IS IT TRUE? July 10, 2011
IS IT TRUE that the section called “Vendor Information†on the website of the Evansville Arena does not have a copy of the new RFP for the downtown Convention Hotel available?…that under the section called current bids it simple has a single bullet point that says “NONE AT THIS TIMEâ€?…that is confusing as Mr. Kish clearly announced that a new RFP was being issued with a response date of July 18, 2011?…that if there is no public location that one can find a bid that the chances that any new bidders may submit bids is quite low?…that if this is a bidding process then the bidders are being selected by the bid solicitor?…that it is hard to understand how Evansville can continue to function with self limiting habits?
IS IT TRUE that in the depths of the “Competitive Realities†study released by the SW Indiana Coalition for Economic Development there was a list of different professions and how the Evansville area compared to other parts of the country with respect to salary?…that the national average salary for management of companies is 34% higher than it is in Evansville?…that the national average salary for mining is 48% higher than it is in Evansville?…that the national average salary for science and engineering professionals is 45% higher than it is in Evansville?…that the national average salary for finance and insurance professionals is 74% higher than it is in Evansville?…that the national average salary for government is 35% higher than it is in Evansville?…that the national average salary for information technology workers is 69% higher than it is in Evansville?…that each of these specialties has been targeted as something that is wanted here?…that Evansville is considered NON-COMPETITIVE in every one of these fields?…that if we do not pay the piper we shall not hear the music?
IS IT TRUE that the only categories in which this region is competitive with national averages for pay are manufacturing, construction, agriculture, forestry, hunting, and fishing?…that these are all listed as declining in the study?…that Evansville is actually considered to be COMPETITIVE in these declining industries in which we pay national average wages?
IS IT TRUE that the national average Cost of Living is only 4% higher than the composite cost of living in Evansville?…that with a Cost of Living that is only 4% lower than the national average but professional salaries that are higher at the national averages by between 34% and 74% for targeted talent pools that EVANSVILLE WILL NEVER BE ATTRACTIVE TO THE MOVERS AND SHAKERS OF THIS COUNTRY unless something is done to bring the pay up to at least national average levels?...that the national average is essentially the mid-point and is not to be confused with the salaries paid to the leading people in the leading places?…that a brand new wet behind the ears 22 year old with an engineering degree from MIT, Stanford, or some other top schools including some from Indiana will be offered a salary that is DOUBLE what experienced professionals earn here?…that this is a formula for permanent mediocrity?
IS IT TRUE that we fully encourage each and every person in this area to read this study and commit our weaknesses to memory?…that we should each improve a little bit every day?
So why on earth would any young professional with ambition ever want to come to Evansville? HA! They don’t and it shows.
FIrst, if you think a substantial bidder for the hotel project, experienced in the development industry, is going to rely solely on a website for the RFP, think again. Such a proposition is absurd.
Second, its irresponsible reporting to suggest paying people more will solve some unidentified problem in Evansville. Economies of scale and other economic realties create our economic environment. If a “problem” exists, there are complexities and factors that drive rate of pay far beyond what is even mentioned here. Googling for some random report and suggesting employers are shortchanging our workforce is ridiculous.
The numbers were not from Googling anything. They came straight out of the study that the SW Indiana Coalition for Economic Development paid $231,000 for.
I believe Joellen’s 2nd statement is still valid nonetheless. Market forces drive the economy…not the good will in men’s hearts.
Cc
“Market forces”?
This city is an absolute mockery of market forces! Look at the hotel they want to build and the CCO’s analysis of what it is worth vs. cost!
Look at the cost per home that FDP shells out for BASIC SHELTER FOR, A SELECT FEW, POOR. (I’ll help you out here, it’s $240K!)
Look at the comparison of electric rates here vs. Henderson!
Look at how our business fat-cats don’t go proudly blow their own cash on Opus One booze-fests, they get appointed to the CVB to do it on OUR DIME!
There is so much regulation from Federal to local levels – and manipulation from power brokers – what appears to the layman to be a “market force”, is often a mirage.
We used to have sort of a market driven segregation of smoking areas at county restaurants. Not anymore. Our smoking statistics in the county aren’t based on market forces anymore… They are Martha Caine’s, and her exclusionist band of power brokers.
“Second, its irresponsible reporting to suggest paying people more will solve some unidentified problem in Evansville. Economies of scale and other economic realties create our economic environment. If a “problem†exists, there are complexities and factors that drive rate of pay far beyond what is even mentioned here.” Please. It is reporting a clear disparity. It’s absolutely refreshing to read it not twisted into some partisan crap, too. It’s purely naive, to ignore the lacking comparable salary in light of the relatively similar cost of living.
After seeing these statistics, isn’t it self evident that a “wise professional” that in other regions would be compensated for the long hours and other issues a time clock punching union stiff doesn’t have to – is stupid – to stay here and get walked on?
To get the, ahem, full picture:
What, ahem, seems to have been omitted in the numbers is a comparison of union trade wages, here vs. elsewhere… (You kind of addressed it, but it wasn’t as distinct as I would have stated it.)
Is it true, to get at the real cause of the problem… people need to be OPEN/ACCEPTING not only of terminology like underpaid professional wages, but even more contentious terms (to some) like militant unionism?
Joellen, I agree with you that paying the people who are already here national wages will not solve any problems. I would like to add that our workforce may not be getting shortchanged at all. They may actually be getting paid what the work that they are doing is worth in the big scheme of things. If the tasks that engineers or bankers in Evansville are doing pale in complexity to what is being done in other places then the low wages are justified. The problem with having people that perform and are paid in the lowest 10% of their profession is that the wage scale keeps this area from ever attracting the top performers.
Lets compare the Otters with the Yankees. The Otters are limited to being able to pay players to $1,800 per month. That wouldn’t cover the lunch tab for the Yankees. The talent difference in the Otters and Yankees is quite wide. I expect that if the talent levels of local engineers and bankers were compared to Silicon Valley and New York that the gap is similar to the gap between the Otters and the Yankees.
I guess I agree with the article that the paltry wages are a deal breaker when it comes to getting good professional talent to come to Evansville. I also agree with you that paying an Otter talent Yankee money will not turn an Otter into a Yankee.
Maybe Evansville’s businesses are on a national level about as competitive as the Otters. That is not a good thing.
So what would happen if you put a Yankee in an Otters uniform? The guy would completely dominate the team and probably the league and would do it with ease. It would not even be a challenge and soon the Yankee in Otter clothes would get bored and stop practicing. He would still dominate but after a couple of years he would start to lose his skills. Putting a single Yankee on a team of Otters would eventually turn him into an Otter.
WOW! And we want to keep our kids and grandkids harnessed to a local culture like that?!?
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