West End News: February 18
The news that a Dollar General Store is being planned for Cook County has certainly caused a flurry of discussion recently. As with any public policy issue, there are many interests at play and almost as many opinions as there are people, including good reasons for and against building a Dollar General store in our fair city of Grand Marais. And, the same arguments would apply to just about any part of Cook County, including the West End.
In my opinion, it boils down to how we want to organize our society. Dollar General is part of a giant corporation that exists for one reason and one reason only – to return profit to their stockholders. In fact, they are required by law to make every reasonable effort to maximize shareholder profit. Beyond their legal responsibility, ruthless competition forces outfits like Dollar General to cut their costs to the bone – and sometimes beyond the bone – in order to generate those profits.
It’s easy to imagine mustachioed Dollar General executives in stovepipe hats scuttling around their dank offices plotting the destruction of small town America. My hunch is that the reality is much more banal, and in some ways even more frightening.
It is much more likely that there is a bland office full of highly educated financial experts who spend their days poring over spreadsheets in order to save a dime here, a nickel there and a penny over yonder. In the corporate cubicle, the systems they devise for cost cutting and efficiency make perfect sense, especially to the bottom line.
However, in the real world of rural America, their decisions have real impact on real people that cause real damage with distressing predictability. Wages, work schedules, work rules and benefits are lowered to the point where employees can’t make a living, or worse, are actually hurt by their employment. Control of the supply chain provides leverage to easily drive independent, locally owned stores out of business, which in turn creates more leverage, which allows the profits to flow more freely out of the community.
In my opinion, business has three responsibilities: first to their shareholders, second to their employees and other stakeholders and, last but not least, to the communities where they operate. The latter two are lost if we organize our society completely on a corporate profit model.
Most of the existing businesses in Cook County – even the biggest – are owned by people who live in the community and understand the triple bottom line. I think that situation is valuable and it’s in our own self-interest to protect it.
One last reminder that the precinct caucuses for the Republican and Democratic-Farmer-Labor Parties are being held on Tuesday, March 1st, with sign-in starting at 6:30 pm and the caucus process starting at 7 pm. The Republican caucuses for Cook County are all being held at the Cook County Community Center in Grand Marais. The DFL caucuses for all the West End precincts will be held at Birch Grove Community Center in Tofte.
The caucuses can be kind of sleepy affairs sometimes, but this year there will be a lot of interest because you can cast a preferential ballot to nominate a presidential candidate to represent your party in the general election this November.
There are two things that are important to know about the party caucuses. The first is that you don’t have be a “registered” member of the party to participate. You can just show up at the caucus of the party that you think most closely represents your political inclination. The second thing to know is that you don’t have to stay for the evening to indicate your presidential choice. In fact, you can show up, sign in, fill out your presidential candidate ballot and leave, if you want to.
If you, or a loved one, are planning or wishing to attend college anytime soon, Cook County Higher Education has an event coming up that you should not miss. It is a brown bag lunch that will address financial aid and how you can pay for your college education. It will focus on how to complete the dreaded FAFSA form. FAFSA is an acronym for Free Application for Federal Student Aid.
Financial Aid Director LaNita Robinson will walk you through the FAFSA form, including the changes that are new for 2016 and 17. You can bring a laptop and work on your form with coaching right after the lunch. Or, you can schedule an appointment for some private help later.
This is all happening from 11:30 until 1 pm on Friday, March 11th at the North Shore Campus in Grand Marais. It is a free event and everyone is welcome.
For WTIP, this is Bill Hansen with the West End News.
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