Best Places to Start a Business in Illinois - NerdWallet
Is this a good political campaign issue?
Seems the only thing we have going for us is "affordable housing" and businesses that pay their employees. Have we acquired any new businesses as a result of this top notch status?.
Please give us the new businesses that started up in Peru as a result of this. We have Harbor Freight and Cricket but don't know if they included retail in their assessment.
Did any of you read the recent Illinois Policy article about border cities in Illinois losing population to adjacent states due to lower taxes = lower cost of living. I do remember our former Superintendent of the Electric Dept. making the decision to do that.
Just a reminder I am not posting any rah rahs about candidates. Also there was an article in the Peru Pride that some people found offensive and sorry I can't put that online either, just common decency on that as he is no longer holding office and I would not have enough space to include all the former Peru politicians that also did the similar things.
19 comments:
It's very hard to discount the amount of retail business that Peru has. They have done a very good job of providing a retail base that the whole community enjoys. Those involved on the city level continue to promote Peru's effective advantages. Many cities would promote the amount of retail and shopping, if they had what Peru has. It also forms a safety net in keeping property tax rates lower than other cities. Peru looks to have effective business people in both elected and hired staff. You may complain that those leaders have other faults but business and managing the bottom line has been consistently positive.
Look at the other cities on the list and the advantages they have with location. We are out here in the Illinois Valley and we do have a business minded climate. I've seen comments that all of the council and mayor and everyone is so clueless, and the people who make these comments have no idea how business gets done. This goes back to decades ago and what Mayor Baker started, but we have continued to build on it.
The poster said "Seems the only thing we have going for us is "affordable housing" and businesses that pay their employees. Have we acquired any new businesses as a result of this top notch status?"
Clearly that person does not understand that this is a reflection and rating of how well we have done and how good our business climate continues to be. Of course that person would have to turn it into a negative. Some people are just negative people.
We have MANY other things going for us, from the lower property taxes to long terms plans for infrastructure to excellent schools and of course a great location in terms of some businesses. It doesn't mean we can't do better, but there are few "downstate" communities that do not want half of what we have here and take for granted every day.
My favorite part about the current group running the city is they just quietly go about their business. Despite whatever flaws, they have figured it out.
When you start a business make sure you don't attract that large inflatable rat. He was at Peru Mall so they must have done something really bad to make him come over.
The bottom line is Peru's elected and appointed officials are most concerned with one thing and one thing only. Staying in power in order to promote themselves and to promote and enrich their connected friends and family with contracts and jobs. Another example of this behavior is going to unfold shortly after the upcoming election. Over the past couple years the city has been quietly arranging behind the scenes to acquire the old Marathon gas station costing taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees, engineering fees, remediation costs to remove fuel tanks, and many thousands of dollars in regulatory fees. Shortly after the election is past and the city is done spending our tax dollars on paying all costs involved with the Marathon remediation Peru's phony leaders will announce that low and behold there is an interested party that wishes to take the "burden" of the property off the city's hands. The insider deal that will unfolds will involve the city of Peru turning the property over to you guessed it the ultimate connected insider in Peru Bob Vickrey. Tht's right, the same Bob Vickrey who currently receives Peru taxpayer funded office space, all expenses paid for all travel, free office equipment, free cellular phones and internet service, and free clothing allowance. Vickrey wants the property and the city is going to make a gift of it to him. There will be no advertisement to see if anybody else would like a chance to bid on the property. Instead, there will be a quiet and unceremonious ordinance passed by the rubber-stamp phonies at a council meeting shortly after the election so that Harl can give away the property to his pal Vickrey without any risk of word leaking out before the election. Once again the fix is in for the Peru insiders and taxpayers are fitting the bill.
By the way. What are the details of the insider deal for the old Howard Johnsons. Do Janko and Pohar now own the property as I suspect? This looks like another insider deal folks. They have been very quiet about the details of this grand "development deal". That's an indication of another local insider working the system and getting some "special treatment" from Harl and his rubber-stampers.
There is a long list of new businesses to Peru listed on a page in the magazine sent to everyone.
7:43 Thanks....you back and were glad that your constant conspiracy line just keeps growing. Please get away from the model airplane glue.
The hotel is down and it has been stated that Peru did not pay anything to demolish a eyesore that would have cost taxpayers hundreds of thousand to take down!
The gas station has been a left for dead problem for many years. Peru is being responsible and getting rid of a potential environmental hazard. This is positive.
is this all you have? Your working the inside for your preferred Mayor candidate and your reaching to be critical of the old gas station and hotel? Wow! Give us something positive about your candidate. You got anything?
One thing I notice is when somebody points out a Peru insider sweetheart deal or questions how the Peru council is doing some big deal there is always someone quick to call it a "conspiracy theory". They never really deny the deal is real or that it will not happen. they just say it's all a conspiracy. More times than not I have seen these "conspiracies" play out as described on this blog. Who are these people always cruising this blog ready to make excuses for Peru's corruption and cast doubt when a scam is exposed?
