Latest / Watts Up with Bowling Green Winlectric / Before the Ribbon Cutting: How Glasgow Grows
Transcript
- Savannah Gillispie: Hey, what's up with Winlectric fans? We got an exciting episode today because we are actually joined by the one and only Henry Royse Glasgow Mayor. Thank you for inviting me to be on here today for sure, because I think this is a neat idea. appreciate that, Miss Royse if you don't mind, first off, to tell our listeners a little bit about yourself, maybe Some of the work you've done in the past, and also what made you want to become a mayor. Well, Sean, I graduated from Glasgow High School in nineteen and seventy-five. It was the most wonderful education you could ever have wanted, made lifelong friends, got to see the high school excel in athletics, in academics, and it was a wonderful place to call home. As I went to Western and graduated And I got in my career of broadcasting I I saw how much a well done radio station can make a difference in a community and how important that it is that the radio station becomes a part of the community. And that's what I really like about what's happening right here in this studio where we're sitting. there's a whole lot of community involvement, a whole lot of plugging in the the community needs that. You know, it's we d we don't have we don't need jukeboxes anymore. We need people that will do programs like what you're doing to get people familiar with the community. well that's that's awesome. I appreciate you talking so kindly about what we're doing here. not sure it's necessarily warranted, we'll see, but but appreciate that. So what what made you initially wanted to to to get into politics and again run for mayor? Well, the thing is, like I told you, I grew up here and it had provided me with a wonderful place to get education. It provided me with a wonderful place to build my career and it also provided me with a way to raise my children in a quality education. I was at the point I needed to give back. I needed to pay it forward. And I w was making some observations that not everything that was going on in this community was was leading up to positivity. But you know, when my parents were raising their their kids, my brothers, they were involved in raising money to build a high school, those kind of things. They had a lot of love for this community. But as time progressed, we kind of got out of that, but we were gonna be in need for things like that. So I felt like if I could get in the chair and just lead people to move forward. then maybe I can give back because I owed it because of what it had provided me. Wow, that's I feel like sometimes and you know, it'd be nice if I was completely wrong on this, but I feel like sometimes people get into politics for almost like self reason reasons for themselves. So it's so awesome to to know that we have people in leadership roles here that, you know, are are are doing it for what you would call quote the right reasons. So I appreciate that That that that's the reason you're doing that. Thank you. So one of the reasons that the main reason I think you know we wanted to have you on to talk about today is the growth of Glasgow. Yes. a little bit about what that might entail. one of the things that people see pop up on on social media is ribbon cuttings at these places. That's the nice little bow on the top, but obviously that's the culmination of a long time effort put in people such as yourself to get those companies to come here. Can you tell us a little bit about what goes into that? Because I'm sure especially for me, I'm really ignorant of that. I don't know what all it takes to get companies to come. Most of well, let me back up a second. Let's talk about the ribbon cuttings. Most of the ribbon cuttings come through Baron Inc., which is the partially the Chamber of Commerce and of course the economic development. Now what I'm so tickled is that Baron Inc. has driven home the importance of welcoming new businesses and our attendance at ribbon cuttings has become astronomical. People want to be involved in the latest, the newest thing that's coming along and they'll make time to be there. And it's amazing how many people come to that. But with that being said, with respect to the ribbon cuttings, let's talk about a business coming to Glasgow. Let's talk about downtown Glasgow. It's a beautiful view from up here on the fourth floor of this building. You can look at the Glasgow Square and you can look at a lot of things, but what you see, what people sometimes don't see is that it takes the effort of the merchants willing to put some investment into their place they're gonna call their business. People have spent money redoing the front of their buildings. They have spent money rearranging, you know, we've got the Airbnbs over here that the Wagner family did. Simple life properties. They took it from say said, you know, we're not gonna halfway do this and they did it right. You know, they now have bought the I guess it's okay to say this. They bought that building over there. It used to be the standard farm store at the corner of West Main Street and North Liberty Street. So that's you know, look at look at look at some of the other things and they're not they're doing it to invest in the community. They're not trying to you know, win the trophy for downtown beautification because they don't halfway do anything. I'm so excited about that and there are many other businesses here do that. So I would say first and foremost, the people who come downtown and and and buy a business or