Commentary

Exit Interviews for Businesses

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Max’s Playhouse (before)

Brandy Pohl announced the closing of Max’s Playhouse late last year. We worked with Brandy and her Architect, SRKM Architecture, on the remodeling required to bring the buildings up to early childcare standards in 2019-2020. (See this 2019 post after getting BZA approval.) We completely changed the look of the old duplex to give it a modern, clean, professional feel. We became friends and her business journey has been of interest to me. No one can accuse Brandy of not being passionate about her business and childcare in general. It was sad to see her journey in Culver end the way it did.

Brandy posted an offer to explain what transpired, causing the business model to fail, to anyone interested. This was to tell her story about why she closed, how she got to that point, and how she saw that affecting Culver. Only three people from Culver responded and in the end, only two of us showed up.

Max’s Playhouse (after)

I am not going to attempt to tell Brandy’s story. It is hers to tell. But what struck me is that this isn’t a story about just a failed business. She has other similar businesses that are successful in other communities. This is a story of a business that couldn’t make it in Culver… A business that was struggling and, openly and publicly, questioning its ability to continue in Culver, while posts on Culver’s list serve, TGL, were asking for additional childcare facilities.

This was a somewhat unique opportunity. Unless there is a public statement about a retirement, most businesses close quietly. Business failures, even when beyond the owner’s control like this one, are hard to talk about. They usually involve financial costs and sometimes worse, like in this case, shattered dreams. I was disappointed there were no elected officials that took Brandy up on this. (Marty Oosterbaan was there from the CRC.) I’m not privy to whether they have met privately with her, but this seemed like a forum where they should have been represented. This was the chance for a rare, business exit interview.

The town is embarking on a new downtown redevelopment study. As I understand it, this is geared towards several goals, two of the most prominent being; 1) filling vacant commercial buildings and 2) preparing existing and new businesses to serve the growth expected from The Dunes development. Bringing in new businesses is much tougher than supporting existing businesses, and while not directly in the downtown target area, Culver just added another business vacancy with the loss of Max’s Playhouse. There doesn’t seem to be a question that this was a needed service.

I’ve learned from Brandy that childcare is a difficult business in Indiana. Unlike what we are hearing about the Minnesota debacle, there is excessive oversight paperwork, with many standards to meet. On top of that, it would appear that the rules change, at a minimum with every administration, but in general every year or so. That’s a tough model within which to work.

I would suggest that Culver could work on some form of business exit interview strategy. You would hope that there is communication before it comes to the point of a business closing, but if not, there should be an attempt to learn from any turnover happening. This could be something that the new consultant helps develop. Having the consultant do some of these along with a town official could provide valuable insight. A perfect example: How valuable would it be to the NFP group trying to revive the theater to know the personal and financial challenges that caused the theater to close? Others that fulfilled a perceived need that would merit a conversation, would be: 1) The Bennett family, who recently closed a second generation contracting and appliance business, 2) Don Baker, who ran a bicycle shop (Which seems like a natural fit with the push for trails and other outdoor recreation.), 3) Kyle Pugh, who ran the Axe to the Max axe throwing venue (Another entertainment venue that is a perceived missing piece in Culver.), and 4) George & Tammy Pesek, who moved the Evil Czeck Brewery (Another popular request.) and the Corndance to South Bend.

In the past, MCEDC has helped fill this role with their BEAR (Business Expansion And Retention) interviews, but MCEDC’s focus is more industrial. Also, when interviews are conducted, they need to be done in a friendly, open manor, rather than accusatory. Town officials can’t be offended when shortcomings are pointed out. Often, to the town’s credit, some of the shortcomings I heard turned out to be communication issues not actual deficiencies, i.e. there was a program or other service available of which the business was unaware. Culver generally does a good job of communicating, but respectful non-defensive listening is a part of that.

In whatever format, asking what businesses need in order to thrive is never a wasted effort, but it can become wasted if there is no follow up. In most cases, the exit interview is too late, but ongoing conversations could help eliminate the need for them.

Filibusters, Shutdowns and other General Government BS

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This post fully embraces the “rant” designation, so scroll on if you don’t want my political opinion piece. Listening to the back and forth over the past month and a half has been tiring and frustrating. The Democrats’ position has seemed pretty untenable, considering they (Democrats while in power) passed the Affordable Care Act (ACA) without Republican support, they (Democrats while in power) passed the Covid enhancements to the ACA, which included the sunset provision that’s upon us, without Republican support and now, while not in power, they (Democrats) are demanding the Republicans fix it. In response, the Republicans have proposed paying everyone during the shutdown, despite the fact that the whole reason for the shutdown is there’s no money appropriated to do so. In typical Federal Government fashion. the only solutions either side seem to be able to see is to throw more money at problems.

