Friday, April 25, 2008

Finding good news on Main Street

One of the reasons that I regularly read the Boomtown USA blog is Jack Schultz and his ability to find the positive stories in rural America.

While I’m far from being a Pollyanna and I wouldn’t always classify myself as a “glass half full” kind of guy, there is something to be said for distancing oneself from a constant negative drumbeat or stream of news. Schultz’ most recent post is an example of what I’m talking about.

Schultz writes (while waiting for his plane, at the airport),

In catching up on emails at the airport (thank goodness for mobile air card broadband), I was struck by the number of emails that I’ve gotten from Team Agracel on projects they are working on. We’ve got expansions being talked about or in the works for food manufacturers (3); auto parts (2); fulfillment; doors;
furniture; and several others.


In my 20+ years in the business, I can’t remember when I’ve seen as many companies looking at adding onto their existing facilities. You would think that with all of the negative talk in the media that they’d be contracting rather than expanding. It’s probably a good thing that they are watching their order books and backlogs rather than the talking heads on TV.

I’m becoming more convinced with each passing day that this downturn (I refuse to use the R-word yet!) will be shallow and swift. Every indication from our business is that manufacturers are bumping up against capacity constraints because of demand for their products. The problems on Wall Street aren’t having much of an impact on Main Street.

Let’s keep our eyes on ways we can make a difference on Main Street and Wall Street( and the news media) can fend for itself!

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