This was the final session of the Intra-City visit. This Focus Group was facilitated by Alan Jackson who is the President of the Jackson Group. This was a two hour meeting with a lot of information. Sorry it is so long, but all of this information leads to the understanding and wrap-up of what has and was brought forward and discussed about how to get us out of our current economic predicament.
Alan started out the session by saying that our personal connections to this area are important to think about when we frame our discussions on this. Alan was born in Albemarle, but his parents moved here when he was 3 months old. His parents came here to attend Lenoir-Rhyne. His father worked for MDI, before starting his own business, which was AK Jackson and Associates established in 1976. It was located in the Viewmont Professional building.
The Jackson Group is a family run business and it has never been headquartered anywhere outside of this area. Alan spoke about his family's connections to L-R. Alan is a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill. He says he didn't come back here because he wanted to live in Hickory. He came back because there was an easy job to get started with in the family business. He thought it would be a temporary move. He planned on being here for a year and then moving to Hollywood and then that got changed and then he wanted to do something else. It was 3 or 4 years after moving back here that he decided to stay. He decided he was happy here, but his first thought coming out of college was not that he wanted to live in Hickory. Alan has been courted to leave the area for other opportunities, but he said he has no intentions of leaving the area now.
The question that Alan posed is how do we get the people that do go off to college to want to come back? Alan believes he is a poster child for what had been discussed over the three days. He has been touched by every aspect of what has been discussed, whether it be education, business, and/or government.
We all have a lot of personal investment in how this area performs or we wouldn't have attended this conference. The questions posed should help determine our top priorities and what we should focus our energy on. Looking at the business community, they have been a tough group to get engaged on the issues that face this community. What initiatives that we have heard are the easiest ones to grab ahold of and push through? All the initiatives we have talked about are extremely important, but we need to focus on the ones that are tangible that we can do something about.
Alan stated his number one profession is that he does surveys. He is a "Data Guy." He loves looking at research, and surveying data and responses and finding out what people are thinking about things. Alan passed out some remote control devices, which allowed for multiple choice responses on a variety of questions. He stated that this was an excellent way to get people involved without having a few people take over the direction of the discussion process.
Alan showed a clip from the movie Network and 14 people answered the question correctly out of 32 people. The other questions that would be asked would not have right or wrong answers, but they would help get some dialogue started.
Once again Alan stated that all of the discussions we held were incredibly important and they all would be moving forward, he added that this is about priorities. If we have one thing to put all of our energy behind, which one would it be?
The choices for the first question were "What should be the top priority" 1) Education Matters/ Work keys/ Career Readiness Certification 2) The ASU Partnership 3) The Development of new Manufacturing Solutions partnering with NC State's Centennial Campus 4) The marketing, populations growth, relocation strategy 5) Economic Development Corporation Strategies 6) Other ... The answers were pretty evenly split amongst the categories all of the categories except for Education Matters and Other.
Which of the items above would be the most beneficial to the individuals personally? The marketing, populations growth, relocation strategy stood out more than the other categories. Alan opened up the floor for comments. No one else spoke up, so I decided to. I stated that I believed that the in migration would bring more creative individuals into our economy. We have the status quo going on here right now and we would maybe see some fresh ideas. A lot of people I have talked to, who have relocated here, offer a different context from what I have heard from the local citizenry that have been here for a while. Alan asked if I thought I could personally see a benefit from having an influx of new people coming into this area and bringing new ideas, new opportunities, and new customers? John Bates stated that this would have a quicker effect on retail sales and real estate sales.
The ASU partnership and the EDC strategies also received significant votes. Alan stated that some of these could be feeders into the other categories. Kitty Barnes stated that the marketing strategy was the low hanging fruit and that it would be the quickest, easiest thing to do. It is the least expensive route to take and would have a long term impact. It was also stated that if we are going to move towards this strategy, then it is important that we establish a brand identity for the area. Alan stated that he chose marketing and relocation both times (So did I). He stated that the reason is that Marketing and Relocation have the best chance of effecting all the rest. The rest will effect a smaller segment or take longer to have a more dramatic effect.
Barbara Beatty and Terry Bledsoe talked about the County Government's utilization of Facebook. Terry stated that there are a lot of people from outside the area, who have had a connection with Catawba County in the past, and they have a thirst for information about this area. Barbara broached the idea of being able to target the people from the area that have left to go to college (or whatever) and using connections to announce new opportunities and possibilities in the area. This might help bring some of these people back. She talked about how she was originally from here and she didn't think she would end up back here. She stated it was bizarre how she ended up back in Catawba County.
Another thought was that we needed to create the opportunities first, because no one is going to come here, no matter how great we tell them the area is, if those opportunities don't exist. Steve Ivester said he pressed other both times, because we need to look at things from a regional perspective. There are a lot of opportunities here, but they haven't been promoted. If we inventory the opportunities and assets and create brands based on those inventories, and do this across our region ... we have stuff to sell, we just aren't selling it very effectively.
Terry Bledsoe talked about Broadband not being on the list and we are lacking that infrastructure that is crucial to the future. Even grandparents, moving in here, are going to want to be able to be have a connection with their kids and grandkids. There is a level of priority (need) there in relation to some of these other things. Alan stated that it is going to be hard to market and get some of these younger college graduates to come back here if the broadband connection is not as universal as it need to be. Terry answered, "as universal and as high of bandwidth speed as they need." The companies that want to be associated with Apple and Google are not going to be satisfied with 3 and 5 megabits (what is currently offered in our area). If we want to attract these industries here, then we are going to have to offer higher service levels to the home and communities.
Another issue came up about how do we get that 18-45 demographic segment involved in this conversation. What do we need to be doing as a community to market better and bring those individuals back after they finish college. These are the creative workers. How do we get them to the table? How do we get their ideas? how do we get them excited about contributing to this process? If we look around the table and ask who is missing, that is a segment that is missing from this conversation today?
Alan's next question was - What one demographic should we focus on marketing to? 1) Students 2) Young Professionals 3) Married/ with Children (Young families) 4) Established Workforce (Transfers) 5) Retirees 6) Other
Extrapolating the percentages, Young Professionals received 15 votes, Married/ with Children (Young families) received 7 votes, Established Workforce (Transfers) received 5 votes, Retirees received 3 votes, and Students received 1 votes.
Some of the thoughts were that Young professionals bring unlimited potential. They are a starting point for the other groups. They will bring in new businesses and start-ups. They want to be involved and engaged. Alan pontificated, if we are looking for job growth in this area, then (young professionals) are a good pot of potential in utilizing our marketing plan.
Scott Millar stated that he thinks that Young Professionals is the most valuable, but Married couples is the most likely. Mick Berry stated that he was still in the mindset of low hanging fruit. When you look at the barriers of entry on categories 2 and 3 they are huge. You have to have a job. You come looking for a job and well we are trying to do the job piece. We've already got that part we are working hard on. You don't come out and say, "Well, come to Hickory, because we have nice restaurants or broadband wireless. That's just unrealistic. You come here when you are young because you have a job. Someone is going to pay you to do a job, while you are here." He states that the retirees are the low hanging fruit. We already have a ton of infrastructure that they already want. We have fantastic golf courses, two hospitals, state of the art heart hospital and program at Frye, the symphony, and all of these great resources for a relatively small community. That is where you get the most bang for your buck.
Jill Patton said retirees also, because it is very low hanging fruit and we do have all of the things. Retirees have the money and they are going to be here and they are looking for what Hickory has to offer and what makes us unique. They bring a lot of wealth and stability and they do not negatively impact the school systems. John Bates says that it creates a multiplier effect by bringing in medical professional people and sales people that would serve them. Young Professional couples have a big school impact.
Terry Bledsoe said that he voted for young professionals, because if you look at all of the groups, that is the highest maintenance group up there. You can bring them here, but you are going to have to have the opportunities and so forth to keep them here. We will be looking to move them from number 2 to 3 somewhere along the line. They are the most unstable group, because they are looking for opportunity. But, they are probably the group that can bring in the most creativity and innovation into this area. Low hanging fruit is one thing, but what are we targeting here? Are we targeting low hanging fruit or are we targeting building for the future and building a resilient economy?
Alan asked, if we do nothing marketing wise to promote this area to the retiring population, do we feel like the retiring population will still grow regardless? I answered yes, because of the baby boomer bubble. If you also market to that demographic, then you are going to exacerbate that. That is the reason why you see a 23 to 1 ratio of the older than 45 generation versus the 44 and under demographic. We have already successfully marketed to that group.
Alan says this is quite a philosophical discussion looking at what an individual personally wants versus an economic standpoint versus an ease and quickness of what we can do. You will get several different answers from several different people. Jill Patton said it comes back to the fact that we want balance. the comment was made that Asheville has done a great job of marketing to both Young Professionals and Retirees.
What would help attract Young professionals? Jane Everson said we already have local college graduates that we need to develop opportunities for so that they can stay in the area. We don't need to just focus on the young people that have gone away. Steve Ivester talked about how a professor at L-R stated to him that her students were out of here if there weren't internships and opportunities made available to them.
I asked if in a lot of cases 2 and 3 don't go together? Alan made a joke about me taking apart his survey process. He said that technically 2, 3, and 4 could be put together. When you boil it down there are really only 3 groups.
Jane Everson brought up internships and funding for start-ups - Microlending (something we have talked about with the Future Economy Council). Alan interjected that maybe we need to motivate the local business community to maybe step up more and take more aggressive stances towards internships. Jill Patton said that Education matters can be used as a tool to help facilitate this. Alan agrees that this could be a way to socially connect young people to this community.
Nancy Yount said what was also stated by another participant, that there needs to be a much more concerted effort between the business community, L-R, ASU, and the graduates; because in order to keep those students here we are going to have to have jobs. We need to bring the companies in and ask them what kind of students are you looking for and willing to provide internships for?
Alan was asked if local businesses were offering internships to the local institutes of Higher Learning and then he was asked if his business offers internships. He stated that they do have interns, but they have not proactively sought interns from the local colleges. It was stated by some people that the colleges aren't doing a good job with this, because they have offered to take on interns, but they never heard from the colleges. Alan said maybe they don't currently have the networks set up to facilitate this process.
Bebe Leitch talked about the Quality of Life - geographical location, climate, recreation, parks, affordable housing and that we sort of take all that for granted. Alan said that needs to be heard and all of that stuff is important, but we have to have jobs. Young Professionals aren't going to come here, even for quality of life and social/community involvement, if there are no job opportunities. We are in a quandary. We can market all we want, but we have to have jobs.
Alan then asked about what people thought about trying to bring in entrepreneurs? How much opportunity is there for single person enterprises that might be working out of their home? That is how Google and Apple started. These were creative people in a community that supported them with a good business environment that allowed them to explore their ideas. We are in a global economy and a connected economy. You can work from anywhere. What is stopping us from cultivating that kind of an environment. When he hears Young Professionals, he thinks of those already involved in the local workplace and those that might be willing to do some things on their own.
Alan talked about the possibilities of creating incentives and benefits for young entrepreneurs. That might give us a marketing edge. This could help us develop the area with a brand of being innovative. It is risky, but there is a lot of opportunity there. Dan St. Louis talked about hundreds of entrepreneurs with new ideas and the money issue is the number one issue. If we can create incentives and an ability to get money, then they will come to the area.
Kitty Barnes talked about a program in Indianapolis called Brain Gain, where they focused on attracting young professionals. They had a whole package of incentives to try to attract these people. Alan said it that this type of energy would be very newsworthy. Nathan Huret talked about what is going on in Detroit and how they are creating whole industries around industrial revitalization and recycling old buildings to reclaim raw materials.
I brought up the subject of our local philanthropic interests, because of Alan's interjection of the idea of start-ups. Our Philanthropic interests are focusing on survival and I think we need to start thinking about revival. Maybe people think this is an impossible thing to do, because we have adapted down, but we need to start growing again.
Alan asked where do we go from here? Jill Patton said the municipalities need to come together with money and think "Regionalism." Alan reiterated, who needs to take the lead and run with this? Steve Ivester stated that he believes the Western Piedmont Council of Governments is the only agency that scopes across the entire region. Kitty Barnes said she just doesn't see the WPCOG taking on that role as a marketing organization.
What can businesses do to make these things happen? Alan stated get more and more businesses involved in Education Matters. Nathan Huret says that we need Champions that will stand behind these efforts and say, "This would be great for my company."
I added: A mentorship role, sending company representatives into the school and teaching kids why science is important and showing them examples of how their company utilizes science. I'm not just saying science. Whatever that company represents, they need to get into the schools and show the students how it is to their benefit to continue their education. The attainment opportunities that would be created there and the amount of money they can make and everything that is involved in these businesses and how that can enhance their quality of life. Then maybe they wouldn't be so lost and feel like, "Why am I taking this Algebra class?" When I was in school, people asked that.
David Moore said that the schools are putting it out there, but he doesn't have the time to go find out what they need. If they will call, then he will be there. If schools come to him and say they need help with internships, then he will find them a place -- even if he doesn't need them. Steve Ivester talked about the need for tuition reimbursement to enhance lifelong education.
Barbara Beatty talked about the people that are 45 to 65, who may not be well educated. What are we going to do to get these people back to work? We're going to require people to take a test, but some of them, who didn't get through school, may not be able to read and write, but they are good workers. Requiring them to take a test is not going to get them back to work.
What can the Business community do to encourage the ASU partnership? Businesses need to encourage enrollment, tuition reimbursement, special programs, and short courses. Course schedule flexibility is important to working people. Jane Everson stated that she has met and is going to meet with local businesses and discuss opportunities. Faculty don't always have the community knowledge to be able to identify businesses that might be appropriate for internships
Alan stated that success will be judged by filling the seats. Steve Ivester brought up the comments that the Boone Campus doesn't have a technical R&D focus. We have also been told that we (Hickory) needs to tell them (ASU) what we need. Boone does not have a technical demand, but we in Hickory do have that demand. Maybe the Hickory campus can be redirected towards the technical and R&D sorts of things that would support a millennial campus.
Alan stated we have to push the understanding that this is ASU programming, not second tier. He stated, as the business community, we have to be supportive of it. His business does reimburse tuition and encourage education. It is a gamble, because that employee might leave, but most of the time they won't and they will be better employees. His company does this, because it is good for the community.
Kitty Barnes stated that it is a problem that we are stating that we want higher technology, but we aren't ingraining in our high school students their need to take science courses. There are a low number of physics majors in our community. We need to encourage students to want to achieve in the math and science fields. Garrett Hinshaw talked about the STEM program that develops children from Kindergarten through High School and works on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math programs.
What can the business community do to encourage the development of the manufacturing Solutions Center and the possibility of a Millennial campus. What can we do to foster this type of environment in our back yard? I stated that the whole focus of the Centennial Campus is about the Public-Private partnership and the collaboration between government and private business. Private business (there) is looking at the education of those individuals as an investment, just like in materials or equipment. Dan St. Louis said that we need a presence down on that campus or we will end up lost, because of all that is going on down there. John Bates stated that there is a big information-education component that needs to be applied to the business community in this area.
Alan asked Dan (Hypothetically) how what he is doing, and what is happening at the Centennial Campus, would affect the Jackson Group? and have an impact on business in the area. Dan said what he does is all about building connections and creating an incubator. Just by talking, and finding out what businesses do, he can put business interests together working towards a common goal. John Bates talked about how the people at the Centennial Campus stated that this happens all the time at the coffee shop on the Centennial Campus.
Dan talked about a connection he made with MDI, where at first he didn't know why they had come to the Solutions Center. Two hours later they (the Solutions Center) were using them for exporting and they were sending other business to them. He laughed and said if he had known this, he should (would) have called on them ten years ago.
Basically it was summarized that you can sell these processes if you tangibly show people how they can benefit from the services. The key issues are networking, awareness, and visibility. Scott Millar talked about ASU and the Research Institute on Energy and Environment. Maybe we could have some tie-in with that and the Green Initiative that we have and the Millennial Campus. He also talked about the Charlotte Research Institute on the campus of UNC-Charlotte. If you visit there, you will realize how impactful these facilities can be and it is closer than the Centennial Campus.
Garrett Hinshaw stated that businesses need to understand that we still have a large manufacturing capability here. We need to start focusing on some of the research that has been done. We have great facilities and technology, and local industry is going to have to start buying into that and start manufacturing some of these items.
David Moore talked about local businesses looking at what they do and finding out what they can purchase locally to save money and benefit local industries. An example was cited of a local business lady that had visited the manufacturing Solutions Center the day before and found out she could do just that. I stated that I believe part of that might be the path of least resistance. Maybe for her circumstances it was easier to find that firm in Texas. Maybe we need to break down the barriers that are creating that resistance. I believe that is what David is talking about coordinating. That is where the government can come in ... is to create these relationships between businesses.
Part of what Ramo's book talks about is a process called Mash-Up. The Wii is an example where you take the interactivity of a gaming device and utilize the acceleration piece from a car in the controller. You can be Tiger Woods and swing that controller like a golf club and play golf just like you are actually there. There are Fiber opportunities that can be used in the camouflage of military clothing to help soldiers blend into the environment. There are opportunities there. we just need to break down the barriers of compartmentalization and the idea of an entrepreneurial spirit, of the local area, that protecting property and keeping secrets is ultimately important. I understand why this happens, because people are afraid of losing that advantage, like they have sometimes in the past. If we open up a little more, then we might discover some of those mash-up opportunities.
Dan St. Louis believes that one of the reasons the Lady didn't know about the Solutions Center was because people don't think of them (the Solutions Center) as anything other than a Community College with training. People need to open up the process towards "What If?" What can we do? The Solutions Center creates a lot of things, whatever is needed.
Danny Hearn stated what concerns him is that the Solutions Center is already getting ready to move into a building that is too small. Steve Ivester agreed and stated that it is too small of a space for the potential.
Andrea Surratt talked about the City of Hickory's Small Business Job Growth Team and the need to develop an audience between the interested parties and create a dialogue and get some ideas down. Alan stated that there are a lot of groups that are underrepresented here today. We need to get representation from all of the groups here at one time. What the business community needs is a road map - here are the things to do. Here is what we know needs to be done and here is what the business community can do and here is the value. A lot of people need this road map.
