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Washington Municipal Treasurers Association Greetings. Thank you, Treasurer Murphy, for your warm introduction. My compliments to Allan Martin and the association for making the accommodations available, and for being patient with my layman’s understanding of the complicated investment issues that you all face every day. What I am going to talk about is the future of the economic strength of our state and gaze a little into the clearest crystal ball I could find to tell you where in the world is Washington going, or more accurately ask where in the world is Washington going because where our state goes economically is up to all of your communities. This crystal ball is not totally clear but its clarity, like the waters of Lake Chelan out there, does come from many sources. One of them, of course, is from my perch at the rostrum of the state Senate. This past session we saw 2,204 bills introduced, plus 1,864 amendments. Just 391 bills passed and moved onto the governor’s desk for signature. Presiding over the Senate and all of the debate on legislative matters provides me with a great overview on the issues and priorities before our state. As lieutenant governor I also chair the Legislative Committee on Economic Development & International Relations, which consists of both members of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The committee’s purpose is to study and review economic issues effecting Washington state, with a special emphasis on international trade, tourism, investment and industrial development. This committee also assists the Legislature in developing a comprehensive and consistent economic development policy. So from this position I also have a wonderful opportunity to hear and see what’s going on around the state in terms of economic development and trade. Another duty I have taken that helps me understand where in the world Washington is going is to serve as an ambassador for the state by promoting trade and good relations with foreign countries. I do get asked to make several trips abroad each year for the purpose of promoting international trade. In fact I just – and I mean just – returned from a trip to the People’s Republic of China and I’ll talk about that in a bit as well. As a former city finance commissioner myself I know it’s the job of a lot of you to collect, count and manage our local tax money. And as many of you know there will always be two distinct classes of people who don’t like to pay their taxes: men and women. This is especially true this week with the IRS filing deadline. The state of Washington has had some taxing times itself in recent years. Five years ago we were experiencing a recession with an unemployment rate of more than 7 percent and most other economic indicators way down. We’ve now climbed out of it. In 2005 the unemployment rate hovered at about 5 and a half percent and this year, so far it’s down to just over 4 percent. It really doesn’t ever get much lower than that. Of course good economic times also means good fiscal times for state and local government. This year was a supplemental budget year in the Legislature, and we were most pleased to have before us a $1.6 billion budget surplus – a somewhat rare circumstance in state government but a welcome one and really a certain sign that we have recovered. The surplus meant the Legislature could move forward while still putting a significant amount away in reserves. Maintaining a healthy economy in Washington will mean that we can continue to fund key government programs and services while maintaining fiscal responsibility. Speaking of fiscal responsibility, you, as treasurers and financial officers owe yourselves a huge pat on the back for your part in keeping our state financially healthy. If you look at the state’s bond rating today you’ll see nothing but As, A-pluses and other high grades, meaning the state is a strong environment in which to invest both short term and long-term. Keeping our state, cities and towns highly credit-worthy is a critical part of a sturdy financial base. This is exactly what we need to continue to be strong state and attract new business investments. The challenges in Washington include spending pressures, especially in caseload-driven costs; exposure to the aerospace business cycles; uncertainty arising from voter initiative activity; absence of a formal reserve policy; and high debt ratios. Many other financial challenges also remain before us. We went into this legislative session with a $4.9 billion gap in funding for state worker pensions. By working together – I mean Democrats and Republicans – we were able to close some of that gap but remain a fair distance away from fully funding the state’s pension plan. You will see this issue before the Legislature again in 2007. Other legislative wrestling matches that we will see again and again include funding for the state’s Basic Health system and various health care reforms; providing adequate funding for our public schools for K-12, colleges and universities; and how best to maintain and improve our roads, ferry and public transit systems. These are all significant and important issues and the debates about how to resolve them, while very worthwhile, are seemingly endless. So where in the world is Washington going? I am not a futurist, but a realist and the evidence that the world is changing is everywhere and must be addressed across all levels of government. China is changing at an unbelievable rate – I have been there four times now and each time I come back marveling at all that is going on over there. Nothing is going to stop the economic freeway China is on and there is no question that Washington will be riding along. The only question for us is whether we will be in the fast lane, the slow lane or somewhere over on the shoulder. Perhaps more critical: Will we be overtaken by the states and nations that are more aggressive? And if we do too much, will we be looked at as a nation rather than a state? I’ve found that when I travel Washington State is already quite well known out there as a leader in international trade. However in order to maintain that lead we must stay alert and aggressive in the world market. China knows us well. When the president of China, Hu Jintao, visits