“During the 1920s and 1930s we had more millionaires/capita than any other place in the entire country,” Dale Young II, Executive Director of the Okmulgee, OK Chamber of Commerce told me on my tour of the community. You could tell that something special happened here at one time when I drove thru the downtown. But other than a 1921 Vaudeville theatre restored into a movie theater, the Creek Council House Museum and a few other retrofitted buildings the downtown needs lots of help. It has lots of potential, probably more than I’ve seen, but it will require a great deal of effort.
Okmulgee boomed when oil was first discovered near there. Frank Phillips who founded Phillips Petroleum had his start there but moved to Bartlesville. Waite Phillips, brother of Frank, stayed in Okmulgee, made a fortune in oil and diversified into ranching, real estate and banking. He was one of many millionaires who made their homes in Okmulgee. However, he and the other millionaires’ children often moved off to greener pastures.
The town has a beautiful new $2 million swimming pool and a wonderful YMCA. The funds were raised locally and from some of the foundations of those original millionaires’ heirs who now live in other areas. It is great that they continue to give back to the town of their source of wealth.
Brandon Branch, a local restaurant owner told me, “We have typical small town problems but our main problem is that we are too close to Tulsa. People tend to go there to buy their big items, even cars. Over 40% of our workers go to Tulsa for work. The wages are better there but it costs over $3000/year for them to commute there.” Tulsa is only 40 miles away on a four lane highway. It is real tough to only be a bedroom community, especially when much of your retail dollars also end up in the “job magnet” town.
An old Phillips refinery, closed in the early 1980s, is being redeveloped into a first class industrial park at great cost by the Okmulgee Area Development Corporation with help from ConocoPhillips and the OK Department of Environmental Quality. I hope that they can use this new park to catapult Okmulgee back into a more prosperous future. With 24.1% of their population living below the poverty level, they need to get it going soon.
Thursday, May 19, 2005
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
Manufacturing Clusters in OK
“From a job’s standpoint, manufacturing is the second most important sector in total number of jobs, and also has the highest average wage,” said Kathleen Miller, head of research for the Oklahoma Department of Commerce. She was talking about NE Oklahoma at the Rural Economic Summit that I talked at last week in Okmulgee, OK.
With 64,105 jobs at an average wage of $39,602 and over 60 firms that have more than 200 employees, the manufacturing sector is a key reason why NE Oklahoma is such a vibrant region. Recent passing of a Right To Work (RTW) Law, improving worker’s compensation legislation and increased emphasis in economic development all are poising Oklahoma and in particular NE Oklahoma for an increase in manufacturing in the state.
Oklahoma has identified and qualified a number of sites for mega projects, like auto assembly plants. I told the audience that while I didn’t really care for a mega project in a small town because they suddenly became the “800 pound gorilla” that can be wonderful when times are good, but create havoc when times turned bad. However, if Oklahoma could recruit a big project like an auto plant to Tulsa or Oklahoma City the spin-offs for the smaller towns could be tremendous. I cited the example of Mississippi which recruited in a Nissan plant that has resulted in over 20 smaller parts manufacturers locating in small towns all over the state.
Miller pointed out a number of manufacturing sub-clusters in the region including: Valve & Hose Fitting; Oil Field Equipment; Sporting Goods; Plastic Pipe; Plastic Film; Pumping Equipment; and Power Boiler. Keep your eye on NE OK.
With 64,105 jobs at an average wage of $39,602 and over 60 firms that have more than 200 employees, the manufacturing sector is a key reason why NE Oklahoma is such a vibrant region. Recent passing of a Right To Work (RTW) Law, improving worker’s compensation legislation and increased emphasis in economic development all are poising Oklahoma and in particular NE Oklahoma for an increase in manufacturing in the state.
Oklahoma has identified and qualified a number of sites for mega projects, like auto assembly plants. I told the audience that while I didn’t really care for a mega project in a small town because they suddenly became the “800 pound gorilla” that can be wonderful when times are good, but create havoc when times turned bad. However, if Oklahoma could recruit a big project like an auto plant to Tulsa or Oklahoma City the spin-offs for the smaller towns could be tremendous. I cited the example of Mississippi which recruited in a Nissan plant that has resulted in over 20 smaller parts manufacturers locating in small towns all over the state.