What can the business community do to help the EDC? It was stated that people need to join the "Committee of 100." It is about financial support to help facilitate getting things done. Terry Bledsoe stated that it just comes back to connections again. Only the business community knows what their new products are going to be. Scott is looking for business to bring them here. If he knows exactly what local business needs are, then he can pass it on. If he doesn't know what businesses need, the local businesses will end up buying product (or materials) somewhere else. Barbara Beatty stated that we need to make sure that we are supportive of these local entities efforts. This is about Job Creation.
That was the end of the presentation and 3 days of events that focused on Revitalization Efforts in Catawba county and the Hickory metro region.
The Hound enjoyed this three day process. A lot of these ideas have been out there for some time, but this forum allowed people to lay their cards out on the table and it is high time that we started vetting our ideas out in the public arena to weed through them and see which ones can survive the light of day and which ones need to be rethought.
Personally, I don't like the concept of low hanging fruit. I think it is an intellectually lazy concept. If you are going to foster that metaphor, then you better realize that some of the fruit (opportunity) at the top of the tree is just as ripe as the fruit at the bottom of the tree. Are you going to let it rot, because it might be a little more difficult to get to? Have you ever owned a fruit tree?
No, you don't let fruit(opportunities) go to waste. You figure out (a plan) how to get to that fruit. If you spend time whining and naysaying about how it is just too difficult to get to the fruit, then you aren't going to be able to enjoy all that the tree has to offer.
As a matter of fact, I believe we are focusing so much on the ease of cultivation that we are picking stuff off the ground and harvesting unripened fruit. We are so worried about this easily picked fruit that we aren't thoroughly thinking through the process of what we are doing.
Who do you think plays more golf, Seniors or Young Professionals looking to make business deals? Who do you think buys more homes, Retirees or Young Upwardly Mobile Professionals? Who are the Retirees going to sell their house to when they want to downsize? You do know that a big part of the real estate problem Florida is experiencing is related to the huge disproportion of retirees and the glut caused by them not having a market to sell their houses, because there aren't enough young people to take their places. Now you want to move that failed concept here?
As an owner in the Service Industry, who affords you the most profit potential, seniors winding down or younger people looking for new cultural experiences? Why are we trying to change the concept that Madison Avenue has so successfully utilized for years? They realize that Younger People have more disposable income and spend more money. Why are we trying to reinvent the wheel?
Older people do not always equate to having more money. The real world shows that most seniors are living just above Social Security and reliant on government services such as medicare. What do we do if you disproportionally bring these Seniors in here and the government starts closing off that spigot? Mrs. Patton came to the right conclusion when she stated that we need to look towards balance.
The problem is that statistics show, at the current time, we are not headed in that direction. I think that the aging of our local population is what has moved us towards the adapting down - winding it down mindset. It seems that all of our local Philanthropic efforts are focusing on survival and I think we need to start thinking about revival. You have all heard the expression about Teaching a man how to fish and feeding him for a lifetime versus feeding a man a fish and meeting his needs for a day.
These are hard times and many of our locals are treading water and just trying to survive, but I will argue that this is increasing the rapidity of our area's economic implosion. We need to find monies to do Micro-Lending and help broaden the Solution Center's capabilities. These are impactful measures that can foster creativity and get people back to work. These are efforts that can change the economic momentum in this area.
I think that if we are willing to all sacrifice some pride and ego, then we can turn things around. I have witnessed a lot of leadership, in my lifetime, that is unknowingly oppressive and can take the Oxygen right out of a room (of creativity) with their naysaying. At a time when many of us are suffering economically, we cannot afford to worry about the mistakes of the past or someone pointing out that we were wrong. We need to face up to where we have made mistakes, admit where we were wrong, address the relevant issues, and move on towards a hopefully better and brighter tomorrow.
We can do this, but we have to shed those old ways. I know that I don't have as much to lose as others, but I believe you have to be willing to lose everything in order to gain everything. How many people can really fathom that concept? Can you fathom that concept?
All is not Lost - Catawba County Intra-City Visit and Economic Revitalization Conference
Building a Relationship with NC State's Centennial campus
Fixing Hickory - The Appalachian State Partnership
Fixing Hickory - Education Matters and Workforce Development
Fixing Hickory - “What Will Catawba County’s Economic Climate and Demographics Look Like in 2020”?
Fixing Hickory - A Demographics and Marketing Discussion Panel
Fixing Hickory - CVCC’s New Manufacturing Solutions Center
Fixing Hickory - Economic Development Corporation’s Programming Strategies presented Scott Millar
Fixing Hickory - The Future Economy Council presented by Terry Bledsoe, Catawba County Communications Director, Chairman
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Monday, October 26, 2009
Friday, October 23, 2009
Fixing Hickory - The Future Economy Council presented by Terry Bledsoe, Catawba County Communications Director, Chairman
This presentation was made on October 2, 2009.
Danny Hearn started out by talking about the FEC group of 40 people who are not assigned to come up with a plan from government or the Chamber, to submit anything, or create a plan or anything. What we are is a group of people who are meeting, discussing, and learning about weak signals and future trends and how they might effect the way we educate, learn, the way we do economic development, and the way we govern. To see if we could look at ways to help existing efforts in our community.
From there he introduced Terry Bledsoe. Terry talked about the latest issue of Business Week Magazine. The picture can be flipped vertically . One side says "Why the market will keep going up." If you flip it the other way it says, "Why the market is going nowhere."
Terry stated that he believes this article is reflective of the times we are living in now. We play by a lot of rules that we have know forever. A lot of those rules don't apply anymore. A lot do still apply, but we have to look at them in more detail than we ever did before. that is what the Future Economy Council is looking at. What changes do we need to make, so that we can adapt to all the changes. Apparently, we haven't adapted well since the year 2000.
I order to think about change and understand how we need to change some of our processes. You have to understand where we are at and figure out where things are going. We are going to have to look at the world in a different way before we can sense what we are doing. We've been looking at a book called the Age of the Unthinkable - by Joshua Cooper Ramo. Basically the book states that there are a lot of things we have been looking at for years, and probably correctly, but not in enough detail in understanding all of the complexity of it. Especially with all of the technological advances we see coming forth.
Terry quoted some issues that have come up at the conference. he pointed at a statement made by Kitty Barnes. She said that (in Southeast Catawba County), She didn't know what these people were doing, but their showing up with buckets of mail. Houston Harris stated that he has served on a lot of committees lately and they're all trying to fight the same fight. Andy Wells - We're not growing. We're not letting the world know we exist. JD Ross - We have a horrible Brain Drain. When someone finishes school, their looking for a high paying job. Good area to raise a family. the schools are some of the best. Houston Harris - We're gearing around the things we did 20 years ago. Andy Wells - Fractured marketing. We have different web sites. We want educated people with money. Houston Harris - We want start-ups, better bandwidth, better infrastructure. Incubator and incentives for start-ups. Mooresville is progressive and alive.
When we went to the Manufacturing Solutions Center, the question was asked, "How do you get small manufacturers to move to a higher level?" That is what the FEC is looking at. How do we get the region to move to a higher level?
Dan St. Louis talked about sharing; sharing equipment between agencies and sharing workload. He talked about partnership, connections, cooperation, and opportunities.
We have talked about all of this in the Future Economy Council. It is all recorded on Project3P.com ... This is what we are trying to do. we are trying to build leaders that can actually look out here at the things that are going on and actually pick up on trends and signals and bring those opportunities to Catawba County.
We have all been through leadership training, so what is different? The World is different, is what is different. We have to look at it differently. The group is very diverse and very talented, but we don't know what is going to come out of it, but we are very hopeful of some of the ideas.
We are working with Rick Smyre of the Community's of the Future. People all over the world have utilized Rick's services, but the Catawba County group is one of the first in the world that is looking at what our economy needs to look like in the future and how do we get there. How do we create Economic Resiliency so that economic downturns don't hit us as hard as this one has.
One of the key pieces in this process is the development of Master Capacity Builders. This goes to creating leaders who are able to develop new ways of thinking about the future, identify trends and weak signals, be able to ask appropriate questions, ways to add value, and innovative global systematic connective networking. The FEC is looking to tie all of these things together.
Some of the trends and weak signals we have discussed are: 1) Children are authorities on central innovation, such as the new digital media. An example would be Web 2.0 portals like facebook, myspace, and twitter. How we communicate with people has changed dramatically. 2) Universal connectivity - everyone has the ability to access the internet, but here in Catawba County (Southwest) we still have people who can't get Broadband to their home. 3) Jobs that do not require proximity. There are people that don't work at the office or business; they work out of their home. How do we provide these people the services they need to help facilitate these opportunities? Many of these people draw high salaries. 4) Ubiquitous, unprecedented access to information. What was it like when we couldn't get answers in 5 minutes or less? Can you manage your staff in 140 characters or less? Twitter. 5) What is Apple really up to? Apple's data Center's size is unprecedented throughout the world. How do we take advantage of that?
We have looked at a lot of data and here are some of the discussions we have had: 1) We have looked at Taylor Dellinger's (WPCOG) information and Wilmington, North carolina hasn't suffered the same job losses we have. What did they do to keep from suffering the job losses we have seen. maybe we should look at their economy so that we can compare the two. 2) There have been some very successful creative small businesses that have been developed right here in Catawba County. Restoration hardware is made here, but there isn't anywhere to buy it here, but they utilize skilled labor from right here. We have an Computer Generated Graphic Artist (Michael McNeely) that lives here in Catawba County. He worked on the film, Pirates of the Caribbean. He is a member of the FEC. 3) Software from a company in Newton was used to convict Phil Spector, at his Murder trial, by creating a graphic simulation of the murder scene.
We have a lot of creative industries here that we need to build off of. We need to build off of these opportunities to create more opportunities.
What did Apple like about Catawba County? They like our manufacturing attitude, the culture of Hard Working, and the Quality of Life. We need to use these strengths and make sure that we market off of these strengths.
We have also had a discussion about diversity. In 1999, this area was noted for it's diversity (in the New York Times). We were held up as a model for the new economy. What happened? We ran out of product. We were at full employment, so new industries chose not to come here, because we didn't have people to stock their employment needs. So we couldn't further diversify.
We have also talked about parallel processes. We want Scott Millar out there doing everything he can to bring industries to our area, but we also need to be looking at things that will be coming into the market 20 or 30 years from now -- or processes that might be changing. A lot of what we have done in Catawba County has been the traditional heat, beat, and treat. That is the traditional manufacturing process.
Are we looking at things like Nanotechnology? This is really taking off with radio frequency detectors that can detect body processes for security -- such as in Airports. We need to start looking at manufacturing using natural principles. Mother Nature (Biology) may have a solution that helps destroy germs less dangerously.
How do we provide creative people the tools that they need to enable them to stay in this area and still have customers all over the world. Opening doors of Opportunity can allow one to find new avenues of creativity and it will continue to feed off of itself. An example is the Manufacturing Solutions Center. Their basis was developed for hosiery and they have used a lot of the same tools, information, and processes to start testing other materials with the same equipment.
Rick Smyre's Communities of the Future has brought forth the idea of the Creative Molecular Economy. We have moved through several economic ages. we have been through the Industrial age, the information age, and now we are in the age of Creativity. What if Albert Einstein had been able to communicate with his colleagues all over the World via the internet? What would have happened. The possibilities are limitless.
We need to look at the talents and creative resources we have here and look to see what we are doing to support and encourage those. You might say it is only a few jobs, but how many businesses indigenous to this area started out in a garage or basement that grew to become major businesses in this area.
We have looked at educational attainment. We are ranked last. We have great school systems, so what is happening? We are losing our best and brightest. They are walking right out of the county. Think of the kids in your church, in your social group, your friends, and so forth. Once they have graduated from college, are they living here in Catawba County now? Looking around the room the answer was pretty much no and this is the same as what we have seen at FEC meetings or in other places where this question was asked. How do we create opportunities for these people?
We looked at the 18-44 age demographic and the state is saying that we (Catawba County) will grow by over 15,000 people. Terry stated that he didn't know where the state is getting that, when we have only grown by 45 people in that demographic since the year 2000. It is obvious that we are losing the people in that group. If we lose this educated creative group, then that is a problem.
It has been brought up at FEC meetings before, that there is a huge disparity between the people in the room and the average worker in Catawba County. Terry asked how many people in this room (there were about 32 people) were from Catawba County? There were only 4 of us from Catawba County. Most of the education and incomes are better than the average worker in Catawba County. We have a responsibility to go out there and find solutions to now and the future. We need to build in economic resiliency by becoming leaders who can look towards the future and identify opportunities and little pieces that fit into the world and that we can use in Catawba County. This will make us stronger and that is what the Future Economy Council is all about.
The Hound hopes that Terry's summary of what the FEC is all about will help you understand its mission better. We are a solutions oriented group. Please visit Project3P.com to see everything that has been discussed by the FEC going back to its inception. Also here is a link to Terry's Catawba County Technology Blog - Catawba County CIO Blog.
All is not Lost - Catawba County Intra-City Visit and Economic Revitalization Conference
Building a Relationship with NC State's Centennial campus
Fixing Hickory - The Appalachian State Partnership
Fixing Hickory - Education Matters and Workforce Development
Fixing Hickory - “What Will Catawba County’s Economic Climate and Demographics Look Like in 2020”?
Fixing Hickory - A Demographics and Marketing Discussion Panel
Fixing Hickory - CVCC’s New Manufacturing Solutions Center
Fixing Hickory - Economic Development Corporation’s Programming Strategies presented Scott Millar
Danny Hearn started out by talking about the FEC group of 40 people who are not assigned to come up with a plan from government or the Chamber, to submit anything, or create a plan or anything. What we are is a group of people who are meeting, discussing, and learning about weak signals and future trends and how they might effect the way we educate, learn, the way we do economic development, and the way we govern. To see if we could look at ways to help existing efforts in our community.
From there he introduced Terry Bledsoe. Terry talked about the latest issue of Business Week Magazine. The picture can be flipped vertically . One side says "Why the market will keep going up." If you flip it the other way it says, "Why the market is going nowhere."
Terry stated that he believes this article is reflective of the times we are living in now. We play by a lot of rules that we have know forever. A lot of those rules don't apply anymore. A lot do still apply, but we have to look at them in more detail than we ever did before. that is what the Future Economy Council is looking at. What changes do we need to make, so that we can adapt to all the changes. Apparently, we haven't adapted well since the year 2000.
I order to think about change and understand how we need to change some of our processes. You have to understand where we are at and figure out where things are going. We are going to have to look at the world in a different way before we can sense what we are doing. We've been looking at a book called the Age of the Unthinkable - by Joshua Cooper Ramo. Basically the book states that there are a lot of things we have been looking at for years, and probably correctly, but not in enough detail in understanding all of the complexity of it. Especially with all of the technological advances we see coming forth.
Terry quoted some issues that have come up at the conference. he pointed at a statement made by Kitty Barnes. She said that (in Southeast Catawba County), She didn't know what these people were doing, but their showing up with buckets of mail. Houston Harris stated that he has served on a lot of committees lately and they're all trying to fight the same fight. Andy Wells - We're not growing. We're not letting the world know we exist. JD Ross - We have a horrible Brain Drain. When someone finishes school, their looking for a high paying job. Good area to raise a family. the schools are some of the best. Houston Harris - We're gearing around the things we did 20 years ago. Andy Wells - Fractured marketing. We have different web sites. We want educated people with money. Houston Harris - We want start-ups, better bandwidth, better infrastructure. Incubator and incentives for start-ups. Mooresville is progressive and alive.
When we went to the Manufacturing Solutions Center, the question was asked, "How do you get small manufacturers to move to a higher level?" That is what the FEC is looking at. How do we get the region to move to a higher level?
Dan St. Louis talked about sharing; sharing equipment between agencies and sharing workload. He talked about partnership, connections, cooperation, and opportunities.
We have talked about all of this in the Future Economy Council. It is all recorded on Project3P.com ... This is what we are trying to do. we are trying to build leaders that can actually look out here at the things that are going on and actually pick up on trends and signals and bring those opportunities to Catawba County.
We have all been through leadership training, so what is different? The World is different, is what is different. We have to look at it differently. The group is very diverse and very talented, but we don't know what is going to come out of it, but we are very hopeful of some of the ideas.
We are working with Rick Smyre of the Community's of the Future. People all over the world have utilized Rick's services, but the Catawba County group is one of the first in the world that is looking at what our economy needs to look like in the future and how do we get there. How do we create Economic Resiliency so that economic downturns don't hit us as hard as this one has.
One of the key pieces in this process is the development of Master Capacity Builders. This goes to creating leaders who are able to develop new ways of thinking about the future, identify trends and weak signals, be able to ask appropriate questions, ways to add value, and innovative global systematic connective networking. The FEC is looking to tie all of these things together.
Some of the trends and weak signals we have discussed are: 1) Children are authorities on central innovation, such as the new digital media. An example would be Web 2.0 portals like facebook, myspace, and twitter. How we communicate with people has changed dramatically. 2) Universal connectivity - everyone has the ability to access the internet, but here in Catawba County (Southwest) we still have people who can't get Broadband to their home. 3) Jobs that do not require proximity. There are people that don't work at the office or business; they work out of their home. How do we provide these people the services they need to help facilitate these opportunities? Many of these people draw high salaries. 4) Ubiquitous, unprecedented access to information. What was it like when we couldn't get answers in 5 minutes or less? Can you manage your staff in 140 characters or less? Twitter. 5) What is Apple really up to? Apple's data Center's size is unprecedented throughout the world. How do we take advantage of that?
We have looked at a lot of data and here are some of the discussions we have had: 1) We have looked at Taylor Dellinger's (WPCOG) information and Wilmington, North carolina hasn't suffered the same job losses we have. What did they do to keep from suffering the job losses we have seen. maybe we should look at their economy so that we can compare the two. 2) There have been some very successful creative small businesses that have been developed right here in Catawba County. Restoration hardware is made here, but there isn't anywhere to buy it here, but they utilize skilled labor from right here. We have an Computer Generated Graphic Artist (Michael McNeely) that lives here in Catawba County. He worked on the film, Pirates of the Caribbean. He is a member of the FEC. 3) Software from a company in Newton was used to convict Phil Spector, at his Murder trial, by creating a graphic simulation of the murder scene.
