Newsletter about the City Council meeting of March 20, 2012 - Addendum - Warren Wood addresses Hickory's immediate Economic Future

I'll get to the Full City Council Newsletter tomorrow. The biggest issue talked about tonight was a focus on the poor Economy by the City's Assistant City Manager/Financial Advisor Warren Wood. He talked about the issues facing the city with the 2013-14 fiscal budget... about it being hard to increase revenues in this economy and the economy that he foresees. He believes that the city must focus on further cost cutting measures and the necessity to use part of the General Fund "Unfunded Balance" for necessary "Capital Maintenance" projects over the next several years.

The focus is on reducing the number of people working for the City by getting people to accept early retirement plans. There are 84 current employees that look to be eligible for this plan. These employees would have to make this decision to retire between July 1 and October 1 of this year. Warren talked about reorganizing and restructuring departments and eliminating and restructuring departments. He talked about keeping healthcare costs in check by instituting an employee compliant healthcare system. If an employee has traits, such as High Blood Pressure, cholesterol, or other issues, and they don't follow medical advice to keep them in check, then they are going to have to carry more of their personal healthcare costs. In other words, much of the burden of cost cutting measures will fall on city staff.

Warren Wood has always been realistic in these presentations. This shows where he sees the economy headed and it wasn't a rosy scenario. Below are some videos about the realities that we face as a nation in the near term future.


Gerald Celente on The Tom Sullivan Show - FOX ; Business News 19 March 2012 : we are in a severe recession here , this recovery is a paper recovery says Gerald Celente , , history is repeating itself only names and places have changed he added if we go to war with with Iran this is going to be the beginning of world War III.



Giving Voice to the Silent Majority - In this formal speech, Warren Pollock demands change in America on behalf of the Silent Majority of Americans. Please spread the word and join me in reforming policies of the United States both domestically and abroad. Lets give voice to the Silent Majority now being overrun by pervasive fraud and lawlessness.




Gerald Celente - The Banks have No Money - Everything Financial Radio - 18 March 2012 : they are flooding the markets with cheap money and as long as there is cheap money the market should continue to go up , until reality strikes , what will make reality strike , what made it strike the last time , we got have to see evidence of the fraud before it hits reality.

Confidence is a key Ingredient to Success

You have to believe in yourself. That doesn't mean that you bully people. People who believe in themselves care what others think, but don't live their lives by it. I believe I was born in the State of North Carolina for a reason. I look at the rich history of this State and some of the great people who have come from this State and it shows you that the sky is the limit.

When I say what I say above, that does not mean that we don't face some truly serious challenges and I personally believe that it is a necessity to acknowledge those challenges and insist on accountability. We have seen some terrible corruption take place in this State and this should not go unheeded. But, what I get tired of is when I hear people say that it's out of my control... or I can't do anything about it. It doesn't take many people to begin a movement, and it only takes one person to get a few people motivated towards that movement. Each one of us has a responsibility to carry our weight in this world and the more of us that do carry our weight, the better off the world will be.

Sure there are those that get ahead and don't really believe in themselves and they attempt to hold other people back to keep themselves on top. We see that all the time. I truly believe that is one of the things that is holding us back in these difficult times that we've witnessed over the last several years. I'm not saying that every person is like that, but as a collective that is the momentum that we have seen.... Impediments... Barriers to Entry... This is all caused by a lack of confidence.

Sure there are the lucky and fortunate. It is hard to not be jealous of these people. But truly it is not a righteous cause to covet what others have. What upsets most of us is to see this good fortune go to waste. Personally, I don't covet what these people have. I'm fine with what I have. I just don't want the lack of ambition and outright laziness of some these people to get in the way of progress. If they want to be lazy, then they need to do it on their own time and not on the public dime.

No one is expecting some miraculous Herculean effort. Those who desire progress have a role to  carry out. I liked what I heard last week when Dave Washco, the winner of the Edison Project, talked about being the best you can be. I know that there are efforts that I have taken part in over the last several years and I wish I could've done more, but in the end I'm not dissatisfied, because I know that I have done a lot and there's only so much time and I've made sacrifices to participate.

