I have to fundamentally disagree with you. I can understand Michigan vs. the world, or (insert name of city) vs. the world, but I think its exactly the petty internal squabbling that destroys this state. Lansing makes PLENTY of money off of Grand Rapids from the likes of Granger, Clark, Christman, etc...and Grand Rapids makes money off of Lansing. We play off of each other; that's how our economy works. Again, I can be pretty protectionists when it comes to keeping jobs in this state or this nation, but getting down to the municipal level is really petty.
BTW, it's funny you'd bring up Grand Rapids as an example, one of the most anti-union regions in the state, and perhaps, all of the Midwest. Lansing isn't struggling because it's losing money to other parts of the state; it's losing because it's losing out to other regions of the country and the world as a whole.
BTW, for everyone, I recently wrote the developer about the usage of the roof. He says that the city is currently telling him that they wont' give him a variance to use any of the roof, and he wants to know if some of us can make it to the variance meeting to speak in favor of using the roof. I told him to give me details about the meeting, and I'll post them here when I get it.
LMich,I see it everyday.I know average taxpayer and citizen doesn't see it. Your jobs revolve around other aspects in Lansing. With construction it is a huge problem. As for Granger,Clark, and Christman they are tied to jurisdictional boundaires. By being majority union they have to hire people from the area that they are working in.
I have to disagree that it's alright to use out of town contractors to do city funded jobs. To have the Lansing Chamber of Commerece in the same building that is totally built by nobody in town is mindnumbing. Who do they stand behind? Surely, none of the construction related members of the chamber.
I was in the plumbing business for 5 years before my home life called me back to working for someone else, but I saw it everyday here in town. It's a big problem.
I have some insite to working in Grand Rapids. Out of highschool, I worked as a plumber over there for a year, and like I said in my earlier posting I never saw a Lansing contractor over there. But here it's alright to pay them with our own taxmoney.?????
It starts at the municible level, Our elected officials in town better take notice because we elected them and we can re-elect someone else.
Granger, Christman and Clark all do work nationally. In fact Granger is GC for the new Marriot in Grand Rapids, and I'll bet they used their own people from Lansing to do at least some of the work. On the Stadium District I'm sure Fryling will end up using a lot of Lansing people for their subs. Fryling may have in-house people for foundation and structural work, which would be why they used them here. Besides all that I thought that the workers at Stadium District were Union, just from a union somewhere else.
Yeah, as Hood even reiterated Lansing construction firms do tons of work, state-wide and nationally. In fact, I can't remember which of the three, but one of them gets a majority of their work outside of Lansing. I really don't get the big deal when Lansing reaps just as much rewards from outside of the city as most other Michigan firms, if not more so. Again, I can see being a protectionist down the the state level, but I don't think this is a legitimate concern once you get down to the municipal level. What next, someone's going to have a gripe that the firms doing these projects aren't located in the respective municipalities? (i.e. Lansing projects done by Lansing firms, Delta Township projects done by Delta Township firms...) The Michigan State Capitol was designed by an out-of-stater, for crying out loud, but I know you wouldn't call that an eyesore.
BTW, so that you'll stop insinuating, neither me nor Hood have any working connections to this project, so we don't have any horse in this race.
All I'm saying is that we need to try and support the local business owners in this town where we can. There may be one or two out of 20 that are being done by are own people. They are the ones who have made Lansing what it is.
An argument can still be made that the use of taxpers money should try and go back into the pockets of it's taxpayers.
If you guys think about it on a national level (Made in the USA),why would you not try and buy from your neighbor? Do you guys shop downtown at all? Thats your way of supporting the local economy. The money spent in their shops is taken after work and buys goods somewhere locally to either support the business, themselves, or even possibly you.
I shop and eat downtown when I can, when I get the money I plan to move downtown, and I just got a new job downtown, so I consider that a decent track record.
