By Curmudgeon
Important local economic news. Ogden based "Flying J" has filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy, citing low oil prices and inability to get credit to tide it over. The Standard Examiner live website has the story.
Editorial Comment: See? The 2008 Bush recession will effect the local economy. Even a big local player like "Flying 'J'" is NOT immune.
Comments?
How 'bout you? Do you have your own ducks lined up?
Update 12/23/08 11:44 a.m. MT: This morning's Std-Ex front page story fleshes out the the information provided in yesterday's StandardNET online edition piece:
• Flying J Files for bankruptcyJudging from the tone of the Flying J spokesman, casual readers might even be tempted to conclude that Flying J management is happy to have landed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
22 comments:
But our teeny prick mayor, Lying Little Matty Gondola Geiger, just mentioned the other day that we are installing important links in becoming the high-adventure outdoor recreation "mecca." Isn't Ogden immune to global recessions, economic vagaries, market plunges and onion famines?
THE SKI IS BEAUTIFUL BLUE
Awesome!!!
Has any high adventure companies laid off since spending across the boards have been down. Ameri-sprots, Descente can't be immune to the economy.
I haven't been to the Junction lately is traffic down there slow also. Can Golds and Fat Cats make their cheap lease payments? Will the City Council have to make more payments for the Junction out of the BDO funds, which were suppose to upgrade the whole city?
When will the Standard ask the relevent questions on how these businesses are doing in the local economy.
Seems they should be required to open their books since the city bankrolled the Junction.
Gotta tell ya, guys, there seems to me to be a not-so-faint whiff of gloating about the bad news for Flying J and other elements of Ogden's economy. Seems to me important not to lose sight of the fact that these are Ogden jobs on the line, the paychecks of our friends and neighbors and their families.
As for the sports equipment companies: My hope is they've laid off not a single person and that they're piling in profits like gangbusters and thinking of expansion. I would not consider it good news in any way if it turns out Amer and Descente or any of the rest of them are laying off.
Curm: I too also don't want any jobs lost, but they were promised a golden career with tax monies help if they moved here. The city paid for most if not all of the equipment for Golds gym. We never were told of the total cost of the Junction. None of us have crystal balls to look into the future, but reasonable growth without putting the cities or comapnies at risk is what responsable CEO's and Mayors do everyday.
My main compalint is to watch my city services become less and less with the cost increase to every rate payer for water, sewer, waste, while the revenue from BDO goes to a kiddy land with flourescent color bowling, instead of streets, water, sidewalk repairs. Costs overrun to the city since the city owns the building, no property tax revenue, and what seems like a money pit the taxpayers keep funding. What happened to private enterprise and competition?
If I had a business here in Ogden I would want the same sweet heart deals that were given to most of the businesses at the Junction.
My concern is that the Junction, maybe Ameri-sports may not make it and the city is left to pay the debt on these empty buildings, and parking garages renovated with public funds.
Good news is that Flying J will re-organise and no one looses their jobs.
I too hate to see jobs lost but at the same time me crying about it probably won't save my neighbors job or mine.
I'm not excited but also really don't give a shit. What will come will come and some of us may starve to death.
Eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we die.
Has anyone else noticed a cutback in snowplow service this year? We can have talk of erecting a giant icicle downtown but not have the money to pay city employees and get the streets clear of snow.
Spending on non-necessities should grind to a halt until we are back on solid financial footing.
I couldn't say I've noticed a cutback this year since I thought the service provided last year was horrible.
Compared to Layton, Kaysville, and others Ogden's streets were terrible.
Flying J wasn’t done in by the economy; it was done in by a management style that is very similar to how Godfrey runs the city. The company is run by one individual that controls everything and like Godfrey if you don’t see things exactly his way, it’s not a comfortable place to work. After the founder of the company was tragically killed, this individual embarked on several and varied expansion programs that leveraged the company beyond reasonable limits and as long as the economy kept moving up the inefficiencies and excesses could be absorbed. But just like the homeowner with a second and third mortgage against the equity in the house when the housing market softened, FJ had major problems when the petroleum business softened. The founder would have never allowed this to happen and unfortunately his kids are to busy living the high life to pay attention to how the company was being run. What took 30 years to build is being undone in three years. What a tragic ending to the hard work of the company’s founder.
The company is divided into two parts, the retail and the refinery/pipeline operations. It is the refinery/pipeline operations that are effected by this Chapter 11 action and fortunately for Ogden the majority of the jobs in Ogden support the retail side of the business.
The real story here is the correlation of the management styles here between the top management of this company and the top management of our city. Both are very similar types of managers, both believe in extreme leverage, both require unquestioning loyalty of their employees, both believe they can’t fail, both believe they are the smartest guys in the room and both have the gift of gab. Ogden resident should pay attention or else the city may end up in the same situation.
Yeah, my guess is that you all have government jobs.
Yea, your right zzzz, I have 4 government jobs and that the truth.
Witness: Your analysis appears to be excellent, not only in considering FJ's unfortunate palace coup but in making the analogies to Ogden City as well.
Witness, your summation of the Flying J boss and lying little matty reminds me of the recent news story in the gondola examiner about Hugo Chavez. Is there a similarity?
Two reader comments moved to new article
What a shame to see Flying J hit a sink hole.
This would not have happened if Call and Brown were still running the ship.
Utah has always been an island of our own economics from the rest of the country.
When the rest of the country is having hard times we are better and when the rest of the country is up we are usually down.
Without Federal payrolls and new construction from Hill AFB and the IRS we would be hurting big time, too.
Just a word of caution, tighten your belts because this is far from over in Utah.
So, does this mean I just wasted my time applying for three jobs at Flyng J?
Makes one wonder, ... hmmm
The Lovely Jennifer
I knew Jay Call back in the late 70's when I worked on his airplanes at the Van Nuys airport. I was a budding entrepreneur at the time who made the rent by modifying airplanes. Jay was a real bird man who loved airplanes and would bring his to the specialty shop I worked out of. He of course was also in the process of building his business - Flying J (named after himself and his passion)
The Utah connection and flying brought us together and I enjoyed many hours with him flying and talking airplane stuff. He was generous with business advice to me, and the major thing I remember about him was the dangers he emphasized in too much credit and a company living beyond its means and having too many irons in the fire at the same time. It is really sad to see the great company he built falling into trouble over those very issues.
Jay Call was a very fine man and a true reincarnated bird. My guess is that Flying J would never be in this trouble if he were still alive. Incidentally Jay died doing what he loved most - flying an airplane.
The flying J is pretty much the worst place I have ever worked. Don't apply there unless you want to hate yourself. When I first started working there, I wondered why nobody would smile and say hello in the hallways. Now I know. These managers are inept and they treat their employees like cattle. I have worked for places like IBM, SGI, and Unisys.
I have never been treated as horribly as I was treated at the Flying J. They want you to believe you are worthless so they can pay you as little as possible. There are two people in particular that would like you to believe you are a piece of crap -- Mike Kattleman and Karin Parton -- who I believe is probably a nazi. She absolutely has the accent to go with the attitude. I have no idea where they may have found her, but I think (MAYBE GERMANY).
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