that she didn’t tell you in the George McGovern blog that I voted for him for President. My family still gives me grief for that vote.
I’m off to Fond du Lac, WI later today for a talk and then have numerous talks lined up for the next several months. I hope to have some great things to report to you from the roads across America.
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
Jack is Back
Well if you pay attention you know that I'm not Jack. For the past few weeks Jack has been on vacation so I, Megan, his research analyst have been keeping up the blog. Today is my last day as a blogger. Jack is back in the country and eager to share his experiences abroad with you. But I have one final thought...
GO ILLINI!
Thanks for being faithful readers.
Megan Beeler
GO ILLINI!
Thanks for being faithful readers.
Megan Beeler
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
Observations on China
In this month’s issue of Inc. Magazine, a magazine geared toward entrepreneurs, start-ups, and growing companies, the focus was on China. In Ted C. Fishman’s article, “How China Will Change Your Business,” he highlighted some interesting points:
• “China will continue to offer American’s more bargains as time goes forward because the vast majority of U.S. imports still come from countries that pay relatively high wages.”
• “A 2003 survey of Illinois manufacturers found that 13 out of every 20 firms face competition from China. Of those affected, 84% state that Chinese competition hurt their sales by an average of at least 17% that year.”
• “If it were a nation, Wal-Mart would now rank as China’s fifth-largest export market, ahead of Germany and Great Britain.”
• “China will continue to offer American’s more bargains as time goes forward because the vast majority of U.S. imports still come from countries that pay relatively high wages.”
• “A 2003 survey of Illinois manufacturers found that 13 out of every 20 firms face competition from China. Of those affected, 84% state that Chinese competition hurt their sales by an average of at least 17% that year.”
• “If it were a nation, Wal-Mart would now rank as China’s fifth-largest export market, ahead of Germany and Great Britain.”
Monday, March 14, 2005
Math Skills- You will use them someday.
Two recent studies have confirmed what many Americans and especially American employers have known for quite awhile. U.S. students are failing math. An international study sponsored by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development found that 15-year-old American students performed below average among all 40 participating nations and ranked beneath most industrialized countries on math. The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study placed U.S. fourth-grades 12th of 25 countries in math and eighth-graders 15th of 45 countries.
These days U.S. companies are taking the problem, and solution, into their own hands. Many companies find themselves spending more time and money on training programs to get workers up to speed on basic math skills. Carhartt, the outdoor clothing manufacturer, realized that employees at its Kentucky customer service facility had a hard time using some of the equipment because they had weak math and computer skills. So the company parked a mobile classroom at the plant and held classes after shifts ended.
So many companies are stepping up to this challenge that used to be exclusively addressed by the public-school systems that government firms, non-profits, and local start-ups specializing in funding and supporting these basic training endeavors are popping up all over the U.S.
These days U.S. companies are taking the problem, and solution, into their own hands. Many companies find themselves spending more time and money on training programs to get workers up to speed on basic math skills. Carhartt, the outdoor clothing manufacturer, realized that employees at its Kentucky customer service facility had a hard time using some of the equipment because they had weak math and computer skills. So the company parked a mobile classroom at the plant and held classes after shifts ended.
So many companies are stepping up to this challenge that used to be exclusively addressed by the public-school systems that government firms, non-profits, and local start-ups specializing in funding and supporting these basic training endeavors are popping up all over the U.S.
Friday, March 11, 2005
If you’re ever speeding through Murray City, UT
In January Jack spoke in Murray City, Utah. He came away with a good impression of the town. One reason why is their creative mayor. When Daniel Snarr was elected he asked, “What is the City poem?” He was told that no one knew of such a poem, so he said “Wait a minute and I’ll make one up.” Here it is:
MURRAY POEM
When driving through Murray,
Don’t be in such a hurry.
S-l-o-w down, and spend a buck or two.
That would be a nice thing for you to do.
It would help our tax coffers swell,
So our City won’t go to hell!
-Mayor Daniel C. Snarr
The mayor has since added motions to illustrate the lyric – including leaping if the space allows. The poem has become the rallying call for many of the town’s officials. In fact, the Assistant Chamber of Commerce Director was late and hurrying to a meeting, when she was pulled over by one of Murray’s finest law enforcers. As he came to her car window she was ready with her driver’s license, but said timidly, “When driving through Murray- don’t be in such a hurry-“ Before she got to the third line of the poem, the officer was almost rolling on the ground in laughter and gave her a warning ticket. Thanks to Keith Snarr, Murray City Economic Development Director, for sharing how to get out of a Murray City speeding ticket!
MURRAY POEM
When driving through Murray,
Don’t be in such a hurry.
S-l-o-w down, and spend a buck or two.
That would be a nice thing for you to do.
It would help our tax coffers swell,
So our City won’t go to hell!