Miller pointed out a number of manufacturing sub-clusters in the region including: Valve & Hose Fitting; Oil Field Equipment; Sporting Goods; Plastic Pipe; Plastic Film; Pumping Equipment; and Power Boiler. Keep your eye on NE OK.
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
From Old Industrial Plants to Multi Million Dollar Housing
Many people might look at a place like Bergen County and think that this is a place that has few worries. Here are some stats for the county compared to the national average: % with High School diploma 86.6% (80.4% in USA); Bachelor degree or greater 38.2% (24.4%); Per capita income $52,867 ($21,587); and Families below poverty level 5.7% (9.2%). But just like the poorest, most remote county in the USA, Bergen County has issues that keep people awake at night.
After my talk Kevin O’Connor, chair of the planning commission for Edgewater, NJ (one of the 70 towns in Bergen County), showed me around his community and talked about how Edgewater has transformed itself. As you could imagine from its name, Edgewater sits on a major waterway, the Hudson River. You can look across the river and see the Empire State Building. The town stretches for about 3 miles along the Hudson, but is only 2 to 3 blocks wide.
Historically Edgewater was a major industrial town with companies like Alcoa, Ford, Celetex and others having major manufacturing plants in the community. Their plants were built along the river affording them an easy and cheap shipping mode. The German, Irish and Polish immigrant workers lived near the plants, walking to work. All of that changed in the 1960s and 1970s when the manufacturers shut down their plants one after another. Edgewater was hit with a body blow and was on the ropes. Its population dwindled to around 3,000 people.
Fortunately, Edgewater’s location near Manhattan has allowed the town to reposition itself from an industrial town into a residential and retailing one. Many communities aren’t so fortunate. But having a view of a river like the Hudson and the skyline of Manhattan are wonderful vistas that command tremendous premiums in the residential marketplace. Multi-million dollar homes, condos and townhouses are situated on virtually all of the old industrial land in the town. Traffic issues today are one of the major concerns as the population has soared to over 8,000, but it has been a nice rebound for an old industrial town.
After my talk Kevin O’Connor, chair of the planning commission for Edgewater, NJ (one of the 70 towns in Bergen County), showed me around his community and talked about how Edgewater has transformed itself. As you could imagine from its name, Edgewater sits on a major waterway, the Hudson River. You can look across the river and see the Empire State Building. The town stretches for about 3 miles along the Hudson, but is only 2 to 3 blocks wide.
Historically Edgewater was a major industrial town with companies like Alcoa, Ford, Celetex and others having major manufacturing plants in the community. Their plants were built along the river affording them an easy and cheap shipping mode. The German, Irish and Polish immigrant workers lived near the plants, walking to work. All of that changed in the 1960s and 1970s when the manufacturers shut down their plants one after another. Edgewater was hit with a body blow and was on the ropes. Its population dwindled to around 3,000 people.
Fortunately, Edgewater’s location near Manhattan has allowed the town to reposition itself from an industrial town into a residential and retailing one. Many communities aren’t so fortunate. But having a view of a river like the Hudson and the skyline of Manhattan are wonderful vistas that command tremendous premiums in the residential marketplace. Multi-million dollar homes, condos and townhouses are situated on virtually all of the old industrial land in the town. Traffic issues today are one of the major concerns as the population has soared to over 8,000, but it has been a nice rebound for an old industrial town.
Monday, May 16, 2005
“Toto: This isn’t Kansas!”
“What can the most populous county in NJ have in common with the many, much smaller counties that I constantly visit,” I thought as I rode in the cab from the Newark airport to Tenafly, NJ. And even though it is called the Garden State, I didn’t see any farm fields in my hour ride. I’m sure that I passed thru at least a dozen towns or more on the ride, but there was no discernable difference from community to community as we sped by the towns.
I’m always a bit apprehensive when I go to larger, more metropolitan areas like this, wondering if my message will resonate. What I’ve always found and found out again this week in Bergen County, is that while the towns might be bigger and closer together the dreams, concerns and problems are much the same all over this great country of ours.