the United States next week his first stop will be in Washington state. He will visit both Boeing and Microsoft. An indication of our high position of importance in the eyes of China can be seen by the fact that Hu Jintao is the third President from China to visit us. While our country still has many issues to work out with China, our state is going full-speed ahead on forging strong ties in both trade and cultural exchanges and there is little doubt that our two economies will be even more closely entwined in the coming years. What we are seeing in China is major investment from outside of the country, the sale of some of its utilities to the private sector and more ventures into free enterprise. The country is still trying to gain “Most Favored Nation” trading status with the WTO and has a ways to go on many issues before it is fully compliant. Even so, China is experiencing an enormous economic boom that is increasing the standard of living for its citizens, more and more of whom are now able to purchase automobiles for the first time and obtain loans for other consumer purchases. When you go to China you see cranes and new construction everywhere, especially in Beijing where they are preparing for the 2008 Olympics. Billboards and other forms of advertising are everywhere – even on the baggage claim carousels at airports. Yes, capitalism is very much alive in this communist country. I believe that China will put on quite a show for the games as they fully take advantage of the opportunities to market the new China to the world. At the same time you need not go far to see very “behind the times” methods of work such as cleaning the streets with very primitive brooms, and working the fields with water buffalo. According to an article I read over there last year there are 500,000 Chinese who have never used a tooth brush. So they have a ways to go and that means market opportunities. This is no longer a country of bicycles and Mao jackets rather one of rapidly increasing numbers of scooters, automobiles and designer clothes. Other countries seen as being behind the times are doing the same thing to become world market players, yet on a small scale, with with the possible exception of India. There is nothing small about that country. For Washington state business this means new investment opportunities and the chance to lend its business and environmental expertise. So, is all of this growth in the world a threat or an opportunity? Should we sit and whine about being a threat or find out how to become a partner without jeopardizing out own standards of living? I think the opportunities for Washington in this changing world are limitless. Some of you have no doubt read Thomas Friedman’s latest book, The World is Flat. The premise of this book is not that the world is geographically flat, but that new partnerships and relationships are being formed rapidly around the world, sped along by the extensive installation of fiber optic and wireless networks, the Internet and other technologies, and a rapidly expanding and increasingly accessible brain trust in places like India and China. All put together it means that what Friedman calls a “Plug and Play” world is quickly becoming a smaller, flatter place free of the barriers of geography and distance. For the first time in history much of our business – especially the service industries – work can be done just about anywhere and is no longer restricted to any particular jurisdiction or border. Big corporations are certainly a component of this, witnessed by massive supply chain and distribution networks created by companies such as Wal-Mart and UPS. United Parcel Service, by the way, was founded in Seattle as the American Messenger Company in 1907 with the slogan “best service and lowest rates.” Today, nearly 100 years later, this global giant Brown is headquartered in Atlanta and has the slogan “Synchronizing the world of commerce.” Boeing too has found it to their advantage to have suppliers in many other countries. I am sure that they have found it helpful in securing contracts to purchase their excellent planes. But globalization is not driven as much by large business but by small business and entrepreneurs, free-lancers and the like. If you believe the chronicles of Friedman it is easy to see that we are today living in a world of out-sourcing, in-sourcing and home-sourcing and again the evidence that it’s really happening is all around. I’ve seen this first-hand in my travels too. Markets are emerging all over the globe. The demand for our products is growing and we need the ability to pinpoint specific countries that could vie for one of the top 5 positions in our state’s export markets, which are now held by Japan, Canada, mainland China, Taiwan and the Republic of Korea. I am sure you aren’t surprised to hear that four of our five top export destinations are in Asia. But other markets, such as Russia, are also growing and becoming increasingly important to our trade. We can all remember the time when “made in Taiwan” was not a particularly complimentary slogan. Taiwan manufactured a lot of inexpensive things we found in stores everywhere. They realized that this was not going to sustain them in the new economy and came up with a plan that would. It involved outsourcing the old manufacturing and bringing on the new. The new Taiwan has become the world’s leading producer of television sets, PC monitors, PDAs, cell phones and other electronics. Taiwan is no longer viewed as it once was. Ironically, Taiwan, like Washington, is also strategizing how it can best spread its resources across urban and rural areas. They are also looking at strategies like retraining its rural work force to help step up to the new demand. So, the global economy is changing rapidly and we as a state and a nation will have to find ways to benefit from it. There are a lot of positive things happening in Washington as communities and business both strive to compete. Interestingly they are striving to compete with other communities within our own state, with other states and with the rest of the world. Let’s take a closer look at us, our business and our communities. My friend Irl Davis, a Gig Harbor-based electronics entrepreneur and international businessman who traveled with us on a previous trip to