-Mayor Daniel C. Snarr
The mayor has since added motions to illustrate the lyric – including leaping if the space allows. The poem has become the rallying call for many of the town’s officials. In fact, the Assistant Chamber of Commerce Director was late and hurrying to a meeting, when she was pulled over by one of Murray’s finest law enforcers. As he came to her car window she was ready with her driver’s license, but said timidly, “When driving through Murray- don’t be in such a hurry-“ Before she got to the third line of the poem, the officer was almost rolling on the ground in laughter and gave her a warning ticket. Thanks to Keith Snarr, Murray City Economic Development Director, for sharing how to get out of a Murray City speeding ticket!
Thursday, March 10, 2005
Working Together Works
At a recent IEDC conference a panel of site selectors answered attendee questions. One attendee asked for advice on creative ways to make one’s community stand out. The consultants’ answer seemed so easy. But unfortunately it is often times the last thing a community thinks of when they are trying to land a company – cooperation. Apparently, it is the one thing that consultants don’t see often enough. Dean Foote, CEcD, senior project manager for economic development real estate services with Carter & Burgess said, “Put the swords away and work with your neighbors. It helps us sort through a project.” The consultants indicated that communities that get all of the fundamentals right are a pleasant surprise. This means having all the key players – the utility, the president of the college that would provide training, the mayor, and other leaders – in the room and having them show that “they’ve talked to each other more than once before.” Working together works.
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
Manufacturing Death Matrix
A recent issue of Blane Canada’s Economic Development Marketing Letter had this analysis from Eric Davis, Owensboro, KY. How to evaluate the longevity of a local manufacturer? Look at the following criteria.
1. Low skill requirements
2. Higher than average wages
3. International competition
4. Union activity
5. Lack of investment and/or technological change in the industry
Davis argues that “if you identify 3 of the 5, that’s an indicator that they are packing their bags. Four out of five means they are as good as gone.”
1. Low skill requirements
2. Higher than average wages
3. International competition
4. Union activity
5. Lack of investment and/or technological change in the industry
Davis argues that “if you identify 3 of the 5, that’s an indicator that they are packing their bags. Four out of five means they are as good as gone.”
Monday, March 07, 2005
The next time you hear a politician casually use the word “billion” remember this.
Every day we read about this government committee needed so-many billion dollars for such and such, or this organization spending so-many billion dollars to build XYZ. We hear “billon dollars” so much that it has lost some of its meaning. A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into perspective.
A billion seconds ago it was 1959.
A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.
A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.
A billion days ago no-one walked on two feet on earth.
A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate the government spends it.
A billion seconds ago it was 1959.
A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.
A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.
A billion days ago no-one walked on two feet on earth.
A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate the government spends it.
Friday, March 04, 2005
Did Watford City Get What They Bargained For?
They put in the infrastructure and expected hordes of entrepreneurs and companies to pull into town. Watford City has attracted several information-dependent service companies and boasts some great amenities (surprising for a town this size), video-conferencing centers, high speed internet providers, e-banking, and an e-pharmacist, but hordes of companies isn’t exactly what happened.
Watford City learned an important lesson- technology alone can’t save the heartland. The community quickly learned that most telecommuting professionals prefer mountains or the ocean in their backyard. But the current residents are feeling more encouraged to stick around and local entrepreneurs were eager to experiment with the new technology.
Yesterday I mentioned the e-pharmacist. Larry Larsen, local drugstore owner became North Dakota’s 5th e-pharmacist. He sells prescriptions online, but that’s not what makes his operation unique. He uses internet video to monitor (remotely) each step of the prescription filling process at his second pharmacy 50 miles from Watford City. Then he and his customers can converse e-face to e-face in private rooms. This technology has lowed Larsen’s costs by allowing him to employ a less expensive pharmacy technician rather than a full-time, hard to find pharmacist. Larsen believes that the forward-thinking people that came back to Watford City saved Watford City.
Watford City learned an important lesson- technology alone can’t save the heartland. The community quickly learned that most telecommuting professionals prefer mountains or the ocean in their backyard. But the current residents are feeling more encouraged to stick around and local entrepreneurs were eager to experiment with the new technology.
Yesterday I mentioned the e-pharmacist. Larry Larsen, local drugstore owner became North Dakota’s 5th e-pharmacist. He sells prescriptions online, but that’s not what makes his operation unique. He uses internet video to monitor (remotely) each step of the prescription filling process at his second pharmacy 50 miles from Watford City. Then he and his customers can converse e-face to e-face in private rooms. This technology has lowed Larsen’s costs by allowing him to employ a less expensive pharmacy technician rather than a full-time, hard to find pharmacist. Larsen believes that the forward-thinking people that came back to Watford City saved Watford City.
Did Watford City Get What They Bargained For?
They put in the infrastructure and expected hordes of entrepreneurs and companies to pull into town. Watford City has attracted several information-dependent service companies and boasts some great amenities (surprising for a town this size), video-conferencing centers, high speed internet providers, e-banking, and an e-pharmacist, but hordes of companies isn’t exactly what happened.