First though let me tell you about Bergen County. This northern most NJ County is right across the Hudson River from Manhattan. The 2003 census showed a population of 884,118, but the county’s rapid growth is quickly pushing it close to 1 million. Put another way, if Bergen County were a state, it would have a population greater than six states (DE, SD, ND, AL, VT and WY). Most surprising to me was that there are 70 municipalities in the 239 square miles of the county. Some are less than 1 square mile in size.
Most of the towns in Bergen County are in the 10,000 to 20,000 population range, not unlike a lot of towns that I visit. In talking with the mayors, council members, planners, chamber execs and others at my talk I found that they have many of the same questions that similarly sized towns have all over the county. Issues that they raised were: traffic concerns, brain drain, housing costs, taxes, schools, etc. If I’d closed my eyes and just listened to the questions I could have been in Kansas.
I’m always a bit apprehensive when I go to larger, more metropolitan areas like this, wondering if my message will resonate. What I’ve always found and found out again this week in Bergen County, is that while the towns might be bigger and closer together the dreams, concerns and problems are much the same all over this great country of ours.
First though let me tell you about Bergen County. This northern most NJ County is right across the Hudson River from Manhattan. The 2003 census showed a population of 884,118, but the county’s rapid growth is quickly pushing it close to 1 million. Put another way, if Bergen County were a state, it would have a population greater than six states (DE, SD, ND, AL, VT and WY). Most surprising to me was that there are 70 municipalities in the 239 square miles of the county. Some are less than 1 square mile in size.
Most of the towns in Bergen County are in the 10,000 to 20,000 population range, not unlike a lot of towns that I visit. In talking with the mayors, council members, planners, chamber execs and others at my talk I found that they have many of the same questions that similarly sized towns have all over the county. Issues that they raised were: traffic concerns, brain drain, housing costs, taxes, schools, etc. If I’d closed my eyes and just listened to the questions I could have been in Kansas.
Sunday, May 15, 2005
Revolutionary Jet Service
“It will revolutionize how we travel in this country,” is how Don Burr characterized his new start-up company, Pogo (www.flypogo.com), on a TV show I watched this morning. He was talking about the new company that he and Robert Crandall, former CEO of American Airlines, are starting with 150 Very Light Jets (VLJs). I wrote about the concept in BoomtownUSA, calling it one of the new technologies that would accelerate the move to the agurbs®.
Their planes will carry four passengers along with the two pilots, flying at around 400 mph. Burr expects to price the service at $6/mile for peak times and ½ of that amount for off-peak. Their ideal client will be flying around 400 to 500 miles. Their scheduling will be done in real-time via the internet, scheduling flights all over the country.
As an example of the advantages of their service, if I was traveling to Bentonville, AR, the distance driving is 435 miles or about 7 hours drive time from my home in Effingham, IL. If I was going to fly commercially it would take about 4 hours from the time I left home. With Pogo, the distance is 350 miles (you fly directly there), taking about 1 hour and costing about $500/person. Granted, the cost is a bit more than the alternatives, but what is your time worth? At around $50/hour, Pogo becomes a very viable alternative way to travel.
Their planes will carry four passengers along with the two pilots, flying at around 400 mph. Burr expects to price the service at $6/mile for peak times and ½ of that amount for off-peak. Their ideal client will be flying around 400 to 500 miles. Their scheduling will be done in real-time via the internet, scheduling flights all over the country.
As an example of the advantages of their service, if I was traveling to Bentonville, AR, the distance driving is 435 miles or about 7 hours drive time from my home in Effingham, IL. If I was going to fly commercially it would take about 4 hours from the time I left home. With Pogo, the distance is 350 miles (you fly directly there), taking about 1 hour and costing about $500/person. Granted, the cost is a bit more than the alternatives, but what is your time worth? At around $50/hour, Pogo becomes a very viable alternative way to travel.
Sculpture Park Draw
This incredible sculpture park appeared in front of me as I was driving on one of the many back roads that I try to take as I am traveling around the country. I love to explore, finding out-of-the-way spots. The diversity and uniqueness of our country is incredible.
I had to stop, even though I was tight on time, and am glad that I did. I found the Franconia Sculpture Park (www.franconia.org) in Shafer, MN to have a wide variety of sculptures from various artists. The Park was founded in 1996 as a place where artists can exhibit their work, work on developing new pieces and meet other artists. There are over 75 sculptures on display on a rotating basis from local, national and international artists. They also host up to 25 visiting artists and provide internships for up to 15 new artists. Several symposiums, workshops and art festivals are held during the summer.