We have a lot of creative industries here that we need to build off of. We need to build off of these opportunities to create more opportunities.
What did Apple like about Catawba County? They like our manufacturing attitude, the culture of Hard Working, and the Quality of Life. We need to use these strengths and make sure that we market off of these strengths.
We have also had a discussion about diversity. In 1999, this area was noted for it's diversity (in the New York Times). We were held up as a model for the new economy. What happened? We ran out of product. We were at full employment, so new industries chose not to come here, because we didn't have people to stock their employment needs. So we couldn't further diversify.
We have also talked about parallel processes. We want Scott Millar out there doing everything he can to bring industries to our area, but we also need to be looking at things that will be coming into the market 20 or 30 years from now -- or processes that might be changing. A lot of what we have done in Catawba County has been the traditional heat, beat, and treat. That is the traditional manufacturing process.
Are we looking at things like Nanotechnology? This is really taking off with radio frequency detectors that can detect body processes for security -- such as in Airports. We need to start looking at manufacturing using natural principles. Mother Nature (Biology) may have a solution that helps destroy germs less dangerously.
How do we provide creative people the tools that they need to enable them to stay in this area and still have customers all over the world. Opening doors of Opportunity can allow one to find new avenues of creativity and it will continue to feed off of itself. An example is the Manufacturing Solutions Center. Their basis was developed for hosiery and they have used a lot of the same tools, information, and processes to start testing other materials with the same equipment.
Rick Smyre's Communities of the Future has brought forth the idea of the Creative Molecular Economy. We have moved through several economic ages. we have been through the Industrial age, the information age, and now we are in the age of Creativity. What if Albert Einstein had been able to communicate with his colleagues all over the World via the internet? What would have happened. The possibilities are limitless.
We need to look at the talents and creative resources we have here and look to see what we are doing to support and encourage those. You might say it is only a few jobs, but how many businesses indigenous to this area started out in a garage or basement that grew to become major businesses in this area.
We have looked at educational attainment. We are ranked last. We have great school systems, so what is happening? We are losing our best and brightest. They are walking right out of the county. Think of the kids in your church, in your social group, your friends, and so forth. Once they have graduated from college, are they living here in Catawba County now? Looking around the room the answer was pretty much no and this is the same as what we have seen at FEC meetings or in other places where this question was asked. How do we create opportunities for these people?
We looked at the 18-44 age demographic and the state is saying that we (Catawba County) will grow by over 15,000 people. Terry stated that he didn't know where the state is getting that, when we have only grown by 45 people in that demographic since the year 2000. It is obvious that we are losing the people in that group. If we lose this educated creative group, then that is a problem.
It has been brought up at FEC meetings before, that there is a huge disparity between the people in the room and the average worker in Catawba County. Terry asked how many people in this room (there were about 32 people) were from Catawba County? There were only 4 of us from Catawba County. Most of the education and incomes are better than the average worker in Catawba County. We have a responsibility to go out there and find solutions to now and the future. We need to build in economic resiliency by becoming leaders who can look towards the future and identify opportunities and little pieces that fit into the world and that we can use in Catawba County. This will make us stronger and that is what the Future Economy Council is all about.
The Hound hopes that Terry's summary of what the FEC is all about will help you understand its mission better. We are a solutions oriented group. Please visit Project3P.com to see everything that has been discussed by the FEC going back to its inception. Also here is a link to Terry's Catawba County Technology Blog - Catawba County CIO Blog.
All is not Lost - Catawba County Intra-City Visit and Economic Revitalization Conference
Building a Relationship with NC State's Centennial campus
Fixing Hickory - The Appalachian State Partnership
Fixing Hickory - Education Matters and Workforce Development
Fixing Hickory - “What Will Catawba County’s Economic Climate and Demographics Look Like in 2020”?
Fixing Hickory - A Demographics and Marketing Discussion Panel
Fixing Hickory - CVCC’s New Manufacturing Solutions Center
Fixing Hickory - Economic Development Corporation’s Programming Strategies presented Scott Millar
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Newsletter about the City Council meeting of October 20, 2009
This newsletter is about the Hickory City Council meeting that I attended this past week. City council meetings are held on the first and third Tuesdays of each Month in the Council Chambers of the Julian Whitener building.
At the bottom right of this page under main information links is a Hickory's Local Government link. If you click on that link, it takes you to our city’s website, at the bottom of the page you will see the future dates for meetings scheduled for this year.
At the top of the page, if you click on the “Documents” link, you will find historic Agenda and Minutes links. Agendas show what is on the docket for the meeting of that date. The Minutes is an actual summary of the proceedings of the meeting of that date.
Here is a summary of the agenda of the 10/21/2009 meeting. There were a couple of important items that were discussed at this meeting and the details are listed further below.
Invocation by Alderman Danny Seaver
Special Presentations:
A. Presentation by Tracy Nester, Vice President of the Hickory Downtown Development
Association Regarding the Success of the 2009 Oktoberfest - Tracy stated that she was very concerned about Octoberfest this year because, the sponsorship money was down $16,000. It was a challenge to obtain these funds, because of the Hard Hit Economy. She stated that they knew this early in the game, so they factored this into the spending on entertainment and marketing. Bottom Line, she believes that the HDDA will profit about the same as they did the year before. They made some changes in security, because of issues with some fights with teenagers. There were confrontations at the intersection of Main ave and 2nd St. What they did was create a totally teen area and pull them away from the synergy of the festival. Moved them down around the banks, where they could be monitored more. The police worked more in zones and all of this went very, very well.
The Hound says thank you to the HDDA for this presentation. Through the challenges we are all facing, you did a great job with more limited resources. You should be commended. It sounds like you are learning from the challenges you are facing and dealing with them in a positive and realistic manner.
B. Presentation by Kelly Gaines, Executive Director of the NC Tennis Association, to award the City of Hickory for its participation in the first “Best Tennis Town USA” contest and receiving an Honorable Mentions Award. Mrs. Gaines introduced Rex Maynard who is the President of the USTA's southern section who made some comments. He stated that the southern section, with 180,000 members, is by far the largest section of the USTA. Mayor Wright came to the podium to receive the award. He stated that no city funds were used for this. Local business donated the money ($2,000) and Hickory won $2,000 worth of equipment. The Mayor also recognized Kathy Kim who he stated has done more for tennis in Hickory than anyone, in any sport, anywhere else.
C. Presentation of the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2009. Brian Starnes, from Martin Starnes and Associates, came to the podium for the presentation. He stated that they audit 33 counties across the state and around 70 municipalities. Mr. Starnes said that the auditors gave an Unqualified Opinion (clean opinion) of the books. There was one significant deficiency, in collections, which was a weakness in control, which he stated was taken care of quickly. He complemented the finance department saying that they found no errors in the report. The "scoreboard" shows a Total Fund Balance of $16.8 million, Total Reserves of $3.1 million, and an Unreserved Fund Balance of $13.7 million. This is down from last years Unreserved Fund Balance of $14.9 million. Mr. Starnes states that this is expected in the present economic circumstances. Fund balance percentage (Unreserved Balance/Total Budget) is 34% this year and last year it was 38%. This shows that the city has a 4 month supply of money on hand. The Mayor stated that the $2.5 million for Clement Boulevard came out of this number and effected the fund balance.
Mr. Starnes pointed at a few Barometers. Going into 2010, the debt service is $3.589 million. Operations last year show that we had $7.4 million in net cash (to the positive). The Mayor stated that some of these numbers looked favorable in the past, because they have attempted to avoid a big surprise when the new sewer line comes online. The solid waste fund (Garbage Collecction) shows it is costing more than the city is collecting ($900,000 cost versus $800,000 in Fund balance). This Fund will need attention in rate setting. There is no money in recycling now. It costs as much to collect, as what you are earning from it. It will need some attention. The Mayor stated that the big factor in that is the recycling.
The Airport has positive cash flow now. The Mayor states that doesn't include the money earned from property taxes on the aircraft.
Deanna Rios, Hickory’s finance director, next came to the podium. This report is based on activities "government wide." Governmental activities include transportation, public safety, and recreation which rely mostly on taxes. Business activities include water, sewer, and sanitation which rely on fees and charges. Net assets were reported were $191.9 million, which is up $1.7 million over the last year. Fund Balance was over $10.5 million. Revenues for Governmental activities for 2009 were $52 million (the majority of which were Property Taxes) and Business Activity Revenue is $26 million (86% of which is from services). Is the city as a whole better off than last year? Ms. Rios stated that we are holding steady in light of this economy about in the same position as last year. The Mayor asked about Unfunded liabilities. Ms. Rios stated that we have had to change the accounting on health benefits and that amount is around $14 million.
The Hound thinks the city should be commended for its care with city finances. Ms. Rios did not paint a fancy-free picture. She stated what the numbers show that we are holding steady. And this is happening in an economic hurricane. I would love to see what this city could do if we ever turn our economic fortunes around. If we apply these same principles while revenues are growing by 5% or 10%, then we could have a truly wonderful increase in the quality of our lives.
Consent Agenda:
A. Certificate of Sufficiency and Preliminary Resolution Relative to Street Improvements Along a Portion of 12th Street, SW – No. 01-09 (Authorize Public Hearing for November 17, 2009)
B. Proclamation Declaring the Week of October 19 – 25, 2009 as “National Friends of the Library Week” in the City of Hickory
C. Approve Lease Agreement With Jeff Kincaid Insurance for City-Owned Property Located at 16 1st Avenue, NE - Jeff Kincaid Insurance has leased this property from the City for the past thirteen years and wishes to extend their lease, which has expired, for an additional three years at the rate of $1,200 per month which is close to or at market rate. The lessee will be responsible for the maintenance and repairs along with all utilities. Additionally, they will have access to the dumpster adjacent to Hickory City Hall and access to ten parking spaces on the vacant lot adjacent to the leased premises. Expiration of this lease will be three years from the date of Council’s approval.
D. Approval of Citizens’ Advisory Committee Recommendations for Assistance Through the City of Hickory’s Housing Programs - The following applicants are being recommended for approval for assistance under the City of Hickory’s First-Time Homebuyers Assistance Loan Program:
Mee Thao & Yong Vang Chang 1669 Treadwell Lane, SE - Approved for up to $6,500 (Blue Sky Court)
Jennifer Gwaltney 1330 5th Street, NE #65 - Approved for up to $6,500
John Patterson 1246 11th Street, NW - Approved for up to $10,000
Funds are budgeted for the above through the City’s former Rental Rehabilitation Program income received in FY 2008 and/or program income received through the City’s Community Development Block Grant Program.
`
Zelda Covington of 907 3rd Street Court, SW is being recommended for approval for assistance under the City’s 2009 Urgent Repair Program in an amount no to exceed $5,000. This program provides qualified low income citizens with assistance for emergency related repairs not to exceed $5,000. Funds are budgeted through the City’s Community Development Department funding received in FY 2009-10.
E. Approve Vacant Building Revitalization Grant to JeJe, LLC for Property Located at 1025 Tate Boulevard, SE in the Amount of $25,000 - The Vacant Building Revitalization Grant Program was established by City Council in September, 2008 whereby the program provides matching funds up to $25,000 for projects seeking to renovate and rehabilitate vacant buildings and the demolition of substandard buildings. To date the program has awarded a total of $82,430 in grant funds. JeJe, LLC has applied for such a grant in the amount of $25,000 to assist in the renovation of the interior and exterior of the building to include improvements to the parking area, painting, lighting, graffiti removal and a new accessible building entrance. The building will be occupied by a sprinkler contractor. The Redevelopment Committee reviewed the application and recommends approval.
F. Approve Vacant Building Revitalization Grant to Black Investments, LLC for Property Located at 733 1st Avenue, NW in the Amount of $25,000 - The Vacant Building Revitalization Grant Program was established by City Council in September, 2008 whereby the program provides matching funds up to $25,000 for projects seeking to renovate and rehabilitate vacant buildings and the demolition of substandard buildings. To date the program has awarded a total of $82,430 in grant funds. Black Investments, LLC has applied for such a grant in the amount of $25,000 to assist in the renovation of the exterior of the building, to include painting, lighting, graffiti removal and a new accessible building entrance. The building will be used by the adjacent business, Aiken-Black Tire Service. The Redevelopment Committee reviewed the application and recommends approval.
G. Accept Year Three Traffic Unit Grant From the Governor’s Highway Safety Program - The Governor’s Highway Safety Program has approved the Traffic Unit Grant to the City of Hickory to continue to fund four full time officers, training and equipment at a cost of $202,260. The City will be responsible for 50% or $101,130 of the cost. In 2008, the Hickory Police Department responded to 4,135 traffic crashes within the city which is a reduction of 6% from 2007. The Hickory Police Department feels that by continuing education and aggressive enforcement for year three of this grant, the number of traffic crashes will continue to reduce.
H. Approve Municipal Agreement With the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) for Bridge Inspections on the City’s Street System in the Amount of $4,800 - The Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1978 requires inspection of all bridges on at least a 2 year cycle. The NCDOT is to employ a qualified engineering firm to perform the inspection and analysis of the structures and to prepare the necessary Structural Inventory and Appraisal forms for submission to the Federal Highway Administration. There are eight structures that require inspection at a cost of $3,000 each or a total of $24,000. The Federal Highway Administration will participate with the cost up to 80% and the City’s share is 20% at an estimated cost of $4,800.
I. Approve Traffic-Review and Inspection Agreement With the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) for Upgrade and Construction of Traffic Signals Regarding the Clement Boulevard NW Connector Project in the Amount of $15,000 - This agreement enables NCDOT design review and construction inspections of the traffic signals on the Clement Boulevard NW Connector Project and is required by NCDOT. The NCDOT will only bill for actual time charged to this project.
Budget Ordinance Amendments -
1. To appropriate $267 of General Miscellaneous Revenue and budget in the Fire Department departmental supply line item. The Fire Department received funds from the sale of scrap metal to Mountain Recycling.
2. To appropriate and budget a $1,987 miscellaneous insurance claim check received from Trident Insurance Company in the Rural Fire Department maintenance and repair of equipment line item. This claim check is for lightning damage sustained to equipment (phone system, radio system, emergency generator) at Station 5 that occurred on 08-05-09.
3. To appropriate and budget a $807 miscellaneous insurance claim check received from Trident Insurance Company in the Police Department maintenance and repair of vehicles line item. This claim check is for damage sustained to a police vehicle on 09-17-09.
4. To appropriate $510 of Local Government Revenue and budget in the Police Department Overtime line item. This revenue is payment from Catawba County Mental Health for a portion of an Officers time spent when accompanying involuntary commitment patients.
5. To transfer a total of $15,000 (Economic and Community Development-$5,000) and (Public Safety - $10,000) to the Information Technology Maintenance and Repair of Equipment line item. This transfer represents several departments share of contributions to pay for the GIS/ESRI contract unlimited seat license (USL). ESRI (Environmental Systems Research Institute) is the leader in commercial GIS (Geographic Information Systems) software. GIS is a software application that specializes in land-use analysis. It combines points, lines and polygons to overlay these unique points in space onto a map. This geographic information is combined with other data to produce a highly useful visual representation (flow of water, density of buildings, size/location of pipes, demographic info, etc.). As the demand for GIS has grown, we have begungenerating more data and discovering more uses. This contract for an ELA (Enterprise License Agreement) will allow the City of Hickory to have unlimited use of all ESRI GIS software. Today we pay on a per-user basis which restricts our ability to effectively roll out these services.
6. To appropriate $25,000 of General Fund Balance and budget in the Planning Department's Vacant Building Revitalization Grant line item. This appropriation provides matching funds to assist JeJe, LLC in the renovation of a building located at 1025 Tate Blvd. SE. Plans are to renovate this facility for use by a sprinkler contractor. JeJe, LLC plans to invest approximately $75,000 on improvements to the parking, vehicle access areas surrounding the building, painting, exterior light improvements, graffiti removal, and a new accessible building entrance.
7. To appropriate $25,000 of General Fund Balance and budget in the Planning Department's Vacant Building Revitalization Grant line item. This appropriation provides matching funds to assist Black Investments, LLC in the renovation of a building located at 733 1st. Ave. NW. Plans are to renovate this facility for use by the adjacent tire and auto service center. Plans are to invest approximately $50,000 on renovation to the exterior of the building, painting, exterior light improvements, graffiti removal and a new accessible building entrance.
8. To transfer $1,563 of General Fund Contingency to the Carolina Thread Trail line item to pay the City of Hickory's portion of a $60,000 grant from CTT. This grant is for the development of the master greenway plan for Catawba County. Hickory is one of nine jurisdictions participating in the cost share grant. The Carolina Thread Trail is an initiative to create a network of greenways, trails and blueways in a 15 county region that holds 2.3 million people in North and South Carolina.
Grant Project Ordinance Amendment No. 3
1. To budget $3,846 of Federal Revenue in the Economic and Community Development 2009 Housing Rehab/Purchase Program line item. This amendment is necessary to budget additional revenue received from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development for the Community Development Block Grant program.
Informational Items:
A. Report of City Manager Berry’s NC Department of Transportation Meeting With Jim Trogdon in Raleigh, NC on September 28, 2009; mileage - $220.20
B. Report of City Manager Berry’s Attendance of the 2009 Intra-City Visit in Raleigh and Hickory, NC From September 30 – October 2, 2009; registration - $120; mileage - $193.60
C. Report of Mayor Wright’s Attendance of the 2009 Intra-City Visit in Hickory, NC From October 1 – 2, 2009; registration $60
D. Report of Alderwoman Patton’s Attendance of the 2009 Intra-City Visit in Hickory, NC From October 1 -2, 2009; registration $60
New Business - Public Hearings:
1. Voluntary Contiguous Annexation of the Property of Kirk and Debra Hobart Located at 976 30th Avenue Drive, NW - A petition was submitted by Kirk and Debra Hobart for voluntary contiguous annexation for property located at 976 30th Avenue Drive, NW, which is part of the W.B. Shuford Lake Property subdivision. The property owners are requesting annexation for connection to municipal sewer service. The property is located in the City’s extra-territorial jurisdictional area and zoned R-2 Residential. The current tax value is $175,000 and if annexed, would generate $879 in additional tax revenues. Cal Overby made the presentation and showed a power point presentation. Council Unanimously consented to the annexation.
