The KREDC is caught in an uncomfortable situation. For years a major source of their operating capital was “government” money, and the sense I have is that a “government mentality” took hold. That is, no matter how good or how bad the economy got, good old “Uncle Sugar” was there. Now it is fish-or-cut-bait time, and that is making it a matter of survival for the KREDC to start thinking like a business. I am not sure I see that shift in thinking taking complete hold as yet.

The KREDC cannot rest on its laurels. Those laurels appear to be somewhat sparse and insubstantial to show for some fifteen years of existence and a significant amount of money raised and spent. Fair or not, there is a certain amount of “what have you done for me lately” that the KREDC needs to be answering, and answering on a daily basis.

Why should a small business owner/operator contribute to the KREDC if there is no “bottom line” to show for it? Talk is cheap. Paying taxes, salaries, utilities, rent, and maintenance is not. Is there any measurable benefit? Does the KREDC have a solid business and/or marketing plan? Have they shared it with their members or potential members? Not to my knowledge. What is the focus of the KREDC? What does the KREDC say that focus is and how does the KREDC measure progress? I don’t know. Should I? If I am to contribute to the KREDC, I darned well should. And I shouldn’t have to sort through a bunch of fluff to try to find it.

At the annual membership meeting earlier this year, a local “environmental activist” was singled out by the EDC for special recognition. The other people sitting at my table almost fainted dead away, and the initial response was one of complete confusion, and then outrage. None could figure out what this individual had done that was positive for the economy, and several identified the individual as a hindrance to economic growth in the County.

I don’t know this individual. It does speak volumes, however, when the small businessmen and women at my table (echoed throughout the room, from what I could tell) were appalled at the choice. It certainly calls into question the judgment of the leadership of the KREDC. It does not bode well that the very people the KREDC needs the most are so unnecessarily alienated by a decision that appears so questionable.

It would certainly be appropriate for the Sierra Club to lavish praise on an “environmental activist.” Unfortunately what passes for “environmental activism” is too often anti-business, anti-people fervor that does far more harm than good both to the “environment” and to the economic health of our community. That would seem an inappropriate choice for an organization concerned with “economic development.”

Let me set the record straight. Business people drink water. Business people breathe air. Honest. And business people are no more interested in drinking polluted water or breathing polluted air than the next guy. “Environmental activists” do not have a monopoly on concern for our environment or on the science on which to work. To suggest that our “wonderful quality of life” is only due to the efforts of environmental extremists is insulting and slanderous. Business people want to solve these problems. But business people want the problems to be approached on a scientifically valid basis, that also takes human and economic impacts into consideration. That is NOT what we have today. Witness the recent overturning of certain “salmon protections” as being arbitrary and capricious, for just one example of radical environmentalism gone wrong. (Well, DUH!)

Which begs the question: what in HELL were they thinking? Surely the leadership at KREDC could have foreseen, and did foresee, that this selection would be offensive to many of their business members and potential members. I still don’t understand it. The individual in question is probably a very nice person. But I also know that a large part of the business community views him as a reckless obstructionist. That being the case, the selection of that individual did a lot of harm, and no particular good to the KREDC. From what I heard and saw, it blind-sided the KREDC’s “constituents” and damaged the confidence with which many in the business community view the KREDC leadership.

So, KREDC, “Where are you going and how are you going to get there? And why should I help pay your ticket to your destination?” Those are the questions Lary Coppola asked. They deserve straight answers.

Jim Kendall
Silverdale.