Why don’t other communities try to do something similar? Wouldn’t this be a great tourist draw to add to your arsenal?
I had to stop, even though I was tight on time, and am glad that I did. I found the Franconia Sculpture Park (www.franconia.org) in Shafer, MN to have a wide variety of sculptures from various artists. The Park was founded in 1996 as a place where artists can exhibit their work, work on developing new pieces and meet other artists. There are over 75 sculptures on display on a rotating basis from local, national and international artists. They also host up to 25 visiting artists and provide internships for up to 15 new artists. Several symposiums, workshops and art festivals are held during the summer.
Why don’t other communities try to do something similar? Wouldn’t this be a great tourist draw to add to your arsenal?
Friday, May 13, 2005
Banding Together for Success
When the census shows the biggest town in a region is less than 6,000 economic development can sometimes be daunting, especially in the face of all of the much bigger organizations in the arena. And that is why it is always encouraging to see rural communities banding together, realizing that what is good for one town is good for the others in the long run.
I was at the Northern Technology Initiative’s Annual Meeting, a six county area to the north of the Twin Cities in MN. It is a group that brings together the local EDs, with the educators, area foundations, utility company EDs, and local Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe’s efforts to reach out in the ED area.
One of the more interesting presentations at the conference was an effort to determine local content of area companies with the purpose of increasing local share and determining commonalities of content that could encourage new business development. It is a process that can only be done on a regional basis. If successfully implemented, it has tremendous potential for enterprise and job creation.
After the conference I toured several cities, including Cambridge, Pine City (one of my agurbs®), Mora and Hinckley. Cambridge is developing new industrial parks. Pine City, which sits on the picturesque Cross Lake and Snake River, has a wonderful downtown park and has innovatively converted an old coke factory, creamery and car dealership into condos and town homes on the banks of the river. Mora, a sister city of Mora, Sweden, holds the annual Vasaloppet Cross Country Ski Race (2nd largest in the USA) every year. A local in Hinckley is building the town a paved airport! It was a great tour! I hope to be back soon.
I was at the Northern Technology Initiative’s Annual Meeting, a six county area to the north of the Twin Cities in MN. It is a group that brings together the local EDs, with the educators, area foundations, utility company EDs, and local Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe’s efforts to reach out in the ED area.
One of the more interesting presentations at the conference was an effort to determine local content of area companies with the purpose of increasing local share and determining commonalities of content that could encourage new business development. It is a process that can only be done on a regional basis. If successfully implemented, it has tremendous potential for enterprise and job creation.
After the conference I toured several cities, including Cambridge, Pine City (one of my agurbs®), Mora and Hinckley. Cambridge is developing new industrial parks. Pine City, which sits on the picturesque Cross Lake and Snake River, has a wonderful downtown park and has innovatively converted an old coke factory, creamery and car dealership into condos and town homes on the banks of the river. Mora, a sister city of Mora, Sweden, holds the annual Vasaloppet Cross Country Ski Race (2nd largest in the USA) every year. A local in Hinckley is building the town a paved airport! It was a great tour! I hope to be back soon.
Thursday, May 12, 2005
Transforming Regular Dave into Famous Dave
"He was just Regular Dave until he came here" is how Martin Jennings, described Dave Anderson’s first endeavor at running a BBQ restaurant to me this week. Jennings is Director of Development of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Indians, which gave (now Famous) Dave a shot at their Grand Casino in Hinckley, MN. “He set up a circus tent and put picnic tables up and tested his idea for a BBQ place right here. It eventually led to Famous Dave’s BBQ Restaurants.” Today there are over 100 Dave’s Famous BBQs.
Dave is one of the 3,500 members of the Mille Lacs Band and I was intrigued with a new spirit of entrepreneurism that is bubbling up here. Jennings explained to me of how the Band’s Corporate Commission is reaching out to Band members, “We provide technical assistance; an equity like loan program; and micro, macro and expansion loans. We are reaching down to the high school and grade school level with entrepreneurial training. This summer we are setting up a business camp for the kids.”
He told me of other entrepreneurial successes from the Band. “Bob Dorr is doing government security work and has over 1000 employees. We’ve got 6 to 9 who are building contractors. There is a hair salon, a gallery, coffee shop, etc.”