2. Resolution and Order for Petition of Catawba County (Consented to by Catawba Valley Medical Center) to Close a Portion of Old School Drive - On August 26, 2009, Commercial First Real Estate (Lutheran Home – Hickory West) presented a petition on behalf of Catawba County, the owner of property abutting Old School Drive, requesting the City to abandon a portion of this right of way. This portion of the right-of-way is no longer necessary for public use and appears the closing is not contrary to public interest. Staff recommends that the City retain a 25’ easement for any existing water and sewer lines. Chuck Hanson addressed the Council on this issue. Scott Eckelberger, vice president of operations at Catawba Valley Medical Center spoke in support and introduced a Ms. Bowman who pointed to the Overview of the Power Point presentation and stated that they would not be able to develop the project if this is not consented to. Council Unanimously consented to the annexation.
New Business - Departmental Reports:
1. Quarterly Financial Report - Assistant City Manager Warren Wood made a presentation of the Financial Statement through the first quarter of the current 2009-2010 fiscal year. Revenues seem to be in line at just over 20% of total revenues received for the year. They feel pretty good about this. On the expenditure side they have spent 25.98% of their budget compared to 23.89% for the same period last year. the 5-year average is closer to 24, so they are a little bit ahead. The hiring freeze is still in place. Revenues versus expenditures. To date they have spent $722,000 more than they have received. The 5-year average is $850,000. So they are doing well on this account. he stated that this is a surprise and it is good news.
The water and sewer fund also 25% a year complete. Revenues are just over 20% of total revenues received for the year and the 5-year average is normally slightly less than that. They are doing well there. On the expenditure side they have spent 22% of their budget. The 5-year average is closer to 24%, so feel very good about this. Revenues versus expenditures. To date they have received $72,000 more than they have spent. The 5-year average is that they have spent $675,000 more than they have taken in.
The investment portfolio has $44 million invested compared to last years $42.7 million. These investments are yielding 2.8% versus last year's 4.2%. They have moved money out of CDs, because they aren't paying anything. Revenues on property tax collections show that we are down on collections from just over 97.3% last year to around 96.6% this year. This will cost the city $166,000 in revenue. For every tenth of a percent the collection rate drops it costs the city $25,000.
Sales tax shows that the local penny is down 20% through July and august. The State penny shows a little bit of improvement, but it is still down 13%. Power Bill Revenue is down $150,000. Power bill revenue goes to pay for road infrastructure.
The Hounds take is that the numbers speak for themselves. Everything is down and it doesn't look like the numbers will turn around any time soon. Warren Wood and city staff should be commended for making the best out of this eroding financial landscape. At some point, we are going to have to shift the paradigm towards growing Hickory's economy, but that has nothing to do with Mr. Wood. We have to do whatever it takes to bring business into Hickory and increase our tax base, because we are already cutting into the bone when it comes to city services.
2. Police Chief Adkins will brief council on the response to an anonymous letter received on October 9, 2009 addressed to Mayor Wright - The letter was from a concerned citizen who was upset about some of the merchandise being sold at Spencer's gift store in Valley Hill's Mall. Chief Adkin's went over some of the statutes of the City and the state of North Carolina. Back in November 2005 a law was passed about what can be displayed and what has to be shielded from minors. Major Deal sent a lieutenant out to Spencer's to view the material in the complaint, but found no evidence of any such material. On Monday the 12th, they went back out and checked. They have been working with the staff of Spencer's and the stff at the Mall on this issue. On the following Thursday, Spencer's legal counsel contacted the police department. He spoke with chief adkins and they went over some of the items that were questionable, that may not be defined by the ordinance, but could be considered offensive to members of the public. The Chief stated that they Spencer's worked with the department and removed some of the items from the shelves and changed the location of some items. Ms. Dula and Mr. Crone (Hickory's Legal representatives) went down with Chief Adkins and spoke with Spencer's counsel and asked them to do some repackaging and put up some better signage. He went back on Friday and he now states there are no violations.
Mayor Wright expressed an opinion that Spencer's has 600 stores. They want to sell merchandise to Adults and Kids in the same store. They understand the laws and how to avoid going across the line. They have an online site and in order to go to the adult part of the site, you have to push a button that states that you are over 18. they categorize themselves as edgy, he isn't sure what that means, but he thinks it means they are edgy to the line.
The Hound wants to commend the parties involved for working this out. Chief Adkins sought to work with Spencer's in getting this done. This wasn't where the city ran in there and started telling Spencer's how they were going to operate their business. It is always better when the city takes this position with a business, than using the ramrod approach we have seen in the past with the Priscilla's issue, the Open Storage law, and the Drinking Establishment ordinance.
Spencer's should also be commended for working with the city, when their items were not violating any city codes. They obviously have done, within reason, what the city wanted them to do. To me that shows a business that does care. If we are going to start writing codes based upon when a person is offended, then we won't have any businesses in Hickory, no one will be able to market their products, and customers won't be protected; because they won't know what they are buying.
If a parent does not want their child to see materials, they deem offensive, then it is their responsibility to keep the child, who they are guardian of, away from the supposedly offensive material. Did anyone force these people to go into Spencer's?
3. Approve Shared Purchase of Right-of-Way With Caldwell County for the US 321
to Grace Chapel Road Connector Project in the Amount of $30,000 - The City of Hickory and Caldwell County desire to share in the purchase of right of way, approximately 2.129 acres, from the Hill, Starnes, Ritchie et al property in the amount of $60,000. The City’s portion will be 50% at a cost of $30,000. The purchase price also includes the purchase of 3868 sq. ft. of permanent drainage easement area and 2.733 acres of temporary construction easement. This purchase is necessary to extend Alex Lee Boulevard northeastto the proposed US 321 to Grace Chapel Road Connector road project. The property was appraised by Mr. Ralph Prestwood, Jr., MAI at $25,877 excluding the drainage and construction easements. The City’s Street Division currently maintains the existing section of Alex Lee Boulevard and once constructed, the City would also maintain this new section. Caldwell County has advised that they are agreeable to the purchase at 50%. Due to closing deadlines, staff requests two readings be held on October 20, 2009.
Budget Ordinance Amendment No. 8 - 1. To transfer $30,000 of General Fund Balance to the Grace Chapel/US 321 Connector Road Project. This transfer is to pay Hill, Starnes, Ritchie et al for Hickory's share of the $60,000 purchase price for 2.129 acres to be used as right of way (ROW) for the US 321 to Grace Chapel Road Connector. Caldwell County will share in the purchase of the right of way with the City of Hickory. The total purchase price is $60,000 with a 50/50 shared cost with Caldwell County. The purchase price includes the purchase of 3,868 sq. feet of permanent drainage easement area and 2.733 acres of temporary construction easement. Staff requests two readings on October 20, 2009 due to the closing deadlines of Item X.B.3.
Grant Project Ordinance Amendment No. 4-1. To accept and budget a $30,000 transfer of General Fund Balance to the Grace Chapel/321 Connector Road Project and to budget $30,000 of Restricted Intergovernmental Revenue from Catawba County. This amendment is necessary to pay Hill, Starnes, Ritchie et al $60,000 for 2.129 acres to be used as right of way (ROW) for the US 321 to Grace Chapel Road Connector. Caldwell County will share in the purchase of the right of way with the City of Hickory. The total purchase price is $60,000 with a 50/50 shared cost with Caldwell County. The purchase price includes the purchase of 3,868 sq. feet of permanent drainage easement area and 2.733 acres of temporary construction easement. Staff requests two readings on October 20, 2009 due to the closing deadlines of Item X.B.3. Council Unanimously consented to the annexation.
Update Regarding Landscaping and Signage Along the Lenoir-Rhyne Boulevard Extension Project - The Lenoir-Rhyne Boulevard extension project is expected to be completed and opened to the public in December, 2009 pursuant to the NCDOT. City staff has finalized landscaping plans for the median and right of way areas in addition to the installation of the first “Welcome to Hickory” sign which is part of the City’s wayfinding program. Chuck Hanson did the presentation and showed a Power Point display of the project. He thoroughly talked about the construction, landscaping, right of ways, and signage involved in this project. He had Photoshopped pictures of what this project should look like when completed and talked about the specific trees, plantings, and vegetation that will be located at the project. The total cost of this project will be $40,000. The sign and landscaping around it will cost an additional amount of money.
The Hound wants to reiterate that I don't understand why it is such a big deal that this is where the first Wayfinding/new Logo sign will be located. The Wayfinding issue is supposed to be about marketing and direction issues. We're always talking about bang for the buck. Is this location where we are going to get the most bang for the buck?
The systematic rolling out of these signs should be based upon traffic count and where people are having the most trouble getting to and fro, not upon the whims and fancies of elected officials -- and that is what it surely seems to be. This city has spent at least $75,000+ on this issue and now it is being implemented in an arbitrary manner. Does that make sense?
In the end the City is going to do what it wants and I am once again being forced to take a principled stand on an issue. Many people may think this is nitpicky and/or trivial, but when it continuously runs the gamut of city processes, then we might be getting at one of the core issues we are facing in our governance and leadership. It is time to quit doing what suits your fancy and start doing what is in the people's best interest.
*** Alderman Seaver talked about the training that city firefighter's are presently going through. 19 firefighters are participating in this boot camp style training. A video is being made of this training.
*** The Mayor talked about the mention of Hickory in this month's Reader's Digest about the robbery that took place at the Captain's galley last year. The register tape, from the register that was stolen, was caught in the door and led the police to the man's apartment where he was apprehended. The police followed the paper trail (haha) to the man's apartment where they busted him.
At the bottom right of this page under main information links is a Hickory's Local Government link. If you click on that link, it takes you to our city’s website, at the bottom of the page you will see the future dates for meetings scheduled for this year.
At the top of the page, if you click on the “Documents” link, you will find historic Agenda and Minutes links. Agendas show what is on the docket for the meeting of that date. The Minutes is an actual summary of the proceedings of the meeting of that date.
Here is a summary of the agenda of the 10/21/2009 meeting. There were a couple of important items that were discussed at this meeting and the details are listed further below.
Invocation by Alderman Danny Seaver
Special Presentations:
A. Presentation by Tracy Nester, Vice President of the Hickory Downtown Development
Association Regarding the Success of the 2009 Oktoberfest - Tracy stated that she was very concerned about Octoberfest this year because, the sponsorship money was down $16,000. It was a challenge to obtain these funds, because of the Hard Hit Economy. She stated that they knew this early in the game, so they factored this into the spending on entertainment and marketing. Bottom Line, she believes that the HDDA will profit about the same as they did the year before. They made some changes in security, because of issues with some fights with teenagers. There were confrontations at the intersection of Main ave and 2nd St. What they did was create a totally teen area and pull them away from the synergy of the festival. Moved them down around the banks, where they could be monitored more. The police worked more in zones and all of this went very, very well.
The Hound says thank you to the HDDA for this presentation. Through the challenges we are all facing, you did a great job with more limited resources. You should be commended. It sounds like you are learning from the challenges you are facing and dealing with them in a positive and realistic manner.
B. Presentation by Kelly Gaines, Executive Director of the NC Tennis Association, to award the City of Hickory for its participation in the first “Best Tennis Town USA” contest and receiving an Honorable Mentions Award. Mrs. Gaines introduced Rex Maynard who is the President of the USTA's southern section who made some comments. He stated that the southern section, with 180,000 members, is by far the largest section of the USTA. Mayor Wright came to the podium to receive the award. He stated that no city funds were used for this. Local business donated the money ($2,000) and Hickory won $2,000 worth of equipment. The Mayor also recognized Kathy Kim who he stated has done more for tennis in Hickory than anyone, in any sport, anywhere else.
C. Presentation of the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2009. Brian Starnes, from Martin Starnes and Associates, came to the podium for the presentation. He stated that they audit 33 counties across the state and around 70 municipalities. Mr. Starnes said that the auditors gave an Unqualified Opinion (clean opinion) of the books. There was one significant deficiency, in collections, which was a weakness in control, which he stated was taken care of quickly. He complemented the finance department saying that they found no errors in the report. The "scoreboard" shows a Total Fund Balance of $16.8 million, Total Reserves of $3.1 million, and an Unreserved Fund Balance of $13.7 million. This is down from last years Unreserved Fund Balance of $14.9 million. Mr. Starnes states that this is expected in the present economic circumstances. Fund balance percentage (Unreserved Balance/Total Budget) is 34% this year and last year it was 38%. This shows that the city has a 4 month supply of money on hand. The Mayor stated that the $2.5 million for Clement Boulevard came out of this number and effected the fund balance.
Mr. Starnes pointed at a few Barometers. Going into 2010, the debt service is $3.589 million. Operations last year show that we had $7.4 million in net cash (to the positive). The Mayor stated that some of these numbers looked favorable in the past, because they have attempted to avoid a big surprise when the new sewer line comes online. The solid waste fund (Garbage Collecction) shows it is costing more than the city is collecting ($900,000 cost versus $800,000 in Fund balance). This Fund will need attention in rate setting. There is no money in recycling now. It costs as much to collect, as what you are earning from it. It will need some attention. The Mayor stated that the big factor in that is the recycling.
The Airport has positive cash flow now. The Mayor states that doesn't include the money earned from property taxes on the aircraft.
Deanna Rios, Hickory’s finance director, next came to the podium. This report is based on activities "government wide." Governmental activities include transportation, public safety, and recreation which rely mostly on taxes. Business activities include water, sewer, and sanitation which rely on fees and charges. Net assets were reported were $191.9 million, which is up $1.7 million over the last year. Fund Balance was over $10.5 million. Revenues for Governmental activities for 2009 were $52 million (the majority of which were Property Taxes) and Business Activity Revenue is $26 million (86% of which is from services). Is the city as a whole better off than last year? Ms. Rios stated that we are holding steady in light of this economy about in the same position as last year. The Mayor asked about Unfunded liabilities. Ms. Rios stated that we have had to change the accounting on health benefits and that amount is around $14 million.
The Hound thinks the city should be commended for its care with city finances. Ms. Rios did not paint a fancy-free picture. She stated what the numbers show that we are holding steady. And this is happening in an economic hurricane. I would love to see what this city could do if we ever turn our economic fortunes around. If we apply these same principles while revenues are growing by 5% or 10%, then we could have a truly wonderful increase in the quality of our lives.
Consent Agenda:
A. Certificate of Sufficiency and Preliminary Resolution Relative to Street Improvements Along a Portion of 12th Street, SW – No. 01-09 (Authorize Public Hearing for November 17, 2009)
B. Proclamation Declaring the Week of October 19 – 25, 2009 as “National Friends of the Library Week” in the City of Hickory
C. Approve Lease Agreement With Jeff Kincaid Insurance for City-Owned Property Located at 16 1st Avenue, NE - Jeff Kincaid Insurance has leased this property from the City for the past thirteen years and wishes to extend their lease, which has expired, for an additional three years at the rate of $1,200 per month which is close to or at market rate. The lessee will be responsible for the maintenance and repairs along with all utilities. Additionally, they will have access to the dumpster adjacent to Hickory City Hall and access to ten parking spaces on the vacant lot adjacent to the leased premises. Expiration of this lease will be three years from the date of Council’s approval.
D. Approval of Citizens’ Advisory Committee Recommendations for Assistance Through the City of Hickory’s Housing Programs - The following applicants are being recommended for approval for assistance under the City of Hickory’s First-Time Homebuyers Assistance Loan Program:
Mee Thao & Yong Vang Chang 1669 Treadwell Lane, SE - Approved for up to $6,500 (Blue Sky Court)
Jennifer Gwaltney 1330 5th Street, NE #65 - Approved for up to $6,500
John Patterson 1246 11th Street, NW - Approved for up to $10,000
Funds are budgeted for the above through the City’s former Rental Rehabilitation Program income received in FY 2008 and/or program income received through the City’s Community Development Block Grant Program.
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Zelda Covington of 907 3rd Street Court, SW is being recommended for approval for assistance under the City’s 2009 Urgent Repair Program in an amount no to exceed $5,000. This program provides qualified low income citizens with assistance for emergency related repairs not to exceed $5,000. Funds are budgeted through the City’s Community Development Department funding received in FY 2009-10.
E. Approve Vacant Building Revitalization Grant to JeJe, LLC for Property Located at 1025 Tate Boulevard, SE in the Amount of $25,000 - The Vacant Building Revitalization Grant Program was established by City Council in September, 2008 whereby the program provides matching funds up to $25,000 for projects seeking to renovate and rehabilitate vacant buildings and the demolition of substandard buildings. To date the program has awarded a total of $82,430 in grant funds. JeJe, LLC has applied for such a grant in the amount of $25,000 to assist in the renovation of the interior and exterior of the building to include improvements to the parking area, painting, lighting, graffiti removal and a new accessible building entrance. The building will be occupied by a sprinkler contractor. The Redevelopment Committee reviewed the application and recommends approval.
F. Approve Vacant Building Revitalization Grant to Black Investments, LLC for Property Located at 733 1st Avenue, NW in the Amount of $25,000 - The Vacant Building Revitalization Grant Program was established by City Council in September, 2008 whereby the program provides matching funds up to $25,000 for projects seeking to renovate and rehabilitate vacant buildings and the demolition of substandard buildings. To date the program has awarded a total of $82,430 in grant funds. Black Investments, LLC has applied for such a grant in the amount of $25,000 to assist in the renovation of the exterior of the building, to include painting, lighting, graffiti removal and a new accessible building entrance. The building will be used by the adjacent business, Aiken-Black Tire Service. The Redevelopment Committee reviewed the application and recommends approval.
