Good Luck
Bill

From: Bill McCusker
Sent: Wednesday, August 5, 2020 12:04 PM
To: letters@tallahassee.com
Subject: RE: South and west sides of county need good jobs, affordable homes | Opinion

RE: South and west sides of county need good jobs, affordable homes | Opinion

I moved from Ohio to Tallahassee in 1982 to start up a manufacturing plant in the commonwealth park for Robbins and Myers which assembled Hunter Ceiling Fans and the sub fractional motors for the IBM electric typewriters. As the Plant/Manufacturing Engineer my job initially was to set up the assembly lines, get machines installed, supervise the maintenance crew, set up outside contracts for waste removal, security, grounds care..etc. Once we began operating I was responsible for HVAC, in house electric, compressed air, general cleaning, operator safety and fire. The plant was new and about 64,000 SF of air conditioned space which included three assembly lines, a paint room, a maintenance shop, parts cage, molten infusing room and warehousing plus, flammable paint room, loading dock and another 4,000 SF of office space.
Within a few months of opening the plant employed about 120 salaried and hourly wage workers. Many of the workers newly hired relocated from factory work in Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. This is where the heavy machine operators came from. Our HR folks worked with Lively to get assembly line work applicants into classes in basic math so they could understand measurement and quality controls. Within a few months the plant was up and operating. The folks from the city of Tallahassee were very accommodating. As I recall there were a few issues personnel wise; there were a few people who could not adjust to factory work which entailed punching a clock at a set time, being on their feet constantly and getting breaks only when the assembly line shut down for specified times. Those who failed to show up for work or left without permission were let go. One small group left to go hunting for a week or more and were fired. Locally difficulties were encountered finding quality industrial electrical, plumbing and duct work construction contractors.
Local mill supply houses had few lines of industrial equipment necessary to sustain a manufacturing facility and little or no interest in accommodating our needs. On one occasion I remember ordering a box of Hex Head Cap screws for an assembly line which had stopped because of the shortage from ?Lonnie or Zonys on Gaines street. . I asked the supplier to send it over asap but was told the delivery person had gone fishing and was not expected to return for days. Reminding the supplier that our plant was spending thousands with them monthly I was told “we were here before you came and we will be here after you leave”.
Such a response was never heard back in Ohio where the Robbins and Myers Company was located. Surely things are much better today than they were in the 1980’s but the fear of Unions prevalent then may exist today as well and must be overcome.
Bringing Manufacturing jobs to the Southside of Tallahassee is a complex proposition. Experience indicates manufacturing companies Human Resource people will hire those most qualified which means trained/educated and without any indicators of potential problems. As I recall most of the assembly line workers hired by Robbins and Myers were white women local and from out of State. Despite the hourly wage which was good for the time and place they were encouraged by the benefit/health care package.
R&M is a very old manufacturing company from Springfield Ohio which is a heavy industrial town and was on the Erie Canal. It is from the town where international harvester was founded in 1902 and very much unionized.
I would recommend gathering up the managers and H/R folks from the list of existing manufacturing companies in Tallahassee and perhaps surrounding towns and beginning a discussion about the potential for such a project. Remember if your target is southside there may be a heavy need to engage churches, community groups and local educators to get their commitment and buy in. Perhaps a ½ day or full day session using the Nominal Group Technique to gain consensus and buy in would be a start. At some point funding sources from city/county will be required. If there is a group willing to go this route I would be pleased to assist in any way I can.
You might think of it this way- Tallahassee is a Government paper mill surrounded by Agriculture, viticulture with few requirements for industrial or manufacturing skill sets such a lathe operator, master machinist, tool and die expert…etc. All of which take years of training and experience and require high salaries currently common at only the management levels of State Divisions. My younger brother as a mechanic earned over $140,000 with overtime during his last year with industry up north.

Bill McCusker
Retired

Because the ideology matters jerky boy.

Agree with Hope…

He’s listed here as a Democrat: http://www.leondems.com/2020-candidates/

I read on Scott Flowers campaign website that all BOCC running in Leon County are Democrat.

Is this the “governance” that can be expected? $30 Million Obama dollars with no results.

Use duck duck go [its hard to find on google]. http://flvoters.com/index
There you will see Jeff, yourself, and everyone else you want to know about.
Jeff’s registered as no party affiliation.

He seems like a nice man and well-educated, but is he the Corruption-Dysfunction Junction’s succession plan?

Ziffer facilitated corruption that resulted into a large FBI investigation. Ziffer did nothing about the Dispatch Center, did nothing about the crime rate, could be under FBI investigation himself… are you kidding me!?