I stopped by to talk with Carole Higgins who runs the hair salon. She told me, “In 1979 the tribe sent me thru beauty school and I started my business in my home. In the late 80s I moved to Las Vegas to work at Ballys and Circus-Circus, so that I could learn some things when the casino opened here. I’ve had my shop with several employees in the casino here since I opened in 1998.”
Entrepreneurism isn’t overwhelmingly common here yet. There aren’t any second or third generation entrepreneurs who can pass down successful hints on the subject. But with Jennings and the Band pushing and winning examples like Dave Anderson, Bob Dorr, Carole Higgins and others it is a movement that will grow. And, it will transform Hinckley and other communities.
Dave is one of the 3,500 members of the Mille Lacs Band and I was intrigued with a new spirit of entrepreneurism that is bubbling up here. Jennings explained to me of how the Band’s Corporate Commission is reaching out to Band members, “We provide technical assistance; an equity like loan program; and micro, macro and expansion loans. We are reaching down to the high school and grade school level with entrepreneurial training. This summer we are setting up a business camp for the kids.”
He told me of other entrepreneurial successes from the Band. “Bob Dorr is doing government security work and has over 1000 employees. We’ve got 6 to 9 who are building contractors. There is a hair salon, a gallery, coffee shop, etc.”
I stopped by to talk with Carole Higgins who runs the hair salon. She told me, “In 1979 the tribe sent me thru beauty school and I started my business in my home. In the late 80s I moved to Las Vegas to work at Ballys and Circus-Circus, so that I could learn some things when the casino opened here. I’ve had my shop with several employees in the casino here since I opened in 1998.”
Entrepreneurism isn’t overwhelmingly common here yet. There aren’t any second or third generation entrepreneurs who can pass down successful hints on the subject. But with Jennings and the Band pushing and winning examples like Dave Anderson, Bob Dorr, Carole Higgins and others it is a movement that will grow. And, it will transform Hinckley and other communities.
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
Down & Out to be Featured in Southern Living
The roller coaster ride of some small towns makes some guys shy, while others like Elk City, OK pick up the pieces and find new ways to remake their communities. Elk City is a town that is located in western Oklahoma, right along I 40. Marilyn Williams, Head of City License and Permits for Elk City told me, “We are a small city that went from a small farm town, to a town busting at the seams when the oil boom of the late 1970’s hit, to a depressed economy when the boom went bust in the mid 80’s. It took several long years of hard focused work to get Elk City to where it is today. We have been fortunate to have city leaders that have always planned and set goals that focused on what would be best for Elk City."
The city has recently developed an industrial park with access to the interstate and railroad. With Oklahoma’s new Right to Work Law, I think that towns like Elk City are poised for excellent job creation possibilities.
One rather unique “quality of life” feature of Elk City is their preponderance of museums. They opened their first one in 1967 and have grown their museum complex into a tourist attraction right next to their major park. The town features an Old Town Museum; Old Town, Farm & Ranch Museum, National Route 66 Museum, and National Route 66 Transportation Museum. Southern Living Magazine featured the Route 66 Museum in their April, 2005 issue.
The city has recently developed an industrial park with access to the interstate and railroad. With Oklahoma’s new Right to Work Law, I think that towns like Elk City are poised for excellent job creation possibilities.
One rather unique “quality of life” feature of Elk City is their preponderance of museums. They opened their first one in 1967 and have grown their museum complex into a tourist attraction right next to their major park. The town features an Old Town Museum; Old Town, Farm & Ranch Museum, National Route 66 Museum, and National Route 66 Transportation Museum. Southern Living Magazine featured the Route 66 Museum in their April, 2005 issue.
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
Oklahoma Dreaming
“OKLAHOMA DREAMING…may not be the actual name of the Beach Boys song but some younger Californians may be doing just that. The San Diego Transcript reported yesterday that most Californians make less than half of what they need to buy the average California home. The median home price of $488,600 requires an annual income of $113,920 to qualify for the standard mortgage, and the vast majority of Californians make well less than half that figure. So who is buying the costly homes? Repeat buyers using their new found equity to trade up. For young families seeking their first home, it can quickly become a broken dream and many such people are beginning to look elsewhere for affordable housing. For Oklahoma, which has long waited for its youth to return, this is called o-p-p-o-r-t-u-n-i-t-y.” Reprinted from the Ponca City Development Authority Weekly Update May 6, 2005.
