Latest / Watts Up with Bowling Green Winlectric / Powering Glasgow’s Growth with Mayor Henry Royse, Part 2

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Powering Glasgow’s Growth with Mayor Henry Royse, Part 2 · Watts Up with Bowling Green Winlectric

• Savannah Gillispie: Hey guys, this is Sean at Bowling Green Winlectric for a new episode of What's Up with Wind Electric. This is actually episode two of our chat with Henry Royse who is the mayor of Glasgow. So thanks for letting me come on. man, I I just really appreciate it. now as we ended last episode, we were talking about some of the bigger companies that are coming to Glasgow and some of the challenges that that those can entail versus A small a smaller company. Right. So I know I just hearing things sometimes through social media or T V or just, you know, in conversation with people. I know that as a town, you guys are constantly looking for new companies, corporations and such to come. How do you and how does a team initially approach something like that? I mean I I don't even understand it I can't fathom in my head how that whole thing process starts. Well, Sean, I don't wanna go too f much further down the road without acknowledging we have some really smart entrepreneurs in Glasgow. We have people who own property, people who own shopping centers, people who have good experience with successful businesses and who better to look and see what we might need that we don't have than somebody who is doing business in Glasgow right now? That is so that is so valuable. You know, we need a blank and nobody, you know, we can all sit here and make it up, but the entrepreneur who has opened up a business and their business could improve if they had another business similar to them that the customers who come here to shop can go there. So I want to give credit to the entrepreneurs that are here because w like what we just said, coming downtown the people ha they have to be willing to it it's not a magic carpet ride, you have to be willing to put the time and the effort into it. Sometimes it takes off quicker than other times. But if you you know once again I'll say it, you gotta see that goal line kick off. Yeah, that's I think somebody like myself, we just we just see the finished painting, but we don't see all the little strokes that go into that. And I think it's just 'cause that's not really my mentality, you know. But I I know you yourself are an artist who are painting a lot of those strokes and I and I appreciate that. Well you got you you got wind electric, you've got people coming in every day. You can listen to Right. I wish we had a whatever here. You know, in other words, you start you two or three people you see at a trade show, you might be able to say, We really need a whatever it is that we might need. Right. You can never you know, it's not like it's somebody else's job to get in there if you know that somebody could utilize their services, you know, it's best to go out and try to find it. And we have some really good entrepreneurs who are doing that now in Glasgow for sure. Right, right, yeah. A lot of new companies. I mean, just off the top of my head I can think of about ten or twelve companies that is are either currently under construction or you guys have made announcements that are coming to town. Would you like to maybe share with our audience some of the new companies that are Slated to hit Glasgow? Well, I mean I I can just do a little name dropping, but I can't do it complete because some things are are I know are gonna happen but haven't been announced. And that would not be You can't step on somebody else. Step on somebody else's toes, something, you know, could happen. You you generally in in our one of the things that I w I'll say this. I'm very proud of Maureen Carpenter at the Barren Inc. Yeah, she understands industrial recruiting. She understands the importance of confidentiality. You know, you stop and think about it, if there's an industry that's looking to come to Glasgow, the last thing that needs to happen is somebody in the town where that industry is coming from hears that they're leaving. how wonderful that's that's a deal killer right there. And so Maureen is she's the best at saying, Look Even though everybody we all we're all little kids at heart, we have this bad itch to let it hey did you know that such and so is coming, such and so y but that can kill that truly can kill a deal. I know of some examples where that has killed a deal. You just have to have the patience to sit on. But I can tell you that I'm really, really, really excited about union codings coming. Union is a industry that's actually out of Egypt and they built a factory in Canada. And it's kind of an interesting story. They wanted to expand but because of the maybe the difference of of opinion on Canada and the United States, they didn't want to build this other plant in Canada. They wanted somewhere in the US of A to build it. And they actually went out and bought their equipment. before they decided to move out of Canada. Wow. So I remember meeting with him on the first time the the one of the owners of unions named Dr. Tatot and I can't do his first name, but it's I'm doing good on Talitot. But they had bought the equipment and were paying something like twenty four thousand dollars a month to store it in Canada. They