The Morning Call today is
featuring a story and video about a young man opening a scrap wire business in east Allentown. I wish him all the success in the world, but have an issue with Pawlowski and Scott Unger loaning him our tax dollars. Unger, director of AEDC should do some research, I suggest a trip to Sumner Ave. Allentown has a half dozen existing scrap yards which buy scrap copper wire. I can assure him none of them were ever granted six figure loans by a city agency. As a matter of fact, many years ago Mr. Aronsky, from Valley Iron and Steel, donated the land which today comprises most of Trout Creek Park. If Unger's Junior Achievement mentality isn't absurd enough, the paper allows this young man to use the video as an virtual advertisement to buy scrap wire.
Does the Call article include the
ReplyDeleteword "taxpayer" grant-funded dollars?
@7:09, no, it is not allentown property taxes being used; that may make it OK with you, but not with me. i sincerely doubt that the scrap wire intake requires 30 people to process, in all the existing allentown yards combined. the notion that a scrap business dealing in just copper wire would need 30 people is testimony to AEDC's ignorance.
ReplyDelete"Feel-good story" with no real substance?
ReplyDeleteWhat a shock THAT would be from The Morning Call ...
... and they wonder why they don't sell so many newspapers no more.
JUST SITTING HERE WATCHING THE WHEELS GO ROUND, I REALLY LOVE TO WATCH THEM ROLL
It gets better, take a look at Moody's new rating for the city. Use to be like steak sauce, A-1.
ReplyDeleteIt seems the only solution left is bankruptcy. The system is not working and we have a mayor that insists somehow we can either eat or entertain our way out of this problem. The hedonism and narcissism that have grown out of our aberrant concept of democracy over the past three decades is coming to an end. Selling ourselves to the highest bidder is not the solution. A man imbued with a monolithic classic and dated urban renewal obsession is not the answer. His failures will forever resound in the history of Allentown or the Lehigh Valley Community Network as it may one day be known as.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a problems with AEDC and the loan pool. It has quietly done good work at keeping small businesses in Allentown for a long time.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, as the young man in question I am flattered that you would call me young. However, that and a few other of your facts need to be corrected.
ReplyDeleteThe city is working with us on a loan. I will be paying interest on said loan. Now to address your point on a scrap yard not needing 30 people and a six figure loan I would agree. However, where you are wrong is that I am not a scrap yard. I am a manufacturer.
The buying of contractors wire is about 5% of my total revenue. In fact, in the last two years we did not even open to the public. We receive our wire from scrap yards, public utilities, and wire manufacturers. We decided to open a part of the company to the general public as a test run to see if this would be profitable.
The 30 people will be over the next 2-3 years and they will be working production lines, office support and sales.
The city has done their homework and are attempting to attract clean light manufacturing jobs to the city that pay above minimum wage. My company fits all of these items.
While I appreciate your comments and for calling me young, I take issue with the classification of my business when you have yet to step foot into it and see for yourself.
jim, thanks for commenting. i always welcome and appreciate any principal taking issue with a post i write. i'm not sure i would classify you as a manufacturer, more of a recycler, you're stripping wire in a very efficient fashion. but let me change direction. in this low interest environment, as a taxpayer, i would appreciate you getting an expansion loan from a bank for profit. in the very least, i paid for pawlowski, unger and bosket to visit your site, and have their staff process your application, not to mention the loan itself.
ReplyDeleteMichael, thank you for posting my comments. It is refreshing to have an online political discussion in a civil manner.
ReplyDeleteThe loan in question has not been given we are simply applying for it. As I understand it this is used to attract business to the city. I plan to use it for the addition of more jobs like I posted before. While I maintain I'm not a scrap yard I do have to point out that regardless of what you or I classify myself as, my question to you is does it really matter so long as I'm providing good paying work and just as important tax dollars to the city?
Yes all of us paid for the mayor to spend an hour at my factory but would you not agree it was money well spent if I'm going to give jobs to 20-30 Allentown residents? I'm sure the people I hire will be very happy about this.
In the end, all I'm trying to do is grow a business and give back to a community that for the most part has welcomed me and my company.