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17 NOV 04: GRILLS GONE - JUST GONE

Instant Message to all Columbus restaurants: If you don't mind, please slow-roast your chicken and burgers for awhile. Cooking them on a grill around here might make some people, well, steamed....

The W.C. Bradley company stunned Columbus Tuesday, by announcing it's moving production of Char-Broil grills to China. This had to shock some old-timers, who thought this company was "outsourcing" work by moving it to Opelika.

A statement from W.C. Bradley executives said moving Char-Broil work to China was "one of the toughest decisions" in company history. Why, it's enough to make the company's founder turn over in his grave - and right now he'd want to do it in a rotisserie.

It was left to chief executive officer Steve Butler to announce the layoffs to reporters. So if anyone asks who killed Char-Broil in Columbus, tell them the Butler did it.

About 500 area employees will lose jobs, as Char-Broil switches production from Columbus to Asia over the next couple of years. And to make matters worse, it's going to China! If it was the sister city of Kiryu, Japan, we might understand....

(Doesn't it seem like all the old-line employers are moving jobs out of Columbus? First there were the mills, now the grills....)

Mayor Bob Poydasheff said he's concerned about finding new jobs for the Char-Broil employees who are losing them. For one thing, the Waggoners still is hiring -- so maybe workers can drive big trucks over old grills, and gain some closure.

W.C. Bradley has made Char-Broil gas grills in Columbus since 1949. With the outsourcing to China, there could be a fringe benefit. Switch to charcoal grills, and propane prices may go down toward 1949 levels.

Char-Broil is only the latest example of U.S. jobs being moved to Asia, where profits can be higher because workers are paid less. So many people worried about the North American Free Trade Agreement - but now the countries in that agreement seem to be among the few friends this country has left.

As it happened, the PBS series "Frontline" reported Tuesday night Wal-Mart utilizes more Chinese imports than you might realize. The company's talked so often about "keeping jobs in the U.S.A." - but I never bothered to check the labels on the dog food....

I heard one long-time Columbus resident say Tuesday Char-Broil always was the employer of last resort. If a young person couldn't find work anywhere else in town, something would be available there. I can guess which company will get that distinction now -- and AFLAC might need a taller tower.

When Tuesday started, all seemed well when it came to local cooking. Columbus Council received a visit from Ronald McDonald -- prompting critics of city government to ask which Council member is most like a clown.

(Come to think of it, Mimi Woodson does look like she's using red tint in her hair these days....)

So what was Ronald McDonald doing before Columbus Council? Thankfully, he was NOT there to accuse outgoing Marshal Ken Suddeth of botching the arrest of the Ham-Burglar....

Ronald McDonald announced Columbus is a test city for the fast food chain's new "Southern Style Chicken" sandwich. So what makes it Southern? Based on the billboards I've seen around town, it doesn't have any cream gravy.

(By the way, has that clown mascot ever appeared live in Americus? If he did, would Millard Fuller urge him to build his own Ronald McDonald Habitat house?)

McChicken sandwiches have been part of the McDonald's menu for years. So the "Southern style chicken" sandwich must have something different. Hmmmm -- how long is it kept in the deep-fat fryer?

Remember the last time Columbus was the test market for a McDonald's sandwich? It was the "Big 'N Tasty" several years ago -- and as I recall, it caught on about as well as that low-calorie burger partially made from seaweed.

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