[Vision2020] Acceptable business

Fri Nov 18 10:55:19 PST 2005

Phil:

Your total ignorance again about what I would do in any particular economic development proposal scenario is absolutely stunning.

However, your post spectacularly demonstrates a point of an earlier post:  You really belong on the LEDC board.  Why?  Because of your "hands out" attitude.

Almost all of the economic development projects you discuss would provide direct economic benefit to a practicing geological consultant.  Guess what?  You are a practicing geological consultant.  Could it be that your concern for your own economic benefits are more important to you than the overall benefits to Latah County of economic development no matter how cleverly and saintly you describe these projects and no matter what their overall impacts?

I do not mean to imply that every member of the LEDC board is a selfish, egotistical slug.  There are some very fine, selfless, community-minded members.  However, there are a number of members with attitudes similar to the ones you have expressed in your posts decrying and nay-saying the suggestions I and others previously made.

I would expect no change in the future in your attitude or perspective.

However,  I would hope that each LEDC board members would have a brutally frank discussion within themselves about their attitudes and fitness to serve.  This should be followed by a brutally frank discussion between the board members.  One would hope the result of these discussions would be either an abrupt change of behavior of or resignations from the board from those members who are kedges.

Latah County has decided to invest $30,000 of our tax money this year in economic development.  Without some changes in the LEDC, we will be throwing some or all of that money down a badger hole, in my opinion.

Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)
deco at moscow.com

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Phil Nisbet" <pcnisbet1 at hotmail.com>
To: <vision2020 at moscow.com>
Sent: Friday, November 18, 2005 9:19 AM
Subject: [Vision2020] Acceptable business

> One of the greatest dichotomies in our little burgh is the variation between 
> the desires of the white collar University element and the blue collar rural 
> element and those who join either camp.
> 
> Our white collar worker wants non-impactive business, something that’s nice 
> and officy that pays good money for the degrees that each hang on their 
> walls.
> 
> Blue collar workers are looking for industry, where their skills at hard 
> work receive a premium and which are often seen as very impactive by the 
> white collar clique.
> 
> In the white collar clique’s universe, the blue collar is doomed to live 
> life taking jobs in retail or similar service occupations.  The wages and 
> the future for these workers becomes a modern serfdom, what Dr. Aaron Harp 
> called social stratification by elevation.  The high white collar earners 
> move steadily up hill to buy view lots on the top of Palouse Hills and the 
> blue collar earners have rented trailers in selected valleys below.
> 
> Here in Latah County, we have Moscow and then we have the rest of the 
> county.  Moscow has a built in employment bonus because it draws state tax 
> funds into the economy every year to fuel the University.  The Moscow 
> economy has ups and downs according to the money made available from the 
> Legislature, but provides good steady jobs for the 3000 people who work 
> there.
> 
> The rural portion of our area does not have that advantage.  The rest of the 
> county is plagued by high unemployment and gross underemployment with little 
> sense that there is a future for them in the place of their birth.
> 
> University families earning 50-60 thousand a year want things like small 
> shops and personal services and a small but classy clubby atmosphere.  The 
> blue collar family dragging down $20,000 a year is more interested in 
> getting what ever they can cheaply at Wally World.
> 
> Creating a few more jobs in white collar sector outside the university 
> setting does not solve this problem.  The lone wolf business model simply 
> creates a few more jobs for people headed for the top of a hill and creates 
> no living wages for the blue collar.
> 
> Mark Seman has an interesting perspective on this, suggesting home 
> occupation, in essence cottage industry as a means of providing higher wage 
> employment for white and blue collar alike.  The skill set there is 
> craftsmanship, value added through personal attention and artistry.  It’s 
> not a bad small scale model, but can also be upgraded to allow similar 
> businesses on a slightly larger scale.
> 
> Then there are also jobs and industries that can combine the skills of the 
> knowledge center with the skills of our blue collar workers.
> 
> Latah County has trees and no wood carvers.  We have stone and no stone 
> cutters.  We have clay and no brick makers.  We are adding very little to 
> the value of the things we produce for export.
> 
> Training for development in craftsmanship for blue collar workers would 
> increase the living wage for that sector of our economy.  Melding University 
> knowledge of our materials to add value to exported products would also add 
> living wage jobs.
> 
> Things like Medical Ceramics using locally sourced materials to make dental 
> porcelain, joint replacements, synthetic bone and other such devices would 
> seem a good fit.  Making high value porcelain in china wares or in art 
> related ceramics would also be a good fit.
> 
> Nanomaterials and nanocomposite production from local feedstocks is also an 
> area worthy of research for local development.
> 
> Research and development of higher value crops and value added through 
> skilled organic farming is also a living wage alternative.
> 
> And of course let’s not forget slate and marble tile production, thus 
> allowing us to convince Angelina that Carl has the appropriate shower to 
> justify hanging out with him.
> 
> The vision that I see is one in which we have local craftsman turning out 
> things of beauty side by side with people making high tech high value items. 
>  It is a vision that sees the wage gap shrink and uses the skills of all 
> members of our community.  Adding jobs solely for the white collar will not 
> solve our problems and simply leads to eventual class conflict.
> 
> So Wayne tells us that he is not anti-business, but if we snagged somebody 
> like CoorsTek to turn out medical ceramics here on the Palouse, would we not 
> hear horror stories about them?  If we got Boeing to build a composite 
> materials plant here are we going to hear shouts of no way?  If Quarry Tile 
> built a facility to make ceramic wall tiles with a 100,000 square foot 
> facility?  How about if a plant to make marble counter tops came in?
> 
> Because I think that most of us know that the minute any new business looked 
> at the area, Wayne would be out there 'digging up dirt' and turning siting 
> them here into the next big battle.  And most businesses know that any call 
> to move here will be accompanied not by a welcome mat, but by a battle 
> royal.
> 
> Phil Nisbet
> 
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