By RudizinkNorthern Utah newspapers are all abuzz this morning, with announcements of established multinational corporate heavyweights relocating or expanding in and around Ogden. We are linking these stories here, here and here.
First and foremost in local importance among these stories is the report that the nation's second-largest food distributor, U.S. Food Services, Inc., may be building a new distribution center on Emerald City's west side. If this project actually comes to fruition, once the final horse-trading is done, it would add 225 real jobs to our local economy. (The only remaining sticking point in the negotiations, we would presume, would be mutual agreement on appropriate architectural design, consistent with our city's new new "South Tyrolian" theme. )
Boss Godfrey is quoted in the Jeff DeMoss Std-Ex article as saying he's been working like a dog to make this deal happen. In this connection, Weber County County Forum gives hizzoner a tip of the hat, and congratulates him for his efforts in this regard. It is encouraging at the very least to know that "Mighty Matt" occasionally diverts his attention from his main obsession (converting our city into a giant amusement park) for mundane matters such as bringing 225 non-speculative, full-time, non-seasonal and lucrative (192% of median income) jobs to our fair city. We also hope he'll put the gondola dream on the back burner for a while, and continue to apply his full obsessive-compulsive impulses toward landing this fantastic economic development plum... and others like it.
And we were elated to learn that local employment mega-icon Kimberly-Clark will definitely be adding forty new jobs to its Weber Industrial Park facility. This is particularly encouraging news, inasmuch as K-C is simultaneously cutting 6,000 jobs worldwide, in conjunction with a general corporate reorganization and consolidation. Obviously, K-C is aware that Weber County assembly line workers are the best diaper makers in the world. At this rate, our dreams may come true: Weber County may well become the diaper manufacturing capital of the world -- the "Diaper Hub" -- and the only diaper manufacturing county on the planet with a possible gondola connection to a third-class, low-altitude, sun-drenched western-facing ski resort.
Not to be lost in the shuffle, we link here another Jeff DeMoss story. Scott USA, which inked a pact to relocate last August, is definitely now ready to begin operations in its gigantic new BDO facility.
Boom times are coming to Emerald City. Can't you just feel the "buzz?"
25 comments:
Weber County may well become the diaper manufacturing capital of the world -- the "Diaper Hub" -- and the only diaper manufacturing county on the planet with a possible gondola connection to a third-class low-altitude western-facing ski resort.
I am overwhelmed. Totally cool and sexy. Totally.
Do youthink that it is because of the large and growoing larger LDS families tht we will become the the diaper hub of the world?
Let's just say that Weber County assembly line workers "know their product."
I think it's cool and sexy too.
We are definitely the "HUB" of a lot of that excrement emanating from the 9th floor and K-C is getting ready to help us peons (no pun intended) wrap it up.
Good news.
Yes...this is good news!
Hopefully it ALL comes to fruition.
I hope, Rudi, that Godfrey and his A Team read your fine words and TAKE the gondola scheme OFF the burner!
They are way overdue on paying attention to the REAL economic revitalization the mayor and his team are so fond of assuring us they are doing with the gondola scheme but will only happen with new businesses being welcomed here.
This mayor is also way overdue in growing into the job of being a leader of this fine city.
Let's hope he stays on track now.
FORWARD TO REAL PROSPERITY!
Great News, We now contribute to the mountain of disposable diapers polluting our planet. I am proud to be one in a million fathers who made a conscious decision to NOT use these deplorable products. There was nothing messy or disgusting using cloth diapers and I still have a few around 20 years later. I am proud to have not purchased, fouled and buried thousands of cubic feet of these terribly inappropriate and unnecessary products in the raising of my children. These are a product for the ingnorant, insensitive, fussy and lazy. I pity the unconcious louts who find these smelly, fragrance drenched, poowads convenient. They are intrinsically unhealthy for the environment AND your child. Inspect any freeway offramp for evidence of the ignorant fools who like the convenience of tossing these out the window after changing their ill-concieved offspring.
Boo! Hiss! To Pampered.
BTW....
here is a fun new tidbit about our mad Mattie:
We met some friends at the store today who play Mount Ogden frequently...and like it, by the way.
However, "John" said that a couple years back, Mattie came to Mount Ogden with his 'entourage', kinda like a rock star.