Same old crap from the same two people. The person running the blog and 7:43 are the only whiners left. Everything is a conspiracy. Whatever Peru does is terrible. I will never understand why you continue to live in the town you despise. 7:43 They made a deal to demolish the crap buildings (long overdue I might add) at no cost to the taxpayers. So long as that is the case, I hope someone makes a pile of money. That's good for business particularly when it does not cost us. These are not conspiracies. These are not insider deals. As much as you cannot stand it Peru continues to improve. It's about time we are dealing with these crappy areas, the downtown plans and the I-80- eyesores. Bring on more business!
7:57
The explanation is that there is no sweetheart deals as described by yourself. It's very easy to throw out conspiracy and that's what you have done. No facts, nothing but more of the same throwing shi- at the fan and seeing where it heads.
8:42 AM
Please don't become defensive and start blaming people because they decide to do a critique of a problem they see in Peru. It is only thru reading or hearing something that improvement can be made. You do know that sometimes when you look at the same problem all the time, you know longer see it but someone puts a fresh eye on it and sees things you have become blind to. Surprisingly this defensive type of comment is what newcomers and the millenials do not like. Look to the future with open eyes and ears and look and listen. Many of them are not living in your generation.
For instance whomever designed blue and yellow banners for a Christmas displays in Peru was definitely out of touch. Perhaps it might have worked in the sunny Bahamas but not in the northern part of U.S. Now you can complain about me because I made a constructive comment. I expect nothing less.
Ha ha! By definition I'm a millennial Peru Town Forum! How old are you? Are you the future of our community? Calling me defensive? What was I defending? I was calling out your whining! I thought only millenials did that, since old people usually have nothing better to do than trash young people. So yes, let's change the subject to the "out of touch" banners. That was very compelling.
I'll tell you what you can expect from me. You can expect a person who is going to continue to build my business, be involved, focus on things that matter and laugh at the things that don't. I'm going to raise my kids in a great community, send them to our awesome new schools and be a proud Peru citizen. I will never put my head in the sand about anything, and yet I am certainly not going to turn in to one of "those people" who offer nothing but complaining for stupid things that do not matter. You want to debate the color of the banners? Okay! Peru was wrong! They were so out of touch!
Feel better? Am I out of touch? I personally think being focused on supporting local businesses and building infrastructure and having reasonable taxes is the way to go. But maybe I am out of touch and should start focusing on banners. And whatever you do, don't post this. Your "screening" responses is part of what killed your blog because you don't want opinions like mine. You want opinions like yours.
Signed,
A "millenial" who is making a difference
And to the people that wrote with your criticism, I will read and discard because it had nothing helpful for the city. I was out of town today, in fact out of state where everyone I met was friendly and helpful and I don't feel that I want to waste my time on the usual mean and nasty comments that keep coming in from the same people with a bad attitude. It would certainly ruin the rest of a good day.
I knew you would not have the courage to post what I said, a comment from a person who is fully invested in Peru and who had nothing but positive to say. Thew only negative was some disagreement with your view. You have chosen a path of negativity. You are the past. On Facebook people don't have to worry about someone screening their comments to fit a specific agenda. Your agenda has nothing to do with the betterment of a city and has everything to do with people you personally despise. Add me to the list of people who will not be back so you and the two or three left who agree with you can wallow in misery. Nothing positive for the city? If only you knew.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY FRIEND! HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY.
Heard on the radio this morning that J.C. Penney's at the Peru Mall will be closing.
8:43 PM, Good riddance. Don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out. Before you go can you tell us why Mayor Harl and his self-serving toady Bob Vickrey are allowing JC Penney to close its store at Peru Mall? Vickrey and Harl are responsible for all economic issues in Peru and are very important and powerful forces in Peru.
Therefore, they are responsible for Penney's closing. Shame on them!
I have nothing to do with 8:43 but I hope you are joking 8:56. JCPenney is closing 138 stores nationwide and it has nothing to do with Peru and everything to do with JCPenney. Do you have any idea how business works? I am shocked it stayed open as long as it has. Like Sears, it is actually amazing that it has stayed open as long as it has when so many others have already been closed. Mayors and and economic development directors cannot control how many people shop at a mall. Do you think they can forbid that corporate headquarters let it close? Bloomington, Illinois has one of the strongest local economies anywhere and they are closing too. Is that their Mayor's fault? Surely you are not this dense. Surely you are joking. If not, then wow.
11:50 AM - I'm not joking. Harl is a phony and pretends to be almighty therefore he is responsible. Vickrey is a phony and pretends to be important therefore he is responsible...and don't call me Shirley!
Shirley 7:29
What are you smoking, neither one of those people have any say about what stores stay open or close.
If you believe that then you need to move to California to Neverland were all your dreams can come true.
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