25 JUL 07: WE'RE NUMBER 101?!
A blog reader pointed us Tuesday to a business magazine column:
AFLAC and Columbus get a mention in this online article (it may also be in Fortune Magazine). It quotes AFLAC executive/former WTVM reporter Sharon Douglas. Thought you might find it interesting, even though the mention is brief.
I called up the "Ask Annie" commentary by Anne Fisher, and had a problem with it right away. She refers to "little Columbus, Ga." Little?! As of 2000, Columbus was the 106th biggest U.S. city. Maybe she's been writing in a Manhattan skyscraper too long.
The Ask Annie article focuses on famous companies based outside major cities. It notes Aflac has hired about 2,000 new employees in the last five years, and plans to hire and train 2,000 more in the next five. I can see it coming now - an attempt by the staff to do the world's largest simultaneous duck quack.
I wasn't familiar with Sharon Douglas's name - and I certainly wasn't familiar with her title. Ask Annie reveals she's the "Chief People Officer" at Aflac. Maybe her assignment is to remove as many account numbers from insurance policies as possible.
Sharon Douglas admits to Fortune there's not much night life in Columbus - except for "something called Uptown Columbus on Saturday nights." There, you see? The overseers were wrong to schedule those outdoor concerts on Friday nights, since no one would show up.
According to Sharon Douglas, restaurants in Uptown Columbus like "giving out free samples" on Saturday nights. The last time I dined downtown on a Saturday night, the Cannon Brew Pub made me pay full-price - but maybe Douglas is talking about the chips and salsa at Locos Amigos.
There were links embedded with this commentary which I found even more revealing. Money magazine has published a new list of the "100 Best Places to Live" - and even with the nice mention, Columbus didn't make that list. Maybe if a couple more bars opened in Midtown, near Memory Lane....
Three Georgia cities may the "100 Best Places to Live" list - Suwanee, Peachtree City and Martinez. Martinez?!?! Two-thirds of the people who drive past that city aren't sure whether to emphasize the "mar" or the "ti."
By clicking on a "snapshot" page, you can find plenty of revealing statistics about Columbus. For instance, the median family income in our city is $47,915 per year. Let's do some math here, and be thankful. Tuesday's minimum wage increase should finally bring that above $50,000.
City officials talk so much about how base realignment will bring new jobs to Columbus. But the Money magazine snapshot shows "job growth" in this decade is a NEGATIVE 3.59 percent. So maybe all those mill workers are coming back to town, after enlisting in the Army.
The "Air Quality Index" for Columbus shows we have "good air" 71.3 percent of the time. But that could be changing, as WRBL reported Tuesday the area is not meeting the federal air quality standard. The online report does NOT show how many people already are breathing through masks.
(It might not help that Planning Director Rick Jones's computer shows a chart with "partculate" levels. The city may be getting downgraded for being unable to spell.)
The Columbus snapshot is filled with other data - but here are a few things which caught my eye:
+ Restaurants within 15 miles: 611. Of course, 411 of those are around Columbus Park Crossing.
+ Average amount spent on vacations per household: $6,521. Those silly burglars -- trying to break in while you're gone, instead of coming early while you're loading the car in the driveway.
+ Percentage married: 45.1. The "Best Places to Live" have a percentage above 60 - so now I feel guilty for holding back Columbus progress.
+ Percentage divorced: 11.8. The "Best Places to Live" are down around eight percent - so the fights over which church to attend must be worse than I thought.
Other nearby cities scored very well on the Money magazine report. Auburn is 16th among all U.S. cities, in the percentage of single people. If you're not sure where they are, forget about Toomer's Corner on weekend nights. Look for Auburn sweatshirts at Kroger, late on a Friday afternoon.
And of all places, the cleanest air of any U.S. city can be found in Troy, Alabama. Do all the college students park their cars when they arrive for the semester, then start them up again after finals?
E-MAIL UPDATE: The latest double homicide in Columbus brought this question Tuesday:
I wonder if the Cols Police Dept is not releasing the name and picture of the person on the warrant for questioning in the weekend murder because they are afraid if he is not guilty he will demand money...Seems to me if we knew who it was we could keep our eyes open and call in tips.
Well, you raise a very good point here. I'm not naming any murder suspects - because I don't want to get sued, either.
On the other hand, police may be keeping the suspect's name quiet because they're waiting for that person to make a slip, and give himself away. Some criminals are so dumb that they can't wait to share their stories on Myspace.
Mayor Jim Wetherington was tracked down Tuesday for a comment on the city's rising crime numbers. He assured viewers the city is doing all it can to bring things under control. I can cite one example of this - as an officer was positioned at the front door of that University of Phoenix career fair last week.
Now we continue the "Summit talks" -- as in the Phenix City hospital:
Richard, Please ask your reader, Lon Gammage, to explain to us Alabama residents how we can get that "free medical care" paid for by the Georgia taxpayers at the Columbus Medical Center. It is my understanding that the only individuals who can get that "free medical care" are those who can prove that they are GA residents.
I'm told that Alabama residents with no insurance now have to drive to Opelika to the East Alabama Medical Center.
The Medical Center does have a great clinic for GA residents with no insurance or low incomes.
We also have to remember that "nothing is free". Someone pays.
Otherwise, I agree with most of what Lon Gammage says about the old Cobb Hospital and Summit Hospital.
If all the individuals with good insurance or money to pay their bills continue to use the Columbus hospitals I don't see how Summit Hospital in Phenix City will survive. But remember, most patients go to the hospital that their doctor recommends! So if Columbus doctors don't do surgeries or see patients at Summit Hospital how will Summit get enough patients. There are not enough Phenix City doctors to keep the hospital full.
Also, I've been told that the money that subsidizes "free care" at Public (vs "Private") hospitals comes from federal tax dollars and not state taxes.
I'll let your message serve as the question to Lon. But the Columbus city budget provides a certain amount of money for the Medical Center every year. And I haven't priced the Medical Center's café, to see how much they mark up the prices.
Now a few comments at no extra charge about the Tuesday news:
+ The Russell County Commission discussed buying the MeadWestvaco building on Broad Street, and making it a new county courthouse. This sounds like an interesting idea, if they add one condition. Make that old abandoned building at Dillingham and Broad a holding cell for suspected criminals.
+ Russell County Emergency Management Director Chance Corbett told WRBL he's receiving a $6,400 grant to build a steel-reinforced "safe room." When a natural disaster strikes, it will be a perfect place for officials to hide from the news media if things go wrong.
+ Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank admitted he was ready to suspend Michael Vick for four games, but the National Football League advised against it. Wow - are THAT many people ready to demand a refund on their season tickets?
+ Instant Message to Atlanta baseball announcer Pete Van Wieren: Did I hear you right Tuesday night - you called a man along the foul line the "old ball dude?" I know you were in San Francisco, but the city couldn't affect you THAT much.
SCHEDULED THURSDAY: A last night with an "original," before a very original trip....
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