Being born in Lansing and a lifelong Lansing resident I feel compelled to comment on this topic. Although I agree that this project will be a nice addition to downtown Lansing, I will not be patronizing any of the retailers who end up leasing space here. This seems to be the only recourse that I have to show my displeasure with the way that the project will be built. I agree will Concernedtaxpayer that this project should have been built using Lansing construction trades and not by contractors from differant areas. I do try and support local businesses when I can and I will continue to do so. But it seems that the only way to show the local politicians and developers my disopproval of their methods of giving work to non-local contractors is to withhold my money from their pockets. What really amazes me is how they all talk about putting "LANSING FIRST" at election time but as soon as they are in office they do what is best for them and not the city. I think that they forget that the city is made up of the residents and not buildings or figures on a spreadsheet. It seems they put the bottom line before the residents. Well, when there is is no-one left in the city to pay taxes, we will have a city that looks more like Flint than Grand Rapids. I try to buy products that are made in the U.S.A. when I can and if they are made locally that is even better. People need to wake up. They think that all of this outsourcing of Lansing work doesn't affect them. Until they are calling MARVIN or driving to Grand Rapids every day because their company found out it was cheaper to lease space over there.
Being someone who is persuing a development project just around the corner from Stadium District I have to disagree with this "only use Lansing companies" philosophy. The main (if not only) options for a project this size in Lansing are Christman, Granger and Clark, I was told that if I were to use them for my project it may not be feasable, even if it was it would eat into profits far too much. Thats besides the fact that all these GC's are used to larger, more expensive and typically non-residential developments. The only other option I know of off the top of my head is Kincaid Design/build, which is who I will be using. But if my project happens, it will be Kincaid's biggest project, which is still only about half the size of Stadium District. Fryling is the best choice for mid-sized mixed use projects, if the Stadium District had been much smaller they could have used a local, if it was larger they could have probably used a local. I really think you have to understand that developers of urban projects are running on tight budgets and they absolutely have to pinch pennies wherever possible.
Comments
I have to fundamentally disagree with you. I can understand Michigan vs. the world, or (insert name of city) vs. the world, but I think its exactly the petty internal squabbling that destroys this state. Lansing makes PLENTY of money off of Grand Rapids from the likes of Granger, Clark, Christman, etc...and Grand Rapids makes money off of Lansing. We play off of each other; that's how our economy works. Again, I can be pretty protectionists when it comes to keeping jobs in this state or this nation, but getting down to the municipal level is really petty.
BTW, it's funny you'd bring up Grand Rapids as an example, one of the most anti-union regions in the state, and perhaps, all of the Midwest. Lansing isn't struggling because it's losing money to other parts of the state; it's losing because it's losing out to other regions of the country and the world as a whole.
BTW, for everyone, I recently wrote the developer about the usage of the roof. He says that the city is currently telling him that they wont' give him a variance to use any of the roof, and he wants to know if some of us can make it to the variance meeting to speak in favor of using the roof. I told him to give me details about the meeting, and I'll post them here when I get it.
I have to disagree that it's alright to use out of town contractors to do city funded jobs. To have the Lansing Chamber of Commerece in the same building that is totally built by nobody in town is mindnumbing. Who do they stand behind? Surely, none of the construction related members of the chamber.
I was in the plumbing business for 5 years before my home life called me back to working for someone else, but I saw it everyday here in town. It's a big problem.
I have some insite to working in Grand Rapids. Out of highschool, I worked as a plumber over there for a year, and like I said in my earlier posting I never saw a Lansing contractor over there. But here it's alright to pay them with our own taxmoney.?????
It starts at the municible level, Our elected officials in town better take notice because we elected them and we can re-elect someone else.
BTW, so that you'll stop insinuating, neither me nor Hood have any working connections to this project, so we don't have any horse in this race.
An argument can still be made that the use of taxpers money should try and go back into the pockets of it's taxpayers.
If you guys think about it on a national level (Made in the USA),why would you not try and buy from your neighbor? Do you guys shop downtown at all? Thats your way of supporting the local economy. The money spent in their shops is taken after work and buys goods somewhere locally to either support the business, themselves, or even possibly you.