Mattie was the only one golfing, if you can call it that.
One of the 'entourage' teed the ball for the boy wonder. When Mattie managed to hit it about 15 or so yards away...another of the 'entourage' ran after it to retrieve the ball and bring it back so Mattie could have another go.
Reminds me of daddy and some uncles taking the little kid to the miniature golf course.
Isn't that where miniature golfers play?
Who is this sick puppy with the massive ego that he brings his 'entourage' to the course to fetch and step?
Now if Mattie was wearing an ermine cape and slouch hat, he could have been mistaken for a Los Angeles pimp.
Nah...I won't say it....the comparison is so obvious.
One can see why Mattie wants Chris to 'reconfigure' the course. It's just too darned hard for little guys to play.
FORE!
we have become the diper capitol because our mayor uses so many of them on himself. and by the way, repubicans, like the boy mayor are like dipers, they should be changed often because they all stink.
We have been fed so much crap from the Godfrey bunch, that they had to increase production of the diapers. Now we'll have a fee for the sewer increases.
Who wants these dumb assed companies in Ogden anyway? It is obvious that they are incompetently led if they would invest in new factories in a town that didn't even have an urban Gondola. With no more brains than that they are certain to fail. Beside they have absoulutely nothing to do with skiing, surf riding or parachute tubing, and it is clear they just do not fit in with what Ogden is all about.
Pamper the earth...
I'll accept the "lazy" accusation, but on the others I beg to differ. After spending my younger years working in nursing/group homes, and now having my two daughters both in diapers, I avoid dealing with feces any more than I have to. You are correct that disposable diapers pollute landfills (and apparently freeways) more than cloth diapers, but that is one of the costs of industrialization that I'm willing to pay. I feel comfortable that my environmental awareness and sensitivity is high enough that I can afford to compromise and use disposable diapers, and I welcome the idea that in the near future my neighbor may be manufacturing those diapers (if I still use them by then). It's better than if they were making meth.
BTW... Since we're talking about unnecessary pollution, what method of transportation do you use?
Pamper, Turdust, ...
Hey, let's all do what we can for the earth (and future generations who will live on it), ok? If you can switch to cloth diapers, great. If not, maybe you can ride transit to work, or eat more locally grown vegetables, or replace your central air with a swamp cooler. For a sobering assessment of the resources that you probably use, check out the ecological footprint quiz. The good news is that unless you live like a typical African, you don't have to try very hard to reduce your ecological footprint.
Or maybe we could all decide to have fewer children.
You can still have a happy, eternal family with two kids. Then you won't contribute as much to the world's overshot population, which is only made possible by industrialized agriculture, which in turn can't exist without fossil fuels (namely oil and natural gas).
Go ahead, shoot the messenger. But after worldwide oil production goes into decline, food production will go down as well. And in order for the world to hold 6.5 billion people, they all have to be fed.
You can deal with reality, or reality will deal with you.
Utah Peaknik and Turdust can both be satisfied on this.
Just let the little (and old) ones run around without diapers. They can fertilize the rice paddies like they do in Laos and save all that oil.
In two thousand years all these plastic diapers will be the archeologists delight. They may go for thousands on the future ebays of the world.
Maybe Peterson should consider adding a used diaper bronzing facility at the end of his gondola. It would give it some place to go to, and besides we all know that every one of those used diapers are precious here in family land and should be preserved for longer than the dumps will last.
Besides, it would add another 1300 jobs to Ogden and we could have a new major at WSU for all those 3000 diaper smelling lovers that will come because we will be the only city on earth with a gondola from a turd bronzing plant to a university.
If we don't embrace K-C coming here....Matt will pout that we don't care about new business coming to Ogden. And those who attend the CC meetings will get to hear Diety berate us for not being friendly and welcoming after he's worked so hard.
Then, he'll just redouble his passionate energies and our tax bucks into helping Chris realize HIS dreeeeam.
Now that I think about it....Mattie could wear a 28-32 lb diaper (filled?) with a cute sash welcoming K-C to Ogden and wishing us all a New Year, 'cause he'll only be mayor for part of it!
Works for me!
Something Kimberly Clark might want to consider:
Well....I suppose Dian and I are in the vocal minority, but I'm happy to see that Kimberly Clark is locating here.