Every time there is a government shutdown, they seem to put more rules in place to make the next one less painful… somewhat defeating the whole point of it. Why do a shutdown if no one is going to notice? After one of the last shutdowns, things were changed to assure that government employees would be reimbursed for lost wages, even though they weren’t working. No business could survive that way… The latest enhancement to that is that government employees will not even have to wait until the end of the shutdown to get paid! The ones laid off are already getting a paid vacation, but if the current proposal goes through, they’ll get a regular paycheck while off. I guess, “Why not?” All the Senators and Representatives got their check!!! They still managed to collect taxes though…

Side Note: Everyone should have an emergency fund, because it’s rare to have a 100% guaranteed income, but if you work in an industry (government) where these shutdowns occur regularly, it’s even more important. There is no question of IF there will be another government shutdown, only when… I have a hard time working up a lot of sympathy for those that were surprised by this.

James Stewart as Jefferson Smith filibustering on floor of the Senate

There was some talk about changing the Senate rules to eliminate the filibuster. It may be on the way out the door anyway, as there was an attempt to eliminate it in the last Democrat controlled Congress, but was stopped by just two moderate Democrats. And they’re not in office anymore… I am fully against its elimination. I think the minority party should have some vehicle to slow and bring to attention bad legislation, but it shouldn’t be painless. Otherwise, like this time, it’s just obstruction for no benefit. There was no pain for Senators in this latest shutdown filibuster. Sometime in the 1970’s the rules were changed to allow a filibuster to only require an objection. Yes, that’s a simplification, but accurate. Before that time, a Senator or group of Senators would have had to speak continuously on the floor of the Senate to keep the filibuster in effect, a la 1939 movie, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. There was pain for all involved as the Senate had to stay in session and those filibustering had to hold the floor for hours on end, speaking into the record. The new rules are lazy and painless. If you want to take a stand against something, you should have to actually stand!

With very few exceptions, most Americans didn’t feel any effects of the shutdown, as most things continued as is. Only “nonessential” workers were furloughed. It wasn’t until the SNAP program began to run out of money and the airlines began to feel the air traffic controller pinch that anyone really perked up. Senators cared about SNAP, because those are actual voters affected. They didn’t care about not paying air traffic controllers, until it escalated to the fear of constituents complaining about not getting to fly home for the holidays.

In my opinion, pain and risk form the answer. Senators should feel some pain when they determine something should be filibustered and their constituents should feel some pain during a shutdown in order to get their attention. Senators should have been afraid of their actions getting their constituents attention for something that resulted in nothing. As is, the whole thing was low cost theatre that had very little effect on anything.

Veterans Day Celebrations in the Midst of Turmoil – J.R. Gaylor

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J.R. Gaylor

With turmoil foreign and domestic, we pause today to celebrate the living veterans for their service, their patriotism, their love of country and willingness to sacrifice in defense of our country. As important as it is to defend ourselves against foreign threats as our veterans have nobly served, there are some very insidious threats we are facing with America against itself.

Specifically, I am referring to the acceptability—by far too many—of the lawlessness we see happening, as well as the twisted logic behind the lawlessness.

We are seeing the direct contrast of the “broken window” theory versus “progressive criminal justice” model.

The theory of the “Broken Window” holds that addressing minor crimes like vandalism, public intoxication, and minor theft creates an atmosphere of order and lawfulness versus “progressive criminal justice” which promotes reforms such as ending cash bail, not prosecuting misdemeanors, and early release of offenders.

The justification behind this “progressive” thought is ‘because someone told a lie, it doesn’t make them a liar’. Or ‘because someone took a bribe, it doesn’t make them corrupt’. In other words, ‘if a crime is committed and no one is responsible, was there actually a crime at all’?

Famously said, “a great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within.”

Next July 4th, we will celebrate 250 years of the great American experiment of Independence under a Constitutional Republic from which we aspire to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility and provide for the common defense.

Let us aspire to recapture that vision.

J.R. Gaylor President/CEO; ABC IN/KY

Culver – Downtown Redevelopment

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The Culver Redevelopment Commission (CRC) will be having a special meeting this Wednesday at 6:30. (See the notice to the right.) They are really making an effort to get a good turnout, thus the venue move to the School Admin Building.

