If Greensboro's Leaders Were Really Interested In Economic Development 56

If Greensboro leaders really cared about economic development they would significantly reduce (50% or more) the cost of business privilege licenses to ALL companies, existing and new, big and small, even one man operations, whose corporate headquarters are located within the city limits of Greensboro.

Doing so would encourage companies to not only do business here but also locate their headquarters here. More importantly, this would give local companies an advantage in the local market place. Most importantly, this would mean less money would be taken out of Greensboro to places unknown where it will never again be invested in Greensboro and Greensboro would no longer remain a A net exporter of capital.

You see, there are things the City Council can do about these issues. Too bad, in Greensboro, Developers don't pay for business privilege licenses, out of town corporations take the money and run, local businesses get hit with the bill and our City Council doesn't give a damn about real economic development.

If Greensboro's Leaders Were Really Interested In Economic Development 55

They would allow qualified local Martial arts instructors to teach evening and late night classes to young and old in Greensboro's recreation centers while helping poorer families with the cost of these classes.

The cost would be minimal to the City and some could be off set in rents and the reduced costs of not having undisciplined out of control teens on our streets.

Martial arts programs across the country have proven popular with teens and where used have a history of producing better behaved, less violent teens who are safer and better able to manage themselves and their emotions when faced with confrontation.

Martial arts programs would help with Greensboro's growing obesity problem and teach children respect for authority in ways traditional teaching cannot do. Children who learn Martial arts historically have a higher chance at being successful entrepreneurs.
And the money paid to these local Martial arts would remain right here in Greensboro where it would continue to help grow our local economy. You know, if our leaders really cared.

If Greensboro's Leaders Were Really Interested In Economic Development 54

They would come to realize that a city government that can't be trusted to stand behind its decisions, even when those decisions are unpopular, scares businesses away from locating in Greensboro and doing business with the City of Greensboro. And when they do business with any city or any other customer who has a reputation for being wishy-washy they charge higher prices to make up for what might be loses when the customer (the City of Greensboro) goes back and changes their minds.

If our leaders really cared about economic development they would understand that revisiting any issue is almost always a loss and focus on getting it right the first time. Anyone can apply band-aids or change their minds, getting it right will require  creativity, vision and courage.

If Greensboro's Leaders Were Really Interested In Economic Development 53

They'd be seriously looking at ways to find jobs for Greensboro's youth as yet another means to keep them off the streets and out of trouble.

You know, if they really cared...

If Greensboro's Leaders Were Really Interested In Economic Development 52

They would openly address the multiple instances I have pointed out of City Council having given $Millions in tax dollars to businesses who do not pay their business privilege taxes.

You know, if they really cared about economic development they could be using those fees towards more business development. Isn't that what the money is supposed to be for?  But as you and I know, our leaders don't care, they just want their cut.

If Greensboro's Leaders Were Really Interested In Economic Development 51

They wouldn't hide sales of city owned commercial property on Phillips Avenue under fake names to score political points for politicians running for reelection and risk the City of Greensboro being sued for violations of covenants signed with tenants of other City owned properties.

And yes, I do have the documents to prove it, Jim. We're just trying to decide which one of us is going to post the story as I like to share the thunder with others who deserve it. Not that Jim ever really cared about economic development but if he did he would read this entire series back to front and start bringing the ideas to council. But alas, it's too late for Jim now.

Oh well, looks like we're about to have yet another empty city owned building on Phillips Avenue... At least this one will be new.

If Greensboro's Leaders Were Really Interested In Economic Development 50

They would raise the bar for leaders themselves.

 In business, one has to meet maximum standards to rise above the competition and become successful. In Greensboro, government leaders rise to the top by meeting "ethical and legal minimums."

But then, nobody ever accused Greensboro's "leaders" of giving a damn about economic development and until we retire the current crop of leaders no one ever well.

With a well deserved nod to Roch.

If Greensboro's Leaders Were Really Interested In Economic Development 49

If Greensboro's leaders cared about economic development they would invest their money in Greensboro.