G. Accept Year Three Traffic Unit Grant From the Governor’s Highway Safety Program - The Governor’s Highway Safety Program has approved the Traffic Unit Grant to the City of Hickory to continue to fund four full time officers, training and equipment at a cost of $202,260. The City will be responsible for 50% or $101,130 of the cost. In 2008, the Hickory Police Department responded to 4,135 traffic crashes within the city which is a reduction of 6% from 2007. The Hickory Police Department feels that by continuing education and aggressive enforcement for year three of this grant, the number of traffic crashes will continue to reduce.
H. Approve Municipal Agreement With the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) for Bridge Inspections on the City’s Street System in the Amount of $4,800 - The Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1978 requires inspection of all bridges on at least a 2 year cycle. The NCDOT is to employ a qualified engineering firm to perform the inspection and analysis of the structures and to prepare the necessary Structural Inventory and Appraisal forms for submission to the Federal Highway Administration. There are eight structures that require inspection at a cost of $3,000 each or a total of $24,000. The Federal Highway Administration will participate with the cost up to 80% and the City’s share is 20% at an estimated cost of $4,800.
I. Approve Traffic-Review and Inspection Agreement With the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) for Upgrade and Construction of Traffic Signals Regarding the Clement Boulevard NW Connector Project in the Amount of $15,000 - This agreement enables NCDOT design review and construction inspections of the traffic signals on the Clement Boulevard NW Connector Project and is required by NCDOT. The NCDOT will only bill for actual time charged to this project.
Budget Ordinance Amendments -
1. To appropriate $267 of General Miscellaneous Revenue and budget in the Fire Department departmental supply line item. The Fire Department received funds from the sale of scrap metal to Mountain Recycling.
2. To appropriate and budget a $1,987 miscellaneous insurance claim check received from Trident Insurance Company in the Rural Fire Department maintenance and repair of equipment line item. This claim check is for lightning damage sustained to equipment (phone system, radio system, emergency generator) at Station 5 that occurred on 08-05-09.
3. To appropriate and budget a $807 miscellaneous insurance claim check received from Trident Insurance Company in the Police Department maintenance and repair of vehicles line item. This claim check is for damage sustained to a police vehicle on 09-17-09.
4. To appropriate $510 of Local Government Revenue and budget in the Police Department Overtime line item. This revenue is payment from Catawba County Mental Health for a portion of an Officers time spent when accompanying involuntary commitment patients.
5. To transfer a total of $15,000 (Economic and Community Development-$5,000) and (Public Safety - $10,000) to the Information Technology Maintenance and Repair of Equipment line item. This transfer represents several departments share of contributions to pay for the GIS/ESRI contract unlimited seat license (USL). ESRI (Environmental Systems Research Institute) is the leader in commercial GIS (Geographic Information Systems) software. GIS is a software application that specializes in land-use analysis. It combines points, lines and polygons to overlay these unique points in space onto a map. This geographic information is combined with other data to produce a highly useful visual representation (flow of water, density of buildings, size/location of pipes, demographic info, etc.). As the demand for GIS has grown, we have begungenerating more data and discovering more uses. This contract for an ELA (Enterprise License Agreement) will allow the City of Hickory to have unlimited use of all ESRI GIS software. Today we pay on a per-user basis which restricts our ability to effectively roll out these services.
6. To appropriate $25,000 of General Fund Balance and budget in the Planning Department's Vacant Building Revitalization Grant line item. This appropriation provides matching funds to assist JeJe, LLC in the renovation of a building located at 1025 Tate Blvd. SE. Plans are to renovate this facility for use by a sprinkler contractor. JeJe, LLC plans to invest approximately $75,000 on improvements to the parking, vehicle access areas surrounding the building, painting, exterior light improvements, graffiti removal, and a new accessible building entrance.
7. To appropriate $25,000 of General Fund Balance and budget in the Planning Department's Vacant Building Revitalization Grant line item. This appropriation provides matching funds to assist Black Investments, LLC in the renovation of a building located at 733 1st. Ave. NW. Plans are to renovate this facility for use by the adjacent tire and auto service center. Plans are to invest approximately $50,000 on renovation to the exterior of the building, painting, exterior light improvements, graffiti removal and a new accessible building entrance.
8. To transfer $1,563 of General Fund Contingency to the Carolina Thread Trail line item to pay the City of Hickory's portion of a $60,000 grant from CTT. This grant is for the development of the master greenway plan for Catawba County. Hickory is one of nine jurisdictions participating in the cost share grant. The Carolina Thread Trail is an initiative to create a network of greenways, trails and blueways in a 15 county region that holds 2.3 million people in North and South Carolina.
Grant Project Ordinance Amendment No. 3
1. To budget $3,846 of Federal Revenue in the Economic and Community Development 2009 Housing Rehab/Purchase Program line item. This amendment is necessary to budget additional revenue received from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development for the Community Development Block Grant program.
Informational Items:
A. Report of City Manager Berry’s NC Department of Transportation Meeting With Jim Trogdon in Raleigh, NC on September 28, 2009; mileage - $220.20
B. Report of City Manager Berry’s Attendance of the 2009 Intra-City Visit in Raleigh and Hickory, NC From September 30 – October 2, 2009; registration - $120; mileage - $193.60
C. Report of Mayor Wright’s Attendance of the 2009 Intra-City Visit in Hickory, NC From October 1 – 2, 2009; registration $60
D. Report of Alderwoman Patton’s Attendance of the 2009 Intra-City Visit in Hickory, NC From October 1 -2, 2009; registration $60
New Business - Public Hearings:
1. Voluntary Contiguous Annexation of the Property of Kirk and Debra Hobart Located at 976 30th Avenue Drive, NW - A petition was submitted by Kirk and Debra Hobart for voluntary contiguous annexation for property located at 976 30th Avenue Drive, NW, which is part of the W.B. Shuford Lake Property subdivision. The property owners are requesting annexation for connection to municipal sewer service. The property is located in the City’s extra-territorial jurisdictional area and zoned R-2 Residential. The current tax value is $175,000 and if annexed, would generate $879 in additional tax revenues. Cal Overby made the presentation and showed a power point presentation. Council Unanimously consented to the annexation.
2. Resolution and Order for Petition of Catawba County (Consented to by Catawba Valley Medical Center) to Close a Portion of Old School Drive - On August 26, 2009, Commercial First Real Estate (Lutheran Home – Hickory West) presented a petition on behalf of Catawba County, the owner of property abutting Old School Drive, requesting the City to abandon a portion of this right of way. This portion of the right-of-way is no longer necessary for public use and appears the closing is not contrary to public interest. Staff recommends that the City retain a 25’ easement for any existing water and sewer lines. Chuck Hanson addressed the Council on this issue. Scott Eckelberger, vice president of operations at Catawba Valley Medical Center spoke in support and introduced a Ms. Bowman who pointed to the Overview of the Power Point presentation and stated that they would not be able to develop the project if this is not consented to. Council Unanimously consented to the annexation.
New Business - Departmental Reports:
1. Quarterly Financial Report - Assistant City Manager Warren Wood made a presentation of the Financial Statement through the first quarter of the current 2009-2010 fiscal year. Revenues seem to be in line at just over 20% of total revenues received for the year. They feel pretty good about this. On the expenditure side they have spent 25.98% of their budget compared to 23.89% for the same period last year. the 5-year average is closer to 24, so they are a little bit ahead. The hiring freeze is still in place. Revenues versus expenditures. To date they have spent $722,000 more than they have received. The 5-year average is $850,000. So they are doing well on this account. he stated that this is a surprise and it is good news.
The water and sewer fund also 25% a year complete. Revenues are just over 20% of total revenues received for the year and the 5-year average is normally slightly less than that. They are doing well there. On the expenditure side they have spent 22% of their budget. The 5-year average is closer to 24%, so feel very good about this. Revenues versus expenditures. To date they have received $72,000 more than they have spent. The 5-year average is that they have spent $675,000 more than they have taken in.
The investment portfolio has $44 million invested compared to last years $42.7 million. These investments are yielding 2.8% versus last year's 4.2%. They have moved money out of CDs, because they aren't paying anything. Revenues on property tax collections show that we are down on collections from just over 97.3% last year to around 96.6% this year. This will cost the city $166,000 in revenue. For every tenth of a percent the collection rate drops it costs the city $25,000.
Sales tax shows that the local penny is down 20% through July and august. The State penny shows a little bit of improvement, but it is still down 13%. Power Bill Revenue is down $150,000. Power bill revenue goes to pay for road infrastructure.
The Hounds take is that the numbers speak for themselves. Everything is down and it doesn't look like the numbers will turn around any time soon. Warren Wood and city staff should be commended for making the best out of this eroding financial landscape. At some point, we are going to have to shift the paradigm towards growing Hickory's economy, but that has nothing to do with Mr. Wood. We have to do whatever it takes to bring business into Hickory and increase our tax base, because we are already cutting into the bone when it comes to city services.
2. Police Chief Adkins will brief council on the response to an anonymous letter received on October 9, 2009 addressed to Mayor Wright - The letter was from a concerned citizen who was upset about some of the merchandise being sold at Spencer's gift store in Valley Hill's Mall. Chief Adkin's went over some of the statutes of the City and the state of North Carolina. Back in November 2005 a law was passed about what can be displayed and what has to be shielded from minors. Major Deal sent a lieutenant out to Spencer's to view the material in the complaint, but found no evidence of any such material. On Monday the 12th, they went back out and checked. They have been working with the staff of Spencer's and the stff at the Mall on this issue. On the following Thursday, Spencer's legal counsel contacted the police department. He spoke with chief adkins and they went over some of the items that were questionable, that may not be defined by the ordinance, but could be considered offensive to members of the public. The Chief stated that they Spencer's worked with the department and removed some of the items from the shelves and changed the location of some items. Ms. Dula and Mr. Crone (Hickory's Legal representatives) went down with Chief Adkins and spoke with Spencer's counsel and asked them to do some repackaging and put up some better signage. He went back on Friday and he now states there are no violations.
Mayor Wright expressed an opinion that Spencer's has 600 stores. They want to sell merchandise to Adults and Kids in the same store. They understand the laws and how to avoid going across the line. They have an online site and in order to go to the adult part of the site, you have to push a button that states that you are over 18. they categorize themselves as edgy, he isn't sure what that means, but he thinks it means they are edgy to the line.
The Hound wants to commend the parties involved for working this out. Chief Adkins sought to work with Spencer's in getting this done. This wasn't where the city ran in there and started telling Spencer's how they were going to operate their business. It is always better when the city takes this position with a business, than using the ramrod approach we have seen in the past with the Priscilla's issue, the Open Storage law, and the Drinking Establishment ordinance.
Spencer's should also be commended for working with the city, when their items were not violating any city codes. They obviously have done, within reason, what the city wanted them to do. To me that shows a business that does care. If we are going to start writing codes based upon when a person is offended, then we won't have any businesses in Hickory, no one will be able to market their products, and customers won't be protected; because they won't know what they are buying.
If a parent does not want their child to see materials, they deem offensive, then it is their responsibility to keep the child, who they are guardian of, away from the supposedly offensive material. Did anyone force these people to go into Spencer's?
3. Approve Shared Purchase of Right-of-Way With Caldwell County for the US 321
to Grace Chapel Road Connector Project in the Amount of $30,000 - The City of Hickory and Caldwell County desire to share in the purchase of right of way, approximately 2.129 acres, from the Hill, Starnes, Ritchie et al property in the amount of $60,000. The City’s portion will be 50% at a cost of $30,000. The purchase price also includes the purchase of 3868 sq. ft. of permanent drainage easement area and 2.733 acres of temporary construction easement. This purchase is necessary to extend Alex Lee Boulevard northeastto the proposed US 321 to Grace Chapel Road Connector road project. The property was appraised by Mr. Ralph Prestwood, Jr., MAI at $25,877 excluding the drainage and construction easements. The City’s Street Division currently maintains the existing section of Alex Lee Boulevard and once constructed, the City would also maintain this new section. Caldwell County has advised that they are agreeable to the purchase at 50%. Due to closing deadlines, staff requests two readings be held on October 20, 2009.
Budget Ordinance Amendment No. 8 - 1. To transfer $30,000 of General Fund Balance to the Grace Chapel/US 321 Connector Road Project. This transfer is to pay Hill, Starnes, Ritchie et al for Hickory's share of the $60,000 purchase price for 2.129 acres to be used as right of way (ROW) for the US 321 to Grace Chapel Road Connector. Caldwell County will share in the purchase of the right of way with the City of Hickory. The total purchase price is $60,000 with a 50/50 shared cost with Caldwell County. The purchase price includes the purchase of 3,868 sq. feet of permanent drainage easement area and 2.733 acres of temporary construction easement. Staff requests two readings on October 20, 2009 due to the closing deadlines of Item X.B.3.
Grant Project Ordinance Amendment No. 4-1. To accept and budget a $30,000 transfer of General Fund Balance to the Grace Chapel/321 Connector Road Project and to budget $30,000 of Restricted Intergovernmental Revenue from Catawba County. This amendment is necessary to pay Hill, Starnes, Ritchie et al $60,000 for 2.129 acres to be used as right of way (ROW) for the US 321 to Grace Chapel Road Connector. Caldwell County will share in the purchase of the right of way with the City of Hickory. The total purchase price is $60,000 with a 50/50 shared cost with Caldwell County. The purchase price includes the purchase of 3,868 sq. feet of permanent drainage easement area and 2.733 acres of temporary construction easement. Staff requests two readings on October 20, 2009 due to the closing deadlines of Item X.B.3. Council Unanimously consented to the annexation.
Update Regarding Landscaping and Signage Along the Lenoir-Rhyne Boulevard Extension Project - The Lenoir-Rhyne Boulevard extension project is expected to be completed and opened to the public in December, 2009 pursuant to the NCDOT. City staff has finalized landscaping plans for the median and right of way areas in addition to the installation of the first “Welcome to Hickory” sign which is part of the City’s wayfinding program. Chuck Hanson did the presentation and showed a Power Point display of the project. He thoroughly talked about the construction, landscaping, right of ways, and signage involved in this project. He had Photoshopped pictures of what this project should look like when completed and talked about the specific trees, plantings, and vegetation that will be located at the project. The total cost of this project will be $40,000. The sign and landscaping around it will cost an additional amount of money.
The Hound wants to reiterate that I don't understand why it is such a big deal that this is where the first Wayfinding/new Logo sign will be located. The Wayfinding issue is supposed to be about marketing and direction issues. We're always talking about bang for the buck. Is this location where we are going to get the most bang for the buck?
The systematic rolling out of these signs should be based upon traffic count and where people are having the most trouble getting to and fro, not upon the whims and fancies of elected officials -- and that is what it surely seems to be. This city has spent at least $75,000+ on this issue and now it is being implemented in an arbitrary manner. Does that make sense?
In the end the City is going to do what it wants and I am once again being forced to take a principled stand on an issue. Many people may think this is nitpicky and/or trivial, but when it continuously runs the gamut of city processes, then we might be getting at one of the core issues we are facing in our governance and leadership. It is time to quit doing what suits your fancy and start doing what is in the people's best interest.
*** Alderman Seaver talked about the training that city firefighter's are presently going through. 19 firefighters are participating in this boot camp style training. A video is being made of this training.
*** The Mayor talked about the mention of Hickory in this month's Reader's Digest about the robbery that took place at the Captain's galley last year. The register tape, from the register that was stolen, was caught in the door and led the police to the man's apartment where he was apprehended. The police followed the paper trail (haha) to the man's apartment where they busted him.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Fixing Hickory - Economic Development Corporation’s Programming Strategies presented Scott Millar
Danny Hearn introduced Scott Millar and talked about the importance of the EDC's role in the creation and retention of jobs.
Scott Millar is the President of the Catawba County Economic Development Corporation. He started out by showing pictures of the development of the property where Apple's Data Center resides and the progression of that development. Scott previously discussed many details involving the Apple Data Center during the Future Economy Council meeting held in August.
Future Economy Council Meeting #6 (8/19/2009)
Just what is Apple doing in Maiden?
Scott went into the planning that took place at the retreat last November. He mentioned that the North Carolina Department of Commerce has brought forward many opportunities. many companies want to be located near Charlotte. Much of the driving force is created by the distance from Charlotte's International Airport.
The EDC also maintains relationships with site selection consultants from throughout the world. They try to meet with representatives face-to-face so that they can build a personal relationship. That way they will know more about the EDC and come to them directly instead of going through a third party. This is where they get a lot of the non-targeted manufacturing opportunities.
The EDC also works on trying to accommodate existing industries. If they can relieve a headache, maybe by utilizing the Manufacturing Solutions Center, then it helps local businesses compete in the extremely difficult Global Environment. What kind of ammunition are we providing local industries to enable them to stay, hopefully grow, and maintain jobs and tax base here in Catawba County.
The above examples are the traditional stuff, the reactive stuff. The EDC is also trying to be proactive, but there are only so many resources that they have. Where do they focus these resources?
First, the Data Center initiative was started in August 2006. They have analyzed the opportunities in the development of new technology and they are looking at energy and the emerging opportunities in that field. They must be able to tak advantage of these opportunities.
You have to have product. The Lincoln County Industrial Park took opportunities from Catawba County, because it was ready to go and it was very visible. The Lincoln County Industrial Park was considered to be an excellent alternative to Charlotte Proper, and it was operationally less expensive. If you don't have product ready to go, then you are behind the 8-ball.
Prior to 2006, no one (in the area) really knew what a Data Center was. At the time there was a business park being developed on Hwy 321. The Park had huge power, huge water, and it has multiple fiber connections. They realized that this site could be utilized by a Data Center. They developed multiple approaches to market to Data Center opportunities. They would have sold the Park to anybody, if the price was right, but the priority was Data Centers.
Scott mentioned the marketing of the Apple-Google Corridor and how do we market the name and brand the corridor. He is certain that the companies are not going to allow us to use their company name. One thing is for sure, whatever name that eventually sticks will be synonymous with new tech opportunities. Many more possibilities have opened up as a result of this burgeoning corridor.
This Park is being developed and now they are out of product. They have to develop one or more opportunities for development, but that is going to be difficult. There are more opportunities for development along I-40, but companies desire Hwy 321 and its proximity to the Charlotte Airport. They are going to have to soon decide.