said we gotta do better than this and they came looking we have a we had a a spec building out it out on the highway sixty eight eighty that was perfect for them to move their equipment into and finish it out. Wow. And so we we've worked out and they're going to you know they're going to be growing and that's just w that's the right place, the right time. Right. But you know, you have to always have that out there. You have to you what you've got available You gotta make it available to everybody. You can't be saving it for somebody. Right. Well, yeah, for sure. So you've got the coatings plant. You've got Tate that you mentioned on our last episode. That's right. and they're they're gonna be employing a large number of They are. They are. They've got some they have customers, they're they have a lot of growth in their business. We have so many industries and I'm I'm gonna be careful to not step on anybody's toes or or get things out, but I'm gonna tell you three A composites. is a business that has grown. They do a lot of things with foam board and they're they have gotten some new customers. They're going to four shifts a day, seven days a week. Wow. That is huge growth. Sure. Huge growth. And they're they're a very good company and you know, that's some of the logistics that you have to deal with is is accommodating their growth. Yeah. And you know, they they do a lot of things to help people and it's a fascinating business. Yeah, that's that's really cool to hear of those I haven't heard of of the growth with three A or I haven't heard about the codings place at all. So that's that's awesome to have. Well, I mean, you that's good. It's really they're really nice people. It's fascinating because they are they've never done business in the US of A before. Wow, so so this so Glasgow, Kentucky's their first. That's right. That's amazing. They they have a they have a plant in Cairo. And a plant in Canada and I think one in Saudi Arabia maybe. Wow. But this is their we are their first US of A venture. Nice and they really like it here, you know. Nice. But it's we've had a lot of interesting sit down cultural things to talk about. Sure. So how do you as a mayor try to ensure that Glasgow grows Culturally that you just literally told about how you know somebody from a whole nother country is coming to the US and into Glasgow specifically. We grow huge cultural base and all these different industries that we have coming in. How how do we make sure that we don't lose the small town feel that Glasgow's known for? Well, I think the first thing is is that you have to understand what we have is the small town feels, so you don't want to sell it. You don't want to use it as a negotiating tool. w there's nothing wrong with having the small town feel and letting somebody come in here and do what they know how to do. I can go on and on on. Felker Brothers is another good one that has grown. They just came in and and they just grow for the needs. Amneel pharmaceuticals, know, they're The people that work there really like living in the small town. That is one of the one of the positive things that we have. It's a good place to raise a family. Look at our education systems, you know. Who wouldn't want to come with two excellent high schools and two excellent secondary education places within the city limits of Glasgow? Those are really good things that can't be taken away. You can put it underneath the category of small town or you can put it underneath the category of you know, trying to have a good place to raise your family. Either way, we don't want to lose those those benefits. Now, yes, you have to make sure that we have the infrastructure in place where we don't have incredible travel time problems and roadways that are just over overtaken with traffic. We have to make sure that we accommodate those types of things and that might be something that we have to look into pretty quickly. But right now, we're trying to pace it to where these places are gonna be that people can get there and get to and from work and to and from school and to and from things like daycare, things of that nature. Sure. Yeah. It's a big picture. I'm glad this somebody like yourself can help manage that 'cause that ain't me. Well you just have to look at it, you know, you you you have there's a l whole lot of common sense and you know, you look at the mistakes that people have made in all kinds of cities, sometimes common sense got on the back burner. And we have to talk about what makes sense for this to work. Yeah, one of my questions that kind of popped up while you were mentioning that is w how do public spaces and parks and and areas like the farmers market, the new farmers market we have, how does that connect to economic development? Well, you know, the farmers market, Glasgow is one of the largest agriculture counties in the state. It only made sense. Yes. It only made sense that our farmers market needed a place to call home. And that was started long before I came around I just felt like that the people who are involved in this with Sustainable Glasgow and with the bounty of the Barrens, it just it it was something that everybody wanted but it needed to be finished. And, you know, it attracts a whole lot of people. You go down there on Saturday mornings, you'll see tons of people you know and tons of people you've never