Now before I go on allow me to remind you that Greensboro's leaders are not limited to the elected puppets they place in office. Oh no, there's an entire class of people in Greensboro who pull the strings with their money and what you are about to read will explain to you exactly why Greensboro cannot succeed economically.

From the 2006 Greensboro Partnership STRATEGIC PLAN FOR A BETTER ECONOMY AND VIBRANT COMMUNITY:  Raising The Bar

"Availability of capital is the single most important factor in stimulating entrepreneurship, and Greensboro needs to make more available.

Greensboro is believed to be a net “exporter” of venture capital and currently can claim only four main resident sources for early stage companies: 1) the Chamber’s Venture Capital Fund, a high risk loan pool funded by area banks; 2) the City of Greensboro’s Targeted Loan Program focused on small loans to businesses locating or expanding in to designated economic development zones; 3) the Piedmont Angel Network (PAN), a $4.5 M equity fund that willinvest up to $500,000 in early-stage companies within a three-hour drive of the Triad; and, 4) the Inception Micro Angel Fund (IMAF), a $600,000 equity fund that will invest $25,000–100,000 in seed-stage companies in the Triad. Relatively small investments by Greensboro organizations and business leaders in these and other seed-stage capital funds can have significant impacts on assisting the development of small, high growth enterprises and attracting entrepreneurs to our community."

A net exporter of capital... You know what that signifies? That indicates to Greensboro's working class, Greensboro's business class, Greensboro's creative class, Greensboro's entrepreneurs and those looking at coming to Greensboro to become any of the a fore mentioned that Greensboro's leaders care more about their own fat asses than they do the economic development of Greensboro.

Like I've said too many times, if Greensboro's leaders really cared... Well, they'd raise the bar.

If Greensboro's Leaders Were Really Interested In Economic Development 48

They would begin making an effort to understand the relationship between high taxes and the loss of small businesses to other communities beyond the City limits of Greensboro. They would begin compiling data to determine the number of small business start-ups and existing small businesses lost due to Greensboro's poor business climate documented by the very studies paid for by the City.

And they would openly address the fact that when Greensboro is rated 98th out of 102 worst economies it means our leaders have failed us miserably. Then with their new found information they would do something about it-- something other than building roads and buildings the majority of Greensboro will never benefit from.

You see, small businesses, not the giant automakers they dream of attracting, are the most important sector, the driving force of our economy. From wikipedia:

"In the US, small business (less than 500 employees) accounts for more than half the nonfarm, private GDP and around half the private sector employment.[10] Regarding small business, the top job provider is those with fewer than 10 employees, and those with 10 or more but fewer than 20 employees comes in as the second, and those with 20 or more but fewer than 100 employees comes in as the third (interpolation of data from the following references).[16] The most recent data shows firms with less than 20 employees account for slightly more than 18% of the employment.[17] According to “The Family Business Review,” “There are approximately 17 million sole-proprietorships in the US. It can be argued that a sole-proprietorship (an unincorporated business owned by a single person) is a type of family business” and “there are 22 million small businesses (less than 500 employees) in the US and approximately 14,000 big businesses.” Also, it has been found that small businesses created the most new jobs in communities, “In 1979, David Birch published the first empirical evidence that small firms (fewer than 100 employees) created the most new jobs” and Edmiston claimed that “perhaps the greatest generator of interest in entrepreneurship and small business is the widely held belief that small businesses in the United States create most new jobs. The evidence suggests that small businesses indeed create a substantial majority of net new jobs in an average year.” Local businesses provide competition to each other and also challenge corporate giants.

Of the 5,369,068 employer firms in 1995, 78.8 percent had fewer than 10 employees, and 99.7 percent had fewer than 500 employees.[18]"

But as Councilman Zack Matheny and Assistant City Manager in charge of economic development, Andrew Scott proved just last week, Greensboro's leaders don't care about small businesses and economic development and to date I've proved it over 48 times. It's time to send them packing along with their developer cronies and elitist enablers.

Or we can just wait until GPAC is built and the angry mobs burn it to the ground. Yes folks, people on my side of town really are that angry.

If Greensboro's Leaders Were Really Interested In Economic Development 47

They would implement a policy of Greensboro Promise Neighborhoods. Yesterday!