I was at NAIOP’s semi-annual meeting last week where the urbanist Joel Kotkin talked about the cost of housing in San Francisco. The medium priced house there is $900,000 and only 10% of their workers can afford to buy a house. It is an unsustainable market condition.
An additional “quality of life” factor is drive times. In Los Angeles the average rush hour commute is at 35 mph and even in San Bernardino it is only 42 mph. Hours stuck in traffic average 58 hours/year in LA and 35 hours/year in San Bernardino.
If you have a list of former residents (high school and college alums), you should be marketing to them if they live in CA. Remind them of how much house they can buy in your community compared to what they could get in selling out in lofty CA.
I was at NAIOP’s semi-annual meeting last week where the urbanist Joel Kotkin talked about the cost of housing in San Francisco. The medium priced house there is $900,000 and only 10% of their workers can afford to buy a house. It is an unsustainable market condition.
An additional “quality of life” factor is drive times. In Los Angeles the average rush hour commute is at 35 mph and even in San Bernardino it is only 42 mph. Hours stuck in traffic average 58 hours/year in LA and 35 hours/year in San Bernardino.
If you have a list of former residents (high school and college alums), you should be marketing to them if they live in CA. Remind them of how much house they can buy in your community compared to what they could get in selling out in lofty CA.
Monday, May 09, 2005
Rural Tax Advantage
Rural areas have a big advantage when compared to urban areas from a property tax standpoint. The 50 State Property Tax Comparison Study from the Illinois Tax Foundation (January, 2005—Data for 2004) shows the difference.
For a $150,000 home the average tax is $2,130 in the urban setting compared to $1,954 in a rural one. In Oklahoma, where I’m spending a lot of time in May, the difference is even greater. In Oklahoma City the tax is $1,721 compared to only $1,080 in Hollis, OK.
For a commercial building ($1 million value with $200,000 of fixtures) the national average is $24,562 in the urban area compared to $19,722 in the rural area. Again Oklahoma is well below the national averages with that $1 million building paying $15,319 in Oklahoma City and only $9,373 in Hollis.
For an industrial building ($1 million building, $500k Machinery, $400k Inventories and $100k Fixtures) the average is $32,722 in the urban areas compared to $26,089 in the rural. Again in Oklahoma, their rates are below the national averages with Oklahoma City at $27,669 and Hollis at $15,469.
For a $150,000 home the average tax is $2,130 in the urban setting compared to $1,954 in a rural one. In Oklahoma, where I’m spending a lot of time in May, the difference is even greater. In Oklahoma City the tax is $1,721 compared to only $1,080 in Hollis, OK.
For a commercial building ($1 million value with $200,000 of fixtures) the national average is $24,562 in the urban area compared to $19,722 in the rural area. Again Oklahoma is well below the national averages with that $1 million building paying $15,319 in Oklahoma City and only $9,373 in Hollis.
For an industrial building ($1 million building, $500k Machinery, $400k Inventories and $100k Fixtures) the average is $32,722 in the urban areas compared to $26,089 in the rural. Again in Oklahoma, their rates are below the national averages with Oklahoma City at $27,669 and Hollis at $15,469.
Sunday, May 08, 2005
Giving Back Again and Again
One of the wonderful attributes of many small town people who I meet is that they don’t forget from where they came. And, they tend to be generous in giving back. I got the following email today from Deb Dragseth of Dickinson State in ND today about such an act.
“Jack,
Jerome Strom, our Alumnus from California who sponsors the Entrepreneurship Conference every year (this was the 5th year) was very, very impressed with "his" conference (he had never been able to come before). The speakers (you and Scott), the audience (a record-breaking 450), the Western Edge Tour, the Manufacturer's Roundtable. All of it.
Anyway, last night, he announced that he is giving $1 million to the U. to help us pursue the Entrepreneurship Initiative. He told Dr. Vickers that the thing that impressed him was the display of Entrepreneurial spirit here at DSU. Isn't that awesome?
Faith, luck, hope, vision? I don't know which . . . or maybe it was all four, but we are well on our way!