seen before. And so the farmers market people, you know, enjoy that. It's a good place to come. It brings people to town for other reasons to go out to you know, and I think we'll continue to see the community grow in that direction is because if you go much like I told you coming down on Saturday to the square where there used to be plenty of parking places and now there's none, the same things happens when you go down West Main Street, you can see the Cowboys breakfast place is full. Yes. Full. The Habitat restore over there is full of people going on down to the thrift shops and you know consignment stores and all of those things in both directions. People are here because we are welcoming in whatever that we're doing. And that's hard. You you know, I would like to say, Well, here's the prescription to make that happen. I don't know what that is. Just sign your name. It has to be the good people. It has to be the people that love what they do and the people that know how to do it and and the the public if you're doing it right, the public will be appreciative. Yeah. I can tell you that. Yeah, what can you tell us right now? Again, another right now question. Okay, all right. If in five years from now, what would you love to be able to say I know Glasgow did right. Well I gu that's a hard question. Yeah. I didn't make that question up by the way. Okay. Studio twenty two. Well but I can tell ya, this is what I think. What we did right was we didn't get in a hurry. We did not we were patient in making sure that the businesses that were looking at us that we fix it to where they could thrive. We weren't in just some big hurry to check off of the list. We got one of these, we got one of these, we got one of these. It we were patient enough to make sure that it was a good fit, that we helped them find the very best place for them to be. And so I would say that in five years I hope that we can say that we did it right by making sure that everybody was welcome and everybody had a place to be that where they could have the potential to thrive. Nice, nice. So And I and I'll let me say this. Mm-hmm. I'm very proud of our health care. Because we are we have very good health health care providers here. we've got a number of of well we got hospitals and clinics and things of that nature. People are gonna continue to need access to affordable and quick health care. And hats off to everybody who's been involved in making sure that we have that covered because we've had other medical facilities invest money into our community and everybody's welcome. Yeah, that's I'm glad that you mentioned that actually because while you were talking about that, it it reminded me that I even though I live halfway between Glasgow and Bowling Green, I will many times choose to come to Glasgow for what I would say emergency care or just health care in general because There's never been a time when I've needed that type of care in Glasgow that I wasn't seen very quickly in comparison to going to Bowling Green. We've got people here who give us great service and are just so kind and everything. So I'm glad you mentioned that so I could point that out myself as well. Well, I mean I what you know, we have the the people in Glasgow are professionally trained as are the people in bowling green. Mm-hmm. And so the point is is that well, let me let me flip it around. Used to be you know, today, well I can go to Bowling Green and get better better care. Well, I don't think that that's automatically the true. It might be this time and it might be worse this time. But it's some people think well I'm going to a bigger city for better care and that is it's it's you know, that's not really the reason for it. I'm just glad that, you know Some of the specialists that we have here are as good of specialists. Some of the specialists that we have here from orthopedics and from urology and from pulmonology, some of those that we have available here on the side, I don't care what facility you go to, but the the facilities that are here, they don't just have the, you know, run one and done and just run you through and ship you off somewhere. You can get quality care here and that If you're a parent or if you're a a child of an elderly patient or something like that, that means so much. So next to last question. Okay. Promise I'm not gonna keep you too much. Well, that's fine, that's fine. I got answers still. Finish this sentence. Okay. Glasgow is ready for blank. Glasgow is ready for the next challenge. All right. There is nothing that people have asked us if we could help make happen that we won't try to see if it can be done. Now, obviously there's a lot of things that we can't do. You know, Glasgow is ready for a NFL football franchise. No. It's just that doesn't work. Right. But It's not like that we would be you know, well, we're not gonna categorically say that we're too small for that because it might be, you know, I we have we have a municipal airport here. It's you know, it's it's it's a small not a small airport, but it's one that there's so many rules and regulations with when you talk about commercial airports and those kind of things. You have to have certain size and everything. And I'm really proud of of how that our airport serves the industries that are here. There's some big planes that fly in here for some of the industries, includ particularly the over in Horse Cave where you've got some pretty big industries over here. They come over here. We have met that need, but I feel like that at some point if somebody says, you know, we really would like to have a few things here from a standpoint of maybe some charter flights or something like that Wow, you know, that that maybe we could try to figure out how to make it happen. It would take money and we had you know, that's I guess that's what I'm saying is that we're not we're not afraid of that, but it's entirely possible that it just wouldn't make 'cause you you you can't do it and not at least break even on it. Right, right. Wow, that's interesting though, mentioning of charter flight. That's that's crazy. So final question. Okay. We call this show What's Up with Wind Electric from an electrical standpoint. So what's powering Glasgow's momentum right now? Well, I'll start off by telling you that we have two outstanding power providers. The Glasgow Electric Plant Board, which is T VA based, and Farmers Rail Electric, which is East Kentucky based, and both of them are wh whenever when we first started working on the what's called The Johnson farm. Both of our local power companies were in there saying, Yeah, we are both, we can both help you with this, we can get this done. And I can name you ten or fifteen other situations like that that both of our electrical providers are ready to step in and make a difference. Now you would think, well that's just part of run of the mill, but who knows where all this data center stuff is gonna go? I'm not gonna predict it because I the city of Glasgow is not involved in it and there's a whole lot of unknowns as far as what the electrical requirements would be and those kind of things. But I can tell you that the the the providers are on the side of progress. And I f I find for powering Glasgow that is really a good thing to have on our side. Well and I think along with a lot of the things that you've mentioned in the last two episodes, you want progress, but not just for the sake of progress. You're saying you said time and time again that you gotta be mindful. You don't want to grow too fast. Right. You know, you you gotta you gotta make sure that the companies that are coming in, you know, it's sustainable for them. So so many things that I'm just like it just it makes it feel comfortable. For lack of a better term, the way that you you know, you look at approaching this the whole endeavor of growth in Glasgow. So for me, I appreciate what you're doing and how supportive you've been to all these companies. You know, I've got family that, you know, have local companies and and you've been a a big supporter of them. So for me, I appreciate the way you've handled everything in your tenure as as mayor. Thank you. And and we're we can't be everything to everybody. No. But we're not gonna turn a deaf ear to anybody. We're gonna we have good committees, we have good you know, staff that can help vet through these different challenges that we have, because we have to be open minded. You know, you can get comfortable with the way you are and you know what happens? Mm-hmm. It goes down. Sure. And we probably saw some of that around here. I can't blame it on anybody, but I know that the way to get it back up and running is to get everybody on the right side of progress. Well we all know you can't make everybody happy too. So there's always gonna be some people unhappy. But you know what? I'm unhappy about once or twice a day myself. Well you know, the the thing is if if if people are unhappy, and and I do have one of the signs on my office door needs to be complaints. Right. Because I do have a lot of people that come and there's something they don't like, something we'll complain about, and I am so tickled to sit down with them Because very few times can I fix what they're complaining about, but most of the time they're happy to just be heard. Right. Sure. Because I can hear what the problem is and we've had we have lots and lots of things regarding rights of ways and how people maintain property, those kind of things. I just need to hear it and see if we're doing every can everything that we can. Right. And I I like that. And I know people appreciate the ability to be heard like you said. Well, Mr. Royce, sir, I appreciate you coming on with us, especially extending to a second episode. I know I kinda sprung that all right on you, but guys, that's just such wonderful conversation with Mr. Royce here. And again I want to take a say yet again, thank you so much for coming on with us. And if I'm sure if anyone has any questions for him, as he's mentioned, he'd love to hear about you know, hopefully not too many complaints, but if you do have some, he he wants to hear Sometimes you don't really realize that there's a a complaint can actually be a discombobulated misunderstanding. Or it can turn into a positive as well. That's right, that's right. So and thanks to everything that Wyn Electric is doing here to pro for the providers who are trying to build onto this community. I appreciate you saying that. Guys, thanks for joining us for another episode of What's Up for Win L with Wynn Electric, not for Wynn Electric, it's with Win Electric. with. So thank you for joining us for another episode and we hope you come listen to us again. Thank you.