Rick Farmer
Appearances
The Journal.
The Tariff Trade Off: Jobs vs. Higher Prices
Sure. First of all, it's a great little community. The city's motto is the city of friendly folks. It is, in a lot of ways, it's similar to other small South Carolina towns, or small cities, actually. Population's about 10,000.
The Journal.
The Tariff Trade Off: Jobs vs. Higher Prices
You know, this building's a half a million square feet. This is a very large building, and we're going to have to find the right tenant for it. Everybody looks to your local economic developer when there's a closure, but the reality is we probably don't have any inside information you don't have. This is just something we're going to have to get through.
The Journal.
The Tariff Trade Off: Jobs vs. Higher Prices
I got a call from the broker saying, I got a private plane landing in Columbia, and it's got 25 Asian engineers in it, and I need you to meet them at the facility and give them the local spiel. And of course, I did that. I got there, and sure enough, this was a large contingent. I knew that this had to be a significant project, but honestly, at that early stage,
The Journal.
The Tariff Trade Off: Jobs vs. Higher Prices
I don't spend much time worrying about who it is. I care about what they're trying to do and how we're going to make that happen.
The Journal.
The Tariff Trade Off: Jobs vs. Higher Prices
And they're talking about ceiling heights and water flows and, you know, water pressure and all of this other stuff. And I'm not an engineer, so I just sit back and look pretty when these things are going on and let the engineers hash it out.
The Journal.
The Tariff Trade Off: Jobs vs. Higher Prices
Well, in a relatively small community, you don't get a lot of opportunities like this. One of the things that worries industrial development prospects is when they're dealing with a small community, where are we going to get the workforce? And that's a big concern because they don't want to have to import labor from outside of the community.
The Journal.
The Tariff Trade Off: Jobs vs. Higher Prices
I remember it like it was yesterday. April of 2016, I got a phone call. Hey, Rick, did you hear the news? And the news was our local caterpillar plant was closing.
The Journal.
The Tariff Trade Off: Jobs vs. Higher Prices
And they worry that we're just too small to make it happen. But of course, my job was to convince them otherwise.
The Journal.
The Tariff Trade Off: Jobs vs. Higher Prices
The feeling was absolutely unbelievable. I've never known what it's like to win a national championship in football or anything like that, but it has to be a very similar feeling. You know, we call these big fish or buffaloes and so forth. And so, especially in a small community, you don't win many buffaloes, but we did in this particular case. It was a wonderful feeling.
The Journal.
The Tariff Trade Off: Jobs vs. Higher Prices
It's been great. It's been a very large economic impact on the community. But even more importantly, I think what it did is it created sort of a bridge. You know, in an ideal situation, a worker will start off with no experience. He's at the bottom of the ladder. He works his way up a little bit. He gains skills and experience.
The Journal.
The Tariff Trade Off: Jobs vs. Higher Prices
And then at some point he can take a different job because he's now got the training. He's now got the experience. So it created another pathway for people to kind of leap to the middle of the pack instead of having to just grind your way up.
The Journal.
The Tariff Trade Off: Jobs vs. Higher Prices
Well, I knew there would be a lot of concern because, again, it was our number one brand. It was the most recognized brand that was here in Newberry County. They were some of the best jobs in the community. And I remember standing on the floor of Community Hall explaining to the Rotary Club why this is not the end of the world.
The Journal.
The Tariff Trade Off: Jobs vs. Higher Prices
I absolutely paid more for my washing machine because when the tariffs were instituted, everybody raised their prices. Now, here's the thing, though. The American manufacturers could have decided to keep their prices where they were and take market share from their competitors. But no, they decided to just take the extra profits.
The Journal.
The Tariff Trade Off: Jobs vs. Higher Prices
So I'm sure there's some truth to the notion that, you know, for every tariff-related job created in America, there are some costs. My position is, well, we're not bearing those costs here in Newberry County. We're actually finding a way to profit off of the environment.
The Journal.
The Tariff Trade Off: Jobs vs. Higher Prices
Me, I am pro whatever improves my community, within reason, of course. I'm not talking about crimes or anything like that. But if it improves my community, it's worth pursuing.
The Journal.
The Tariff Trade Off: Jobs vs. Higher Prices
Well, I've heard various different argumentations on tariffs, tariffs good, tariffs bad. But obviously, if you have a facility in your community that is here because of tariffs, you're going to get some benefits out of that. But if you're coming here to avoid tariffs, that doesn't concern me. I want to talk about jobs and wages and that kind of stuff.
The Journal.
The Tariff Trade Off: Jobs vs. Higher Prices
But at the same time, I just wondered how much of that I really believed and how much of that I was just trying to keep folks from panicking.