Opinion

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The Business Times Contributors THE BUSINESS TIMES June 9-22, 2022JANUARY 15-28, 2015 Opinion Opinion Business BriefsA new year affords Business Peoplea new opportunity to meet local needs Almanac

A new year almost always brings an opportunity for a fresh start and renewed ambition to do things better.

In business, that usually boils down to providing customers better products and services faster and at lower cost than competitors. Part of the process must include listening to customers to determine what they actually need and then meeting that need. After all, it does little good to offer the latest and greatest if nobody actually wants what you’re selling.

Just like the businesses that belong to the group, the Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce invariably starts out the new year with a reassessment of the services and resources it provides and how well they match with members needs. Jeff Franklin, the new chairman of the chamber board of directors, personifies this approach in describing what he considers his role for the coming year: listen to members, determine their needs and then meet those needs. It’s a role with which Franklin is familiar as market president of Bank of Colorado.

The process will take on a more structured approach in what the chamber plans as the resumption of a program aptly called Listening to Business. Under the program, business owners participate in in-depth interviews to identify barriers to growth and other problems they encounter.

The new year offers a good time to join the proverbial club.

As an advertiser or reader, what do you need from the Business Times?

While business journals traditionally gather and report the relevant news to readers, communication isn’t necessarily a one-way street. That’s especially true as Web sites and e-mail make the dialogue more convenient than ever.

Good publications don’t exist in a vacuum. They respond to the needs of advertisers and readers. They provide what’s needed.

So what do you need?

Is there additional news coverage that would help keep you informed about local business developments? Are there features that would be interesting or useful? Is there advice that would make your jobs a little easier?

It’s equally important to ask what you don’t need. With limited time to produce content and limited space in which to publish it, would time and space be better devoted to something else?

What’s good? What isn’t? What’s needed? What isn’t?

Let us know. Send us an e-mail. Comment online on the Business Times Web site at www.thebusinesstimes.com. You could even write an old-fashioned letter to the editor if you’d like. Your feedback, both positive and negative, is valued and will be carefully considered.

Good publications are the result of not only the efforts of their staffs, but also collaborative efforts involving advertisers and readers.

Like any other good business, we want to listen to our customers, find out what they need and then meet those needs.

It’s a new year. Please help us to do so. F ✦ THE BUSINESSTIMES 609 North Ave., Suite 2, Grand Junction, CO 81501

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The Grand Valley Business Times, a subsidiary of Hall Media Group LLC, is published twice monthly and distributed throughout Grand Junction, Fruita and Palisade. Advertising rates and deadlines are available upon request. Opinions expressed in this publication are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, editor, staff or advertisers.

Copyright © 2015 — All rights reserved.

It’s that time of year when resolutions and prognostications abound. My favorite saying applied to New Year’s resolutions is in saying they’re basically a bunch of promises to break the first week of January. And while I won’t predict a whole lot, I can pretty much accurately nail a few things that without question will make the news. You will see these are pretty, well, predictable: ■ Prediction one: There will be some sort of weather event, natural disaster or heinous occurrence where someone will be interviewed and say the following: “I’ve never seen anything like that in my lifetime.” It’s as if this person is a required attendee at every news reporting event. While I understand most people’s perspective can indeed be limited by, or contained within, their own personal experiences, it is too much to ask to consult some historical perspective before saying such a thing? Yes, this response can apply to some events. But when it comes to weather and natural disasters, I’m pretty sure this is simply history repeating itself. Same as it has for millions and millions of years. More important, the planet made it! What didn’t were certain species. How’s that for perspective? ■ Prediction two: When it comes to a crime or something that occurs between humans, the other required attendee at all news reporting events is the person who says this: “They we’re just the nicest people, and in no way did I see something like this coming.” Exactly. No one does most of the time when it comes to neighbors and acquaintances. People should be surprised at what goes on from time to time in their neighborhoods, towns and with people they know because people are good. And for the times that they shouldn’t be shocked — like with politicians, repeat offenders and terrorists — where’s the interview that says, “This doesn’t surprise me in the least.” ■ Prediction three: Something good will happen economically, and the government will take credit for it. The most recent example is gas prices, where people ask me why I won’t credit the president for low gas prices. My answer is simple: Government never makes the price of something go down and simply takes credit for good news. Gas pricing is subject to many global factors. Now there are government answers to addressing some of them to keep prices stable for Americans, but our government has none of them in place. The only things it has in place in the

