Municipal funding for local business groups, including Downtown Whitewater, Inc., lies ahead. I’ll not discuss those line items today. Instead, I’ll offer a simple observation about local merchants. Whitewater has spent too much time and money on failed big-ticket, white-collar projects and too little time on her local, merchant class. I’ve no particular interest in favoring local retailers over national…
Business
Business, City, Development, Economy
Today in Whitewater: Business Improvement Districts Workshop @ 6 PM
by JOHN ADAMS •
Business, Development, Press Release
Small-Town Downtown Forum, Thursday, September 5th in Darien, WI
by JOHN ADAMS •
Please see a press release for a Thursday, September 5th development conference: On September 5th, UW-Extension and the Village of Darien are hosting the first of three state-wide Small Town Downtown Forums that focus on the unique community and economic development issues and needs in small, often rural communities. The program will be held at…
Business, CDA, City, CRT, Development, Innovation Center/Tech Park, Planning
Yet Another Exercise in Standards Beneath Whitewater
by JOHN ADAMS •
It should be a universal truth that Whitewater and Wisconsin deserve a far higher standard of diligence and review than whatever our CDA chairman believes his “gut” tells him would be good for our city and nearby area. In fact, that kind of intestinally-based level of judgment has failed this city time and again, and…
Business, CDA, City, Corporate Welfare, Development, Local Government, Planning
Bad Policy Cannot Hold the City
by JOHN ADAMS •
Business, Law, Local Government, Official Misconduct, Open Government
How Local Government Has It Easier Than Yelp
by JOHN ADAMS •
Yelp may be a popular website for positing restaurant (and other) reviews, but it has a controversy on its hands. Some businesses are complaining about Yelp’s practice of hiding some reviews behind a link (that is, where one has to click the link to see all posted reviews). Some restaurateurs contend that Yelp hides favorable…
Business, Corporate Welfare, Government Spending, State Government, Taxes/Taxation
Corporate Welfare in America’s Dairyland (Yet Again)
by JOHN ADAMS •
The practice of thriving, multi-million-dollar companies taking ordinary taxpayers’ money to subsidize their private ventures has two aspects: (1) it’s wrong, as it takes from those with little and gives to those with much and (2) it’s sadly commonplace. Consider the case of Husco International, a private company in Wisconsin with an expectation of “more…
Business, City, Marketing, New Media, New Whitewater, Press Release
Wednesday, May 1st: The Digital Whitewater Mapping Project
by JOHN ADAMS •
Business, Film, Good Ideas
The Innovator
by JOHN ADAMS •
The Innovator from Cineastas on Vimeo. Mike Friton is a freelance shoemaker, weaver, paper sculptor and innovator with over 30 years of experience at Nike. His innovations are responsible for many elements of athletic footwear that people wear today. Each of his crafts informs one another and he is constantly exploring the fringes of his…
Business, City, Press Release
Downtown Whitewater 2013/2014 Board of Directors Nomination Form
by JOHN ADAMS •
Please see a Downtown Whitewater 2013/2014 Board of Directors Nomination Form: The Downtown Whitewater, Inc. Board of Directors is the legal entity responsible for overseeing Whitewater’s downtown revitalization program under the guidance of the Wisconsin Main Street Program, including the budget, staff, and program effectiveness. We are currently seeking nominations to fill five seats of the…
Business, City
Design and the Downtown
by JOHN ADAMS •
Downtown Whitewater’s (DTWW) design committee met today, at 8 AM. DTWW is the publicly-subsidized business-advocacy association for this small city’s center-of-town merchants. There’s much to be said for design, for the look and feel of a place. In the end, however, there are few more attention-grabbing sights than empty storefronts. (Peeling paint and trash on…
Business, City, Government Spending
Whitewater’s Downtown, January to December
by JOHN ADAMS •
Like many towns, Whitewater has a downtown, and a merchants’ association, in our case Downtown Whitewater, Inc. (DTWW). I’ve written occasionally about DTWW, and not long ago in support of continued municipal funding for that organization. See, The City of Whitewater’s 2013 Budget: Downtown Whitewater, Inc. There’s been a wider effort to reorganize and consolidate…
Business, City, Food, Liberty, Local Government
The Game of Thrones Food Trucks
by JOHN ADAMS •
The Institute of Justice, the nation’s leading libertarian public interest law firm, asks a question about Chicago that would be as fitting of other cities’ regulators: Should the city of Chicago be in the business of protecting a few politically connected restaurateurs from competition? That is the question to be answered by a major lawsuit…
Business
Small Business Saturday in Whitewater
by JOHN ADAMS •
What’s Small Business Saturday? Small Business Saturday is a day for everyone — from the business owners who create jobs to the customers who buy locally — to support small businesses that invigorate the economy and keep communities thriving. It began in 2010 when American Express founded Small Business Saturday to help small businesses get…