Thursday, August 29, 2013

United We Stand, Divided We Kneel

By Steve Erdelen (Reprinted from Summer 2011 hardcopy edition)
Iron mine workers in Minnesota, circa 1910
If you turn back a page, you’ll notice a bug on page three. Not a real bug, but what is known as a union printer’s bug. That in itself is no big deal, but I happen to be very proud that our magazine is now being printed at a union printing shop. There was never any kind of protest against our magazine by any union member, or any pressure applied by anyone, whatsoever, to print at a union shop. It was my decision to go that direction and a very competitive bid helped me along. Decisions like that are made everyday by millions of small businesses around this country and our business is no different. The only thing that sets us apart from the vast majority of small businesses in this country is that our product is a direct reflection of the communities we are circulated in.

In other words, if you pick up a copy of The Springfield News-Leader on your way to visit your child at Missouri State University, or on your way to Branson, the chances are pretty good that your future perceptions of Springfield, Missouri will be influenced by that newspaper you just bought. My first job in the advertising business was in 1984 and since that time the biggest lesson I’ve learned, is that perception is everything.

One of our contributors told me that she intentionally drops off copies of our magazine in trendy little coffee shops around the St. Louis area. She apparently does so, because she is proud of the magazine and she wants to help stop the perception that our area is on the decline and that we have very little to offer in terms of culture and commerce. As most of our readers realize, Northwest St. Louis County is brimming with great history, tremendous talent, fine businesses, beautiful homes and very friendly people. Region wide perceptions about this area however, could be dramatically improved.

Combine the devastating decline of Lambert St. Louis International Airport, the destruction of 2,000 homes and nearly 100 businesses in Bridgeton for a seldom used runway and the effective abandonment of Northwest Plaza in St. Ann and what do you have? What you have my friend is a perception problem. Pile on top of that the nationwide trend in the 1980’s and 1990’s to migrate out of inner cities and their original suburbs (or exurbs) and then what kind of community are you left with? I guess the answer depends on your perspective and your insight. It depends on whether your perceptions are formed by the influence of your peer group, people you aspire to be like or pure, deductive reasoning. It’s sometimes easier to look down your nose at a person, or a geographic area than it is to look down your nose to study the real facts about someone or somewhere.

The bottom line is that no matter where a person now resides, they are generally very proud of that place, but where they “grew up” is almost always sacred to them. I’ve seen it with my own eyes and heard it with my own ears. On the local Facebook Groups I’ve organized, I’ve read thousands of fond remembrances from area Baby Boomers about Northwest Plaza, St. Charles Rock Road, Pattonville and Ritenour High Schools and virtually every neighborhood around here. When I announced online that we were launching the Rock Road Reporter, I was immediately flooded (and still am) by request for copies of the magazine, by former local residents who now live in St. Charles County, Lincoln County, Warren County, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Detroit, Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle, Washington D.C. and Bradenton, Florida, to name just a few. Did they think that our magazine was going to be the second coming of TIME, or NEWSWEEK, or ROLLING STONE? Nope. They just missed the area they grew up in and they thought that our magazine could bring a little piece of home back to them.

The area that they grew up in was and is still considered to be a “working class” and “middle class” area. Their parents might have worked at McDonnell-Douglas (Boeing) or at the Ford or GM plant. They may have been in “the trades” as a machinist, pipe fitter, equipment operator, electrician, welder, plumber, carpenter, painter, bricklayer or laborer. Just like today, local people sold clothing and shoes and furniture and waited tables and tended bar and swept and mopped the floors at schools and at businesses. They worked hard and they took pride in what they accomplished. They put food on the table and they sent their freshly scrubbed kids to school everyday. America was booming and it was the working class and middle class paychecks that kept it booming. Families would buy that new Ford or Chevy or Dodge every three to five years and the new Zenith color television and the new Frigidaire as well. It made sense that one job here created another job here.

Things have changed quite a bit since then for the working class. Lifetime jobs with the same company are now extremely rare, as are retirement pensions. Loyalty to workers is a thing of the past and the dignity and honor of an honest day’s work is often overlooked and underappreciated. Greed is rampant and the divide between rich and poor is much worse than it has ever been. A good friend and top salesman that I worked with in the early 1990’s told me back then: “It used to be that sales and marketing people ran companies and now it’s the bean counters that run companies.”

His point at the time was that instead of investing in new markets and new products to create more profits, companies were beating down vendors and cutting jobs to prop up the bottom line. Very little has changed from his statement of 18 years ago, in fact it has gotten far worse. Corporations, with the tacit approval of Congress have basically declared war on the working people of this country. In the name of the bottom line, unions have been targeted and broken up, pension plans eliminated, insurance premiums increased and job security abolished. “Increased productivity” typically means that one person is doing the job of two or three people and by God, they better not complain about it. Most people know exactly what will happen to them if they do. Even if a worker keeps his or her mouth shut, the possibility of their job being shipped off to a foreign country remains a very real possibility. Speaking of foreign countries, American corporations are allowed to defer taxes from overseas profits to the tune of over $100 billion a year.

Hundreds of billions of hard working taxpayer dollars have been used to save banks and financial institutions that were “too big to fail.” The very same banks and financial institutions who helped to create the sub prime mortgage lending crisis that ultimately wiped out trillions of dollars in middle class home equity all over this country. Thousands of middle class people hear a statement similar to the following every day: “We’re sorry Mr. and Mrs. Jones, but your house that was valued at $160,000 in 2007 is now worth $100,000. The $60,000 in equity that you thought you had has now disappeared; therefore we cannot issue you a line of credit to capitalize your new business, because you don’t have enough collateral.”

