It has been a long time since I posted in my Blog.  I got too tied up in the political ranting about a phase of the history of Branson.  Sorry, I did miss writing but had to concentrate on more positive things in my life and business,

I decided to write again to comment on the Branson History.  My decision was prompted by a very recent event.  This weekend I lost a friend, but much more important to you readers, WE lost a true Branson Pioneer.

Several (about 6 or 7) years ago I met a guy at breakfast one morning and ended up sharing my breakfast table with him a couple or three times a week.  He was a gentleman and a businessman and we enjoyed many discussions about Branson history and so many other topics.  He dressed in a white long sleeve dress shirt vitally year round.  Seldom a tie, and even less seldom a sport or suit coat.  I knew him by first name only for at least a year and perhaps even near two years before I had cause to ask his last name and what he "used to do" here in Branson.  His advanced age had led me to believe he was surely retired and his professional and gentlemanly manor just seemed to have me think he was a retired old man who lived in his memories of a law office or a stock brokerage or some other far off big city professional.  He had wise advice and seemed to know many who wandered into the restaurant we frequented.

We became friends quickly and enjoyed discussions of history, business and politics every other morning or so.  He had lost his wife a few years prior and seldom elaborated on that but he mentioned it.  I finally after some months asked what he did around Branson.  I expected to hear about a professional career back in Ohio or Iowa or in a big city like St. Louis or Chicago, instead he said he a STILL had  a small  business in Branson he had bought several years ago.  I had to pull details from this humble man and he finally explained he owned Table Rock Asphalt.  This wonderful man was a true pioneer who literally helped build this town I love and call home.  Being an absolute glutton for history of Branson I asked questions nearly every morning he was able to join  me at breakfast. He went out of his way to introduce me to other pioneers and entrepreneurs.  He enjoyed advising me and others on so many topics, but only after we asked and even then he was ever so humble and gracious.  At age 96 Harles Simmons left us this weekend and went to his reward.  I truly believe he is in a more perfect version of downtown Branson now.  He is enjoying some of the buildings and businesses he helped develop and build.

I can't quite explain the feelings I have for a man 40+ years my senior who treated me like a friend and equal and relished in giving advice and reliving history of the town he and I love so much.  Harles introduced me to several other fine gentlemen who very much like him loved to relive the history of the people and places in Branson, Missouri.  We met for a few years and his age finally started taking effect.  I visited him at a nursing home a couple times and he got better and moved to an assisted living facility.  Being a newer friend I became "unknown" to him quickly but he faked it well and acted as though he knew me and frankly, it didn't matter, he was still so cordial when I visited.  I had not visited in awhile when he failed and I am sorry I missed one more visit.

I want to move this old political blog/opinion page to tell about my own and other peoples experiences with these grand Gentlemen and Ladies who helped build this wonderful area.

I am only embarrassed and sorry that I had to lose this nice friend before I realized how important he was to me and let others know.

This is from his obituary and helps tell about this great guy:

Harles served his country in the United States Army during World War II as a Sergeant. He served in New Guinea, Luzon and Southern Philippines. He received the Philippines Liberation Ribbon w/One Bronze Star and Asiatic Pacific Theater Ribbon with Three Bronze Stars.

When he came back to the states he and Ruth lived in the Bellefonte area near Harrison, Ark. Harles and Ruth moved to Branson in the spring of 1955. He worked with Tom Jenkins at the Ford Dealership in Branson (Branson Motors) beginning in 1955. About 1961 he went to work for Table Rock Asphalt. He later became owner of the Table Rock Asphalt Company.

Harles was a member of the Lions Club in Harrison and Branson. He was one of the early members of the Lions Club in Branson. He was a member of the Branson Christian Church in Branson and had served on the Boatman’s Bank Board in Forsyth.

I was privileged to meet this guy and get to know him just a little bit.  He was true pioneer of our Branson, Missouri.  Not only will I miss him, his knowledge and wisdom will be missed by many.

Economic Development and JOBS!

Economic Development is defined differently in every community and the definition changes from time to time.  In today's Branson, it may mean the creation of a half dozen jobs that are not retail related.  Next month when we are chasing another big box store it might mean retail clerk jobs.  In general, it always means jobs and money generated from NEW activity.