Each one of us has a role to play and I'm glad that I've gotten to know a lot of the people that I've gotten to know over the last several years in the efforts that I have participated in. I'm not going give up, because I am seeing changes, and we are moving forward.

I talked in the past about striving for excellence. No one strives for excellence all the time, but it should be the overarching ambition. We all go through periods of our life where we can't see the forest from the trees and we're just trying to get through the day, but we must understand what the end goal (desire) is and what the objectives are to our master plan.

We have a master plan, and we are working with others to move forward in the direction that will take this community back towards striving for excellence and balance. We are confident that eventually we will turn this community around. First the community, then the State, then the country, and finally the World.

There will always be doubters. There will always be people that want to tell you why something won't work. Every great invention was thought to be impossible before it came into being. As Dr. Garrett Hinshaw of Catawba Valley Community College said last week at that entrepreneurial forum, "you have to become numb to the word no." And as Dave Washco said, "when someone tells you no, then you need to ask them why?"

We're all good enough to get things done... We all are capable of contributing to the positive welfare of this community... We aren't crazy... We're confident... and really in the end, what is the alternative? We won't succeed without that Confidence!

Economic Stories of Relevance in Today's World -- March 18, 2012

Why I Am Leaving Goldman Sachs - New York Times.com - Greg Smith - March 14, 2012 - TODAY is my last day at Goldman Sachs. After almost 12 years at the firm — first as a summer intern while at Stanford, then in New York for 10 years, and now in London — I believe I have worked here long enough to understand the trajectory of its culture, its people and its identity. And I can honestly say that the environment now is as toxic and destructive as I have ever seen it.              
To put the problem in the simplest terms, the interests of the client continue to be sidelined in the way the firm operates and thinks about making money. Goldman Sachs is one of the world’s largest and most important investment banks and it is too integral to global finance to continue to act this way. The firm has veered so far from the place I joined right out of college that I can no longer in good conscience say that I identify with what it stands for.                       It might sound surprising to a skeptical public, but culture was always a vital part of Goldman Sachs’s success. It revolved around teamwork, integrity, a spirit of humility, and always doing right by our clients. The culture was the secret sauce that made this place great and allowed us to earn our clients’ trust for 143 years. It wasn’t just about making money; this alone will not sustain a firm for so long. It had something to do with pride and belief in the organization. I am sad to say that I look around today and see virtually no trace of the culture that made me love working for this firm for many years. I no longer have the pride, or the belief.....



Goldman Reviewing Policies on Its Deal Makers' Conflicts - Other Wall Street Firms Also Weigh Providing More Information to Clients - Wall Street Journal.com - GINA CHON and ANUPREETA DAS - March 16, 2012 - After being scolded in a recent court opinion, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. GS -0.11% is considering strengthening its internal rules on disclosure to clients of bankers' financial holdings......                       The concerns emerged after a Delaware judge said in a Feb. 29 opinion that the $21.1 billion proposed sale of El Paso Corp. EP +1.04% to natural-gas pipeline operator Kinder Morgan Inc., KMI +1.66% announced last year, was riddled with potential conflicts of interest.                          Among the conflicts, the judge said, was the $340,000 stake in Kinder Morgan of a main adviser to El Paso, Stephen Daniel, Goldman Sachs' top energy banker.
Goldman Sachs, which was aware of Mr. Daniel's investments, according to a person familiar with the matter, said in its statement: "We regret the El Paso Board wasn't aware of the investment." The bank didn't make Mr. Daniel available for comment and he didn't respond to requests for comment.        


Goldman person leaked Apple, Intel secrets: lawyer - Reuters - By Grant McCool - March 16, 2012 - A person at Goldman Sachs Group Inc, who has not been identified or charged in a broad U.S. insider-trading probe, was caught on a wiretap leaking secrets about Intel Corp and Apple Inc, a lawyer for accused former Goldman board member Rajat Gupta said in court on Friday.                Lawyer Gary Naftalis, in a heated exchange with U.S. prosecutor Reed Brodsky during a pre-trial hearing, said the Goldman person leaked confidential information about the two companies to Raj Rajaratnam, the Galleon Group hedge fund founder convicted of insider-trading charges last year.                 Gupta, the best-known corporate executive accused in a sweeping prosecution of insider-trading at hedge funds in recent years, denies criminal charges that he tipped Rajaratnam with Goldman Sachs and Procter & Gamble Co secrets between 2007 and 2009. His trial is scheduled to begin in May.