Bold predictions for 2015 more like not-so-bold repeats long run always hurt consumers. Another fact is that unemployment reaches a certain level based on the economy. And while the government might brag the number is low, it’s more than likely the government did something to cause that number being low — and not in a good way. Conversely, when business picks up, it’s because the people who need to buy widgets who were not buying widgets because the economy was contracting due to natural (or unnatural, government caused) reasons, decided we better buy some widgets. The government had nothing to do with this. ■ Prediction four: In keeping with things the government does, I predict the government will manipulate the numbers to make the claim the economy is getting better because of how hard it is working to help all of us “working Americans.” Now Craig Hall you might say, “Craig, you always say this about President Obama because you don’t like him.” You’re right in a sense. I don’t know the man, but what I know of him and his thinking, I don’t like it or him one iota. Before you go off, however, I didn’t like President Bush and his bailouts, stimulus and his abandoning the free market to save the free market. And I don’t know him either. What the government does, and the only thing it can do, is hurt the economy. Unless it does nothing or put criminals in jail instead of partnering with them, nothing the government does will help. Always look at it this way, whatever the government says it is doing, whatever the name of the law it is passing, or whatever the name or goal of the bureaucracy it is presenting to the people, expect the polar opposite to occur. I guess what I’m saying is that perhaps it’s time to get out of our own perspective. There’s plenty of history books and historical research out there to begin to understand that all of this has happened before. And it will again, whether the topic is people or government. The best recommendation is to find some books or try that whole Google thing. There’s a lot of information on the Great Depression. The truth is it wasn’t even a good one until the government got involved. There’s also plenty of research on the medieval warm period when the planet was much warmer than today with a whole lot less people (and warmer well before man was here at all). And yep, people have been killing other surprised people since history was first written. Maybe some research will help stop all of these trends. Otherwise, we’ll be saying we’ve never seen anything like it in our lives. And not in a good way. Craig Hall is owner and publisher of the Business Times. Reach him at 424-5133 Copyright © 2022 — All rights reserved. F or publisher@thebusinesstimes.com. ✦

As a newspaper owner and columnist, I live by one rule when it comes to my keystroke-related contributions to the Business Times. I write about what’s on my mind and heart when I wake up on deadline Tuesdays.

As embarrassing as it is to admit — and to some of my “fans,” I’m sure it’s more than just embarrassing — it’s really that straightforward.

Given how badly the government, bureaucracy and elected “leaders” have screwed things up, it’s also the simplest way for me to aim just one shot instead of the available fusillade at the myriad gilled, aquatic vertebrates in the cylinder of life.

That’s how I do it. I get up and write what’s on my mind. But oddly, not today. I think that’s because I had my nose pressed against the aquarian barrel to the point of seeing all those fish scurrying about like a school trying to avoid the mega predator heading towards them. Yes, there’s literally that much wrong in our country today. And yes, 99 percent of the things outside our control are brought to us by government.

That’s a topic too big to address with a few hundred words. Besides, the headline I was going to write for this column — “If this is how it is, that’s how they want it” — was summarized by Charley Reese in the Orlando Sentinel back in 1984. That column featured the headline “545 people are responsible for the mess, but they unite in a common con.” I urge you to look it up or assume it will find its way to your Facebook page over time. It did mine, which was to me like a message from God saying the topic has been covered. Actually, I’d use the number 546, because vice presidents are just as slimy as the other 545.

