Could our future be in communications?

I was saddened to read that Governor Patton gave my dream company to his home area in eastern Kentucky -- several million in grants and loans -- to fund a telecommunications start up which will provide hundreds of jobs.

Communications by telephone and computers have revolutionized marketing. Now instead of pouring over a written order form, mailing a check to a catalog company and waiting, we only have to call an 800-number, talk to a friendly tele-communicator, give him or her our credit card number and we're done. And the phone operator taking that order does not have to be located where the manufacturer is. He or she could be on a phone/computer system in, say, Columbia!

Adair, Russell and Taylor counties are ripe for a communications company which needs only to be wired to the world and have access to a large pool of available workers. We fit that profile perfectly. I believe our area should have had first consideration for those grants to create that type job. Ok, I'm biased.

If Gov. Patton can't reroute the grants, maybe he could consider making an equal one to Adair County for a sister company here?

Taylor County is

getting one started

A travel telecommunications business has located in Campbellsville and is in the process of hiring up to 100 employees.

Rumor has it that you sign up at their unemployment office for this job and the government pays for your schooling ($6,000) which prepares you for the minimum wage+commiss-ion job. The job is guaranteed once you complete their training school.

A school representative was quoted as saying that one thing she has to do with most new workers in this region is train them to speak correctly.

What? The world isn't ready to hear one of us say, "well, here's what I done," or " 'ziss trip gonna be your'n or will it be his'n...or, are bo'f of you'ns goin?"

On the positive side, this challenge gives us another possible business, that of coaching people to improve verbal communications.

You may disagree with me, but with Batesville Casket leaving Campbellsville, another loud and clear bell has gonged -- our future is not in factories.

I believe our future is in communications. I hope each leader reading this will join in broadcasting the message: we have a huge, available, trainable human resource ready to meet the future.

Bypassed

We recently experienced a total blockage of traffic when the state thought they'd help us by adding stop signs at each exit around the courthouse. Lines fanned out from the square in all directions. Trying to get to or from school meant waiting in a stalled line of traffic a mile long, or using some very creative bypass options.

Tutt Street is a major bypass. Cars and trucks go across it to get quickly from south 55 to Burkesville Street and Highway 61. And visa versa.

The graveyard is another bypass when people are trying to move between Campbellsville and Greensburg Streets. The residents in the graveyard don't seem to mind but people who go walking there have to dodge cars.

After a few days of grid lock, a roar went up from the public and emergency surgery was done overnight, taking out the new stop signs, putting the old yield signs back in place. Traffic is moving along around the square at it's usual, cuss'ed clip again.

A formal bypass remains in the works and rumors say it's ready to happen. The old courthouse building will probably heave a great sigh of relief when it no longer has to have its back side clipped by the occasional long truck trying to maneuver the Columbia square.

Random unofficial polling shows most Adair Countians favor the route which begins near the back of O.K. Country Cooking, goes around the new high school and winds up tying into Highway 61 at the Cumberland Parkway.

Clues to Rural

Community Survival

The Heartland Center, based in Lincoln, Nebraska, has issued an update of its "Clues to Rural Community Survival." The clues or lessons are derived from the Center's case studies of thriving small towns that had managed to triumph in spite of severe economic conditions, namely a farm crisis. The clues are:

1) evidence of community pride;

2) emphasis on quality in business and community life;

3) willingness to invest in the future;

4) participatory approach to community decision making;

5) cooperative community spirit;

6) realistic appraisal of future opportunities;

7) awareness of competitive positioning;

8) knowledge of the physical environment;

9) active economic development program;

10) deliberate transition of power to a younger generation of leaders;

11) acceptance of women in leadership roles;

12) strong belief in and support for education;

13) problem-solving approach to providing health care;

14) strong multigenerational family orientation;

15) strong presence of traditional institutions that are integral to community life;

16) attention to sound and well-maintained infrastructure;

17) careful use of fiscal resources;

18) sophisticated use of information resources;

19) willingness to seek help from the outside;

and 20) conviction that, in the long run, you have to do it yourself.

(Shared by the Kentucky Long-Term Policy Research Center.)

How does Adair County measure up on that list?

Heart of Adair

flower focus begins

Each spring for the past few years Heart of Adair members have worked together with businesses on the square to keep the flower boxes filled and blooming.

Some seasons are great while others are less so. Some plants have been discarded as too weak while others, like pansies, have been adopted for their hardiness.

If your organization would like to help make the square more beautiful by donating bulbs, plants or time, just call coordinator Jane Aaron at Image Analysis, 384-6400. Mackie Jo Pennington coordinated the efforts in past years, but in case you haven't noticed her new store look, Mackie is busy adding studio photography to her Photo-Video business. She's still taking time to care for the flower bed in front of her store, but she doesn't have time to work with all of them any more.

Fountain vs. parking

comes into question again

It was debated before and is being debated again. Does our city want to be special and beautiful to draw more people to downtown Columbia? Or do we simply want to be practical, cut the showy stuff, and allow every single parking space possible for those who already come?

Questions recently include: "If the fountain helps business in one corner of the square, why can't we have, say, a playground in front of the children's dress shop", and "why shouldn't we have tables and chairs and another fountain in the opposite corner of the square?".

All good questions. If I were a town leader, I'd try to look far ahead and plan to accommodate more and more people coming to downtown so all the businesses could thrive and remain on the square.

I'd have Cracker Barrel style rocking chairs in front of every business and a McDonald's style kid's corner in front of Mitzi's. Columbia would become more and more a delightful destination point.

The rest rooms in the courthouse would be spotlessly clean and there'd always be toilet paper and hand towels and soap.

I understand that infrastructure and practicality must be at the top of the agenda, of course, but shouldn't fun and comfort also be right up there?