Goldman Sachs’s long history of duping its clients - Washington Post.com - William D. Cohan - March 16, 2012 - Guess what, Greg? You didn’t do your homework about the firm where you worked for more than a decade and happily took home one bonus check after another. Goldman Sachs has been in and out of trouble throughout its 143 years — chiefly because it chose to put its own interests before those of its clients. What appeared to be a revelation to Smith was actually available to anyone who looked for it, buried deep within Securities and Exchange Commission and court records. Smith could have saved himself grief if he had only used his Stanford education to examine Goldman’s DNA before crossing its threshold.                There are numerous examples of Goldman putting its own interests first. But one will suffice: the June 1970 bankruptcy of Penn Central Transportation Company, the nation’s largest railroad....            After Penn Central filed for bankruptcy, an SEC investigation discovered that Goldman had continued to sell the railroad’s debt to its clients at 100 cents on the dollar — even though, by the end of 1969, the firm knew that Penn Central’s finances were deteriorating rapidly. Not only was Goldman privy to Penn Central’s internal numbers, it also heard repeatedly from the railroad’s executives that it was rapidly running out of cash....                  The firm was able to settle many of these lawsuits for pennies on the dollar. But several suits went to trial, including one brought collectively by Welch’s, Younkers and C.R. Anthony, another Midwestern retailer. In their complaint, they charged Goldman with “fraud, deception, concealment, suppression and false pretense” in the sale of the commercial paper to them. They claimed that the firm had “made promises and representations as to the future which were beyond reasonable expectations and unwarranted by existing circumstances,” and had made “representations and statements which were false.”



Bleak outlook for US newspapers - Financial Times.com - Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson -  March 16, 2012 - In recent weeks, LinkedIn, the networking website, and the Council of Economic Advisers have reported that the press is “America’s fastest-shrinking industry”, measured by jobs lost; the Newspaper Association of America has shown that advertising sales have halved since 2005 and are now at 1984’s level; and the Pew Research Center has found that for every digital ad dollar they earned, they lost $7 in print ads.            As media from television to billboards bounce back from the recession, newsprint is being left behind. Zenith Optimedia this week predicted that internet advertising would pass newspaper advertising next year around the world – but in the US, where internet penetration is high and newspaper audiences are shrinking, digital will overtake newspapers’ and magazines’ combined ad sales this year, eMarketer estimates.                      “There’s no doubt we’re going out of business now,” one unnamed executive told Pew’s Project for Excellence in Journalism, which predicted a future of shrinking newsrooms, print deliveries only a few days of the week and more papers closing altogether. A USC Annenberg School study reached the stark conclusion that most printed US dailies would be gone in five years.                        Departing executives and bankruptcy advisers have been among the few people making good money from newspapers. The chief executives of Gannett and the New York Times left in recent months with packages worth $37m and $24m respectively, while advisers to Tribune’s Chapter 11 proceedings have earned $233m.......



As Chuck E. Cheese Goes So Goes America - End of the American Dream.com - Why are wild brawls breaking out at Chuck E. Cheese restaurants all over the United States? Sadly, the epidemic of Chuck E. Cheese fights that we have seen in recent months is just another symptom of what is happening to America on a larger scale. The truth is that the fabric of our society is slowly but surely coming apart, and the rest of the world is laughing at us. But it is really sad to see Chuck E. Cheese become known more for brawls than for entertainment. When I was a kid, I loved to go to Chuck E. Cheese. The combination of pizza, arcade games and animatronic music shows was irresistible. But if you go to Chuck E. Cheese today, there is a chance that you might get taken out of there in an ambulance. In Susquehanna, Pennsylvania police were called out to one particular Chuck E. Cheese restaurant 17 times in just one recent 18 month time period. Of course it is not just Chuck E. Cheese that is having these kinds of problems. All over the nation we are seeing brawls break out in public places, we are seeing thieves become incredibly bold, and we are seeing a general breakdown in civilized behavior. So where does America go from here? That is a very good question.
 