Watford City learned an important lesson- technology alone can’t save the heartland. The community quickly learned that most telecommuting professionals prefer mountains or the ocean in their backyard. But the current residents are feeling more encouraged to stick around and local entrepreneurs were eager to experiment with the new technology.
Yesterday I mentioned the e-pharmacist. Larry Larsen, local drugstore owner became North Dakota’s 5th e-pharmacist. He sells prescriptions online, but that’s not what makes his operation unique. He uses internet video to monitor (remotely) each step of the prescription filling process at his second pharmacy 50 miles from Watford City. Then he and his customers can converse e-face to e-face in private rooms. This technology has lowed Larsen’s costs by allowing him to employ a less expensive pharmacy technician rather than a full-time, hard to find pharmacist. Larsen believes that the forward-thinking people that came back to Watford City saved Watford City.
Watford City learned an important lesson- technology alone can’t save the heartland. The community quickly learned that most telecommuting professionals prefer mountains or the ocean in their backyard. But the current residents are feeling more encouraged to stick around and local entrepreneurs were eager to experiment with the new technology.
Yesterday I mentioned the e-pharmacist. Larry Larsen, local drugstore owner became North Dakota’s 5th e-pharmacist. He sells prescriptions online, but that’s not what makes his operation unique. He uses internet video to monitor (remotely) each step of the prescription filling process at his second pharmacy 50 miles from Watford City. Then he and his customers can converse e-face to e-face in private rooms. This technology has lowed Larsen’s costs by allowing him to employ a less expensive pharmacy technician rather than a full-time, hard to find pharmacist. Larsen believes that the forward-thinking people that came back to Watford City saved Watford City.
Thursday, March 03, 2005
Re-inventing Watford City
Watford City, N.D, invested a lot of time and money to reinvent itself in the mid-1990s. The old oil and ranching community tried a path that many rural communities are turning to these days- technology.
Gene Veeder had returned to Watford City in the mid-1990s and became the job-development authority for McKenzie County, where the local economy had fallen on pretty hard times. He didn’t know a “T1 line from a T-bone steak” but decided to get informed after hearing a telemarketing company that was considering relocating to the area talk about this new-fangled technology. The community and school district worked together to set up T1 internet service to local government offices at a fraction of the typical costs. This expanded into service for residents as well. By the time the state economic-development officials came to Watford City to promote their own rural internet strategy they found that this little town of 1,400 people, 3 hours from the nearest city of 50,000 or more, was already gigabytes ahead! Watford City resisted the rural stereotypes and become one of the most wired small towns in America.
Gene Veeder had returned to Watford City in the mid-1990s and became the job-development authority for McKenzie County, where the local economy had fallen on pretty hard times. He didn’t know a “T1 line from a T-bone steak” but decided to get informed after hearing a telemarketing company that was considering relocating to the area talk about this new-fangled technology. The community and school district worked together to set up T1 internet service to local government offices at a fraction of the typical costs. This expanded into service for residents as well. By the time the state economic-development officials came to Watford City to promote their own rural internet strategy they found that this little town of 1,400 people, 3 hours from the nearest city of 50,000 or more, was already gigabytes ahead! Watford City resisted the rural stereotypes and become one of the most wired small towns in America.
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
Short-term memory
Yesterday I told you about George McGovern’s enlightenment (initiation by fire) of the small business owner’s quandary. We saw how McGovern came to realize that the government intervention he so prominently promoted in his political career was swallowing small business owners in regulations and paperwork. But did he do anything with this knowledge or did he revert to his old way?
Well, other than a few articles in the early 1990s sharing his knowledge and showing a less-liberal side of McGovern than anyone had seen before the effect was minimal, and it seems short-lived. In a 2002 article in Harper’s McGovern seemed to have forgotten that business even exists, reverting to his more laws, higher taxes, stiffer regulations type of government. He wrote, “Virtually every step forward in our history has been a liberal initiative taken over conservative opposition: civil rights, Social Security, Medicare, rural electrification, the establishment of a minimum wage, etc.”
It seems that the accomplishments of private citizens are completely disregarded in light of the brilliant accomplishments of government. Robert Fulford, writing for the National Post, appears to have it right when he said McGovern, “suffered under the system he had helped create, apologized for it – and then forgot precisely what he had learned.”
Well, other than a few articles in the early 1990s sharing his knowledge and showing a less-liberal side of McGovern than anyone had seen before the effect was minimal, and it seems short-lived. In a 2002 article in Harper’s McGovern seemed to have forgotten that business even exists, reverting to his more laws, higher taxes, stiffer regulations type of government. He wrote, “Virtually every step forward in our history has been a liberal initiative taken over conservative opposition: civil rights, Social Security, Medicare, rural electrification, the establishment of a minimum wage, etc.”
It seems that the accomplishments of private citizens are completely disregarded in light of the brilliant accomplishments of government. Robert Fulford, writing for the National Post, appears to have it right when he said McGovern, “suffered under the system he had helped create, apologized for it – and then forgot precisely what he had learned.”
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