start a business in Glasgow are certainly people who understand the way to make it work is to come in here with the right attitude And put some time and effort and money into it because the community will respond. Yes, sir. Look at the hive, look at the creamery. Yes. Look at you know, all these other places of the Chief's comics over there. I see. listen, and that's a that's a that's a bunch of neat people there for sure. So what we have is we've got a place where people like to come. I remember not too many years ago coming downtown on a Saturday morning Glasgow, maybe two or three cars in a parking space. Come down this Saturday. There's nowhere to park. And that's not a bad thing. No, it's an amazing thing. It's a good thing because people are coming here. Some people like to come and have a cup of coffee or have breakfast down at George J's or they just want to come to some of the other retail outlets. There is no way to fake that. There's gotta be a reason for people to come. There's gotta be people who want to start Saturday morning off by going down to off the square. And that only happens by the people who put the money and the time and the effort and the investment into that. Wow. Yeah, and that's that's a good point is you know, I was asking from a almost like a planning and zoning type standpoint. Yeah. Where you're saying that won't matter if there's not someone willing to invest in their company. in the area. Well, I mean, you you're exactly right, but of course that's the you gotta have it from within. Yes, you have to go to planning and zoning, but that's you're not looking for you just have to make sure that what you do is in is is zoned for what you're planning on doing. If it's bed and breakfast or if it's you know retail or if it's you know restaurant, there are planning and zoning rules that that that has to go by. And we've had we have a A wonderful joint city county planning and zoning commission. Yes. Kevin Myat and also Tom Kendall and of course Jim Griffin who is our local build inspector. Yes. They are people who are pulling for this community to grow and they're not difficult to deal with whatsoever. So that's where you you gotta make sure you follow those rules. At the same time city of Glasgow we have you have to have a business license. and we have right at the back on the first floor of City Hall, we have the business license division where Nick Hurt and Debbie Bow, you come in there, you wanna start a business, they'll help you figure out how to get the license. If it is something that you want to try to get a license to say serve alcohol, it all has to come through Nick. It's all very you know, there's there's things that you have to do. Sure. But we are I wanna say it this way. Those departments are not to be inhibitive. We're not trying to stop you from doing this. We just wanna make sure you follow the rules when you go. Because like I said, you gotta wanna do it. Yeah. And that's the biggest challenge. Well and sometimes people do need the help with that, like you mentioned, so it's good that those people are are willing to help. Some people don't know. There's no real there's no real good I haven't seen a good primer where I'm gonna log in here and see exactly how to do all this. Yeah. It's better if you let Nick tell you or Debbie tell you or Jim Griffin tell That's what they live every day. Right, that's right. And and and they don't I I won't say this, I'm proud of this. They are not bending the rules for anybody. Nobody's gonna get preferential treatment. Nobody's going to you know, in other words, slip by with something everybody's gotta comply with the same rules. Yes. And that is really the way it's supposed to be. Yeah, yeah. That's I know I've worked with several customers and projects a around the square itself and in Glasgow in general. And yeah, some of those people, like you mentioned, the example, Simple Life properties, they had to follow the same rules. Doesn't matter that they've built four or five things here and you know, rehab this, they still gotta follow the same rules. So Yeah, and and the thing is you you attract good people. Y you know, Beth and Mike Wagner are not gonna halfway do anything. Those are the kind of people you want building Right. You're downtown. And it's the same way with all of the other and I don't I don't I don't want to leave anybody out because every single stop around the square is somebody that's doing something right, trying to get things going in a positive direction and you know, we i we're in a good spot. I d I don't know who to give that credit to, but we're in a good sp everybody's on the same team. We have the same goal line that we're driving toward. Well, I would say my opinion, you take it for what it's worth. much but my opinion is I would say a lot of that praise would go to to to you and your staff in general. and 'cause I know that some of the I will say more corporate companies coming to Glasgow. We've we've seen a number of big companies that are now coming to Glasgow. Now how does that happen? Because that's not like just somebody your neighbor next door that wants to start a small business. I mean there's a lot of conversation I'm sure that happens you know, behind the scenes that have to happen and then go through a bunch of different stages in the government. So could you tell us a little bit about what you and your staff do to try to attract said customers? Well there's several different ways that that happens. W one of the ones that I like to think about is the traffic count. You