The presentation will be from a company called Retail Strategies. They are one of three firms that responded to an RFP the town manager put out earlier this year. As you can see from the announcement, they are proposing to provide consultation on downtown revitalization for Culver, particularly looking at the two downtown corridors on Main Street and Lake Shore Drive.

The discussion at the CRC has been to look into what can be done to make our downtown areas more successful as a first step with future expansion to the rest of the town. This is partially a response to The Dunes and how to provide services for the additional full time residents the town hopes to attract.

I have a conflict, so I won’t be there for this presentation. My two thoughts on what I would have liked to hear are:

  1. The concentration on the downtown areas is fine as a first step, but that shouldn’t be done without also looking at the town as a whole and how everything fits together. Too often Culver falls into a one step back before two steps forward pattern. Inefficient at best. Generally costly too. I know we have a rough framework of what should happen in the town as a whole from the Comp Plan, but making sure any sub-plans fit holistically into the master plan is important. How will this concentrated plan fit?
  2. The thing Culver needs more than another analysis (We’ve been analyzed more than Tony Soprano!) is an implementation plan the town can actually do. Culver did great things with Stellar, but has somewhat stalled since then. The impetus to move things forward has to come from the Town Council. I’m not sure that they have the same fire that was there for Stellar. A restating of the problems we already recognize won’t hurt, but it’s that next step towards action that matters. Will the Town Council be at the meeting and will they step up?

This is meant for the downtown merchants, so I hope they step up too. This could be a major benefit to them, but only if they participate and help work the plan. I appreciate the Town Manager and CRC taking this on. They can’t just do it though. They need active participation and help from those affected. The town can assist in this, but the merchants and property owners have to take the reins at some point and make it happen.

Innovate Indiana Series

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Suzanne Jaworowski

Easterday Construction is a member of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce. As such, I was offered the opportunity to share their table at two Innovate Indiana presentations in South Bend. Both featured Suzanne Jaworowski, Indiana Secretary of Energy and Natural Resources, as the key note speaker. The presentation was moderated by Gerry Dick of Inside Indiana Business, so it presented a pro-growth vision for Indiana. This series was one of several done in various regions of Indiana.

There were a few others from Marshall County present, though I only recognized people from Plymouth and Culver. One of them spoke in the morning round-table session and made the comment that they were afraid that our County is becoming the County of “No”. It was a bit disheartening to hear a titter go around the room followed by one of the people from downstate responding something to the effect of, “Oh, we know that well!” Ugh! Not what you want to hear.

That rolled into Ms. Jaworowski’s follow-up comments. These were the key take-aways for me:

  1. Energy production is a priority of the current presidential administration and Indiana wants to step up to this challenge.
    • Indiana is promoting an “all of the above” position on energy. We still have coal-fired plants, but most of them have been upgraded and while not environmentally perfect, they are not the dirty coal plants of yesteryear. We also have productive gas-fired plants that perform well. We are expanding solar and wind energy production and looking into nuclear power. None of these are THE solution, but they can all be complimentary.
  2. Data Centers are critical to the growing AI industry and another priority of the current presidential administration. The President has specifically called out Indiana as a State primed for data center construction.
    • Indiana is a prime location for data centers due to our position within the country and our access to the electrical grid. We also have generally good internet infrastructure. The power solutions listed above add to the attractiveness of our State.
    • Indiana has taken a position requiring data centers to provide projections of their ultimate electrical needs and requires them to provide 80% of the upgrades necessary to provide for those needs. Most utility companies are taking this a step further and requiring them to provide 100% of the upgrades before any power is turned on. Locally, in the case of AEP, they require the data centers to pay the ultimate use bill from day one, before they have ramped up to that need, in order for AEP to guarantee that capacity down the road.
    • Ms. Jaworowski indicated that this should lead to rate reductions for current rate-payers in Counties with data centers. An advantage our County of No will not have.

There was a round table discussion at lunch that talked about the need to be forward thinking and support businesses that support the communities. The role of the Regional Development Authority (RDA) was discussed. The RDA has made great strides, but is still far from the goals it has set for itself.

Absent from these meetings were elected officials from Marshall County. Elected officials from our other regional partner counties where there, which puts us at a disadvantage. Marshall County often seems to be treated like the redheaded step child. The failure of our elected officials to participate won’t help that.