You know, if they really cared about economic development. But as you can plainly see, no one in Greensboro care about economic development and haven't for a very long time.

If Greensboro's Leaders Were Really Interested In Economic Development 46

They would offer incentives in the form of tax breaks or discounted fees for city services to companies who in turn, return to the ways that once made America the most prosperous nation in the world. And only  tax breaks and discounted fees for city services. No grants, give aways or under the table deals. They would keep tabs on them as well and if they failed to keep their promises the City would pull the plug on the incentives.

If our leaders cared about economic development Greensboro wouldn't already be 98th out of 102 and still falling.

And please, click here and tell the City of Greensboro you love my idea just to piss the bastards off and show them how dumb they really are.

Remember: Come Tuesday the shit hits the fan!

If Greensboro's Leaders Were Really Interested In Economic Development 45

They would insist the News & Record publish the full Greensboro City Council meeting agenda and the results of the council meetings in the newspaper and not just bits and pieces in a blog almost no one reads.

You know, if they cared about economic development and not just hiding what they're really doing from the majority of the citizens of Greensboro.

Want change? Start telling all your friends about this blog as well as Roch101, Greensboro Mayoral candidate, George Hartzman,  the infamous Greensboro Troublemaker, Greensboro's Black Urbanist,  Keith Brown's Triad Watch, our newest, Dang and Greensboro101 where these and other alternatives to the local bought and paid for main stream media can all be found.

And don't just tell them, e-mail the links, forget the freaking "like button" on Facebook, share the posts! The damned like button is only good for stoking egos. Write down the names and URLs of our blogs and hand them to people. Get off your asses! Some of us are working overtime trying to keep the politicians from ripping you off again and again and you're doing nothing but bitching. I could be our riding motorcycles you know.

There are the people who are making a difference. And if by chance you are resigned to being just a Facebook user be sure to join Real Progress For Greensboro. 1st rule: No partisan politics, second rule, no spam. In almost 2 years the only people removed from the group were numerous spammers and one liberal who insisted on returning to partisan politics. And just so you know, I'm the liberal admin that deleted that member. Had I have been in a better mood that day I might have let it slide and should he ask to come back I'll give him another chance.

And the next time we tell you we're having a meeting-- show the hell up so we can kill the messenger that brings us the lies.

If Greensboro's Leaders Were Really Interested In Economic Development 44

We'd be hearing Nancy Barakat Vaughan announce on Facebook that the Phillips Foundation had just granted 3.5 Million Dollars to economic development projects like the Renaissance Community Co-op and other such projects in economically depressed neighborhoods instead of penning their names to projects like the Downtown Greensboro Performing Arts Center designed to serve Greensboro's elites.

But then the Phillips Foundation is an arm of one of the largest slumlords in the Southeastern United States, Phillips Property Management, so why would anyone think they really cared about economic development?

Remember folks: these internet archives are forever. Even after I'm gone. Even the others with permission to login and post here cannot remove or alter what I write.

If Greensboro's Leaders Were Really Interested In Economic Development 43

They would do away with the City of Greensboro's Public Relations Department. PR departments are the most useless thing any city could ever employ. They make nothing, fix nothing and in the end only make solving the problems harder. PR just gets in the way. The only thing public relations professionals excel at is wasting OPM (other people's money.) If they were forced to make decisions based on rational and were expected to actually get results they would go about it completely differently.

But hey, we all know and this series has long since proven they don't care about economic development in Greensboro. All they really care about is covering their own asses.

If Greensboro's Leaders Were Really Interested In Economic Development 42

All communications involving elected and high ranking appointed city officials would be posted on-line in real time so that there would be no question and no need to ask for release of public records. That one act would have saved the City of Greensboro well over $200,000 so far this year. $200,000 that could have been put to use on things Greensboro really needs.

But instead, Greensboro's leaders will point their fingers at those of us who dare to ask to know what State and Federal law says we have every right to know. Why? Because it's your money and they really don't care how much it's costing you.