Thanks for all that you did. You were certainly a central part of the conference and the energy that was generated here that week.
-Debora”
It made my day!
“Jack,
Jerome Strom, our Alumnus from California who sponsors the Entrepreneurship Conference every year (this was the 5th year) was very, very impressed with "his" conference (he had never been able to come before). The speakers (you and Scott), the audience (a record-breaking 450), the Western Edge Tour, the Manufacturer's Roundtable. All of it.
Anyway, last night, he announced that he is giving $1 million to the U. to help us pursue the Entrepreneurship Initiative. He told Dr. Vickers that the thing that impressed him was the display of Entrepreneurial spirit here at DSU. Isn't that awesome?
Faith, luck, hope, vision? I don't know which . . . or maybe it was all four, but we are well on our way!
Thanks for all that you did. You were certainly a central part of the conference and the energy that was generated here that week.
-Debora”
It made my day!
A Long Drive or Driven to Help Their Small Town?
When a chain store’s bankruptcy causes your only general clothing store to close, what would you do? If you’re like most people, you just drive the 20, 30 or 50 miles to the nearest town to do your shopping. But the people of Powell, WY (population 5,500) aren’t “like most people.” They didn’t like having to drive the 25 miles to the Wal-Mart in Cody or the 94 miles to bigger department stores in Billings.
They decided to do something about the 2001 store closing. They sold 800 shares at $500 a share, low enough to build widespread community support, in the Mercantile which started in 7,500 sf but has grown to 10,000 sf since its August, 2002 opening. First year sales of $500,000 were well ahead of projections and have been growing ever since.
Other communities have taken a similar approach including Ely, NV; Malta, MT; Glendive, MT; and Worland, WY. It a great example of how local people, working together can turn a bad situation into new opportunities for their small town.
They decided to do something about the 2001 store closing. They sold 800 shares at $500 a share, low enough to build widespread community support, in the Mercantile which started in 7,500 sf but has grown to 10,000 sf since its August, 2002 opening. First year sales of $500,000 were well ahead of projections and have been growing ever since.
Other communities have taken a similar approach including Ely, NV; Malta, MT; Glendive, MT; and Worland, WY. It a great example of how local people, working together can turn a bad situation into new opportunities for their small town.
Saturday, May 07, 2005
Denver Back Home to ND
The company name, GriZella (http://www.grizella.com), comes from an alien race once employed by Star Trek’s Captain Picard as a third party mediator. Its market is software for the trucking industry to help match up loads and trucks online.
The company started in Denver in 2001, but when co-founder Mark Draeb brought his partners to his small town of Hebron, ND (population 900) they loved the community and decided to move to the tiny town. All of the founders had been involved in previous high tech start-ups, but were looking for a place with a great quality of life. Draeb said, “I had a great childhood here. I think North Dakota is a great place to live.”
The company was the winner of the 2003 Governor’s Choice for Economic Development Award. They currently have six employees with plans to grow to 20.
It’s another great example of an entrepreneur moving back home and creating economic development in their hometown.
The company started in Denver in 2001, but when co-founder Mark Draeb brought his partners to his small town of Hebron, ND (population 900) they loved the community and decided to move to the tiny town. All of the founders had been involved in previous high tech start-ups, but were looking for a place with a great quality of life. Draeb said, “I had a great childhood here. I think North Dakota is a great place to live.”
The company was the winner of the 2003 Governor’s Choice for Economic Development Award. They currently have six employees with plans to grow to 20.
It’s another great example of an entrepreneur moving back home and creating economic development in their hometown.
Friday, May 06, 2005
Land Rush Town
Perry, OK (population 5,400) is a “land rush” town, having been founded by history’s largest land rush on September 16, 1893. Wanting to escape the harsh winters of Maple Leaf, MN, Carl Frederick Malzahn soon moved to Perry and started the Malzahn Blacksmith and Machine Shop. His sons Gustave and Charles took over the business in 1913 when their father passed away.
Charles son, Ed Malzahn, invented the world famous Ditch Witch, the first compact trenching machine in 1949. Malzahn, now 83, still lives in Perry and has been making the machines there ever since. His granddaughter Tiffany Sewell-Howard, CEO of The Charles Machine Works, is the 5th generation of Malzahns to live and work in Perry.