Every single NEW job created will help pay for other existing jobs in the community.  When Johnny gets a job, a tiny little piece of his paycheck is used to pay Sallie at the grocery store and another tiny little piece is used to pay Frank at the auto repair shop.  Then a tiny little piece of Sallie's paycheck is used to pay Timothy's paycheck at the pharmacy.  Frank uses the money he got from Sallie to pay for parts at Hank's store and the fingers of cash stretch out. 

Branson is blessed with an extremely good percentage of the cash flow being what is called Basic Income.  Basic Income is money from activities and sales and service to external entities.  See, using the examples above we see that all the members of the chains of cash flow are members of our society.  In Branson we have the luxury of outside money always being inserted into the mix. With that in mind, the flow might start with Hazel and Fred spend the week visiting and they spend their money from Iowa here to buy motel night stays and rent fishing boats and eat at the buffet and ride the go carts and see the museums.  Their money is used to pay a part of Jimmy and Harold and James and Sue' pay check.  This means we don't just circulate the money among our community, we have that special piece of the puzzle nearly every town in America wants,  other peoples money.  There is only one problem ( well, probably more than one) ,  Other people sometimes don't spend as much.  Other people sometimes stay home or stay here less and spend less.

We need more diversity.  That does not mean less of the tourism industry.  It means even more of the tourism industry AND some non-tourism industries too.  Yes more tourism industry is needed.  More diverse tourism.  Winter activities, big adventure activities, Different Music shows from the Branson norm, different, different, different.  So different I can't imagine what it is. 

I sometimes wonder exactly what I would have said to a nice family who came to me and said they wanted to buy a old worthless cave and charge people to come see it and eventually add retail stores that they also intended to charge people to go shop in.  I often think about how crazy it must have sounded to a banker when he was asked to loan money to build a big theater in a hay field 4 miles from a small fishing spot in SW Missouri. 

We need to add more diverse tourism features to Branson and Taney County.  We also need to add non-tourism industry to our mix.  Small assembly plants with 30 or 40 employees would be a great start.  Warehousing businesses that can ship to the three or four counties around should be welcomed.  Mid level office users with access to today's internet access can move here from nasty Cities and bring with them their spouses and children to add to our workforce while raising our per capita income levels which in turn will aid in attracting even more office dwellers who will spend their money on haircuts and produce and dry cleaning and etc. 

Branson has so much to offer.  Great schools, wonderful entertainment, beautiful environment, low crime, cheap airfare, fantastic people and so much more and all we have to do is find the way to welcome new business to town. 

This needs to start on the street level and somehow find its way into City Hall and the County Seat.  Branson needs to be OPEN for Business in a real way for future ventures.  Local experts need to be consulted more often.  Growth needs to be nurtured.  New business ideas need help not hurdles. We need them to be welcome here. We need to find ways to entice them to move here and open for business.  We hear all the time about failures.  It’s only human nature to discuss the failures of others, but we seldom remember the dozen successes in Branson that exist for every failure we see.  Yes the show closed, the airline cancelled flights, and that retail store went out of business, but at that same period in time, several retailers tripled their sales volume, a building shaped like a boat had lines waiting outside and down the walk waiting to get inside, and that old worthless cave property owner bought the Harlem Globe Trotters to add to their now huge and wonderful collection of attractions nationwide.  

In the Aftermath

This short Blog Update will not do the topic justice and for that I apologize. We are so busy with all the damaged property we manage. Due to the subject I feel I really should write volumes, but time is short so I will be also.

I want to thank and compliment the City staff for the fantastic job they are doing in this aftermath. We asked Thursday for a building permit for removal and replacement of significant parts of one of the buildings we manage. No structural damage was found but entire window systems, many square feet of ceiling systems, roof damage and much more. Monday the permit was issued. No I am not joking. Monday the permit was issued. Clean up was allowed even before the permit paperwork was created.

I was on property approximately 25 minutes after the storm hit and I can't begin to tell you how amazing the fire department and police department were to work with and how dedicated they are. Search for endangered victims came first, but as soon as that was handled, security and safety inspections began and I mean they were "on the spot"! More than one phone call from police to help us insure that looters were not scavenging and making a bad ordeal much worse. Communications have been coming out of City Hall with regularity. The Finance department and Building department working long hard extra hours to make things move smoothly. The water department was on site offering to shut everything off before we even thought about the potential problems that could cause.