Scott next started discussing future opportunities like the Green Economy and the Smart Grid. We have the 3rd highest manufacturing Workforce concentration in the U.S. We need to start analyzing our strong suits and how they mesh with new opportunities on the horizon. There are a lot of products that we don't understand and therefore we don't understand the opportunities available. Let's go where everyone else isn't and develop opportunities for that. We need to find our niche and develop our arguments for why these companies need to come here. We need to explain what sets us apart from everyone else.
What makes Hickory and Catawba County different? the Eco-Complex, the Manufacturing Solutions Center. There are very few MSAs that have the level of cultural offerings that we have offered for years. Other MSAs don't have the water resources that we have. We need to understand the assets that we have and what makes us different from everyone else. If we don't maintain those differences, then suddenly we become like every other mid-sized area. Areas that we feel like we are bigger and better than at this point. And it will become harder to compete for Economic Development opportunities.
We have a pretty complex economic spectrum. When we look at ourselves like a wheel. we have some loose spokes and their is a wobble to the wheel. There are entities dealing with a lot of the spokes and each entity and agency has to be given a responsibility specific to the spokes. The EDC is working on specific tasks and there are other opportunities that can't be covered by the EDC. Scott's final summary question was, If there are opportunities we are interested in, how do we make sure that all of the opportunities are being taken care of? Are we missing any sectors? Are we making sure that we are looking at all of the sectors?
What sectors are we missing? Where should we be looking? And what entities should be responsible for that?
Some comments from the Question and Answer session:
*** North Carolina has an economic distress level tiering system with 3 tiers. Catawba County is a tier 2, which allows us to receive a moderate level of incentives from the State. Could we become a tier 1 which would allow us to receive $12,500 per job versus the current $5,000? It also allows you to receive Golden Leaf Foundation funding and Rural Center funding. Caldwell and Burke Counties are tier 1 counties.
***Product is competitively priced buildings, sites, or parks.
***What would be the perfect type of industry for this area? An Apple like entity that creates a lot of higher paying jobs. Headquarters types of corporations and Engineering oriented types of facilities. This market has supported high tech, high quantity job creation in the past. Scott said he would like to see 600 to 1200 person, engineering types of operations that drives a lot... We thought we were bullet proof in 1999.
The Hound can't add any more to what Scott Millar stated here. He has his finger on the pulse of what this community needs to move towards being. He, along with the others at this conference, have been telling everyone that we need to move forward. We need to assess the ingredients we have and quit obsessing about what we don't have.
The future and growth will involve technology, which involves engineering. I believe that the foundation can be laid to make progress possible, but as we have seen in the past, personal interests can take us in the opposite direction of where common sense and good judgment should be leading us. That is one reason that I would like to see us hitch a ride with Charlotte and build relationships with Raleigh and other centrifugal communities. The only thing we have to fear is what we've got, and that is years of the Status Quo.
Scott Millar is the President of the Catawba County Economic Development Corporation. He started out by showing pictures of the development of the property where Apple's Data Center resides and the progression of that development. Scott previously discussed many details involving the Apple Data Center during the Future Economy Council meeting held in August.
Future Economy Council Meeting #6 (8/19/2009)
Just what is Apple doing in Maiden?
Scott went into the planning that took place at the retreat last November. He mentioned that the North Carolina Department of Commerce has brought forward many opportunities. many companies want to be located near Charlotte. Much of the driving force is created by the distance from Charlotte's International Airport.
The EDC also maintains relationships with site selection consultants from throughout the world. They try to meet with representatives face-to-face so that they can build a personal relationship. That way they will know more about the EDC and come to them directly instead of going through a third party. This is where they get a lot of the non-targeted manufacturing opportunities.
The EDC also works on trying to accommodate existing industries. If they can relieve a headache, maybe by utilizing the Manufacturing Solutions Center, then it helps local businesses compete in the extremely difficult Global Environment. What kind of ammunition are we providing local industries to enable them to stay, hopefully grow, and maintain jobs and tax base here in Catawba County.
The above examples are the traditional stuff, the reactive stuff. The EDC is also trying to be proactive, but there are only so many resources that they have. Where do they focus these resources?
First, the Data Center initiative was started in August 2006. They have analyzed the opportunities in the development of new technology and they are looking at energy and the emerging opportunities in that field. They must be able to tak advantage of these opportunities.
You have to have product. The Lincoln County Industrial Park took opportunities from Catawba County, because it was ready to go and it was very visible. The Lincoln County Industrial Park was considered to be an excellent alternative to Charlotte Proper, and it was operationally less expensive. If you don't have product ready to go, then you are behind the 8-ball.
Prior to 2006, no one (in the area) really knew what a Data Center was. At the time there was a business park being developed on Hwy 321. The Park had huge power, huge water, and it has multiple fiber connections. They realized that this site could be utilized by a Data Center. They developed multiple approaches to market to Data Center opportunities. They would have sold the Park to anybody, if the price was right, but the priority was Data Centers.
Scott mentioned the marketing of the Apple-Google Corridor and how do we market the name and brand the corridor. He is certain that the companies are not going to allow us to use their company name. One thing is for sure, whatever name that eventually sticks will be synonymous with new tech opportunities. Many more possibilities have opened up as a result of this burgeoning corridor.
This Park is being developed and now they are out of product. They have to develop one or more opportunities for development, but that is going to be difficult. There are more opportunities for development along I-40, but companies desire Hwy 321 and its proximity to the Charlotte Airport. They are going to have to soon decide.
Scott next started discussing future opportunities like the Green Economy and the Smart Grid. We have the 3rd highest manufacturing Workforce concentration in the U.S. We need to start analyzing our strong suits and how they mesh with new opportunities on the horizon. There are a lot of products that we don't understand and therefore we don't understand the opportunities available. Let's go where everyone else isn't and develop opportunities for that. We need to find our niche and develop our arguments for why these companies need to come here. We need to explain what sets us apart from everyone else.
What makes Hickory and Catawba County different? the Eco-Complex, the Manufacturing Solutions Center. There are very few MSAs that have the level of cultural offerings that we have offered for years. Other MSAs don't have the water resources that we have. We need to understand the assets that we have and what makes us different from everyone else. If we don't maintain those differences, then suddenly we become like every other mid-sized area. Areas that we feel like we are bigger and better than at this point. And it will become harder to compete for Economic Development opportunities.
We have a pretty complex economic spectrum. When we look at ourselves like a wheel. we have some loose spokes and their is a wobble to the wheel. There are entities dealing with a lot of the spokes and each entity and agency has to be given a responsibility specific to the spokes. The EDC is working on specific tasks and there are other opportunities that can't be covered by the EDC. Scott's final summary question was, If there are opportunities we are interested in, how do we make sure that all of the opportunities are being taken care of? Are we missing any sectors? Are we making sure that we are looking at all of the sectors?
What sectors are we missing? Where should we be looking? And what entities should be responsible for that?
Some comments from the Question and Answer session:
*** North Carolina has an economic distress level tiering system with 3 tiers. Catawba County is a tier 2, which allows us to receive a moderate level of incentives from the State. Could we become a tier 1 which would allow us to receive $12,500 per job versus the current $5,000? It also allows you to receive Golden Leaf Foundation funding and Rural Center funding. Caldwell and Burke Counties are tier 1 counties.
***Product is competitively priced buildings, sites, or parks.
***What would be the perfect type of industry for this area? An Apple like entity that creates a lot of higher paying jobs. Headquarters types of corporations and Engineering oriented types of facilities. This market has supported high tech, high quantity job creation in the past. Scott said he would like to see 600 to 1200 person, engineering types of operations that drives a lot... We thought we were bullet proof in 1999.
The Hound can't add any more to what Scott Millar stated here. He has his finger on the pulse of what this community needs to move towards being. He, along with the others at this conference, have been telling everyone that we need to move forward. We need to assess the ingredients we have and quit obsessing about what we don't have.
The future and growth will involve technology, which involves engineering. I believe that the foundation can be laid to make progress possible, but as we have seen in the past, personal interests can take us in the opposite direction of where common sense and good judgment should be leading us. That is one reason that I would like to see us hitch a ride with Charlotte and build relationships with Raleigh and other centrifugal communities. The only thing we have to fear is what we've got, and that is years of the Status Quo.
Malaise = Status Quo
Fixing Hickory - CVCC’s New Manufacturing Solutions Center
How to Keep Manufacturing and Business in Catawba County. This presentation was made by Dan St. Louis who is Director of the Center for Emerging Manufacturing Solutions at Catawba Valley Community College.
The Manufacturing Solutions Center grew out of Catawba Valley Community College's Hosiery Center. The Center has a 19 year history in Catawba County and was started from a small grant from Catawba County and the State. Over the last few years, the Hosiery Center was asked to branch off and do things for other industries. They have now formalized that expansionary role. The mission is to help U.S. Manufacturing companies increase sales, create and retain jobs. What they want to do is make things happen. The bottom line is that they are trying to find solutions to industry problems.
The type of things the Center does are Research and Development. It isn't about intellectual property or patents. It is about people being able to facilitate their ideas into making money and hopefully they will be able to employ somebody.
The Center helps analyze new materials to enhance structures and programs. Example: Textiles can be made from recyclable or random materials. Examples were shown such as socks, yarn, and fabric being made from bottles or corn. Dan talked about cotton that can be dyed with no alkali, no salt, and it dyes in 1/3 the time. This is a huge savings. This has been developed by a U.S. company that is committed to keeping this technology here.
The Center wants to create prototypes for new and existing offerings. How do you move items from concept to marketplace? The Center is providing a forum for the roll-out of 21st century technologies, International Marketing and Sales, and Industry advocacy. The Center tests products for reliability and content quality.
The Testing Center employs 18 full-time employees and 17 part-time employees. 240 manufacturers, retailers, and brands from throughout the world utilize the Center's services. They solicit customer interaction and even invite customers in to see how products are tested. They have strict confidentiality agreements with customers to ensure intellectual property and average a "3 day turn" on tests and try to keep it to 5 days.
The Center will be ISO certified ( International Organization for Standardization) this fall. Their customers want that. The Consumer Product Safety Commission says they must be certified in order to be able to testify and do industry advocacy. They began the certification process last May.
The Center doesn't compete with other labs. They actually go to them. What they found is that industry testers were doing things that weren't scientifically correct. The Center has equipment that many manufacturers don't have. Basically the testing lab enables the manufacturers to do what is necessary to maintain quality control of their products by efficient means and at lower costs. Dan said that 10 years ago he wouldn't have bet that there would be a testing lab (at CVCC), but here we are.
Dan stated that much of the testing equipment that is used for textiles can also be used for a whole lot of other stuff. They can do medical compression for medical garments. He stated that they are probably the only lab in the Western Hemisphere that can do this. They do defect, fiber, flammability, and formaldehyde analysis.
The center does microscopy and has one of the finest microscopist (Jill McCann) in the country. They have looked at everything from food to fiber and have even gone into plants to do in-plant quality audits.
As far as training services, the Center works with a lot of partners. They know they can't do everything. They do LINK manufacturing, which involves going in-plant and helping set-up training and implementation. They work with Manufacturing Industrial Partnership, supply chain management, industrial training, and software training. They will do whatever it takes to help companies succeed.
3-D printing and visualizations are types of engineering services provided by the center. They are looking to expand this role, which includes 3-D modeling, which is located at the NC Center for Engineering Technologies. CAD software, rapid prototype, and plant layout are also issues they are dealing with and looking to further expand upon. This partnership with works very well with what they do over there. They also have a modeling machine on CVCC's main campus. They do reverse engineering and have plastics engineers that are creating models that can do small-scale prototype molds that help sell products before developing the full-scale mold. This saves thousands of dollars, which is especially helpful to smaller companies and start-ups.
The Center does a lot of marketing. This helps associated companies to sell their products. "If you don't sell anything, then how do you make money? How can you be successful?" The Center received a grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce three years ago to help do international sales. These grants help businesses to market their products throughout the World. The Center brought together 54 apparel manufacturers to market jointly at the World's largest apparel show, which is held in Las Vegas. The goal was to market "Made in the USA" products. Over $30 million in new sales are directly attributable to joint marketing ventures forged by the Center. The Solutions Center has been working closely with the Industrial Extension Service at NC State, since 1994, to find new ways to market products. Statistical Analysis provided helps to focus the marketing efforts.
As far as Government Procurement, just this past year the State of North Carolina received $9.5 million in new sales directly attributable to to Solutions Center. Close to 50 jobs will be created in the Valdese area, because of this Government Procurement. They have a person that sifts through government needs to see how they can match those needs with what Solution Center customers and partners can supply.
Businesses from throughout the U.S. have started coming to Hickory to visit the Solutions Center and see what services they can provide. The center is getting a good reputation and Dan wants to expand and create jobs based upon this. The vast majority of people who are working at the center have come from manufacturing.
The Center is bottom line results driven. 96% of the Center's customers and partners returned surveys that were issued to them. The surveys show that the Solutions Center created an impact of an increase in sales of $2.8 million, a retention of sales of $1.6 million, cost savings of $274,000, retention of jobs - 75, and creation of jobs - 53. The bottom line is that the Center had an impact of $5.122 million. The Center had a 58 to 1 return on the grant ($399,000) it received from the Department of Commerce based on sales.
The Solutions Center utilizes the NC and U.S. Departments of Commerce to get into places that they can't get into on their own. This helped them contact the Japanese Embassy which helped them go to Japan and sell the "Corn" sock. At that time the Green Economy was not big in the U.S.
Dan stated that, in summary, they are the place where the problems meet the solutions. They exist to do whatever it takes to create and secure jobs. The Center is 60% self-supporting and receives 40% State and Federal funds. Right now the center is spread out and chopped up. They will be moving into the Ryan's Steakhouse building soon and it already looks as though it will be filled up.
The Hound can see that this is the type of Public-Private partnership that gives local businesses a chance to compete. This type of organization has been facilitated long ago in Europe and Asia. It gives innovators a chance to test their wares before going to the public and it gives local industry the ability to have an outside opinion at a reasonable cost. Too bad we didn't have such an organization 20 years ago. Maybe if we had, then our local manufacturing enterprises would have been quicker to modernize and we wouldn't be suffering the economic pain we are today.
The Manufacturing Solutions Center grew out of Catawba Valley Community College's Hosiery Center. The Center has a 19 year history in Catawba County and was started from a small grant from Catawba County and the State. Over the last few years, the Hosiery Center was asked to branch off and do things for other industries. They have now formalized that expansionary role. The mission is to help U.S. Manufacturing companies increase sales, create and retain jobs. What they want to do is make things happen. The bottom line is that they are trying to find solutions to industry problems.
The type of things the Center does are Research and Development. It isn't about intellectual property or patents. It is about people being able to facilitate their ideas into making money and hopefully they will be able to employ somebody.
The Center helps analyze new materials to enhance structures and programs. Example: Textiles can be made from recyclable or random materials. Examples were shown such as socks, yarn, and fabric being made from bottles or corn. Dan talked about cotton that can be dyed with no alkali, no salt, and it dyes in 1/3 the time. This is a huge savings. This has been developed by a U.S. company that is committed to keeping this technology here.
The Center wants to create prototypes for new and existing offerings. How do you move items from concept to marketplace? The Center is providing a forum for the roll-out of 21st century technologies, International Marketing and Sales, and Industry advocacy. The Center tests products for reliability and content quality.
The Testing Center employs 18 full-time employees and 17 part-time employees. 240 manufacturers, retailers, and brands from throughout the world utilize the Center's services. They solicit customer interaction and even invite customers in to see how products are tested. They have strict confidentiality agreements with customers to ensure intellectual property and average a "3 day turn" on tests and try to keep it to 5 days.
The Center will be ISO certified ( International Organization for Standardization) this fall. Their customers want that. The Consumer Product Safety Commission says they must be certified in order to be able to testify and do industry advocacy. They began the certification process last May.
The Center doesn't compete with other labs. They actually go to them. What they found is that industry testers were doing things that weren't scientifically correct. The Center has equipment that many manufacturers don't have. Basically the testing lab enables the manufacturers to do what is necessary to maintain quality control of their products by efficient means and at lower costs. Dan said that 10 years ago he wouldn't have bet that there would be a testing lab (at CVCC), but here we are.
Dan stated that much of the testing equipment that is used for textiles can also be used for a whole lot of other stuff. They can do medical compression for medical garments. He stated that they are probably the only lab in the Western Hemisphere that can do this. They do defect, fiber, flammability, and formaldehyde analysis.
The center does microscopy and has one of the finest microscopist (Jill McCann) in the country. They have looked at everything from food to fiber and have even gone into plants to do in-plant quality audits.
As far as training services, the Center works with a lot of partners. They know they can't do everything. They do LINK manufacturing, which involves going in-plant and helping set-up training and implementation. They work with Manufacturing Industrial Partnership, supply chain management, industrial training, and software training. They will do whatever it takes to help companies succeed.
3-D printing and visualizations are types of engineering services provided by the center. They are looking to expand this role, which includes 3-D modeling, which is located at the NC Center for Engineering Technologies. CAD software, rapid prototype, and plant layout are also issues they are dealing with and looking to further expand upon. This partnership with works very well with what they do over there. They also have a modeling machine on CVCC's main campus. They do reverse engineering and have plastics engineers that are creating models that can do small-scale prototype molds that help sell products before developing the full-scale mold. This saves thousands of dollars, which is especially helpful to smaller companies and start-ups.
The Center does a lot of marketing. This helps associated companies to sell their products. "If you don't sell anything, then how do you make money? How can you be successful?" The Center received a grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce three years ago to help do international sales. These grants help businesses to market their products throughout the World. The Center brought together 54 apparel manufacturers to market jointly at the World's largest apparel show, which is held in Las Vegas. The goal was to market "Made in the USA" products. Over $30 million in new sales are directly attributable to joint marketing ventures forged by the Center. The Solutions Center has been working closely with the Industrial Extension Service at NC State, since 1994, to find new ways to market products. Statistical Analysis provided helps to focus the marketing efforts.
As far as Government Procurement, just this past year the State of North Carolina received $9.5 million in new sales directly attributable to to Solutions Center. Close to 50 jobs will be created in the Valdese area, because of this Government Procurement. They have a person that sifts through government needs to see how they can match those needs with what Solution Center customers and partners can supply.
