IS IT TRUE? July 11, 2011
IS IT TRUE that the so called “BRAIN DRAIN†has reached out and touched the Art’s Council for Southwest Indiana?…that Executive Director Mary Jane Schenk is ending here six year stewardship over the Art’s Council in favor of a move to the west coast to be near her family?…that the City County Observer recognizes the value that Mary Jane added in guiding the Art’s Council from an office and into a gallery and shall genuinely miss her contributions to our fair city?…that we wish her peace, love, and contentment in her new home?…that shortly after the departure of the Executive Director that perhaps the best activities director that Evansville has ever seen Shannon Hurt will vacate the premises for the green green grass and lively music scene of a new home in Nashville, TN?…that the team at the Art’s Council will forever be remembered by some of us as the transitional leadership team that took the Art’s Council of SW Indiana to the next level and installed the first large scale commercial art gallery in downtown Evansville?…that if downtown Evansville ever really returns to prominence that it started in 2007 with the opening of the Art’s Council of SW Indiana in the Innovation Pointe Building?
IS IT TRUE that our Sunday edition that dealt with the large deficiency in the salaries that professionals are paid in Evansville as compared to simple national averages inspired some pretty poignant comments among our readers?…that some of the back and forth comments were good dialog and that the one involving the Otters and the Yankees ability to attract talentwas particularly revealing?…that we are using a baseball analogy because everyone will understand it?…that the same analogy could be used by changing the names Otters and Yankees to Evansville Bankers and New York Bankers, or nearly any other professional career that exists?…that we believe that the talent gap between the Otters and the Yankees is so wide that if they played 100 games on any field at any time that the New York Yankees would defeat the Evansville Otters in every one of these 100 games?…that they are in very different leagues with the ability to attract different levels of talent and ambition?…that ALL OTTERS WOULD TRADE THEIR EYE TEETH TO BE YANKEES?…that the Yankees would rather take a punch in the gut than be Otters?…that they both know where in the pecking order they stand?
IS IT TRUE that the maximum pay under league rules that a member of the Evansville Otters can be paid is $1,800 per month?…that the average pay for players on the Yankees is closer to $1,800 per inning (20 minutes) and that some Yankees are paid over $10 Million per year?…that we can all agree with 100% certainty that the Yankees attract better players than the Otters ever have or ever will?…that the non-affiliated Otters are not even considered to be a training ground for Major League Baseball?…that in the world of business there are what are called talent clusters for each profession just as professional sports locate only in certain cities?…that if Evansville produces a player that has both the talent and the discipline that are required to make it in professional sport that they MUST WORK IN A CITY THAT HAS A PROFESSIONAL SPORT FRANCHISE?…that in order to fulfill their goals and be utilized at the peak of their earning power that our best athletes have to “Brain Drainâ€?…that Evansville has produced quite a few such people?…that the same is highly probable when it comes to professional employment?…that our best and brightest have been drawn to other places like moths to a flame for over 50 years now?…that the compensation levels, the challenge of being on the cutting edge of life, and the stimulation of living where the action is all contribute to “Brain Drainâ€?
IS IT TRUE that the question was raised regarding what would happen if the management of the OTTERS coughed up the money and brought a Yankee to town to play for the Otters?…that the Yankee would dominate the team the way that a former IU player dominated the now defunct Evansville Bluecats?…that a real professional would dominate any bush league teams talent base with ease?…that over time this Yankee would find that he could draw his pay and dominate with little or no training?…that after a couple of years that this Yankee would lose his edge and would still dominate the OTTERS but would not be good enough to rejoin the Yankees?…that this Yankee would settle for being the best OTTER and would retire from baseball as an OTTER?…that when one only chooses to compete with people and teams of limited talent that a false sense of being hides the real reality of what being globally competitive even means?…that if the business base of Evansville chooses to be like the OTTERS when it comes to attracting talent that relevance and prosperity will not return to River City?…that many of them will not even know it?
The long awaited RFP for a downtown 220 room hotel appears in today’s Courier&Press legal notices.
Let the games begin.
