Post in A bad place for a good project

Jan 08 04:31 UTC

Nanette,

Council Member Pat Harris is thinking what most other St. Paul residents are
thinking; making St. Paul a business friendly place, encouraging redevelopment,
revitalization and expanding the tax base instead of raising taxes some more
(15.1% for 2008 and 8.9% in 2007) or trying to discourage redevelopment.  St.
Paul needs to be competitive; bringing Trader Joe’s to St. Paul is a step in
the right direction.

This development is about redevelopment, not protectionism.  The marketplace
should be the bottom line in determining if a business will be viable, not
government.  In the marketplace a business can compete, adapt or go out of
business.  It is up to the individual business managers to control their own
destiny.

Nanette, you were wondering what type of thinking would bring this development
into your neighborhood?  Innovative thinking, creative thinking and business
thinking are a few that came to mind.  I have looked at the proposed
redevelopment plans and what I see is a very beautiful redevelopment that is
going to be an asset to our community for years to come.  Trader Joe’s will be
a wonderful addition to our neighborhood.

If we have more jobs in St. Paul, we will need more retail and thus expansion
of the tax base and this is a good thing for St. Paul.  St. Paul should be
promoting business success and encouraging business growth and this can’t be
accomplished with excessive taxes or discouraging redevelopments that cost the
city NOTHING.

Dennis, so very good to hear from you.  Just so you know, Trader Joe’s is not
receiving any special treatment in the development of this store.  In fact the
developer has NOT asked the city for a dime, but they are creating 75 well
paying jobs ($50,000.00 plus) to boot.  Here is an article on the founder of
Trader Joe’s, Joe Coulombe you might be interested in:
http://www.ladowntownnews.com/articles/2006/05/29/news/news01.txt

Joe Coulombe states:

- Paying high wages. "From the beginning, I said over and over: Full-time
employees would make median family income in California," Coulombe said. "That
was the most important business decision I ever made in my life. He said that
in the early days it meant paying workers about $7,000 a year, and that today
the average full-time Trader Joe's employee earns $50,000. While likely higher
than many would expect, he said it contributes to a turnover rate of near zero.
He noted that some of the people who began working for Trader Joe's when it
opened in 1967 (evolving from Pronto Markets) have only recently retired from
the company.

Not to bad I should say.  Jobs are something St. Paul needs badly!

Take care,

John Krenik
Highland Park, St. Paul, Minnesota