If you go on to YouTube and do a search for "Check E. Cheese fight" it will bring up dozens and dozens of search results.        But of course the same could be said about Denny's, IHOP and McDonald's too.         The Chuck E. Cheese brawls are particularly disturbing because Chuck E. Cheese is supposed to be a place for children.  It is supposed to be a place where they can feel safe and forget about the worries of the world for a little while.            Unfortunately, Chuck E. Cheese is now a place where violence could break out at any time.  For example, the following is a news report about a 60 year old grandmother that was taken away in an ambulance after being brutally attacked at a Chuck E. Cheese in Michigan....

If you want to see more you can go on to YouTube and watch restaurant brawl videos from all over America for hours.          So why are Americans acting this way?          What is causing all of this anger and frustration to come out?            Up in Massachusetts, one very angry father brutally assaulted a 6th grade basketball coach after his son's team lost a recent game and actually bit off a piece of his ear.          Why would someone do something like that?            Of course the economy has gotten much worse over the past few years, but certainly that can't account for all of this behavior, can it?              Another very disturbing trend is that thieves all over America are becoming much bolder and are stealing things that you normally wouldn't think they would steal.           For example, Tide detergent has become a form of alternative currency in many urban areas and there is now an epidemic of Tide thefts from coast to coast. 


Consumer Prices in U.S. Rose in February as Gasoline Jumped - Boomberg - By Alex Kowalski - March 16, 2012 - The cost of living in the U.S. rose in February by the most in 10 months, reflecting a jump in gasoline that failed to spread to other goods and services.         The consumer-price index climbed 0.4 percent, matching the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News, after increasing 0.2 percent the prior month, the Labor Department reported today in Washington. The so-called core measure, which excludes more volatile food and energy costs, climbed 0.1 percent, less than projected.                  The biggest jump in gasoline in more than a year accounted for about 80 percent of the increase in prices last month, leaving households with less money to spend on other goods and services. Federal Reserve policy makers say the advance in fuel costs will be temporary, and most see little risk inflation will flare out of control as unemployment exceeds 8 percent.


Bank of America: Too Crooked to Fail - The bank has defrauded everyone from investors and insurers to homeowners and the unemployed. So why does the government keep bailing it out? - Rolling Stone.com - Matt Taibbi - March 14, 2012 - At least Bank of America got its name right. The ultimate Too Big to Fail bank really is America, a hypergluttonous ward of the state whose limitless fraud and criminal conspiracies we'll all be paying for until the end of time. Did you hear about the plot to rig global interest rates? The $137 million fine for bilking needy schools and cities? The ingenious plan to suck multiple fees out of the unemployment checks of jobless workers? Take your eyes off them for 10 seconds and guaranteed, they'll be into some shit again: This bank is like the world's worst-behaved teenager, taking your car and running over kittens and fire hydrants on the way to Vegas for the weekend, maxing out your credit cards in the three days you spend at your aunt's funeral. They're out of control, yet they'll never do time or go out of business, because the government remains creepily committed to their survival, like overindulgent parents who refuse to believe their 40-year-old live-at-home son could possibly be responsible for those dead hookers in the backyard....

Matt Taibbi : The Banks are too Crooked to fail

Matt Taibbi : The Stress Test Is An Official Government Endorsement Of Widespread Banking Fraud Yes the banks know full well and realize this fact.not just banks. Our entire economy functions by taking money from the people in the form of taxation, and funneling it to the corporations who hire lobbyists to write the laws. Even in the case of intelligence gathering, 70% of money spent on intelligence goes to private corporations. People need to wake up organize, and develop a strategy to effect real change of the entire system. The government will never abolish the monetary system because the state needs an inauditable private printing-money machine to pay for the wars. There's no other way for the state to acquire the money needed for its agendas, it cant tax the people anymore and it cant push tariffs or product taxing prices up either...so...