If Greensboro's Leaders Were Really Interested In Economic Development 41

They'd be talking about pop-up promenades, urban markets, and university districts in places like Uptown, Glenwood, Bessemer, Heath, Rankin, O'Henry, Pomona and the many other under served and economically disadvantaged neighborhoods that all pay taxes to help incentivize and support Downtown but get nothing in return.

But we all know our leaders really don't care about economic development. They'd rather build roads we don't need and shopping centers filled with minimum wage jobs in communities like ours. Don't believe me? Have a look at the Tabb Study, the plans for East Greensboro.

Notes on the Tabb Study that prove my points.

If Greensboro's Leaders Were Really Interested In Economic Development 40

They would put all public records on the Internet in an .html based searchable database so that taxpayer Dollars would not need be wasted repeatedly paying City of Greensboro IT staff to search for hours to fulfill public information requests by myself and the many others who are searching for the truth. And let's not forget the current system subsidizes corporations who use public information for marketing purposes by gathering the info under the guise of concerned citizens. What? You don't think corporations are smart enough to know how to save a buck and pass off their expenses to the taxpayers?

As a matter of fact: in a recent meeting with members of Greensboro City Council and high ranking City staff including City Manager Denise Turner Roth, the Greensboro City Attorney and members of the City IT staff, it was learned that these records are already hosted on a website and that very option is indeed possible.

But our leaders don't want to make this sort of information cheaply and easily available to the citizens of Greensboro because they really don't care about economic development and would rather tax you to death and blame those of use who request information we would rather look up for ourselves.

Throughout this series, If Greensboro's Leaders Were Really Interested In Economic Development, I have pointed out many ways totaling $Millions of Dollars, Greensboro's "leaders" could be saving us and/or reinvesting into our local economy. Do they read them? Councilman Zack Matheny read what I wrote about him yesterday, I'm saving his e-mail reply for later. I send them e-mails almost daily. But still we see no mention, no effort of any new ideas, only the same fraud, corruption, and conflicts of interest that have plagued Greensboro for years. Sad, just sad.

But tonight a totally non partisan, grassroots collection of private citizens and local business owners from neighborhoods all over Greensboro are gathering to do something about it. This time, even Downtown merchants and residents are siding with those of us from Greensboro's many other neighborhoods no matter what our backgrounds, race or financial status. Tonight we fight back and everyone is welcome to join us. That is, unless you support the status-quo.

Plus, there's beer!

If Greensboro's Leaders Were Really Interested In Economic Development 39

They would quit using public funds to hire professional swindlers to run confidence games to deceive the taxpayers out of $Millions more in public funds. Just think of all the good that could have been done with all the time and money wasted and squandered on the whims of the rich elite.

You know, if they cared about economic development.

If Greensboro's Leaders Were Really Interested In Economic Development 38

Instead of just agreeing with citizens they would do something about it.



You know, if they really cared about economic development...

You know, I began this series being really positive but when nobody listens one can't help but revert back to the same negativity that has always produced results in the past. I donno, apparently politicians enjoy pain. Or they really are stupid? You tell me.

If Greensboro's Leaders Were Really Interested In Economic Development 37

This morning I'm quoting John G53 from GreensboroIdeas.org who wrote:

"Greensboro needs a "brand" so why not be the biggest flea market between NY and Atlanta? Sure the storefronts could be filled with old lawnmowers and tons of clothes! Thousands of people would be walking our sidewalks every Friday and Saturday; visiting "The Green Bean" and other such establishments. We would get the visitors that were dreamed of when the city spent millions on the Feb 1 project and have a waiting line a block long! Our parking lots would be filled to the brim as visitors search for that "new" old firearm or the odd thinkamajig that they couldn't do without. "

Me, I'm thinking why not do it 7 days a week?

You know, as absurd as it might seem, second hand stores are bringing visitors from all over the East Coast to nearby Burlington. What was once factory outlet stores is now consignment stores and the buses still come. And it really is a better idea than anything Greensboro leaders have ever come up with. But as we all know, our leaders really don't care about economic development anyway.



By the way, I love sharing others' ideas for economic development-- that is, as long as it isn't the same old crap Greensboro has been failing at for years. Simply putting something old in a new box is not a new idea-- don't try me.