Buttermilk & Molasses

The Floricane Business Blog Is Live

Operating under the notion that you really can't have too many weblogs -- especially if you're starting a new business and raising a baby -- I've launched a new business blog at my Floricane business website.

Interested in how I'm spending the portions of my day that aren't consumed by Twitter (follow me -- @sarvay) or the other weblogs (Buttermilk & Molasses and Garden of Words)? Drop on by at the Floricane blog.

Here are a few of the recent posts at Floricane:

• "Going Back To High School" - A brief look at a community conversation I helped to facilitate at Collegiate School.

• "The First 10,000 Hours" - A short take on the first section of Malcolm Gladwell's new book, "Outliers."

• "What If Our Bottom Line Was People?" - A look back at a recent initiative with the Greater Richmond Chamber to support recently unemployed workers in the area.

• "Welcome to Our Newest Client - The James House" - An introduction to a nonprofit in the Tri-Cities area that helps address the problems of domestic violence and sexual assault.

• "16 Steps in the Business Launch Process" - A friend recently asked how I started my own business. I sent her a 16 point list that sort of sums it all up.

RTD Hosts Political Yard Sale

I could turn this post into some quasi-intelligent screed about newspapers continuing to scramble for revenue from an old model, or gnash my teeth because it never occurred to me to charge $1 a week to read Buttermilk & Molasses (back when I was posting 23 times a day). And I may well get back to both of those points momentarily.

No, what stunned me about the latest offer from the Times-Dispatch -- more specifically, from an old colleague on the editorial staff -- is just how terribly they screened me for my obvious liberal leanings before inviting me to shell out cash for a weekly political email whose inaugural dispatch leads with a quote from lead Republican weasel Eric "He Whose Middle Name Shall Not Be Mentioned" Cantor. (What is his middle name, anyway?)

For a well-pressed buck a week, the TD will give me a slice of what passes for conservative editorial life in the form of "Political Dispatches," and toss in a printed copy of Saturday's exclusive Insights section -- which is chockablock with all the national and international news I didn't manage to read on the Internet during the week. Even if I didn't have diapers to change, I'd struggle to find the time...

Politics aside, a few interesting notions about this new TD venture.

It's an easy profit center, for starters. The paper has a massive printing operation in search of meaning in Hanover County, and word on the street is that a few thousand subscriptions to the Insights section is a break even proposition for the paper. And detailed subscriber information means the TD can land special sections on any doorstep in the region that hands them a buck.

It's also good to see the TD starting to use technology as a delivery vehicle for their information, and on recognizing that editorials and opinions might well be the cheapest copy in town. I'm sure a lot of people over 50 will jump at the opportunity to get a Virginia-eye view on the resurgence of the Republican monolith. Of course, the reality is that the online newsletter format squeezes extra words from salaried positions at no extra cost.

I've never been among the "TD Must Die" crowd, or convinced that the city's daily paper was engaged in some news conspiracy to deny the Richmond region all the news that is fit to print. I have too many friends and former colleagues working downtown who push boulders up hills every day in an effort to commit good journalism -- fighting a wretchedly outdated business model every step of the way.

I'd love to see the TD -- and its Media General web vehicle, Richmond.com -- figure out ways to not only thrive, but to redefine itself in the community. If my invitation to join the Republican Readers of Virginia represents another handful of spaghetti, I suppose I can be candid enough to simultaneously scoff at how far wide of the mark it hit with me and to encourage the paper to keep trying.

Four Ways for Jones To Build Richmond's Future

Timing, a booming national economy and pent-up demand did wonders for Richmond's economic development over the past decade, and downtown development went gangbusters in the process. As the development slowdown begins to hit Richmond, there are at least four ways that Mayor Dwight Jones can lead the city (and the Richmond region) to a new level of growth, prosperity and innovation.

The first path has been greatly illuminated in recent years by the Richmond Times-Dispatch's David Ress and Eva Russo as they have covered conditions at Richmond's distressingly overcrowded jail. Ress reported today that Mayor Jones is making relief at the jail -- in the form of renovation or new construction -- a priority for his administration.