I don't recall one negative word about them in Orange County, CA.
They had (still have) a huge facility there.
We need every legit business that will help our economy.
Bad for the environment or not, my own children have only used disposable diapers. I think they're expensive, and have wished my kids would consider using cloth diapers for that reason.
However, having rinsed diapers for 7 children, using disposables would've been a welcome luxury.
I suppose an alternative to polluting the earth would be to potty train the kids earlier?
At any rate...welcome Kimberly Clark!
I am sure K-C is as responsible a corporate citizen as Coca-Cola, Philip-Morris, duPont, Cargill, ADM, Union Carbide(Remember Bhopal) and the thousands of US based multinationals. Unfortunately these same corporations are RESPONSIBLE for the long legged exploits of the US military and the need to protect those same corporate interests in lands where they may initially be welcome but are increasingly the bane of free people.
So right Turdust,
Oh yeah, I drive very little and it's a 4cyl. Reducing impact on this earth requires we settle down our stupidly mobile lifestyles and enjoy a home life now and then. The common perception is that those who spend a great deal of time at thome have no life. Quite the contrary, those flinging thamselves about in search of so much social and highway interaction are the ones quite devoid of a life as they hustle and bustle around choking the roads and the air in their remote transport modules.
Incidentally the current disposables are designed to decompose, problem is they need exposure to UV and oxygen to do so. Those elements are missing in a landfill. Viewing one of these pollution bombs decomposing in the wild the plastic flakes away and blows incessantly in the wind while the fiber and gel absorbant layer stays until animals pull it apart for the delicacies.(poison)
A few concerns with disposables:
Some concerns about disposable diapers have been about dyes, sodium polyacrylate (the super absorbent gel), and dioxin, which is a by-product of bleaching paper. Sodium polyacrylate has been linked in the past to toxic shock syndrome, allergic reactions and is very harmful and potentially lethal to pets. Some dyes and dioxin according to the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) is known to cause damage to the central nervous system, kidneys, and liver. The (FDA) Food & Drug Administration has received reports that fragrances in disposables caused headaches, dizziness and rashes. Problems reported to the Consumer Protection Agency regarding disposables include, chemical burns, noxious chemical and insecticide odors, babies pulling disposables apart and putting pieces of plastic into their noses and mouth, choking on tab papers and linings, plastic melting onto the skin, and ink staining the skin. Plastic tabs can also tear skin if the diaper is not properly put on the baby.
According to the Journal of Pediatrics, 54 % of one-month old babies using disposable diapers had rashes, 16 % having severe rashes. A study done by a disposable diapers manufacturing company (we won’t name the company, but its one of the largest manufacturers) shows that the incidence of diaper rash increased from 7.1% to 61% with the increased use of throwaway disposable diapers.
Wow! Non Corporate, and Turdust,
Why don't you put the kids on pretty leashes in the backyard and let them run naked thru your vegetable patches and around the fruit trees?
The children get exercise and sunshine and you get free fertilizer. Except for the food the kids ate to produce the fertilizer.
If you want to make a buck, and Donny Osmond isn't taking your calls, you could purchase some bio degradable sacks and 'scoop the poop' and sell it at the Farmers Market!
Thus benefitting your bank account, the earth and society in general.
BTW Turdust, and other 'bloggers".
It's a royal pain in the neck to "collapse statements", hit your names and have the page leap to your blog! Then we usually lose the whole bloody thread.
So far, I haven't seen anything interesting on any of your 'blogs'...so what is the point?
Sigh....
Yes, it's good that Kimberly-Clark is expanding in Ogden. Yes, it's good that it will create more table jobs here. [Diaper use, unlike skiing, is not a seasonal activity and so does not generate mostly seasonal jobs.]
Yes, I wish everyone on the plant was eco-aware and acted everyday and only for the best interests of the planetary economy and ecosystem.
But I also wish the Dodgers would return to Brooklyn to play there like God intended.
I'd be hard put to think of many, if any, businesses now here that don't pollute something somehow. Yes, there are sensible laws and regulations that some communities have put in place to keep the air clean enough to breath and the water clean enough to drink. Alas, this is Utah, and the anti-government radicals who dominate the state legislature [commonly called Utah Republicans] who think "the public good" and "the public interest" are hellish concepts spawned in the mind of Karl Marx has introduced very very few of them. And so we still have to read about how many "red days" [meaning air unfit to breath, keep the kids inside] Utah is having this year. [NB: the number is rising.]
