Sunday, February 20, 2005

Dysfunctional Efforts to Attract Business to Town

Location. Location. LOCATION!

Any real estate agent will tell you the truth and the power of their favorite axiom (see italics, above). Location is what drives business. And Pueblo is a great location for a number of businesses, of many different stripes. But trying to lure a big cat into a good location for it is sometimes a difficult thing. Businesses, like cats, are rather cautious about going to a new location. Especially if they are comfortable where they are. Putting out something to tempt them is often a good idea. Cities often do this by offering incentives.

We saw such incentives offered to Wal-Mart to put in a distribution center near the intersection of Purcell Boulevard and US Highway 50.

But there can be problems. Generally speaking, it is not a good idea to tempt a cat to make your favorite chair its favorite place as well. Especially if the cat tends to be a bit ‘messy’ or isn’t well house-broken.

My personal opinion is that putting such a major logistics center at that location would have made a mess out of US 50. [Note: See earlier comment.] Especially in light of the information that the trucks would NOT have been using Purcell to reduce the traffic load on US 50. The whyfore of that is still to be explained. And it tweaks my natural ‘paranoia’; some dark plans on the part of nefarious elements within city and county government could have been at work. But that’s another story and it is OBE [Overcome By Events], since Wal-Mart has pulled out of the deal.

Chuck Green seems a bit dismayed about this recent turn of events. I’m not. That location was miserable. There is a much better location at the Municipal Airport’s Industrial Park, I think. Especially in light of the developments relating to the establishment of the Super-Slab, which would be closer from the airport than from Purcell and US 50.

The paper indicated that changes made to the original accord struck between Wal-Mart and Pueblo Economic Development Corporation (PEDCO), were the cause of the deals collapse. I’m curious as to what those changes were. According to things I heard in City Council chambers, PEDCO was not living up to its contract with the City of Pueblo, vis-a-vis specifications as to the numbers of jobs and how long those jobs were to be permanent. I thought I heard that PEDCO had dropped any such requirement on Wal-Mart. That would seem to be a breach of contract matter. And, if the city did not pursue it, it would have reflected badly on them.

Yes. Yes. Yes. I heard some City Fathers say that the deal was outside of the city limits and therefore not a matter germane to their interest. Okay. What’s PEDCO doing rounding up business that isn’t in the city? The city IS paying PEDCO to round up business for inside the city, right? If PEDCO is working both the City and the County, I’d suggest there is a serious conflict of interest going on here. And that strikes me as a breach of contract matter as well. But I’ve not seen the City’s contract with PEDCO. [Note: Where can I find a copy?] Does it allow for PEDCO to work both sides of the street?

Chuck Green, in his editorial today, was complaining that the people opposed to the Wal-Mart distribution center seemed to “want jobs but not employers”. I disagree; see comments above. What I think we want are jobs in locations that make sense and don’t trash the rest of the living conditions that make Pueblo a great place to live. Bringing in a Wal-Mart distribution center would be great for providing jobs. But putting it in the wrong location makes a mess for the rest of us. Indeed, I know one person that, had the deal gone through, would have moved from his present house, north of US 50, to Northside, in order to avoid having to run the gauntlet.

Let’s get business into town in the locations that work best for as many people as possible. Let’s not turn Pueblo into the Gedi Prime (see science fiction classic, Dune) of Colorado.