So I needed to focus elsewhere. Ironically, more inspiration came from Facebook. But this time with a little admonition in my REM cycle telling me to be more uplifting in the face of all the insanity and division in our world today. Rest assured. Like most things with Facebook, it begins with insanity and division. And nothing sews division and insanity on one side of the aisle like the Second Amendment.

As many already know, I have a certain fan club in town that likes to smear me personally whenever certain topics are broached. That’s OK. It comes with the territory. But the detours some of these folks take to get to the insult can be entertaining. So let’s take a look at one.

Listen up: Advice on how to engage like a journalist It was gonna be about this, but now it’s about that ... One of my fans made a strained

I like to believe I bring some skills to the conversations and other interactions comment paraphrasing how those who in which I engage. If not skills, then at least experience. refuse to learn about history are doomed As a professional journalist, I’ve spent two-thirds of my to repeat it, drawing a connection between nearly 63 years on the planet getting paid to talk to people and New Zealand and its gun grabbing policy. listen — really listen — to what they tell me. That’s a lot of As someone who knows history practice. While it hasn’t necessarily made me a perfect interviewer and feels inane comments should never or conversationalist, I’d assert it’s made me better one. go unchallenged, I simply had to do There’s a lot of advice out there about how to how to something. I let go of stating the fact develop better relationships. To really connect with people. New Zealand is not the United States I can’t think of a more crucial ability, one that applies to and simply quipped how we should try nearly every aspect of life. It’s especially crucial in business. communism again, sarcastically implying Consider what goes into selling products and services. its rich history of success, especially Phil Castle Obtaining financing from lenders or investors. Or, for that, matter, getting along with coworkers and bosses. As much for the forgotten man. As usual, my fan missed that connection and went straight as business remains a matter of money, it’s also about for the personal attack. But, of course, not relationships. People prefer to do business with those they know, trust and like. I’m no expert in interpersonal relationships. I don’t even play one on TV. Craig Hall before entangling logic like a kitten with a ball of yarn. I’m willing to bet, though, some of what I’ve learned over my career applies to First up: New Zealand is not business situations. The next time you face a business interaction — a meeting, communist. Yes, I know and never networking event or other encounter — engage like a journalist. inferred it was. n Be prepared. I never go into an interview without first conducting as much Next up: Not all Democrats are background research as time allows and then planning not only the questions communists. Yes, I know not ALL of them I’ll pose, but also their order. Think about what you want to talk about. Think are. Victim much and say what? about what you to ask for and the reasons why. Although I’ve got a script of And finally, the coup de grace: I can’t sorts, I don’t necessarily stick to it. Remain flexible enough to steer in a different believe you publish a newspaper direction and discover where that takes you. I conclude interviews by asking if Well, gosh darn it, that actually made there’s a good question I DIDN’t pose. This affords an opportunity to bring up me chuckle. As did this person’s other other and perhaps even more important information. coup attempt, which rhymed with “buck n Demonstrate your interest. This might be easier for me than others because off.” I really am interested in the people I interview. They’ve got information I want to But back to uplifting. Why yes, dear learn. That attribute extends beyond news sources, though. Everyone is a subject Facebook poster, I do publish a newspaper matter expert on something. They’ve got fascinating information they'd love to and have for nearly 22 years. And after relate if only someone would ask them. You might discover a shared passion that 22 years of living in the same town where could serve as the beginning of beautiful friendship. I publish, it shouldn’t be that hard to n Pose the right questions. I’m interested in finding out not only the who, believe. That’s because publishing this what, when and where, but also the how and especially the why. Ask what paper is the easiest thing I do in my life. motivates people and chances are good you’ll gain deeper insights that could While I’ll admit the right-hand prove valuable to your relationships personally and professionally. column of a given left-hand page in n Listen carefully. My work as a journalist has trained me to listen to what each edition of the Business Times can people tell me — not the next opportunity to interject my thoughts. Practice get a little dark and stormy, the rest of listening as if you’d have to subsequently write a story about what you learned. this publication is a tribute to the spirit There are differences between journalism and business, of course. But there and fortitude of the people of Western are also similiarities — and opportunities to profit from engaging like a journalist. Colorado. It’s because most of the people in this area don’t message or talk to Phil Castle is editor of the Business Times. Reach him at 424-5133 or this paper in the manner in which some phil@thebusinesstimes.com. of my favorites on Facebook do to me personally. I’ve published for 22 years because I’m fortunate enough to employ the best storyteller in town in Phil Castle — who over the decades has brought to life in our pages the stories and successes of the people in Mesa County. Fact is, we have more people coming to us with stories than we have space for. And we do it as a newspaper should: Ask questions, write down the answers and report the facts. If you do those simple things, you’ll have a successful, uplifting publication. Just like the guy you don’t believe could have one does. It’s that easy. Craig Hall is owner and publisher of the Business Times. Reach him at 424-5133 or publisher@thebusinesstimes.com.