Hickory Farmer's Market questions the Big Tent on Union Square - March 17, 2012

Message provided by a person with inside knowledge:

Just learned that the president of the Farmers Market board has asked the city that the structure being built on Union Square not be named in association with the Market. the farmers market is not really happy with the structure and does not want it to even be called the Farmers Market anything or the Market Pavilion... They do not want people to think that the city built it for them... even tho the city did build if for them... the President of the Market Board said all of this at a meeting with city staff... but the city folks just looked at him and said nothing and then went on to the next item on the agenda.

I haven't seen any coverage on this issue on the Hickory Hound, even though this entire process has been a classic example of abuse of power by the city. Two members of city council sit on the market board and basically railroaded this through, without public hearings or consideration for the budget process. And now, the market wants to be disconnected from it. Oh, and the design isn't even by a licensed architect and the city basically went through the back door on permit approval.

Newsletter about the City Council meeting of December 20, 2011 -- Addendum on Union Square's largest Awning yet - $285,000

No Public Hearing for the Big Tent on Union Square






The Hound: To understand the dynamics of this issue, you need to realize that on the Hickory City Council we have a member that owns property in the immediate vicinity of Union Square, we have a member who is informally a Board Emeritus of the Hickory Downtown Development Association, and we have a member who sits on the Farmer's Market Board who tilts everything in the City Administration's direction. No public discussion was held on this issue and they think that was a good thing. No public discussion was held on the issue of Hickory Alive either, it was just silently removed... Kind of like the way past tyrannies have worked to quietly silence their critics. 

The Mayor talked on Hal Row's show earlier this month about the perceived Heavy Handedness of this City Council. There is no perception about it when things are done blatantly to suppress the will of the people of this community. They keep trying to keep 800 pound guerrillas and pink elephants under the radar and yes they are successful with the comatose people in this community, but ain't everyone comatose folks and those who are awake are going to work hard to wake the comatose from their stupor.

“Promoting Entrepreneurship in Our Community” - CVCC Forum - March 6, 2012

About a week and a half ago, on March 6, 2012, I attended a forum related to Entrepreneurialism at CVCC. The forum was dedicated to “Promoting Entrepreneurship in Our Community.”

Guest panelists included Shane Cooper, founder and chief executive officer of DeFeet International, David Washco, founder of GoPriceDrive.com and ’11 Edison Prize Winner; Scott Millar, president of the Catawba County Economic Development Corporation; Danny Hearn, president of the Catawba County Chamber of Commerce; and Dr. Garrett Hinshaw, president of CVCC.

The event was sponsored by CVCC and the Catawba Valley Emerging Entrepreneurship Club, which seeks ways to introduce members to individuals who have started their own businesses. Students involved in this endeavor participate in various activities that provide real-world exposure to the day-to-day operations of American businesses.




Part 1 - Dr. Garrett Hinshaw, President of Catawba Valley Community College opens the Catawba Valley Emerging Entrepreneurship Club speaker’s forum on “Promoting Entrepreneurship in Our Community,” on Tuesday March 6, 2012 at 1:00 p.m. in the CVCC Auditorium.

Part 2 - The Participants of the speaker's forum on Entrepreneurship discuss how they got started in their careers and the path that led to where they are today.

Part 3 - What are some of the biggest challenges you have faced in your career? Mr. Washco talks about struggles including dyslexia -- a trait he shares along with Mr. Cooper. Mr. Cooper's story was very engaging related to the struggles he has had including starting over twice because of a fire and a flood and dealing with theft in his company.

Part 4 - The Bradshaws, who have started a company related to an innovative product that fills a void in the home medical assistance equipment market in the form of a unique stepstool with removable handrails for versatility and compact storage that helps people get in and out of vehicles, ask an excellent question about gaining an entry point into the marketplace. They want to know how they can get past company gatekeepers to get to decision makers in order to sell their product. Mr. Hearn talks about finding ways to gain leverage through alternative methods. Mr. Washco talks about being prepared before you walk in the door and demonstrating the product from the outset. As Dr. Hinshaw states you have to learn how to get numb to the word "No." Mr. Cooper talks about getting past the nerves.