“that if Evansville produces a player that has both the talent and the discipline that are required to make it in professional sport that they MUST WORK IN A CITY THAT HAS A PROFESSIONAL SPORT FRANCHISE?…”
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We have many times…..all one has to do is look at Don Mattingly, at least he has kept his “Home Town Pride” and tried to bring some benefit of his career back to Evansville, remember the ball stadium ex-mayor Loydd tried to build downtown? People of such talent would be a waste here in Evansville playing on the Otters, not only would they not be living up to their full potential, but would be cheating themselves in doing so. People with potential/talent go where ever they must to be compensated for their abilities, regardless of career/education, unfortunately cities like ours are mere stepping stones for the talented. On the flip side personally I believe there are many many talented folks here in Evansville that choose a slower, less hectic, less pay lifestyle Evansville offers, after all money isn’t everything in life and it certainly doesn’t make folks happy….then again it does make life more comfortable or so I’ve been told! 🙂
We agree with you across the board. We are a stepping stone for the talented yet there are truly some talented people who chose to live here for purposes other than career opportunities. It would be great if they could be utilized better than my friend with a Ph.d who works in a supermarket, another with an MBA that sells shoes in the mall, and the countless trailing spouses with uber-educations who just lounge around the pool while the spouse brings home the bacon. If the local economy wastes readily available talent how can we entice real talent to come to town.
The news that both Mary Jane and Shannon are leaving the Arts Council is truly disheartening. They have been the absolute best thing going in that building. Well, Bobbie and her La Sombra must be recognized as truly wonderful too. But I just can’t grasp the loss of Mary Jane and Shannon. Both you ladies have done an absolutely wonderful job, and Evansville is much, much richer for your dedication to art.
Pardon me … “to art and the artists!”
Agreed…..with all due respect to your friends (MBA & PhD) they are making a consensus choice in what they are doing for a living, not trying to be too harsh but unless something very strong is holding them here in Evansville they probably won’t find work in their chosen field without relocating. Educated folks should know this better then us uneducated folks. It kinda’ makes me think about another post I made awhile back about gearing kids towards collage and there not being anyone left to fix the infrastructural, or in this case sack/stock grocery’s. Hopefully their not trying to live and payback student loans on the wages they are pulling down doing menial work. Like I said not trying to be harsh just being the realist that I am.
In these cases the problem is owning homes that are worth less now than they owe for them. These folks and I suppose several others came to Evansville for jobs that were eliminated for some reason and now they are stuck. They would like to stay but eventually I think they will find a job that comes with a relocation package and away they will go. I do not know about student loans but they could be paying on them.
Maybe Evansville should envision itself as a rung on the ladder of financial progression taken by those seeking higher employment opportunities. Everyone has to start somewhere on that ladder. If the “rung”, known as “Evansville” were missing, many would stall, hope to jump the gap with talent or sheer nerve, or lose their footing and slide downward.
Our local TV stations are an excellent example of Evansville as a “training center”. We are a mid-sized market and many new graduates come here for a year or two to get experience and build a resume’ of work to demonstrate their abilities. Most are not native and are willing to travel to larger markets where the pay is higher. There are only so many slots and the top dogs are well entrenched. This is true in other fields. If you really want to move up, you go where the greater opportunities and money are located.
I agree that your examples will probably need to relocate to get out from under their debt load, which may have been obtained by over-reaching their financial capabilities.
Comparing the income of sports figures to real people isn’t realistic. An accountant isn’t risking career ending injuries any day he goes to work. He doesn’t affect anywhere the same number of people with his output, or providing many jobs, with his drawing power. He might even work for one of those sports figures, if he is really good or well connected, making more money than he would get doing the books of Mom and Pop establishments, but it is doubtful he would live in Evansville.
Evansville is not Indianapolis, Los Angeles or New York. Until we get big businesses to locate here, we will not grow. The arena, baseball fields or tennis courts will not make it happen. We have smart people and hard workers, highway, river and rail transportation, education so that is what needs to be sold to big businesses. It will take jobs of all kinds, more at the bottom than at the top to fill the pockets of un and under employed.
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