Young people this is YOUR economy and YOU get to choose if you want to live in it.

Janet Yellen said it all last week in one simple sentence that almost all financial and news reporters just let blow right over their head.  Not surprising of course since 95% of all news people are Democrats and have at most a 6th grade education regarding economic matters that they could care less about learning more about anyway. Actually it comes down to one word she said during last week's press conference after the Federal Reserve meeting.  That word was "involuntary."   As in involuntary part time workers.  

That involuntary workers theme was the primary reason the board left interest rates at virtually zero for about the 8th year running.  Truth is despite the rhetoric from Obama last week about a great American economy our economy "sucks" as the young people would say.  As in there almost no growth and no real job creation, beyond part time.  Not to mention so many people have dropped out of the labor force and on to government welfare of some sort as to depress the participation figure to right at an all time low. 

A no growth economy is not a good thing unless you are in an industry that is basically bullet proof to economic concerns. Only two job types seems decently secure right now,  something in the health care business and on the government payroll.  The first though is subject to economic concerns when things get really tight, but on the other hand a government job is as secure and worry free as they come if you can get one and most can not.  Only the privileged few have one. 

So if you are living in the real world where business conditions are important to job security and for many level of income indeed economic growth is important.  History rhymes but rarely repeats.  We are reliving the late 1930's economy right now in America and now as then it is not a pretty story.  Going back to Ms. Janet and her no go interest rates we too are reliving the late 1930's there in that the rate then had been at zero for many years and finally in 1937 they moved it upward ever so slightly and the bottom feel out of the economy.  So Ms. Janet and her gang are left wondering if they too are going to repeat history with a small push up in rates.  Then World War Two saved the economy, so maybe something will bail us out again, but that obviously is not the best scenario.  We continue to say no interest rate rise until after the 2016 election if for no other reason, political concerns. 

Life cycles repeat about every 80 years on average, since generations are about 20 years long, it takes about 4 generations to forget about stupid mistakes we made in the past and repeat them again.  History is a constant move upward in technology and medical achievement and such, but human nature never changes.  Greed and fear have been constants for thousands of years and will remain so for as long as humans reside on this ball of dirt.  So despite great progress in standards of living human nature forces foolish repeating of forgotten errors in judgement.  

So the response to the Great Depression was a huge growth of regulation, taxation, and overburden of small business where real jobs are created.  The result then was government created jobs where one person was paid to dig a hole and another person was paid to fill it up.  Sounds great huh?  Well remember the only way we got out of that mess was to blow up the world with war for 4 years with lots of death and dying and in 1945 got to sorta start all over again.  So what has been our response to our own Great Recession,  yes you got it more regulation, taxation, and overburden of small business, where now the rhyme to dig a hole jobs has been lots and lots of part time jobs with no benefits and not future.  Even the full time jobs that have come about are based on very shaky business going forward.  

Now we can sit here with our Obamacare, Dodd Frank regulation, and taxation of small business or we can do something about it like change leadership in Washington.  The good news is that most states in the country have changed leadership and those states are slowly moving forward even with the heavy handedness from Washington DC.   Young people this is YOUR economy and YOU get to choose if you want to live in it.  However you only get one chance to make a difference as once this no growth scenario is locked in you can stick a fork in it as you and your children must live in your new normal created world.  Maybe you like no growth and hoping to win the lotto game of getting one of those safe and secure government jobs? But most of you will lose that game.  In 2016 you get to choose your fate and your future economy and yes even your future life style.  Make the right choice and life will be more than hand outs and low expectations.  

Voting for Hillary Clinton makes people like me and her richer day by day.  Hillary and I are part of the political economy and financial engineering of the Federal Reserve that keeps the goodies flowing to us with accumulated assets and away from young people trying to accumulate those same assets.  We with assets enjoy lower than low interest rates since our futures are tied to banks and the ALREADY financially secure class and frankly since the current resources are so small we much prefer not to share.  On the other hand you can burst this little rich folks bubble with a pro growth pick as your leader who will not only deregulate, but also lower taxes, and clear the mine field for small business for some FULL TIME job creation, but more important do all this without a world war.   

Your choice, your future.  I will be sitting on the beach watching if you too will repeat history's mistakes.  