I do note that the real whacko mayors and council memembers in towns around SLC who were screaming that TRAX was a socialist plot and a fools dream that would fail miserably are now clammoring to have TRAX lines extended to their communities. Proving that even Utah Republicans can learn from experience. [Well, ok, it's not proven. But at least it's a thesis worth examining.]
But to suggest that Kimberly-Clark not coming to Ogden will in some way be a victory for the environment or Ogden or the US or the World is nonsense.
Pamper the earth...
Point noted. I promise to stop using disposable diapers in about 2 1/2 years.
Mercy...
The reason I hyperlink my name is because unlike the many Anons and linkless pseudonyms on here, I am not afraid to let people know who I am. If you're afraid of losing the blog when you click a hyperlink, get in the habit of right-clicking links and opening them in new windows. True, it will temporarily clutter your desktop, but that way you won't have to worry about my pointless Donny Osmond banter distracting you from this vital diaper discussion.
BTW.... totally off the subject, but last night I stumbled across some evidence that Chris Peterson's escapades are not all bad, and have generated some positive publicity for Ogden.
The August 2006 issue of Backpacker magazine has a short feature on the "Top 3 Via Ferrate Routes" in North America, and Waterfall Canyon is the first one listed.
"...Climbers flock here to hone traditional, sport, and ice-climbing skills or to test themselves on three via ferrata routes . . . After a mile-long approach hike on the popular Waterfall Canyon trail, clip your lanyard onto the cables and scale hundreds of feet of smooth quartzite slabs, open-book corners, and sharp aretes..."
After climbing, readers are directed to stuff themselves downtown at Roosters. As evidence that it is not regurgitated progaganda, the article does not mention Peterson, Godfrey, or gondolas. Unfortunately, the article is only a third of a page and Backpacker magazine isn't exactly Newsweek, but I still give a pat on the back to Mr. Peterson for adding an attraction to Ogden that didn't cost the taxpayers anything and might actually attract some tourists.
Turdust:
I wish Mr. Peterson would take your advice and do in Malan's Basin what he is doing with the via feratta route in Waterfall Canyon: develop a recreational business using his own land and his own financing to do it.
If Mr. Peterson wants to sign on to former councilman Jorgensen's "Option B" [the basics: the city or WSU sells Mr. Peterson a small parcel of land --- say four or five acres --- at the head of 36th Street sufficient for a base station for his mountain gondola up to Malan's Basin, which gondola and basin resort he then builds with his own financing. Thus he gets to develop his land, the city gets to keep the Mt. Ogden park and bench lands, and the city does not have to invest $35 million or more to build a downtown to WSU gondola primarily to funnel customers to Mr. Peterson's up mountain gondola.]
If he wants to follow the plan he used to develop the via ferrata, fine with me. But that's not what he wants. He wants the city to finance it for him by selling him our public bench lands so he can raise the money to build the resort.
And he wants the city to take the money from the sale of its park lands to build him a city owned gondola to feed customers to his mountain gondola.
To that, I say, as loudly as I can, NO!
I still maintain that Chris is highly unlikely to ever build his gondola to his resort. Both are only lures for this little mayor desperately looking for his legacy.
Chris want land for his gated community. The golf course would cost over one million to 'recongfigure' and would be unplayable.
Don't forget: this 'developer' is BALKING at paying for studies for HIS dream.
Do we believe he'll sink millions into a gondola AND a construction tram(s) for a pipedream of a resort?
The LO's talk excitedly of this goofy scheme as if the thing was going to be gliding at 11 mph NEXT SUMMER!
He's a snakeoil salesman, and Godfrey his shill working the crowd.
Grab the wimmin and chil'rin and git off the streets and out of the clutches of these conmen.
I totally agree with you, WasatchLady!
And all those cloth diapers I used, like you, didn't give jobs to anyone in my community, create tax revenue or do anything to help the economy.
Well, maybe buying all that detergent, plastic pants and diaper pins created an economic revitalization somewhere!
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