When that happens and I can personally attest to the fact that it does happen, new jobs are not created and small businesses are not allowed to start-up or expand. The middle class is rapidly getting squeezed out of the American dream while billionaires are using millions of dollars of our tax money in the form of TIF’s (Tax Increment Financing) to “assist” them in the development of box stores that sell mostly foreign made merchandise. (For reference, see the new Wal-Mart Super Center being built on St. Charles Rock Road, in Bridgeton) Also, remember that the Wal-Mart atCypress and the Rock Road will be completely abandoned and presumably left for dead.  

Not to rub it in, but two wars are being fought overseas and we have found within us the generosity to grant the wealthiest among us a $700 billion tax break. Add to that the $700 billion bailout of Wall Street and you’ll come up with enough money to send 20 million of our citizens through four years of college.

The GI Bill after World War II proved that educating Americans was a very smart thing to do. The bill helped to create the most innovative and skilled work force in the history of the world. It seems that, these days however, our tax money is better spent on subsidizing the wealthy in the hope that some of that money will “trickle down” to all of us peasants and “create jobs.” Job creation is a concept that politicians love to talk about, but have no idea of how to really make it happen. Rebuilding our infrastructure and investing in exurban redevelopment doesn’t seem to be a viable option for them. It’s much easier to just hand over money to corporations.

How can ordinary working class or middle class people (or whatever sociologists like to call us) fight back against raging greed and self serving politicians? I believe the way our parents did it and the way their parents did it before them, was first to get off their rear ends and go to the polls and secondly, to form and join unions. They teamed up to bargain collectively and to strike with work stoppages against unlivable wages and unnecessary greed. They boycotted companies who mistreated workers and marketed shoddy products. They practiced the old lesson of vigorously protecting their own interest. The same lesson any rich person would teach their son or daughter.

By the way, did I mention that there was a bug on page three?

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Rock Road Brewer Gives Police and Firefighters Their Best Case Ever

Just in time for Labor Day celebrations with family and friends, St. Louis Police Officers and Firefighters will be receiving a full semi-truckload of American Patriot Beer.

John Beal, President of American Patriot Beer and CEO of John Beal Roofing laughed, "I considered giving the Officers and Firefighters a case of shingles, but my VP of Marketing, Sam Maiden Jr., convinced me that they would rather have a case of American-owned and American-Brewed American Patriot Beer!"

Beal continued, "Seriously I love these folks, over the years my company has put a lot of roofs on the homes of these incredibly brave people, who put it all on the line for all of us every day. I can't begin to imagine what kind of courage it takes to face down a bad guy or run into a burning building."

"Life has been good to me and this is just a small way of honoring the bonds of courage and fidelity to duty that these folks share. I hope that this Labor Day, as they gather with friends and family that everyone will let them know how much we appreciate the risks they take to keep all of us safe," Beal concluded.

The American Patriot Beer will be available for pick-up at the St. Louis Police Officers Association Hall at 3710 Hampton Avenue just in time for the Labor Day Weekend.

Sgt. David Bonenberger, President of the St. Louis Police Officers Association and Demetrius Alfred, President of the St. Louis Firefighters Association said, "We are absolutely delighted and totally surprised by this generous action and we know our men and women will enjoy the FREE cases of American Patriot Beer woleheartedly and responsibly as all good citizens do!

"On behalf of all our brothers and sisters in the law enforcement and firefighting
professions, and like all those people on TV say, 'Thank you! John Beal."

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Local FM Radio is Coming To Your Smartphone

INDIANAPOLIS, Aug. 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Unprecedented coordination by radio broadcasters led to today's announcement that Sprint will begin installing the NextRadio® application in a broad array of FM-enabled wireless devices over the coming years, allowing consumers to listen to their local radio stations on their smartphones.

"Today we set a new course as an industry, one that will bring exciting audience and advertiser engagement opportunities," Emmis Chairman & CEO Jeff Smulyan said. "This announcement is a credit to the entire radio industry, which has unified to make this happen."

The announcement by Sprint also marks the official launch of NextRadio®, the smartphone app that delivers a highly interactive artist and ad experience to FM-enabled smartphones.

Data for the NextRadio® app is supplied by TagStation®, the cloud-based engine that offers stations the ability to upload branding images that will display as default artwork in the NextRadio® app, as well as call letters, format, station name and slogan. This basic, free level of station integration is open to all radio stations and creates a compelling experience within the app as the user is able to quickly associate their local stations with familiar visuals while browsing. 

If a station does not register at TagStation®, listeners using the NextRadio® app will still be able to hear the radio station but may not see the station's logo displayed.

 "Whether the station is large market, medium market, small market, commercial or non-commercial, this free service will provide listeners with a visual radio listening experience on the FM-enabled smartphone. Radio stations no longer have to add the cost of Internet Streaming to get local FM radio on a mobile device," said Paul Brenner, Emmis' Chief Technology Officer and President, NextRadio, LLC. "Adding full TagStation® capabilities allows radio stations to offer listeners features like album art and artist information, listener feedback, song tagging capabilities, enhanced advertising options and social integration, which dramatically enhance the listening experience."

Smulyan noted that more than 1,500 stations signed up for the free services offered by TagStation® and thousands more are expected following today's product launch. Additionally, industry leaders like Beasley, CBS Radio, Entercom, Greater Media and Hubbard registered for the additional services through TagStation®.

The Radio Advertising Bureau and National Association of Broadcasters enthusiastically endorse the idea of FM receivers in smartphones. The NextRadio® system brings that feature to select Sprint smartphones and includes every radio station in America on the service. To see a demonstration of the NextRadio® app, go to
http://tagstation.com/NextRadio/. To sign your station up for this free service, visit http://www.tagstation.com/signup