Supporting Local Businesses
By Tom Wilbur
Contributing Editor/The Salina Post
There’s been a lot of hub-bub here at The Salina Post about the $750,000 decision the Salina City Commission recently made in support of Philips, here in Salina. And I can understand where people are coming from—we all pay our share of taxes. We’re taxed on our homes, our businesses, our personal property, things we buy, taxes for our streets, the operation of our city—and yeah, we Salinans supported a tax to raise millions of dollars for a new water park for our community—something our Chamber and our citizens said a hearty thumbs ups up to at the ballot box.
We recently voted down a tax to clean up our river. It seems for many— what once was a big priority for our town, has now become an option. Hopefully that tide will change. And there certainly has been a more prominent sentiment to stop tax increases globally.
Some folks in Salina have taken to the streets and carried signs in protest of spending by our government—spending that’s clearly out of control. We’ve all seen stories about pork barrel spending on the national level, and it’s got to stop. You know the stories– $2.8 million for a study to determine why roosters crow in the morning. $6.5 million to figure out why pigs don’t get measles. $25.1 million to build a nice new road that doesn’t go anywhere.
I personally was appalled to see all of the earmarks that were attempted to be added to a bill that would help the police, firefighters and construction workers who have become ill from the toxic stuff that floated around the site– of once was the World Trade Center in New York City. These folks were required to work there, and were protecting and serving others, as their job requires them to do. When bills like that get pork barrel spending and big earmarks added to them by Congress, and it becomes political, it makes me sick, too.
But I would share this concept with you—every city in America is fighting very hard to find and retain businesses, and jobs. You would not believe the competition these days. We have a great example of that in what we have seen and heard from Hawker Beechcraft in the past year. Hawker was getting bids of millions of dollars of incentives to move to Louisiana—and Wichita was about to lose a lot of jobs. What’s ironic is that a number of States like Louisiana have buckets full of bucks to spend to attract jobs because the Federal government has poured billions into their region for Katrina and the oil spills. Essentially, these Southern States are in position to use our federal tax dollars to lure companies we have that employ Kansas workers to their State? Unbelievable. And even with Kansas’ support, Salina lost its Hawker assembly plant, and the jobs we had here, to Mexico.
I have regular conversations with the CEO of a company who was offered $60 million in incentives by a State north of Kansas to move his company— from the community where his business presently operates to their State. It seems like an incredible amount of money to inject into a private business. The State of Kansas, along with Sedgwick County, and the City of Wichita, allegedly coughed up $45 million over ten years to retain Hawker in Wichita.
But that’s the game being played. Either stay in the boat, or wither and die. Salina has done a very good job of supporting and growing businesses that have made their home here. As a town, we have many advantages—a relatively low property tax and utility base in comparison to other cities. We have offer a tremendous quality of life here, with good schools, a solid medical and retirement background, and good access to reasonable retail stores and restaurants—and we’re a community where people genuinely care about each other. But as a town, we still have to stay vigilant.
I have relatively little knowledge about this most recent decision made to support Philips, in growing their business here and adding jobs in Salina. But I have faith in the folks there, our Salina City Commissioners, and Dennis and the folks at the Chamber—that we’re doing the right thing. Our bank didn’t receive any support from Salina to start here—and I could complain about it, too. We provide jobs, and no one offered us $750,000. So it would be easy to complain.
We, the people have the upper hand here—as a taxpayer and a voter in this community— if you don’t like the way things are being handled, you can vote our city leaders out. As a citizen, you can make signs and protest any entity or business in Salina you wish to protest. Knowing the kind of person Dennis Lauver is, if you protested the Chamber, he’d probably bring you out coffee and donuts and celebrate the fact that in this community, and in this great nation of ours—you have the right to assemble, and make your voice heard. Dennis understands that, as do the Board of Directors of the Chamber of Commerce. Agree or disagree, but the Salina Area Chamber of Commerce is out to promote area businesses as best they can, and to help our community grow. They invest a lot of time and effort in trying to do the right thing. They probably have a membership card and an application form waiting for you at their front desk—so you can join the Chamber and make your voice heard in that organization if you don’t agree with what they have done. Join them, and make a difference.
I know this—it’s really easy to tear things down. And much tougher to build things up. As we look at America today, there are critics everywhere, as no one in our government seems to have good solutions or ideas on how to put people back to work. But at the end of the day—I do know this—jobs come from supporting good business models—and Philips, like many other businesses here—has been a significant partner with Salina for a whole lot of years. They provide great jobs to this area. If you want them to move away— don’t support them when they ask for help. It’ll get their attention, I promise.
Lou Holtz has a poem he recites during speeches, and it’s a great reminder about the difference between building something or tearing it down. I’m sorry I don’t know who originally wrote it, but it goes like this:
I saw a group of men in my hometown—a group of men tearing a building down….
With a heave and a ho, and a mighty yell, they swung a beam and the side wall fell.
I said to the foreman, “Are these men skilled, the type you’d hire if you wanted to build?”
He laughed and said, “Why, no indeed! You see, common labor is all I need.”“
For I can tear down in a day or two, what it took a builder ten years to do.”
And I thought to myself as I walked away, which of these parts will I play?
Am I the type that constantly tears down, as I make my way foolishly around?
Or am I the type that ‘s trying to build with care– in hopes that my team will be glad I’m here?
You are a member of Team Salina, if you live here. I couldn’t be more supportive of every citizen’s right to stay vigilant and to challenge the decisions of our leaders. It’s awesome that folks take the time to do that—because it shows they care about Salina. It’s also important to have good dialogue and hear the voices of all who wish to make their voice heard. And to ensure that our leaders are acting with fairness and transparency.
That’s one of the very cool things about a vehicle like The Salina Post. We can talk about this stuff. And it’s one of the great strengths of America—that we are allowed to have a voice about anything, with freedoms granted by our founders, and the right to do so without retribution from our government.
I just felt like putting my two cents in . . . or is it three cents now— after years of inflation? Have a great week. Blessings.
Tom Wilbur is President/CEO of BANK VI in Salina. He is a lifelong resident of Salina, and has been a regular editorial contributor to newspapers and magazines, and a public speaker. He is President of Salina Noon Rotary, active with various civic and church organizations (including a stint as a Board member of the Salina Chamber of Commerce) and can be contacted at tomw@banksix.com