[Previous entry: "MAKING HUMMINGBIRDS"] [Main Index] [Next entry: "JUMPING BACK"]

10/18/2003 Archived Entry: "THIS IS WHAT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IS ALL ABOUT"

THIS IS WHAT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IS ALL ABOUT

Today I leisurely drove to Wilson, enjoying the beautiful day and scenery along the way. I did what a lot of people do and it was a classic example of Wilson Economic Development.

I went by to see Dave Criswell's straw duplexes and visited with one of the residents of the complex. She moved from Dorrance to Wilson. Although I can't remember the exact numbers, she has 3 or 4 children, 10 or so grandchildren, and I thought she said 22 great-grandchildren. As they live in central Kansas, they used to visit her in Dorrance. Now they visit her in Wilson and bring their resources with them. They buy groceries and gas in Wilson and spend money elsewhere in town. One single person made a lot of difference in this instance....Dorrance lost that revenue it was accustomed to while Wilson benefited. That's economic development.

On October 24th, the Amazing 100 Miles bus tour, led by Marilyn Helmer of Lincoln, will start its journey at the Midland Hotel where the group will be eating breakfast, and some will have spent the previous night. They are then going to Dave Criswell's strawbale housing project and will visit one of the resident's home that I saw today. It is quite nice and a very good showpiece of the construction. They will also visit Ollie's Antiques, Sincerely Yours and the Opera House. They will all be spending money in those places. It is encouraged that they do.

Dave told me that he has people stopping by his strawbale house construction site all the time. Some come off the highway (that would be Interstate 70) as they've heard about it from others. But, he says, when they do stop by, they almost always go to the Midland to eat, shop downtown and buy gas.

Today I bought an armload of bacon at Wilson Family Foods. I'm a frequent customer there.

Dave and I also had an excellent lunch at the Midland. I had the Midland sandwich that wasn't on the menu...and it should be. It was as good as anything I've had....thinly sliced ham that had been grilled or pan fried to bring out the flavor...with sliced turkey breast and swiss cheese...a mound of it on sour dough and grilled. It came with a special sauce for the sandwich and their usual house salad which is hard to beat. They have a wonderful raspberry vinaigrette salad dressing. It could not have been any better. Dave had a flame-broiled bacon cheese burger that looked really great. It was huge. It was a very good lunch. There were a dozen or so other people having lunch too. I'm glad to see the traffic in there.

So, that's what economic development is about...one step at a time, one visitor at a time. One new resident at a time. I'd think the people in Wilson would really want to back Dave in his efforts to get the third unit built. The state money is there so it's a use it or lose it to someone else type of situation. I'd think they'd grab at the opportunity to snap up the tax credits...and maybe they have.

Every new person who moves to town is a plus for Wilson, or any community. Without new residents, all we are doing is rearranging the deck chairs on the Titantic...getting ready to sink.