Part 5 - Venture Capital versus Angel Investors and other forms of Capital Investment. How do we expand local opportunities. The realities of initial investment.

Part 6 - Finding time for your struggling business, while working to survive in the realities of the present economy. Mr. Washco states that "Success is being Your best." He talks about the Mentorship he gained through the Edison Project. Danny Hearn talks about performing a personal entrepreneurial audit through brainstorming and business consultants. March 27th in the Sipe board room there will be a Entrepreneurial Exchange Network from 8:00am to 9:30am. A lady talks about her sons dyslexia and asks about advice from Mr. Cooper and Mr. Washco.

Part 7 - The closing of the forum. A question and discussion about business owners might love their baby (their business) to death. Mr. Cooper goes into the progression of growing his business -- releasing the baby. Going into business is like getting married to other people. Mr. Washco talks about giving people permission to critique your business and ideas and doing it expressly. When people say no, you need to ask Why?... A question about the best way to start your own business... Starting your own business versus buying an existing business.


The Edison Project - Good News and Great Ventures - 9/19/2011

John Whitley for Congress in North Carolina's 8th Congressional District

This is my cousin John Whitley. He is a child neurosurgeon and a straight shooter. I know, because he is my grandfather's nephew and I have known him all my life. He came from awesome parents and his family owns Whitley's Funeral Home in Kannapolis. He worked his tail off to earn his medical degree and he is one of a handful of Children's Neurosurgeons in the United States.

John is running for United States Congress and is facing a primary campaign for the Republican nomination in North Carolina's 8th Congressional District, Larry Kissell's Congressional District. John is a Christian, a Doctor, a Farmer, and a strong Constitutional Conservative. To learn more about John's campaign, to volunteer, or to contribute please go to www.johnwhitleyforcongress.com or www.facebook.com/JohnWhitleyNC.





Johns' Message:

I’m not a professional politician. I’ve been a doctor for the last 20 years and a neurosurgeon for the last 15. I’m a small farmer, a father, a grandfather, and a strong Constitutional Conservative. This my first run for office and until the last couple of years I’d never given it much thought. However, as I’ve watched the direction our Country is headed in, I’ve become deeply concerned about what the future will hold for us, for our children, and for our grandchildren. I decided it was time for me to step up and do something about it.

When I was growing up in Kannapolis, NC, attending A.L. Brown High School, and working for my dad at Whitley’s Funeral Home, like many of you I thought it was “Father knows best” just like the TV show. Now, however, Obama and liberal members of Congress like Larry Kissell want to tell us that it is the government that knows best, that they know how to run our businesses, spend our money, provide us with healthcare, educate our children, and even want to tell us how we should live our daily lives. It’s this dangerous mentality that has given us “Obamacare,” double digit unemployment, a skyrocketing national debt, and increasing government interference in all areas of our lives.

I disagree with this mentality 100%! Government doesn’t know best – we the people know best. As your representative in Congress, I’ll lead the fight to return us to fiscally sound, limited government; for it is our Constitution that recognizes that the strength of America comes from our people, not our government.
I hope to meet many of you as I campaign across the 8th District, and I humbly ask for your vote and your support.

All the best,

John

John Whitley is my cousin and I approve of his message!!!

Agriburbia© possibilities in Catawba County

Sometimes it takes me time to get around to writing about a subject that has great relevance on our local situation. May hands have been very full as most of you can see, but I have a few things in the pipeline that will be discussed in the upcoming days. A month ago I attended a meeting of the Future Economy Council in which there was a Skype conference call with Quint Redmond of Golden, Colorado.

Mr. Redmond is part of the TSR group (from the Agriburbia© website):

The TSR Group was founded in 1997 in Golden, Colorado where it is currently headquartered. The firm is comprised of employees who are Planning and Design, Development Management, Natural Resource, GIS, CAD and Software Engineering experts. TSR offers unique spatial information methodologies and outstanding professional design services to the land development industries that increase project efficiency, improve design quality and reduce costs by centralizing and standardizing project information.

TSR Group offers services in the following areas:

Development Integration / Coordination and Management
Design and Planning
Natural Resources
Environmental and Real Estate Litigation Support
Geographic / Spatial Information Services

TSR has developed many specific value added methods for improving the quality and efficiency of the Land and Water or Real Estate industries. These innovative ideas include such things as the Geographic Design Library™ and Agriburbia®.

And... (About Agriburbia©)

Agriburbia® is design movement and economic model that advocates for private development and re-development which integrates aspects of Agrarianism, along with contemporary design methods and other environmentally sound principals of real estate development. It combines the positive cultural, physical and financial characteristics from both the urban and rural ends of the landuse spectrum to create an entirely new designation.

Agriburbia incorporates professional food production as a key element in the community design, social network, and financial viability of the development. Agriburbia provides a commercially viable mechanism for individuals and businesses to become more self sufficient and create truly sustainable communities.
Agriburbia Principles

Agriburbia® promotes and supports the following policies and principles:

• Agricultural Production: No loss of agricultural value or revenue ("Green Fields" development), or production of dietary requirements of the project or equivalent cash from sales crops, or combination thereof.
• Locally Grown Food: Production of a significant portion (30 to 50%) of dietary requirements grown within or in the immediate surrounding area of the community
• Conserves and Promotes Natural Resources: Appropriate and efficient use of natural resources to provide housing, transportation, recreation and fresh food through creative, harmonious land planning and landscape architecture for the community. This includes use of alternative energy sources as well as land and water.
• Self Sufficiency: Provide a commercially viable opportunity for enhanced self- sufficiency for community residents, tenants, and guests.
• Sustainable Energy Practices : Integrate solar and geothermal technology to provide sustainable energy sources for the community.
• Financing: Incorporate established entities (Metropolitan Districts, HOAs) to finance both traditional infrastructure (streets, water, sewer) and environmentally friendly agricultural infrastructure (drip irrigation)

Mr. Redmond visited Catawba College, in Salisbury, NC, back in November and has previously visited Lenoir-Rhyne (here in Hickory). Here is a link to his visit from back in November - Agriburbia©: Combining rural living with urban culture - Salisbury Post - November 3, 2012. And on the main page there is a link a link to a News Video from WGHP in High Point - follow the link to watch the video.

The FEC Skype Conference with Quint Redmond:




Video 1 -Introduction to the Agriburbia concept. Infrastructure and Capitalization. Focused Infrastructure. Jeffersonian Idea. Caloric need of the market place. How you farm and sell direct. Food Security and schools. Using land in communities , such as school properties. 40 to 50 acre projects - steward lots. Agriculture as an economic development driver.

Video 2 -Population Density... How much density is needed to support the concept. Cultural problem. We need people to know how to produce food. Eventually it will be too expensive to move food around. Very Intense farming - $50,000 to $60,000 per acre. Farm Kits. Rooftop gardens. - good for herbs. Caloric proximity - counting calories necessary to support a city. Conservation Easements can be a problem. The closer the calories are, the better the job market. 5 to 10 acre per farm scale. Capitalization and the possibilities of a local stock market to support this concept. Corporate and Individual efforts. Back to the future kind of thing. Capturing 60% to 70% of the caloric need. Canning Kitchens.

Video 3 - Food Diversity on the local level. From the local market place to the local market place. Culture and adjusting to new circumstances. Making menus from a seed catalog. Greenhouses and stepwise progression -- be prepared. Being thrifty. Seasonality. Restaurants conforming to a farm plan. Working on efficient greenhouses. Jon Brzorad at Lenoir-Rhyne. Catawba County Farmland Grant. Finding Funding sources. How much money? Comprehensive planning. Economic Development. $50,000 for the study. Includes how to cover the seasonality.

Video 4 - Closing Discussion moving forward. Capital Equity functions and raising capital. Vermiculture from waste. Eco-complex planning greenhouses, eco-compost, and energy from methane. Methane possibilities from waste. Solar farms -- power companies have to buy excess capacity. Lots of potential here.

The Hound believes that this is another unique opportunity that we need to get in on. It is a ground floor - sky is the limit opportunity that we all can benefit from. I believe this community has come a long way with the Urban Farming / Community Farming concept over the last several years and this concept would take those initiatives to the next level.