             

Heads in Beds or Beds in Heads.

Is it heads in beds or beds in heads?  Honestly, I have used the second one to much laughter for some time and believe myself to be more correct than most people think.

The idea behind tourism in many North Carolina communities is to get travelers off the interstate highways (if you have one) and Johnston County is blessed to have two! The purpose is to get travelers to come, from other states and NC counties within several hours drive of their destination and spend the night.  Yes, it is great to have them spend money shopping and dining, but if you are being funded exclusively by visitors' taxes paid when someone stays at overnight places, then it is crucial to get them to spend the night.

Spending the night creates lots of good things.  It is hotels/motels making money, shopping venues getting extra shopping time, gas stations pumping gas, meals eaten at local dining places, and perhaps a stop at a service business of some sort, and of couse, that hotel visitor's tax of around 6% or so.  More nights equals more money. So yes, heads in beds is the point here.

However, before you get any heads in beds you must get those BEDS in their HEADS! More precisely, you must get them thinking YOUR beds in their heads, not someone else's beds in their heads. Trust me. Almost every county or city in the country is currently doing the same thing since tourism is a high spending and low infrastructure cost.  Visitors stoping and spending the night in your area results in hotel tax, sales tax, and not to be forgotten, property tax as in a vibrant visitor economy means those shopping center, those hotel, and those restaurant buildings are more valuable.

So to get your beds in their heads someone must figure out how to do it. Advertising, marketing, and dedicated professional people are required to get the job done. Tourism Authorities are supposed to do just that and the Johnston County Tourism Bureau has been doing just that for some time now, successfully!  In fact, JCTB has one of the best growth records in the state and honestly, Johnston County is not exactly on the tourist maps, so to speak. Other than the Carolina Premium Outlets the list shortens quickly as to an overnight draw. Remember, we are speaking "overnight" draw. And yes, we are blessed by having the Bentonville Batteground, Ava Gardner Museum, and Tobacco Museum. 

Over the years, the JCVB has performed first class work getting people to stay in Johnston County.  They have done so with Advertising in out-of-state magazines and some in-state publications that have wide circulation.  Being at out-of-state traveler's trade shows where prospective tourists go to find ideas of where to visit is important. Visiting the state border visitor center, building relationships and informing the workers there about what Johnston County has to offer, making a regular stop at the NC Visitors Call Center in Raleigh (where people call for information on planning visits in NC), and much more to mention here add so much value. Lately, JCVB has been doing yeoman's work with social media such as Trip Advisor, Facebook because such is where the younger (and older) set go to find out where to visit. JCVB posts ads and put up websites, and more importantly monitor any bad references that might kill an entire exit's businesses with one post.  So, the key here is to keep the older tourists coming while creating desire in younger tourists, too. JCVB has their job cut out, yes? 

We are blessed in Johnston County to have a local, professional woman at the helm of our tourism authority, one who has in her heart a passion to grow tourism in this county.  That cannot be replaced by just another professional.  Donna Bailey-Taylor leads a team that works well together and, as a whole has some years of experience in working with local businesses and government to get people to stay in Johnston County's overnight venues. Ms. Bailey-Taylor serves at the pleasure of the JCVB board and acts in accordance with what they direct. 

Ms. Bailey-Taylor and the staff have done an outstanding job over the last two decades with honor and recognition, with Ms. Bailey-Taylor being one of the the best at her craft. They have won awards, spent tourism tax wisely and effectively, and yes, produced almost an unbroken record of continuing increases in heads in beds.  They succeeded in this by discovering how to get JOHNSTON COUNTY HOTEL BEDS in prospective visitors' HEADS! 

How do I know all this?  For twelve years I participated as a JCVB board member and to note I am currently not on the board. I personally have watched the staff work. I personally have participated in spending decisions.  I personally have objected to some ideas, but accepted what the board decided in a majority vote.  Ms. Bailey-Taylor is NOT compensated by governement money nor is anyone on the JCVB staff. The entire operation (staff, marketing, everything) is funded by tourism tax, not a tax from local taxpayers' pockets. So, whatever they do to create more demand for heads in beds comes from using only the tourism tax revenues to do so.  Let me repeat that. NO Johnston County taxpayer pays one cent for any part of the operation of the JCVB.  It is completely funded by visitors' tax on hotel stays.