While a regional jail is the best -- and the right -- solution to the problem of 1,600 inmates housed in a facility that was built 40 years ago to hold 800 or so prisoners, Jones is not waiting for a regional solution to begin addressing one of the more disappointing failures of Richmond's government in recent years:

...on Thursday, Mayor Dwight C. Jones proposed to spend $2.25 million next year and $138.4 million over five years to build a new jail at the site of the current facility on Oliver Hill Way in the East End.

The plan would be a combination of renovating the existing jail and adding new floors for facilities above the current wings.

Christopher Beschler, acting chief administrative officer, said the city hopes to have the work done by 2013. The improvements would mean more facilities for drug treatment, electronic monitoring and mental-health treatment for the hundreds of nonviolent offenders now jamming the four-decade-old facility, he said.

There's slightly less interest now from other localities in a regional jail, for which the state would pick up half the cost, but the city is still exploring that option as well as partnership with a private firm. It will most likely be one or the other approach, though, that gets a new jail built, Woody said.

Getting a new regional jail -- one that offers reasonable conditions for inmates; good medical care; access to social services and the court systems -- built should be a primary focus for the Jones administration over the next four years.

Three other areas where Jones could make a real impact include:

• Transforming Public Housing: Working to ensure that the people leading the Richmond Redevelopment Housing Authority to reconstruct the city's antiquidated, dead-end housing projects as more socially viable developments bend over backwards to help current residents transition to new housing -- in the revamped developments, or somewhere else. Affordable housing is an issue Richmond can no longer ignore, and the city should be actively leading the rest of the region in innovative solutions.

• The Ball Field and the Boulevard: Most people know that I don't have a lot of passion one way or another for baseball, but I am passionate about the city ensuring that future development initiatives are predicated on -- and financed against -- a future that is grounded in present-day reality. Wherever the new ball field goes, and whatever development surrounds it (and the current ballpark), Mayor Jones has an opportunity to get his hands around this project, vet it honestly and work closely to ensure that we are investing tax dollars and city land toward a future that aligns with the needs of our residents.

• Green Innovation: As the city moves to rebuild, replace and enhance its infrastructure -- from its housing stock to its roads and bridges to its sewer and water lines -- Jones should partner aggressively with the private sector to not only incorporate green technology into all of this work, but should push his administration to actively promote environmental technology across the region. Hello, replacement for the tax abatement program for historical renovation -- tax abatement for future innovation.

There are, really, dozens of other ways for Jones to make his mark -- education among them -- but I'm reassured that one of his first big moves was on the jail issue. It'll be nice to see a mayor who gets things done the old-fashioned way -- with a plan.

Hanover to GRTC: Good Luck! No, Really.

News that GRTC is launching an express bus from Ashland to downtown Richmond is another small ray of light for a region that tends to take twice as many steps backward as forward. Perhaps the times, they are a'changing.

You wouldn't know that from the official statement from the fine folks in Hanover County:

Hanover isn't involved in the service, but county spokesman Tom Harris said the county will monitor the program's progress.

"I guess we'll be watching from afar to see how successful it is," Harris said. "We're curious about it."

Is it me, or do we have some of the most passive, wait-and-see officials leading the Richmond region?

A slightly better response would have been, "Wow! We had no idea they were doing this, but we'll do all we can to make it a success." And a really great response would have been, "We're very glad we've been able to work closely with GRTC and the City of Richmond to make this service a win-win for everyone."

Jon's PR 1.5 Tips Hat, Faces Forward

Over the four months since I started my new business, I've had plenty of occasion to hang out with the hep cats at The Hodges Partnership -- principals Josh Dare and Jon Newman, as well as several of their compatriots, including Steve Cummings and Julia Webster. Between a joint project we're collaborating on and Jon's incessant Twitter updates (a good thing), I feel like a neighbor.

Thanks to Jon's blog, I can now feel like a nosy neighbor -- peering into the future with The Hodges Partnership. Earlier today, Jon posted about his PR firm's efforts to peer into the future, and carve some new spaces -- physical and virtual -- for the business. It's a daunting economic environment -- to launch a business or to grow one.

