The Shoe Store’s Closed!

It is July and time for our annual escape/vacation to the north woods in my home state of Michigan. As penance for spending most of that time in the middle of trout streams I accompany my wife on a shopping trip to Gaylord, a large town about thirty minutes away. It is near the I-75 freeway and a commercial hub similar to the Janesville/Beloit market. All the big boxes are there along with a quaint downtown with small shops.

Years ago, when it was the trendy thing to do, Gaylord themed its downtown architecture to become an Alpine village. Seems a bit hokey these days, but in the scheme of things they actually pulled if off pretty well. They have a very successful festival, Alpenfest, and even convinced some of the national retailers to adopt the Alpine theme within their new store’s façade. It has been the Alpine Village for as long as I can remember.

I’m Just Ask’n

Courtesy of wallpapersinhq.com

The age old question, If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?”, came to me while sitting at the lightly attended breakfast with the newly elected, Madison progressive Senator Tammy Baldwin. The Senator was a guest of Forward Janesville (FJI) and the breakfast sponsored by AT&T.

Greasing the Skids

I made a point of walking through Janesville’s new incubator building at Forward Janesville’s Business After Five last week. Having cut my commercial real estate teeth in economic development for a few decades, I was really interested in seeing the outcome of the city’s efforts.

Like many in the private sector, I was a bit skeptical. Building a brand new building in order to encourage entrepreneurship seemed a bit incongruous and perhaps a contributor to that “paid for by the government” adage.