Today the company employs 1,200 in the town, has helped other entrepreneurs to start related businesses (that cluster thing) and given back greatly to the community. I visited the Heritage Center, which includes a museum to the Ditch Witch and a community theater. Companies like Charles make such a big impact upon small towns like Perry.
Charles son, Ed Malzahn, invented the world famous Ditch Witch, the first compact trenching machine in 1949. Malzahn, now 83, still lives in Perry and has been making the machines there ever since. His granddaughter Tiffany Sewell-Howard, CEO of The Charles Machine Works, is the 5th generation of Malzahns to live and work in Perry.
Today the company employs 1,200 in the town, has helped other entrepreneurs to start related businesses (that cluster thing) and given back greatly to the community. I visited the Heritage Center, which includes a museum to the Ditch Witch and a community theater. Companies like Charles make such a big impact upon small towns like Perry.
Thursday, May 05, 2005
Disneyworld on the Kansas Plains?
Nita Jones excitedly showed me around her hometown. She gushed about the people who had moved to the community and businesses they started. We ate breakfast at the Green Door Restaurant, a legendary main street diner and had lunch at the Rack Shack Barbeque, a brand new one just west of town.
We started at the St. Charles one room schoolhouse, which also serves as the Chamber’s office, visited Bill Kurtis’ Red Buffalo Ranch (if you go be sure to see Prairehenge) and ended with a walking tour of downtown Sedan.
I was amazed by the number of entrepreneurs who had developed businesses in the downtown area. They included Kurtis’ Red Buffalo Gift Shop and Art on the Prairie Gallery. But the shops included several antique stores, a quilt shop, a gift and floral shop, a hunting equipment store, a stained glass store, hardware store, hunting guide service and several others. Kurtis has plans for an Art’s College, hoping to turn Sedan into an artist colony.
One of my favorite stores was the Lost Sugar Mine Confectionary, where I stocked up for the rest of my 400 mile trip that day. In the back of Alyce Youngblood’s store is an animated sugar mine tour that puts Disney’s Small World ride to shame. Alyce is a retired college professor who moved to Sedan from Tyler, TX. She was one of many who I met who moved here from around the country and have started or bought businesses.
The community recently raised $1.3 million to redo the old Bradford Hotel, a 32 room three story hotel that has been closed for 40 years. Beginning in 2006, Sedan will now be able to accommodate overnight bus tours. The 82 buses that visited last year were all day trippers. They hope to expand their bus tours and other visitors with the refurbished Bradford. Nita walked me thru the numbers of each bus, calculating that each busload of visitors spends about $3000, but would triple that amount if they stayed overnight.
Sedan is on a path of greater things. Keep your eye on them.
We started at the St. Charles one room schoolhouse, which also serves as the Chamber’s office, visited Bill Kurtis’ Red Buffalo Ranch (if you go be sure to see Prairehenge) and ended with a walking tour of downtown Sedan.
I was amazed by the number of entrepreneurs who had developed businesses in the downtown area. They included Kurtis’ Red Buffalo Gift Shop and Art on the Prairie Gallery. But the shops included several antique stores, a quilt shop, a gift and floral shop, a hunting equipment store, a stained glass store, hardware store, hunting guide service and several others. Kurtis has plans for an Art’s College, hoping to turn Sedan into an artist colony.
One of my favorite stores was the Lost Sugar Mine Confectionary, where I stocked up for the rest of my 400 mile trip that day. In the back of Alyce Youngblood’s store is an animated sugar mine tour that puts Disney’s Small World ride to shame. Alyce is a retired college professor who moved to Sedan from Tyler, TX. She was one of many who I met who moved here from around the country and have started or bought businesses.
The community recently raised $1.3 million to redo the old Bradford Hotel, a 32 room three story hotel that has been closed for 40 years. Beginning in 2006, Sedan will now be able to accommodate overnight bus tours. The 82 buses that visited last year were all day trippers. They hope to expand their bus tours and other visitors with the refurbished Bradford. Nita walked me thru the numbers of each bus, calculating that each busload of visitors spends about $3000, but would triple that amount if they stayed overnight.
Sedan is on a path of greater things. Keep your eye on them.
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
Bill Kurtis Comes Back Home
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.
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.
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.
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