Businesses from throughout the U.S. have started coming to Hickory to visit the Solutions Center and see what services they can provide. The center is getting a good reputation and Dan wants to expand and create jobs based upon this. The vast majority of people who are working at the center have come from manufacturing.
The Center is bottom line results driven. 96% of the Center's customers and partners returned surveys that were issued to them. The surveys show that the Solutions Center created an impact of an increase in sales of $2.8 million, a retention of sales of $1.6 million, cost savings of $274,000, retention of jobs - 75, and creation of jobs - 53. The bottom line is that the Center had an impact of $5.122 million. The Center had a 58 to 1 return on the grant ($399,000) it received from the Department of Commerce based on sales.
The Solutions Center utilizes the NC and U.S. Departments of Commerce to get into places that they can't get into on their own. This helped them contact the Japanese Embassy which helped them go to Japan and sell the "Corn" sock. At that time the Green Economy was not big in the U.S.
Dan stated that, in summary, they are the place where the problems meet the solutions. They exist to do whatever it takes to create and secure jobs. The Center is 60% self-supporting and receives 40% State and Federal funds. Right now the center is spread out and chopped up. They will be moving into the Ryan's Steakhouse building soon and it already looks as though it will be filled up.
The Hound can see that this is the type of Public-Private partnership that gives local businesses a chance to compete. This type of organization has been facilitated long ago in Europe and Asia. It gives innovators a chance to test their wares before going to the public and it gives local industry the ability to have an outside opinion at a reasonable cost. Too bad we didn't have such an organization 20 years ago. Maybe if we had, then our local manufacturing enterprises would have been quicker to modernize and we wouldn't be suffering the economic pain we are today.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
What is coming up on the Hickory Hound
All is not Lost - Catawba County Intra-City Visit and Economic Revitalization Conference
Building a Relationship with NC State's Centennial campus
Fixing Hickory - The Appalachian State Partnership
Fixing Hickory - Education Matters and Workforce Development
Fixing Hickory - “What Will Catawba County’s Economic Climate and Demographics Look Like in 2020”?
Fixing Hickory - A Demographics and Marketing Discussion Panel
Hickory City Council Candidates on First talk Show with Hal Row (WHKY 1290) - Coming up on starting on Monday at the 8 o'clock hour. This looks like it will be the only chance to hear the candidates live. Hal Row should be commended for what he does for this community by creating a political dialogue.
1) Monday 10/19/2009 - Jill Patton - Incumbent Ward 6
2) Tuesday 10/20/2009 - Z. Anne Hoyle - Incumbent Ward 4
3) Wednesday 10/21/2009 - Hank Guess - Challenger Ward 4
4) Thursday 10/22/2009 - Harry Hipps - Challenger Ward 6
*** Here is the article from the Hickory Daily Record about these races.
Two contested seats in Hickory race
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Fixing Hickory - A Demographics and Marketing Discussion Panel
Relocation/Marketing Campaign: Increasing Population Growth
Houston Harris, President of Pixelspace
Andy Wells, President, Prism Development
J.D. Ross, Bank of Granite, President of Hickory Young Professionals
Shuford Abernethy, President at Abingdon Senior Housing Services, Inc.
Nancy Yount, Office Manager & Information Services at Catawba County Chamber Of Commerce
Danny Hearn opened this presentation. This subject of relocation and marketing; what are we doing to attract people to the area. Are websites tied in together? How do we Brand the community. What attracts people here?
Danny stated that this issue was literally discussed to death.
It all comes back to the population matter. the City has been asking, "How do we go after retirees?" There is a good debate going on about how we grow our population. There is a certain mindset that the retirees come in and they are the ones that don't particularly like change. They don't like to vote on bond issues or other things that will create growth. Danny stated that he wouldn't be to picky and he wouldn't take that off of the table.
The Chamber gets no money for relocation marketing and Bebe Leitch of the Hickory Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau only gets money from local government to run the convention center and a little money for regional visitor information. There is no money directed towards getting people to move here. This is an enormous void and we are trying to figure out what we do.
Houston Harris was the first member of the panel to speak. Houston stated that most of his company's work is not done locally. There work is done all over the U.S. and frankly they ignore their backyard. They have started to pick up some of that (local) work, because they see the need for it, but he doesn't like putting all of his eggs in one basket.
The trouble that he sees, in serving on l;oval boards and committees, is that they seem to have the same needs and desires, and they are trying to fight that fight with limited resources. Frankly, it makes him mad that we can't get our egos out of the way and sit down and fight the same monster at the same time and bundle our resources so that we can take care of our resources, as opposed to running over here and doing this and running over here and doing that and not really having a plan. Long Term, he would like to see a strategy that has specific goals and the goals should be reasonable and achievable. We shouldn't focus on more than 3 to 5 (goals). We attach some metrics to them (goals), so that we can track them and put the tactics in place so that we can achieve those goals.
We need to track the goals and if we aren't on a path that is getting us towards the goal, then we need to change paths. If the right plan is in place, then the right things will be built into the system so that we can make minor forced corrections without having to turn the boat in a whole other direction. Right now, we are being forced to turn our boat in a whole other direction and enough of us in this room are finally feeling enough pain to do something about it. Pain causes change. We need to move as a whole towards the goal.
Can we agree on what the goal is? I (Houston) heard one of the presentations. How do we keep manufacturing in this area. I feel that we can't. It will be a small subset. How do we fill in the gaps? What are some of the things we can do? If we are going to run around chasing manufacturing, then frankly I don't want to be a part of it. But, if we can have that as a component and diversify and be resilient. We will increase our capacity in multiple areas, not just silos, but interrelate those and connect them, then I believe we will be stronger in the long run.
Andy Wells next addressed the group. He stated that he read a book a numebr of years ago titled the The Path of Least Resistance. It stated that the first thing you do is establish what your current reality is. You can't move towards your goal til you know where you are. He went through this with his company and it has been helpful in going through what we have gone through since the year 2000. He hasn't seen the community do that.
We can't come to grips with where we are at relating to growth. we have lost 21% of our jobs since 2000. There is a correlation between job growth and population growth. Some guy in Raleigh is saying that we are going to gain 16.3% (population). We know from 2000 that they can miss bu 15%, so it is safe to assume that we can miss by 20%. What if they say we are going to gain 16% and we lose 2%. there could be $100 million of public funds spent for growth that may not be coming. You will have spent this money for nothing and then you have to maintain it and you won't be able to afford that, if you lose the population base.
A lot of our money has come from the past. There is a reservoir of capital in this community that we have been living on for the last 10 years. We aren't earning what we are spending. we are consuming what we have saved. Thankfully this was a very thrifty area. people have been able to stay here after losing jobs, because they have savings and reserves.
But, if the public sector pulls $100 million out of the private sector in the next ten years to spend money for infrastructure on growth that doesn't happen, then we are going to be hurt. We have to make a decision about where we are and are we growing or are we not growing?
We need to decide if we are going to spend money on growth or spend money on marketing to try to get some growth. We are in a great position to market this area with Bebe Leitch of the Hickory Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau is a great person to lead this marketing effort in this community.
If we come to grips with the fact that we are not growing, then some of the money that has been spent on infrastructure can be spent on marketing. Andy stated that in his world not much is happening. His company is still doing deals, but they are just moving people around, not bringing new pieces in. they are getting people from somebody else, because apparently they're a little hungrier. That is not fun and that is not long term sustainable. Andy stated that it is his belief that we are not growing and there is no better place than the Catawba Valley to live.
J.D. Ross next made a presentation. He is from Lenoir, went to NC State, and came back to the area to work for the Bank of Granite. He started working there in college and they offered him a job when he graduated. He was offered jobs in Raleigh, but he didn't like those places as much as the Bank of Granite so he came back here. He has bought a house here and plans to be here for a long time. He believes a lot of young people have that mindset.
J.D.'s position with the Hickory Young Professionals is really his first effort at being involved with boards and serving the community. It is something he wants to do more of. The group targets people 21 to 40 years old. He would like to see Young Professionals become the highest demographic of growth over the next 20 years, because they are going to be the ones buying houses, getting jobs, paying taxes, raising families, supporting the school systems, supporting area retail and industry, and everything in Hickory. That is an important thing to target.
What they (HYP) have found out, in talking to young people in schools and universities is that this area has a horrible Brain Drain. People from here go off to college and never come back. If I am planning on going to college, then I am looking for a higher paying job that is not here. College students are looking for a job in Charlotte, Raleigh, or out of state somewhere. If kids aren't planning on going to college, then they would start looking for a job in this area, because that is what this area was. That is changing somewhat now, but we can accelerate that change.
Something their group has talked about is that younger people today will not necessarily move to an area for a job. That has changed somewhat. People don't mind commuting 30 minutes or an hour to a job. They will move to Hickory and work in Charlotte, so they can have everything that Hickory has. This is one of the best places in the state to start a family and raise a family and have all of the amenities we have here, but you are within an hour of Charlotte and Asheville and everything is within reach. Our schools are some of the best around.
Job Growth isn't happening here, but we are poised to see that in the next ten years. That is something that is important to young people starting right now. Something they try to do in recruiting new members is to express that if they are looking for a place to settle, then everything is within reach. We want to get away from the Brain Drain and get people from this area to come back here or attract people from the local area Universities.
Nancy Yount was the next person to address the forum. She discussed the people that are locating to the area. She stated that she has been contacted by people from all over the United States. They call, e-mail, and sometimes they just walk in through the front door. They may be traveling somewhere for a weekend or may be visiting an area in the region.
Young families ask about schools, middle couples want to know about our continuing education, and older couples want to know about area medical (hospitals and doctors). They love the location and seasons. They have friends here. She has a newcomers package and she arranges for people to meet real estate people.
Shuford Abernethy explained what he does. He originally worked for United Church Homes and Services for 14 years. They have continuing care retirement communities. One is located here in Catawba County, one in Davidson County, and one in Suffolk, Virginia. Continuing care includes nursing homes, assisted living, and independent living. They offer a broad range of services. He worked in marketing the operations in Newton and Thomasville. He kept hearing that these facilities were great, but the people weren't ready for this yet. That was a fairly typical comment.
The average age of move in in continuing care retirement communities, is late 70s and early 80s. There was a market for a younger group, who prefer one level townhome living and need help with exterior maintenance, and Hickory looked like a wonderful place to do this type of development for adults 55 and up. Abingdon Glenn Village was started in the late 90s, property was purchased in 2000.
They were looking for some specifics. Shopping, public transportation routes, inside the city limits, and convenience for driving to things close by so tenants don't have to get out onto main thoroughfares. This eliminates barriers and allows people to stay independently at home longer than they could in a conventional house. He then gave specifics on the amenities that the homes offer.
Shuford called this type of a devlopment an Enhanced Services Townhome Community. These types of developments have developed in Arizona and Florida. It is also called an Active Adult Community by some people. Shuford stated that he didn't have a lot of money for marketing and much of the marketing work came from reading and figuring out what seemed to work and what didn't.
Some of the things they have tried. They started out with a program called File of Life from out of Massachusetts. They went around to church groups, civic groups, and various other organizations to speak about the File of Life Program. A lot of Grass Roots marketing. They used regular news releases. Ran ads in Retirement Magazines. Developed a website. Held monthly open houses. Ran radio ads for a year. Participated as a sponsor on the chamber of Commerce website. Yellow page ads and website. ran ads in the real estate books. The most successful tool has been Mature Living Choices magazine.
85 houses have been built so far out of a projected 93 and 76 of those homes are occupied. Abingdon Glen has a population exceeding 120 people. The average age of move-in is 71. The people have come from 13 states. 58% of the people are from the Hickory Metro, 18% have come from other parts of the state, and 5% of the homes are owned by former Floridians.
The Forum was opened and Danny asked Nancy about how people have found Hickory. She talked about several people utilizing a website called findyourspot.com. She answered a question stating that 25% of the people have some sort of attachment to the area. Last year they spoke to 1,300 to 1,400 people.
There was a lady in the audience who originally was from Pennsylvania. She stated that originally she wanted to move to Charlotte, but she was drawn to Hickory, because of the small town feel, yet we have the same things and opportunities that are available in larger cities.
A statement was made that we should start inputting information to marketing websites, because we are trusting websites to do this. Houston stated that that troubled him, because that is one of hundreds of sites that do this. We don't have activities or a plan in place, we can't input our own information, but we can ask them if they would mind adding this. There is no activity like that taking place and that is not hard to do. It is simply putting a CD together, getting an intern from a local college, and getting them to do this. We just need to start talking and build a relationship. This is not a lot of money we're talking about. Suddenly, we could bump that number one or two points and what would that mean? If we do that to 25 websites, then what does that mean? Suddenly, the bucket starts filling. That is Guerrilla Marketing and that is what I (Houston) would like to see.
Andy stated that what they saw is that it isn't hard to do this stuff. There is just no consensus in the community that we need to do this stuff and who is going to do it. Andy states that his company knows how to get seen. He wants people, when they look for a place to live in the Carolinas, they hit Hickory. We are fractured. We are geasring the thing around legislation or what we did 20n years ago. We aren't focusing on what we need today.
Houston stated that we are being investigated whether we know it or not. We get looked at every day whether we want to be or not. If they are looking are we there to be seen. pieces of us are, but not all of us. We have tried to develop a Metro Portal that attaches silos (Live, Play, Work). Make the process simple.
Alan Jackson, President of the Jackson Group stated that what worries him is that it seems that the successes we are seeing are all happenstance. We are at the mercy of reputation, word of mouth, or whatever connections are out there beyond us. You don't run a business that way. You figure out what you want and you go after them. It is a question of what we want. It doesn't have to be just one group. We can pick and choose a mixture of a bunch of them.
Houston said he describes it as a Creative Persona. An individual and what defines them. Age, income, what they want, and what they care about - There thing. here is a different persona. Once you have the persona, it becomes an individual and it is about what they want and not about what my agenda is. Now we are addressing there needs and not mine. Once we figure out the personas, then we need to figure out which one is going to get us, as a community, to the goal, If we have four personas, then we don't have to weight them equally. We can weight the scales of marketing effort towards that direction. If it turns out to not be viable, then we can change it and refocus.
Nancy answered a question about the Chamber's information packet and what people ask her about and how are they making decisions. She stated that she coordinates with area schools and other entities to change the packet every year. She then talked about some specific cases.
Houston stated that this bothered him. Nancy is doing her job wonderfully, but people have to come to her. Why is this information not on the web? How expensive would it be to put this on the web and have a form to fill out that requests an interview with the various schools in the area that your child may attend?
Bebe Leitch stated that numbers have gone down because of the decrease in travel. Nancy stated that numbers at the Chamber are also down. Much of this is because they are currently closed on the weekend. Bebe stated that a lot of people have found the CVB on the web and she just imagines how much more traffic we would see, if we start focusing on a marketing strategy. Shuford stated that he would like to see an online brochure that focuses on Hickory as a place to live. We see that for furniture, but not as a place to live.
Steve Ivester asked about what we are marketing? Hickory, Catawba County, or the whole Metro region? he sees an advantage in marketing the whole metro. Andy stated that the only name that matters, when marketing the area is Hickory. The other names don't mean anything to the people from out of state. We have had a fractured marketing strategy. We all do these little blips and we need to all get together. Ivester asked if we are talking about the Hickory Metro, then why is it only Hickory and Catawba County here (at this event).
Andy stated that we need to define who our target is. We have talked a lot about retirees, but what he would like to see is educated people with money. And he doesn't care if it is a 25 year old with money potential or a 60 year old with a 401-k. Andy stated that that is what we are getting, because they certainly aren't moving here to get jobs. Houston stated that that also focuses on relocation to live here. He wants start-ups. He wants an environment that is sensitive to small start-up businesses and find the next Google. If we can get better bandwidth and infrastructure and have an incubator and a Brand to get the first year's rent covered. this can take the burden off of their shoulders and the can focus their energy on doing things like writing applications for i-phones. A good application can be sold in the millions and that can be done in a 100 sq foot office.
Barbara Beatty said that Hickory needs to be targeting people in the Southeastern part of the county. She doesn't know how we will do that, but those people are going to Mooresville. How many people that live out towards Vale go to Lincoln County and don't know anything about Catawba County? Houston stated that this is also a perception of value issue. These people look at Mooresville as progressive, changing, and alive; and we're still 1985.
David Moore stated that they've also got a road to (Hwy 150 to Mooresville). Barbara stated that these people can come up Hwy 16 and hit I-40, so it's not that bad. She believes it is a matter of lack of knowledge and information. She suggested, we need to go down there (they are starved for information down there) and talk with them about some things.
Danny Hearn asked if we understod the frustration in all of this. We have the stuff and it's ready to go. Danny said the budget on this is about $50,000 and Houston was going to volunteer his time. David Moore said you have to get business to buy in. they have to understand how they are going to benefit from it. They have to pony up. I (Thom Shell) stated that you have to worry about the people moving here, is their perception that they're going to benefit from it. Not only are we going to benefit from it, but people on the other end, are they going to benefit from it. And if you give them that value, then they will come.
Houston stated that the part of the model he looked at was frustrating, because he was looking at how to get this thing off the ground. He thought about doing it himself and nobody would be able to tell him how to do it, but then he had to figure out how to sustain it after the first two years and then he was going to have to make it an ad based revenue generating site and that cheapens the whole thing and that defeats the purpose. It will start to collapse after two years. That is the only way to get a business to support it, unless their are funds set up front. He believes their has got to be grant money available for this, to sustain this long term.
The Hound believes that this was truly an integral discussion and Alan's Focus Group event the following day was just as important. We have to sell Hickory and get people to look at what Hickory can be, not what it is or has been.
There were very few statements that can be challenged, that were made during this Panel discussion. I think that all of these people are doing their jobs well. I know what Houston Harris brings to the table from the discussions during the Future Economy Council meetings and conversations I have had with him in private. If he tells you this is the thing to do, then I would do it, because this guy has character. He isn't selling you a load. He knows where he is going in life and so does Alan Jackson. These are the creative Generation X leaders of this community and they have great ideas about how to get us headed back in the right direction.