Consumers better served by free market choices, not government coercion

Buying a car can be one of the most exciting large purchases consumers make. Consumers research designs, features and costs to meet their needs. There’s an array of choices — something for everyone, it seems.

The situation could change, though, if the executive order to follow the California Resources Board agenda signed by former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper in November 2018 is allowed to stand. California is the only state that may initiate its own vehicle emissions regulations. But 16 other states, including Colorado, have willingly adopted the California Resources Board agenda to phase out and eventually ban the sale of new internal combustion engine vehicles.

So much for consumer choice.

The law of unintended consequences comes into full play here. Colorado has a different climate than California with different road conditions and vehicle needs. Can you picture electric equipment clearing boulders or snow from roadways?

Mike Stenhouse wrote an article titled “States Should Decouple from California’s Oppressive Emissions Policies” that described the limitations to electric vehicles, not the least of which are range and the failure to perform well as family and commercial workhorse vehicles. More importantly, Stenhouse wrote, vehicle prices will soar while passenger safety will plummet. Charging electric vehicles requires many hours and the purchase and installation of a home charging station costs thousands of dollars. According to Stenhouse, electric vehicles are approximately 23 percent more expensive to repair and insure compared with internal combustion engine models, not to mention the significantly higher cost of replacing an electric vehicle battery. All of this makes an electric vehicle undesirable and too expensive for the average consumer.

Trying desperately to coerce consumers to buy electric vehicles, the government offers significant subsidies. Still, electric vehicles are too expensive and inappropriate for most consumers.

Harmful executive orders and legislation come out every year at the federal and state levels. Many of the orders go unnoticed because they’re too numerous to track. Hickenlooper’s executive order to embrace the California emissions regulations bypasses Colorado elected legislators who have a duty to represent their constituents in appropriate ways.

To add to California’s agenda, on April 1, Biden administration regulators announced fuel efficiency requirements for cars, minivans and light trucks of 49 miles per gallon by 2026. As Stephen Moore wrote in a column for The Epoch Times, “The new rules won’t reduce pollution levels much because the higher fuel standards will raise the price of a new vehicle. To save money, families will keep their older gas guzzlers on the road longer.” Moore also pointed out the primary way to increase fuel efficiency is to build lighter vehicles, which translates to more highway fatalities.

Executive orders and new regulations constitute an effort to change consumer behavior through coercion and deprive consumers of reliable, affordable vehicle choices.

Free markets allow consumers to choose what kinds of vehicles make sense for them. Urge Colorado legislators to disengage from California’s power and control agenda and bring choice back to consumers.

Phyllis Hunsinger

Executive orders and new regulations constitute an effort to change consumer behavior through coercion.

Phyllis Hunsinger is founder of the Freedom & Responsibility Education Enterprise Foundation in Grand Junction. The FREE Foundation provides resources to students and teachers in Western Colorado to promote the understanding of economics, financial literacy and free enterprise. A former teacher, principal and superintendent, Hunsinger wrote “Down and Dirty: A ‘How To’ Math Book.” Reach Hunsinger at phyllis@free-dom.us.com. For more information about the FREE Foundation, log on to the website located at www.free-dom.us.com. F

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Immigrants play crucial role in economic recovery in U.S.