Let's go back to just who are the people JCVB is trying to reach here.  It is NOT Johnston County residents who frankly use the motels here very little.  It is NOT close by counties since those visitors might come and shop and dine which is wonderful but few, if any, stay the night.  It is NOT someone, while traveling, by some remote chance, read a local newspaper or listen to a local radion station while in their car or stopped to get gas or eat a meal.  It IS the people in NC counties and other US states who need to spend the night. Remember, you must get visitors to spend the night for them to pay visitor's tax.

One of the largest budget items has been interstate and major highway billboards.  Billboards along the interstate (in my opinion and most hotel owners' opinions) create more bang for your advertising investment.  More heads in beds, if you will.  My years on the JCVB included a steady diet of saying, "Can this money be better invested on another billboard?"  Of course, billboards on US 70, Interstate 95, Interstate 40, US 701 and US 301, where most visitor traffic comes from, makes good sense to me and others. Of course, our competitors along those raods were interested in acquiring those same billboards and looked for ways to get up on them instead of Johnston County, as there is a limited number along those roads due to regulations.

Here is one example of spending most of you do not know about.  The newly formed Sports Authority in the county is a direct offshoot of the JCVB and is targeted at a demographic some may not consider for overnight stays in the county. The Sports Authority is going after many of those baseball, softball, swim, football, and other such youth sports leagues who have tournments across the state to use our sports facilities. The kids who participate bring their parents and others, many who dine out, shop, and spend the night since tournaments generally last over an entire weekend. Talk about a home run - getting one of these tournaments pays for itself over and over with no cost to local residents.  Add in all that sales tax money they leave behind as well. The JCVB staff puts together a welcome bag for these players with gifts, goodies and offers to encourage spending more money while in Johnston County.  Much of that so called "questionable" money spent at Wal-Mart was for those bags being given to players and their parents, at NO cost to local taxpayers. 

The Johnston County Tourism Bureau is governed by a board selected by each of the local chambers of commerce, some at large members, and some local people involved in the tourism business.  Those member slots are required by a state law governing the board and must be approved by the Johnston County Commissioners. No member of the JCVB gets paid a dime. They do get a lunch when they meet monthly. Frankly, most of these people on the board work day jobs and the lunch provided at the meeting makes it so they can do the board's work during lunch break and go back to work.  The lunch is usually a sandwich and drink or a catered meat and vegetable meal from a local restaurant, keeping that money local.  Not exactly fine dining but much appreciated. The JCVB work is hard and the board can meet up to twice monthly, if needed, for committee meetings.  There is also a state law that governs the board and how they must collect and spend the revenue.  The board is the fiduciary agent that makes sure that happens. Each member is required to sign a document annually that states they know nothing was done illegally during their tenure.

During my tenure on the board, I do not know a single time that money was "wasted" or there was "questionable" use of funds.  During the five years time frame of the recent local news investigation I was the Secretary/Treasurer for three of those years and the Vice Chair for the last two, so if anything happened I would have known about it and frankly signed off on it.  As of now, not a single board member has come forward to say otherwise either.  Each year we were audited and never did an audit come back saying money was being misappropriated.  For the record, at no time was I ever interviewed during this local media inquiry. 

There are other opinions out there regarding if the room tax has a real value.  As in, if we just drop the room tax completely would the resulting assumed decrease in room rates bring more visitors to spend the night in our hotels?  If the room tax was the only variable in the heads in beds then a lower tax or no tax at all might very well make a difference in where travelers stay the night. However, one must take in location, how close are hotels to the main roads, the cost of doing business locally, the local property tax rate, does the area appear safe to stop and spend the night, are there places to dine nearby, and other such factors. So, the room tax is part of a dynamic environment that has lots of moving parts.  If a lower price was the only reason for where travelers stay, then all the lower priced hotels would be full every night. 

So, Johnston County citizen, next time you pay your local property tax, consider that it is lower by about $200 each year because the JCVB does their job, does it well, and at no expense to county taxpayers but brings a reward, visitors, and promotes the county we all love. They get OUR beds in people's heads!