This year, things are feeling a bit different, and that annual risk taking moment is a very different one, one I think that will change our business in many potentially exciting and scary ways.

First, is this expansion of traditional public relations into the social marketing realm.  While this is leading to many great opportunities for us, there is no guarantee that this trend will continue or that we will figure out its magic formula, although initial returns look promising.

Second, rumor has it that the economy is not exactly solid, although business for us has been good and the forecast is promising.  We are always big believers in never taking the foot off the new business pedal and that has served us well. 

Third, we have maxed out in our first floor space and while we can expand to the second floor, this will trigger a major commitment financially, some immediate investments and some over time.  The payoff will be great but the road getting there more than bumpy.

Finally, we may decide that one hire is not enough.  This may be the time to take the quantum leap.  I have talked about content fueling the social marketing engine and we will need at least one content provider and equipment to create the content.  We also need some account management support at both senior and junior levels.  This will have an additional cultural impact in the business that we're not taking lightly.

Marching Band Shut Down by the Man

Not too many weeks ago, a friend of mine was talking about starting a marching band -- and had even gone so far as to look for suitable outfits. Well, unless he was at Chimborazo Park earlier today, he can cool his jets.

Yes, Richmond has its very own marching band -- and they had their first practice today. The folks at RVAJazz blogged about it and included plenty of photos, including one of the Richmond Police Department shutting the practice session down a bit earlier than expected:

With the gradual arrival of the various brass and woodwind players, the sections combined and we put the pieces together. Our main focuses were our Fight Song, and Brian Jones' Pinchback (from his Wurlitzer Trio's album Drug Piano). Although the Fight Song begins with a quirky marching band flair and uptempo peppiness, it abruptly turns on its head into a fat groove, slow and immediately hip. Pinchback takes Randall Pharr's bass from the album into the low brass section and Daniel Clarke's dark Wurlitzer melody into the assortment of trombones, saxophones, and fluegelhorns. The bridge of the tune builds with huge chords while the percussion section grows with vigor, transitioning back into the main theme.

Two police officers casually strutted over to our rehearsal in the middle of the park. Like any appropriately-sized marching band, we were very loud. We were apparently too loud for the residents living next to the park. To paraphrase one of the cops, "They won't call us about people doing drugs in the park, but they'll call about things like this." Permits to rehearse in Monroe Park should prevent that from happening at future rehearsals. The Monument Avenue 10K yesterday kept us from rehearsing there today, so Chimborazo was the temporary park to rehearse in. The cops were considerate enough to give us 15 minutes to wrap up our rehearsal.

There's a July 4 march planned, so if you've got a hankering to pull out your high hat and trombone, go for it. There's a Facebook group calling your name.

All of Richmond Is a'Twitter

The fine folks at Richmond Good Life -- the same folks who brought you the essential blow-by-blow coverage of Richmond's last mayoral race and who have seemingly fallen head-over-heels for The Checkout Girl -- have created another essential Richmond resource. Yes, they've gathered together a running list of the 6,438 Richmonders who you ought to be following on Twitter.

For the record, I'm loitering at Twitter during the daytime hours.

The Great Unraveling: Greider Asks if Obama's Lost His Way

William Greider never really went away, but I find that I read his great political and economic screeds much more frequently when he was writing for Rolling Stone than I do now that he has landed at The Nation. Blame it on my slacker socialization -- music always trumps politics. I only supported Greenpeace in the 1980s because Michael Stipe said I should.

At any rate, Greider showed up in the pages of the Washington Post this morning and -- as usual ("usual" meaning "just like when he was writing about Bill Clinton's nascent campaign for the presidency") -- he makes some astute observations.

How things have changed since Election Day. It takes a Bill Greider to remind us of the very thing Barack Obama used to coast his way to a historic victory.

Something fundamental has been altered in American politics. Encouraged by Obama's message of hope, agitated by darkening economic prospects, many people have thrown off sullen passivity and are trying to reclaim their role as citizens. This disturbs the routines of Washington but has great potential for restoring a functioning democracy. Timely intervention by the people could save the country from some truly bad ideas now circulating in Washington and on Wall Street. Ideas that could lead to the creation of a corporate state, legitimized by government and financed by everyone else. Once people understand the concept, expect a lot more outrage.