JD Ross and the Young Professional group also need to be supported. These people have worked hard to get this group off the ground in the last two years. Listen to what he said during this panel discussion. I can tell you that what he said here is very much representative of what the HYP stands for. Successful recruitment of this demo is the key to successful, long-term, viable, and sustainable growth in this area. If Charlotte can host this demo, then by god Hickory can too!!!
I appreciate what Shuford Abernethy brought to the table. We have seen successful marketing to retirees in this area. You can see why, when you listen to his strategy and how well thought out and articulate he espouses his mission. I know people that live in Abingdon Glen and it is a nice community. I believe that if we see that kind of strategy in other demographic areas of this region, then we will move back towards balance and prosperity.
Andy Wells is obviously passionate and he made some excellent points about growth and finance in Hickory. If we don't readdress our priorities, then we are not going to grow and it is going to be terribly hard on those left behind holding the pieces. I fully understand what he is addressing when he talks about the path of least resistance and understanding where you are at and how you got here. I have espoused that same philosophy myself over the last year on this blog.
I really don't understand why this type of marketing strategy hasn't already happened. We are the 138th largest MSA in the United States. We have seen the route that technology and information are leading us to. The amount of money we are talking about is a pittance compared to the benefits this region would receive. $50,000 or $100,000 is nothing when spread amongst the 360,000 people that live in this region. 30-cents a year, per person, for a real investment that has a high likelihood of return. I know that people like Alan and Houston would do a top-notch job. It is time to get it done!!!
Houston Harris, President of Pixelspace
Andy Wells, President, Prism Development
J.D. Ross, Bank of Granite, President of Hickory Young Professionals
Shuford Abernethy, President at Abingdon Senior Housing Services, Inc.
Nancy Yount, Office Manager & Information Services at Catawba County Chamber Of Commerce
Danny Hearn opened this presentation. This subject of relocation and marketing; what are we doing to attract people to the area. Are websites tied in together? How do we Brand the community. What attracts people here?
Danny stated that this issue was literally discussed to death.
It all comes back to the population matter. the City has been asking, "How do we go after retirees?" There is a good debate going on about how we grow our population. There is a certain mindset that the retirees come in and they are the ones that don't particularly like change. They don't like to vote on bond issues or other things that will create growth. Danny stated that he wouldn't be to picky and he wouldn't take that off of the table.
The Chamber gets no money for relocation marketing and Bebe Leitch of the Hickory Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau only gets money from local government to run the convention center and a little money for regional visitor information. There is no money directed towards getting people to move here. This is an enormous void and we are trying to figure out what we do.
Houston Harris was the first member of the panel to speak. Houston stated that most of his company's work is not done locally. There work is done all over the U.S. and frankly they ignore their backyard. They have started to pick up some of that (local) work, because they see the need for it, but he doesn't like putting all of his eggs in one basket.
The trouble that he sees, in serving on l;oval boards and committees, is that they seem to have the same needs and desires, and they are trying to fight that fight with limited resources. Frankly, it makes him mad that we can't get our egos out of the way and sit down and fight the same monster at the same time and bundle our resources so that we can take care of our resources, as opposed to running over here and doing this and running over here and doing that and not really having a plan. Long Term, he would like to see a strategy that has specific goals and the goals should be reasonable and achievable. We shouldn't focus on more than 3 to 5 (goals). We attach some metrics to them (goals), so that we can track them and put the tactics in place so that we can achieve those goals.
We need to track the goals and if we aren't on a path that is getting us towards the goal, then we need to change paths. If the right plan is in place, then the right things will be built into the system so that we can make minor forced corrections without having to turn the boat in a whole other direction. Right now, we are being forced to turn our boat in a whole other direction and enough of us in this room are finally feeling enough pain to do something about it. Pain causes change. We need to move as a whole towards the goal.
Can we agree on what the goal is? I (Houston) heard one of the presentations. How do we keep manufacturing in this area. I feel that we can't. It will be a small subset. How do we fill in the gaps? What are some of the things we can do? If we are going to run around chasing manufacturing, then frankly I don't want to be a part of it. But, if we can have that as a component and diversify and be resilient. We will increase our capacity in multiple areas, not just silos, but interrelate those and connect them, then I believe we will be stronger in the long run.
Andy Wells next addressed the group. He stated that he read a book a numebr of years ago titled the The Path of Least Resistance. It stated that the first thing you do is establish what your current reality is. You can't move towards your goal til you know where you are. He went through this with his company and it has been helpful in going through what we have gone through since the year 2000. He hasn't seen the community do that.
We can't come to grips with where we are at relating to growth. we have lost 21% of our jobs since 2000. There is a correlation between job growth and population growth. Some guy in Raleigh is saying that we are going to gain 16.3% (population). We know from 2000 that they can miss bu 15%, so it is safe to assume that we can miss by 20%. What if they say we are going to gain 16% and we lose 2%. there could be $100 million of public funds spent for growth that may not be coming. You will have spent this money for nothing and then you have to maintain it and you won't be able to afford that, if you lose the population base.
A lot of our money has come from the past. There is a reservoir of capital in this community that we have been living on for the last 10 years. We aren't earning what we are spending. we are consuming what we have saved. Thankfully this was a very thrifty area. people have been able to stay here after losing jobs, because they have savings and reserves.
But, if the public sector pulls $100 million out of the private sector in the next ten years to spend money for infrastructure on growth that doesn't happen, then we are going to be hurt. We have to make a decision about where we are and are we growing or are we not growing?
We need to decide if we are going to spend money on growth or spend money on marketing to try to get some growth. We are in a great position to market this area with Bebe Leitch of the Hickory Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau is a great person to lead this marketing effort in this community.
If we come to grips with the fact that we are not growing, then some of the money that has been spent on infrastructure can be spent on marketing. Andy stated that in his world not much is happening. His company is still doing deals, but they are just moving people around, not bringing new pieces in. they are getting people from somebody else, because apparently they're a little hungrier. That is not fun and that is not long term sustainable. Andy stated that it is his belief that we are not growing and there is no better place than the Catawba Valley to live.
J.D. Ross next made a presentation. He is from Lenoir, went to NC State, and came back to the area to work for the Bank of Granite. He started working there in college and they offered him a job when he graduated. He was offered jobs in Raleigh, but he didn't like those places as much as the Bank of Granite so he came back here. He has bought a house here and plans to be here for a long time. He believes a lot of young people have that mindset.
J.D.'s position with the Hickory Young Professionals is really his first effort at being involved with boards and serving the community. It is something he wants to do more of. The group targets people 21 to 40 years old. He would like to see Young Professionals become the highest demographic of growth over the next 20 years, because they are going to be the ones buying houses, getting jobs, paying taxes, raising families, supporting the school systems, supporting area retail and industry, and everything in Hickory. That is an important thing to target.
What they (HYP) have found out, in talking to young people in schools and universities is that this area has a horrible Brain Drain. People from here go off to college and never come back. If I am planning on going to college, then I am looking for a higher paying job that is not here. College students are looking for a job in Charlotte, Raleigh, or out of state somewhere. If kids aren't planning on going to college, then they would start looking for a job in this area, because that is what this area was. That is changing somewhat now, but we can accelerate that change.
Something their group has talked about is that younger people today will not necessarily move to an area for a job. That has changed somewhat. People don't mind commuting 30 minutes or an hour to a job. They will move to Hickory and work in Charlotte, so they can have everything that Hickory has. This is one of the best places in the state to start a family and raise a family and have all of the amenities we have here, but you are within an hour of Charlotte and Asheville and everything is within reach. Our schools are some of the best around.
Job Growth isn't happening here, but we are poised to see that in the next ten years. That is something that is important to young people starting right now. Something they try to do in recruiting new members is to express that if they are looking for a place to settle, then everything is within reach. We want to get away from the Brain Drain and get people from this area to come back here or attract people from the local area Universities.
Nancy Yount was the next person to address the forum. She discussed the people that are locating to the area. She stated that she has been contacted by people from all over the United States. They call, e-mail, and sometimes they just walk in through the front door. They may be traveling somewhere for a weekend or may be visiting an area in the region.
Young families ask about schools, middle couples want to know about our continuing education, and older couples want to know about area medical (hospitals and doctors). They love the location and seasons. They have friends here. She has a newcomers package and she arranges for people to meet real estate people.
Shuford Abernethy explained what he does. He originally worked for United Church Homes and Services for 14 years. They have continuing care retirement communities. One is located here in Catawba County, one in Davidson County, and one in Suffolk, Virginia. Continuing care includes nursing homes, assisted living, and independent living. They offer a broad range of services. He worked in marketing the operations in Newton and Thomasville. He kept hearing that these facilities were great, but the people weren't ready for this yet. That was a fairly typical comment.
The average age of move in in continuing care retirement communities, is late 70s and early 80s. There was a market for a younger group, who prefer one level townhome living and need help with exterior maintenance, and Hickory looked like a wonderful place to do this type of development for adults 55 and up. Abingdon Glenn Village was started in the late 90s, property was purchased in 2000.
They were looking for some specifics. Shopping, public transportation routes, inside the city limits, and convenience for driving to things close by so tenants don't have to get out onto main thoroughfares. This eliminates barriers and allows people to stay independently at home longer than they could in a conventional house. He then gave specifics on the amenities that the homes offer.
Shuford called this type of a devlopment an Enhanced Services Townhome Community. These types of developments have developed in Arizona and Florida. It is also called an Active Adult Community by some people. Shuford stated that he didn't have a lot of money for marketing and much of the marketing work came from reading and figuring out what seemed to work and what didn't.
Some of the things they have tried. They started out with a program called File of Life from out of Massachusetts. They went around to church groups, civic groups, and various other organizations to speak about the File of Life Program. A lot of Grass Roots marketing. They used regular news releases. Ran ads in Retirement Magazines. Developed a website. Held monthly open houses. Ran radio ads for a year. Participated as a sponsor on the chamber of Commerce website. Yellow page ads and website. ran ads in the real estate books. The most successful tool has been Mature Living Choices magazine.
85 houses have been built so far out of a projected 93 and 76 of those homes are occupied. Abingdon Glen has a population exceeding 120 people. The average age of move-in is 71. The people have come from 13 states. 58% of the people are from the Hickory Metro, 18% have come from other parts of the state, and 5% of the homes are owned by former Floridians.
The Forum was opened and Danny asked Nancy about how people have found Hickory. She talked about several people utilizing a website called findyourspot.com. She answered a question stating that 25% of the people have some sort of attachment to the area. Last year they spoke to 1,300 to 1,400 people.
There was a lady in the audience who originally was from Pennsylvania. She stated that originally she wanted to move to Charlotte, but she was drawn to Hickory, because of the small town feel, yet we have the same things and opportunities that are available in larger cities.
A statement was made that we should start inputting information to marketing websites, because we are trusting websites to do this. Houston stated that that troubled him, because that is one of hundreds of sites that do this. We don't have activities or a plan in place, we can't input our own information, but we can ask them if they would mind adding this. There is no activity like that taking place and that is not hard to do. It is simply putting a CD together, getting an intern from a local college, and getting them to do this. We just need to start talking and build a relationship. This is not a lot of money we're talking about. Suddenly, we could bump that number one or two points and what would that mean? If we do that to 25 websites, then what does that mean? Suddenly, the bucket starts filling. That is Guerrilla Marketing and that is what I (Houston) would like to see.
Andy stated that what they saw is that it isn't hard to do this stuff. There is just no consensus in the community that we need to do this stuff and who is going to do it. Andy states that his company knows how to get seen. He wants people, when they look for a place to live in the Carolinas, they hit Hickory. We are fractured. We are geasring the thing around legislation or what we did 20n years ago. We aren't focusing on what we need today.
Houston stated that we are being investigated whether we know it or not. We get looked at every day whether we want to be or not. If they are looking are we there to be seen. pieces of us are, but not all of us. We have tried to develop a Metro Portal that attaches silos (Live, Play, Work). Make the process simple.
Alan Jackson, President of the Jackson Group stated that what worries him is that it seems that the successes we are seeing are all happenstance. We are at the mercy of reputation, word of mouth, or whatever connections are out there beyond us. You don't run a business that way. You figure out what you want and you go after them. It is a question of what we want. It doesn't have to be just one group. We can pick and choose a mixture of a bunch of them.
Houston said he describes it as a Creative Persona. An individual and what defines them. Age, income, what they want, and what they care about - There thing. here is a different persona. Once you have the persona, it becomes an individual and it is about what they want and not about what my agenda is. Now we are addressing there needs and not mine. Once we figure out the personas, then we need to figure out which one is going to get us, as a community, to the goal, If we have four personas, then we don't have to weight them equally. We can weight the scales of marketing effort towards that direction. If it turns out to not be viable, then we can change it and refocus.
Nancy answered a question about the Chamber's information packet and what people ask her about and how are they making decisions. She stated that she coordinates with area schools and other entities to change the packet every year. She then talked about some specific cases.
Houston stated that this bothered him. Nancy is doing her job wonderfully, but people have to come to her. Why is this information not on the web? How expensive would it be to put this on the web and have a form to fill out that requests an interview with the various schools in the area that your child may attend?
Bebe Leitch stated that numbers have gone down because of the decrease in travel. Nancy stated that numbers at the Chamber are also down. Much of this is because they are currently closed on the weekend. Bebe stated that a lot of people have found the CVB on the web and she just imagines how much more traffic we would see, if we start focusing on a marketing strategy. Shuford stated that he would like to see an online brochure that focuses on Hickory as a place to live. We see that for furniture, but not as a place to live.
Steve Ivester asked about what we are marketing? Hickory, Catawba County, or the whole Metro region? he sees an advantage in marketing the whole metro. Andy stated that the only name that matters, when marketing the area is Hickory. The other names don't mean anything to the people from out of state. We have had a fractured marketing strategy. We all do these little blips and we need to all get together. Ivester asked if we are talking about the Hickory Metro, then why is it only Hickory and Catawba County here (at this event).
Andy stated that we need to define who our target is. We have talked a lot about retirees, but what he would like to see is educated people with money. And he doesn't care if it is a 25 year old with money potential or a 60 year old with a 401-k. Andy stated that that is what we are getting, because they certainly aren't moving here to get jobs. Houston stated that that also focuses on relocation to live here. He wants start-ups. He wants an environment that is sensitive to small start-up businesses and find the next Google. If we can get better bandwidth and infrastructure and have an incubator and a Brand to get the first year's rent covered. this can take the burden off of their shoulders and the can focus their energy on doing things like writing applications for i-phones. A good application can be sold in the millions and that can be done in a 100 sq foot office.
Barbara Beatty said that Hickory needs to be targeting people in the Southeastern part of the county. She doesn't know how we will do that, but those people are going to Mooresville. How many people that live out towards Vale go to Lincoln County and don't know anything about Catawba County? Houston stated that this is also a perception of value issue. These people look at Mooresville as progressive, changing, and alive; and we're still 1985.
David Moore stated that they've also got a road to (Hwy 150 to Mooresville). Barbara stated that these people can come up Hwy 16 and hit I-40, so it's not that bad. She believes it is a matter of lack of knowledge and information. She suggested, we need to go down there (they are starved for information down there) and talk with them about some things.
Danny Hearn asked if we understod the frustration in all of this. We have the stuff and it's ready to go. Danny said the budget on this is about $50,000 and Houston was going to volunteer his time. David Moore said you have to get business to buy in. they have to understand how they are going to benefit from it. They have to pony up. I (Thom Shell) stated that you have to worry about the people moving here, is their perception that they're going to benefit from it. Not only are we going to benefit from it, but people on the other end, are they going to benefit from it. And if you give them that value, then they will come.
Houston stated that the part of the model he looked at was frustrating, because he was looking at how to get this thing off the ground. He thought about doing it himself and nobody would be able to tell him how to do it, but then he had to figure out how to sustain it after the first two years and then he was going to have to make it an ad based revenue generating site and that cheapens the whole thing and that defeats the purpose. It will start to collapse after two years. That is the only way to get a business to support it, unless their are funds set up front. He believes their has got to be grant money available for this, to sustain this long term.
The Hound believes that this was truly an integral discussion and Alan's Focus Group event the following day was just as important. We have to sell Hickory and get people to look at what Hickory can be, not what it is or has been.
There were very few statements that can be challenged, that were made during this Panel discussion. I think that all of these people are doing their jobs well. I know what Houston Harris brings to the table from the discussions during the Future Economy Council meetings and conversations I have had with him in private. If he tells you this is the thing to do, then I would do it, because this guy has character. He isn't selling you a load. He knows where he is going in life and so does Alan Jackson. These are the creative Generation X leaders of this community and they have great ideas about how to get us headed back in the right direction.
JD Ross and the Young Professional group also need to be supported. These people have worked hard to get this group off the ground in the last two years. Listen to what he said during this panel discussion. I can tell you that what he said here is very much representative of what the HYP stands for. Successful recruitment of this demo is the key to successful, long-term, viable, and sustainable growth in this area. If Charlotte can host this demo, then by god Hickory can too!!!
I appreciate what Shuford Abernethy brought to the table. We have seen successful marketing to retirees in this area. You can see why, when you listen to his strategy and how well thought out and articulate he espouses his mission. I know people that live in Abingdon Glen and it is a nice community. I believe that if we see that kind of strategy in other demographic areas of this region, then we will move back towards balance and prosperity.
Andy Wells is obviously passionate and he made some excellent points about growth and finance in Hickory. If we don't readdress our priorities, then we are not going to grow and it is going to be terribly hard on those left behind holding the pieces. I fully understand what he is addressing when he talks about the path of least resistance and understanding where you are at and how you got here. I have espoused that same philosophy myself over the last year on this blog.
I really don't understand why this type of marketing strategy hasn't already happened. We are the 138th largest MSA in the United States. We have seen the route that technology and information are leading us to. The amount of money we are talking about is a pittance compared to the benefits this region would receive. $50,000 or $100,000 is nothing when spread amongst the 360,000 people that live in this region. 30-cents a year, per person, for a real investment that has a high likelihood of return. I know that people like Alan and Houston would do a top-notch job. It is time to get it done!!!
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