Proactive City Officials and Growth

By Jeff Neff

The more I learn about city government, the more I believe that things can change for the better for the Altoona rather quickly. For this to happen, city officials should be proactive and smart about seeking opportunities with outside businesses. Here is how I think Altoona City Council can bring in business.

Just recently, N.E.W. Customer Service Cos. Inc. was in the news again for their plans to bring hundreds of jobs to our area to train people how to work at home. Although they are a Virginia-based company, we can benefit from their achievement.

Altoona has the population and capacity for a skyward expansion. But what will cause this expansion? I believe that city council members should research existing business friendly ordinances (especially ones that may have been beneficial to Sheetz, during its rise) and exploit them

Political movements, organization missions, and even shopping sales have something in common: Awareness. Without awareness, people wouldn't know about them.

How did N.E.W. Customer Service Cos. find Altoona? What helped them make the decision to expand into Altoona? These questions need to be answered in collaboration with ABCD Corp. When these questions have been answered, the ordinances determined to be helpful for expanding businesses can then be used as an additional incentive to attract outside corporations.

Getting their attention is another obstacle. A city is like a business. You want it to grow, while keeping its operating costs low at the same time, which is why reaching out to outside resources is important. Presentations and direct talks with business owners as well as press releases and TV commercials in their communities could be greatly beneficial to attracting growing businesses; and increase their awareness of Altoona. With exception to TV commercials, the other options are either cheap or free.

The goal of bringing businesses in isn't abstract or impossible. It's not even an uphill battle. We just need to answer the above questions and see city council implement a genuine effort, along with appropriate departments, to set pending growth in motion. Raise awareness around the country of Altoona's existence, and Altoona can raise its skyline. The only question remaining is: who will take the initiative?

What Child is This?

Posted by Jason Ibrahim

In today's society, the value of a child is not very highly regarded. In fact, a teenage girl looking to exterminate an unborn infant in Western PA can end up paying anywhere from $360 to $950 (not to mention a drive to one of Planned Parenthood's area locations).

Now consider another pregnant teenager. She lives well below the poverty line. Her engagement is on the rocks. Accusations are hurled at her as to her unborn child's father. Where are her health services? Where is her welfare check? Is she scared? Of course--but look at her answer to life's most fearsome challenges:

"My soul glorifies the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed,
for the Mighty One has done great things for me-- holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty." (Luke 1:46b-54)

Notice the audacity of her hope: does she appeal to the Roman government? No. Does she appeal to her own powers of thrift, ingenuity and enterprise? No, she has one reason for her appeal, and He has already told her that the child is special in His eyes. That--and only that--drives her ability to care for and raise this child.

Even in the first century though, children could prove to be inconvenient. King Herod, the petty ruler-by-proxy for Israel, was so filled with rage at Jesus' having been born that St. Matthew records, "he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: 'A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.'" (2:16b-18)

What crime had these little children committed, that they were worthy of death? How callous can a man be that his selfish purposes were served by killing an innocent human being? What kind of royalty perpetrates genocide against their people?

And more importantly, how far have we come in over 2000 years?

Disclaimer: The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of ILoveAltoona.com, its owners, or advertisers.

Our 2008 Investments

By Jason Ibrahim

For the last couple months, conventional wisdom has indicated that now is the best time to invest in the stock market. Fortunately, you and I have jumped in with both feet, buying up stock in American industry like it's going out of style. Buoyed by the rays of optimism from our fund managers, we have determined that, recession or not, we're going to get our money's worth, and then some. So what's the problem?

For starters, we should have read the prospectus more carefully. There are lots of good investments out there, but you can avoid the ones labeled Fannie Mae, Citigroup, Ford, General Motors and Chrysler without losing any sleep. (While the last three have not yet occurred, I think it's fair to assume they will.) As Pennsylvanians (and, doubly, Blair County residents), we can soon add Boscov's to our investment portfolio. What do all these companies have in common? We purchased stake in them only after (or at the precipice of) their spectacular failures. We loaned money only to the companies who showed they are incapable of handling it.

This might not be so bad; buying up stock at fire sale prices--then making a killing from it--could be very lucrative, but to have this risk foisted on us by officials who claim to protect our best interests is ludicrous. If I had intimate knowledge of Citigroup's inner workings and wanted to take a chance on them, that's great--but I don't see why my next-door neighbor needs to jump on the bandwagon as well.

To see the alternative, let's take the auto industry as a case study. As Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd said the other day, "We cannot lose the automobile industry in America. That cannot happen." While his thinking is right, it's also incomplete. For one thing, if the Big Three curled up and died tomorrow morning, the US would still have an auto industry. For over a decade now, foreign automakers like Honda, Toyota and Nissan have been moving their production and design operations into the US, in places like Tennessee, Alabama and Ohio. Also, if the Big Three simultaneously filed for Chapter 11 tomorrow, I would be surprised if Honda, et al, didn't rush in, buy their operations and equipment, and employ significant amounts of their workforce, which negates the unemployment impetus for the bailout frenzy. Finally, the Big Three's sales numbers have for some time sent a clear message: they're dead (here, here and here). It's not heroic of Congress to try to prop up the corpse and buy it a $14 billion lunch.

As always, that's just my opinion. How about yours?

Altoona's Chance of a Lifetime

By Jeff Neff

With an economy in a deep recession, this is the opportune time for new businesses and entrepreneurs to step up in the Altoona area. Real estate prices are low and more people are looking for jobs, which means lots of opportunities for the little guy. Some of the most familiar household names in business took a giant leap during the Great Depression. New industries like the automobile, radio, and print media expanded largely by keeping their eyes open to all of the opportunities around.

Remember that in capitalism, there are always opportunities available for anyone. When big companies struggle, smaller companies can grow. When the national economy is down, local economies can grow. Big cities are expensive to live in, and the national employment rate typically reflects the unemployment of larger cities rather than less populated areas like Altoona. If you hear of an economic crisis, but the only thing in your life that has changed is that gas prices went down; then it means that opportunities are everywhere to be found for you.

Altoona is a town full of entrepreneurs. A while ago two residents, Josh Klausman and Aaron Tippett, created Altoona's first concierge service called Your Personal Services. This was great news for Altoona . Although I have not heard much in the news about their progress, companies like this are what Altoona needs. If I were a city government employee or policymaker, I would seek out ways to encourage entrepreneurs to establish new businesses. More Keystone Opportunity Zones, tax breaks for advertising in Altoona, or donating seized city property to start-up businesses. There are hundreds of ways for Altoona to make the best of the national "crisis."

Some resources for new businesses:

http://www.sba.gov

http://www.dos.state.pa.us/dos/site/default.asp

For this short period though, let's put our minds together to see how Altoona can use its resources to make it easier for entrepreneurs to take advantage of this situation by working with community members, Blair County officials and other communities. Does anyone out there have any ideas?