Obama rode the change train into office. It's less clear today whether he knows how to maintain a firm grip on the reins of that change as it shifts from hope for the future to a whole lotta angst and frustration and outrage.

And while it's become quite the fashion in the media business to label the outrage as "populist anger," it's hardly reached the game-changing fervor required of populism. In fact, outside of the anger at AIG executives, it's hardly clear that the American public genuinely gets the magnitude of the economic jiu-jitsu match we're in the throes of.

The magnitude is made all the more pronounced by the massive trust gap that sits squarely between the government of the United States and its people. Obama won the White House because he sat on the people's side of the gap. It's not entirely unfair to begin asking whose side he's really on, and Greider essentially does ask that very question:

A new regulatory regime that puts the secretive central bank in charge of everything would sanctify the policy of "too big to fail" that Fed officials have long followed but never honestly acknowledged. It would also revive the Wall Street club, albeit smaller than before, with which the Fed has been so cozy. If the largest bank holding companies are given privileged proximity to the source of government protection, then everyone in finance and commerce will want to become a bank holding company, too. We are already seeing this happening as former investment houses like Goldman Sachs and non-bank financial firms decide to join the system. Why not General Electric and Microsoft? Where does this end? What does it mean for smaller enterprises that lack the scale and influence?

Whatever the intentions, this "reform" would effectively legitimize the existence of a corporate state. This concentrated power would be neither socialism nor capitalism, but a grotesque hybrid that combines the worst qualities of both systems. Government and politics would become even more responsive to big money, but also able to tamper intimately with private enterprise, picking winners and losers based on political loyalties, not on performance. Capitalism with its inherent tendency toward monopoly would have the means to monopolize democracy.

Barack Obama can resist all this, if he chooses, but he seems conflicted. Obama's approach so far is devoted to restoring Wall Street's famous names, and his economic advisers tell him this is the "responsible" imperative, no matter that it might offend the unwashed public. Obama evidently agrees. He does not seem to grasp that the tone-deaf technocrats are leading him into a dead-end.

The president needs to hear a second opinion -- millions of them.

People are angry, but they want this president to succeed. Mobilized citizens can help him to prevail. If he goes with the other side, they will bring him down.

The Great Unraveling: Bottled Water and Ammo

Most liberal economists are covering their eyes this week as Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner unveils a federal plan for the government to buy up risky, distressed and overvalued assets, and most conservatives are apoplectic about President Obama's $3+ trillion budget and six eons of rising deficits. (Funny how they weren't so concerned about Reagan's deficits, or George W. Bush's.) Most of the political and economic weblogs I peruse see the Geithner Plan as a disaster in the making.

But it is Brad DeLong who wins the prize for summing the Geithner Plan up so succinctly as part of his more extended Q&A on the subject:

Q: What if markets never recover, the assets are not fundamentally undervalued, and even when held to maturity the government doesn't make back its money?

A: Then we have worse things to worry about than government losses on TARP-program money--for we are then in a world in which the only things that have value are bottled water, sewing needles, and ammunition.

Because I'm sometimes swayed by the more apocolyptic ruminations of military future thinker John Robb (who is convinced we're headed for a complete global meltdown -- economically, politically and socially), I like DeLong's short list of post-meltdown essentials.

Read all of DeLong's slightly optimistic view of the Geithner Plan here.

UR Downtown: The Gassman Mural

The single best thing about the new UR Downtown space may well be a mural by Hans E. Gassman titled "The Circulation of Money." It was commissioned when the building was constructed as a bank in the 1950s, and UR did a great job of restoring it. Here's some of the text posted about the work:

Hans-Erich Gassman (German, 1907-1965) was born in Berlin, Germany, and he received his education at the Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin... It was Gassman's reputation as a conservator of paintings that brought him to New York in 1947 and to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in 1948.

The mural to the right, created by Gassman employing a rarely-used technique, represents the circulation of money featuring recognizable themes from Virginia and Richmond. A sixteenth-century technique begun in Italy, sgraffito is a process of layering various colored coats of plaster and then cutting and scratching through to the desired color.