The United States economy continues to suffer. A pandemic struck in March and April 2020, with its effects lingering to this day. The economy took a nose dive and has struggled to recover. Amidst this struggle, entrepreneurs, businesses, investors and workers have been thrashed by raging inflation, a decline in real gross domestic product in the first quarter of 2022 and federal policies dangerously out of touch with economic reality. At the same time, though, businesses of all types and sizes struggle to fill employment needs due to a tight labor market. Even if the U.S. economy sinks back into a recession, the need to expand the labor force will remain. That promises to become even clearer when we eventually get back on a track of solid economic growth. As this scenario plays out, it’s worth looking at the data from the just-released U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report titled “Foreign-Born Workers: Labor Characteristics — 2021.” The latest edition of this report shows what previous editions

Raymond have illustrated for years: foreign-born workers, or immigrants, have been the critical source of increases in the labor force and

Keating employment. Consider the following key points from this look at 2021, as entrepreneurs, businesses, investors and workers tried to lead the U.S. back to economic growth. n From 2020 to 2021, the foreign-born labor force increased 671,000 while the native-born labor force was essentially unchanged. n From 2020 to 2021, overall employment increased by 4.8 million. Among the foreign born, employment increased 1.6 million, a gain of 6.5 percent. Employment also increased among the native born (3.2 million). In relative terms, though, that increase was about less than half as large at 2.6 percent. n Foreign-born men continued to participate in the labor force at a higher rate in 2021 (76.8 percent) than their native-born counterparts (65.8 percent). By contrast, 53.4 percent of foreign-born women were labor force participants, lower than the participation rate of 56.6 percent for native-born women.

Regarding labor force participation, it’s important to look at the key working age bracket of 25 to 54 years old. As reported by the BLS, the difference between foreign-born and native-born is striking: By age, the proportion of the foreign-born labor force made up of 25- to 54-year-olds (71.4 percent) was higher than for the native-born labor force (62.2 percent).

It’s also critical to keep in mind the economy is not a zero-sum game with only so many jobs to go around. Rather, the economy grows, jobs are created and that process is aided by immigrants who do complementary work to native-born workers, increasing productivity for all.

Finally, key economic challenges for the U.S. for the past decade-and-a-half have been reduced levels and rates of entrepreneurship. While this BLS report doesn’t address entrepreneurship, studies consistently show the rate of entrepreneurship among immigrants is twice that of the native born.

A National Bureau of Economic Research study of immigration and entrepreneurship in the U.S. found foreign-born business owners play a significant role in creating employment as opposed to the mistaken assumption immigrants take jobs from the native born. “The findings suggest that immigrants act more as job creators than job takers and that non-U.S. born founders play outsized roles in U.S. high-growth entrepreneurship,” the authors of the study wrote.

They concluded: “Using administrative data, a representative sample and Fortune 500 data, we present new findings on the size of firms these different founder populations create. Across all three data sets, we find that immigrants present a right shift in new venture formation, where immigrants start more firms of each size per member of their population. … Overall, the entrepreneurial lens suggests that immigrants appear to play a relatively strong role in expanding labor demand relative to labor supply compared to the native-born population.”

None of this is surprising when the often ugly politics of immigration are set aside in favor of actual data, trends and economics. Clearly, the U.S. economy would benefit from fixing the immigration system so immigrants who wish to work, start businesses and contribute to the nation are welcomed.

Throughout this nation’s history, the competitive advantages possessed by the U.S. in the global economy have been our entrepreneurial drive and willingness to welcome immigrants. Those two strengths remain very much interrelated.

The Business Times welcomes letters to the editor and guest columns on issues affecting businesses in Western Colorado. Submissions should be emailed to phil@thebusinesstimes.com and include names and telephone numbers for verification. Raymond Keating is chief economist for the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council, a nonpartisan advocacy, research and education organization. Reach Keating through the website at www.sbecouncil.org. F