know, we have if you think about Glasgow, you think about the Outer Loop and you think about people coming from Medcal County on their way to WKU Glasgow. Sure. And then as soon as it'll be to Sky C T C. That roadway out there, the traffic count is huge. So corporate customers looking for traffic counts and things of that nature, they see those things. And we're starting to see more and more development out there where a lot of this traffic count is. You know, there's been even where the cinema is, there hasn't been a lot developed on on past the cinema, but the traffic count is used there, there's lot of people interested in that. Come on over toward where that they are well like where right implement is and then of course right through that intersection is where Sky C T C is gonna be and of course we have the wonderful Tate folks right over there. Big growth in Tate. Right. That area is gonna that area is starting to take off. I want us to be sure that we pace ourselves so that we don't build a difficult place to get through. But everybody that's doing that is putting the money into developing the growth plans and of course we really are looking forward to that. Over on twelve ninety seven, a more residential area, we have of course our Johnson farm that we are looking for developers who want to have developments of really nice homes and nice neighborhoods and nice places to live within a a a a slingshot of Red Cross Elementary within a slingshot of the soccer complex, right out back of Tate, right out back of Sky C T C. We see a lot of potential there. We're not in a hurry. We're not rushing. We want it to go you know correctly. And sometimes that's why we have planning and zoning commissions and things like that. Because some people get in too big of a hurry and we need to make sure that we we don't have to take anything back once we get going. Yeah, I can't imagine how hard that would be to try to decide is something growing too fast or growing beyond our current means. So I know that's gotta gotta be a challenge in of itself. What would you say right now that in your mind would be the number one biggest opportunity for growth in Glasgow? The biggest opportunity for growth? Well I am really excited to see how Sky C T C takes off because you know, they're a wonderful organization and of course they are really going to increase the number of nurses and we badly need the nurses. I know from my involvement with the hospital, good nurses are valuable citizens. And Sky C T C is going to meet that need. They're also gonna do a lot of other things, helping people plan for specific businesses, ventures, what's the word I'm looking for? Yeah, trades. That's right. That's a good word, trades. because I when I was in high school we had trade schools. Yeah. You know? And but that's what it is, where we can help people specifically plan for some of those things. I know Barron County has the ATC that They do a good job with that too. We have a lot you know, it's not a one entity adventure here. There's a lot of people contributing toward like I say, the same goal line. And I I I really think that's that's not something that we've I I know that we have been through times in the past where nothing was going all that good, you know, and there's no way to necessarily turn it around instantaneously. But you just gotta keep plugging away. It's not gonna happen overnight. Well, and I think, you know, my opinion on the the trade thing is, you know, it's one thing trade school and high school, kids don't know what they want to do. That's right. C Sky C T C now that's when you're in adulthood and you know you you're starting to know what you wanna do and they're gonna be there. I mean, and we're at a massive sort shortage from the industry that I'm in. I'm a little bit more aware maybe than somebody else, but we're a massive shortage for trades in our area. Yes, and that and that's and I've really seen I've really been impressed with the the upper level folks at Sky C T C They wanna know. They're not wanting to just run a school that doesn't help anybody become better employed. They want to know what they can do. And I I find that to be very encouraging. Yeah, and they'll adjust I know from the the Bowling Green campus, they'll adjust their classes based on, you know, what's out there and they'll try to, you know, help people understand maybe the best direction to go. If you're thinking, well, I want to be a May I don't I don't know if I want to be a plumber, an electrician or an H H VAC tech, you know. They'll help based on what they know the need is out there. So that's a really valuable thing and I'm so glad this worked out where they could build this new campus and give people more and more opportunities. You know, sometimes you can't if it's not available, you can't really even consider it. Right. And this opens up a lot of things. Yeah. Well, Mr. Royse, I think This kind of a little bit of good stopping point for us right now. you were so nice to come on with us today. We really appreciate that. And more importantly, nice enough to have a second episode with us because I've still got things I wanna ask. I'm really enjoying it, so keep going. Okay. Well, guys, thank you for joining us for this episode of Watts Up with Winlectric. hope you learned a little bit about Mr. Royse here and because the choice is Royse and also you know, just knowing what's happening in the community and Glasgow growing and what it takes to make that happen. So join us next time for episode two with Mr. Henry Royse, Glasgow Mayor.