Thanks to the staff at the city.

When all gets back to normal, I will return to my typical rant.

Perhaps a bit more tolerant for a while.

Economic Development

Economic Development is defined differently in every community and the definition changes from time to time. In today's Branson, it may mean the creation of a half dozen jobs that are not retail related. Next month when we are chasing another big box store it might mean retail clerk jobs. In general, it always means jobs and money generated from NEW activity.

Every single NEW job created will help pay for other existing jobs in the community. When Johnny gets a job, a tiny little piece of his paycheck is used to pay Sallie at the grocery store and another tiny little piece is used to pay Frank at the auto repair shop. Then a tiny little piece of Sallie's paycheck is used to pay Timothy's paycheck at the pharmacy. Frank uses the money he got from Sallie to pay for parts at Hank's store and the fingers of cash stretch out.

Branson is blessed with an extremely good percentage of the cash flow being what is called Basic Income. Basic Income is money from activities and sales and service to external entities. See, using the examples above we see that all the members of the chains of cash flow are members of our society. In Branson we have the luxury of outside money always being inserted into the mix. With that in mind, the flow might start with Hazel and Fred spend the week visiting and they spend their money from Iowa here to buy motel night stays and rent fishing boats and eat at the buffet and ride the go carts and see the museums. Their money is used to pay a part of Jimmy and Harold and James and Sue' pay check. This means we don't just circulate the money among our community, we have that special piece of the puzzle nearly every town in America wants, other peoples money. There is only one problem ( well, probably more than one) , Other people sometimes don't spend as much. Other people sometimes stay home or stay here less and spend less.

We need more diversity. That does not mean less of the tourism industry. It means even more of the tourism industry AND some non-tourism industries too. Yes more tourism industry is needed. More diverse tourism. Winter activities, big adventure activities, Different Music shows from the Branson norm, different, different, different. So different I can't imagine what it is. We might see that with a change in attitude. Not just at my favorite whipping boy (City Hall), but everywhere else including my very office.

I sometimes wonder exactly what I would have said to a nice family who came to me and said they wanted to buy a old worthless cave and charge people to come see it and eventually add retail stores that they also intended to charge people to go shop in. I often think about how crazy it must have sounded to a banker when he was asked to loan money to build a big theater in a hay field 4 miles from a small fishing spot in SW Missouri. Isn't it fortunate for all of us that the local politicians back then did not publically humiliate those investors by questioning their integrity, financial worth and marketing abilities.

We need to add more diverse tourism features to Branson and Taney County. We also need to add non-tourism industry to our mix. Small assembly plants with 30 or 40 employees would be a great start. Warehousing businesses who can ship to the three or four counties around should be welcomed. Mid level office users with access to today's 25 megabyte internet access can move here from nasty Cities and bring with them their spouses and children to add to our workforce while raising our per capita income levels which in turn will aid in attracting even more office dwellers who will spend their money on haircuts and produce and dry cleaning and etc.

Branson has so much to offer. Great schools, wonderful entertainment, beautiful environment, low crime, cheap airfare, fantastic people and so much more and all we have to do is find the way to welcome new business to town.

How many more times are we going to have great prospects try a business venture in Branson only to tell us they NEVER want to go through that nightmare again? It's the City, it's the people, it's the newspapers, and it's even the guy down the street. They had every roadblock imaginable thrown up before them by the City, the local newspapers had long opinion pieces from know-it-alls who never bothered to go get the facts, or it had the local gossips running all around the town and the internet spewing nasty criticisms of every move they made and questioning the validity of the project.

No, I am not writing about one business in the above paragraph, I am writing about dozens. Some still have a presence here but are quickly growing elsewhere, some gave up and left and some are still fighting to even get opened. The short term answer is we have to develop a new attitude to begin developing any economic generators. I assure you these businesses are VERY welcome elsewhere. We need them to be welcome here.

Update from last post

OK,
So, I guess I was lousy with expressing myself this time. I applaud the City for joining in on the Economic Development Partnership. I was trying (feably) to make a point of the other wastes of money and the reduction in potential exposure we will see by combining the jobs and/or loosing our City Economic Development Director. I will try to edit more carefully next tiume. YES the City joining in is a good thing. It just looked like one step forwadrd and two steps back.


Bob