China, wrote a book on international trade. Irl says in his book that, quote, “As we can clearly see, the world is changing and the accessibility of the new world markets is becoming available to small business owners. “Not only are these markets becoming accessible, but they are also becoming necessary to our own survival, and we must participate if we are to survive and, indeed, flourish. Never before have we seen such an expanding market, and never before have we seen so many competitors try to capture it.” Unquote. While much of the electronics components produced by Irl’s company, A/D Electronics, are made in China they are brought to Washington state for assembly. Irl and his business partner saw that much of what was happening with manufacturing was taking place outside of the US. They came up with a plan to help us deal with it and benefit their customers and themselves as well. They have convinced some of their customers that they supply to let them be the entity that finds, buys the parts for their products and in some cases even assemble the product for their customer. At the same time, they are expanding and growing their business operations in Washington state as well as abroad. It is that kind of innovative thinking that will help keep us competitive. I believe it is very important to Washington state to seize upon the new market opportunities that are being presented by this changing economy. At the same time we need to ensure that our own citizens do not lose out in the process. When we’re talking about making the world flat, let’s make sure that it means first flattening the Cascade curtain and even the Olympic curtain and build a strong bridge from west to east. The environment is right, the time is right and our trade-centric location is absolutely perfect to capture these opportunities. In fact, it’s already happening in Washington – we are a recognized leader in many areas and our economy, as witnessed by the recent budget surplus, is gaining enough steam to keep us going. After shedding more than 100,000 workers between 1998 and 2004, our Department of Employment Security reports that factories were adding jobs in 2005. According to Employment Security, Washington’s economy in 2005 built on the momentum established in 2004, and job growth accelerated. They attribute this change to increases in household spending, and particularly the booming housing market, along with low mortgage interest rates that helped boost home sales and encouraged people to tap into their home equity to buy other goods. Also, the Seattle area, which fought off an agonizing recession, is eking back toward recovery and is once again leading the state in job growth. From January 2005 to January 2006, nearly 90,000 jobs were added to our state’s payrolls. Again it was construction, retail trade, and professional and business services that contributed the most to these gains. Overall, our state’s Economic and Revenue Forecast Council noted higher than expected housing permits in the fourth quarter of 2005 and predicts continued strength in the construction employment. The office anticipates a nearly 10 percent increase in state fund revenue for the 2007-2009 biennium over the 2005-07 biennium. So, while all of this has the potential to mean that you good folks will have more money to count, we in the state leadership positions will be debating over how best to allocate it but, most importantly, it appears that all things being equal we can expect the state to have a healthy, stable economy throughout this decade. Along the lines of rosy, have you seen some of the wording on our economic development and chamber of commerce Web sites? Our cities and ports are trying very hard to market themselves, that much is clear. Some of these descriptions read a little like the personal advertisements you might read on a dating service. They are certainly trying to accomplish a similar thing – that is wooing new suitors. All are trying to draw folks in and deal with changing economies. Many, like the Chelan County’s border neighbor Douglas County, have flashy Web sites that promote the Port of Douglas County as being “resource rich, people strong.” “Because few locations match our natural beauty and lifestyle amenities, which include plenty of fresh air and clean water, we believe you'll soon understand how we can make this statement.” A little to the south, Yakima’s Web site proclaims: “Ideal Pacific Northwest living environment. No traffic jams, long commutes. Abundance of excellent, affordable housing for singles, couples, families. Four-season climate, with 300 sunshine days. Snow-fed irrigation makes area leader in apples, mint, cherries, hops. Fruit, vegetable processing major industry. Ideal climate for wine grapes. Lowest electric rates in US. New fiber optic cables. I-90 connects to Puget Sound. Barge connection to Portland. High quality health care in five hospitals.” And, according to their Web site, Whatcom County, quote “bridges the gap on the I-5 corridor between Seattle and Vancouver, B.C., and offers the advantages of accessibility to local, national, and international businesses. Our region provides easy access to ample vendors and suppliers, innovative and active ports, rail and air access, plus strong ties to Canada.” Unquote. There’s a lot of SayWA in each of those glorious expressions, and I applaud each of these communities for putting their best feet forward. Gee, based on those descriptions alone I’d like to live in all of those places! For now the city of Shelton, where we are “Building a Stronger Community – Together,” suits me just fine, thank you. By the way, I’d like to take a little survey. How many of you in this audience by show of hands think our new slogan, SayWA, is a powerful and catchy way to capture and promote tourism in Washington state? And how many feel just the opposite, that SayWA will do little to attract tourists here? And how many feel kind of stuck in the middle on this expression? Personally, I was in the camp that said “Say what?” to SayWA when I first heard it, but I’ll reserve my full judgment until the data is in. I hope all of the genius behind this investment generates new tourism dollars, but I remain skeptical. I do find this write-up from the Web site for the City of Bend, Oregon, particularly alluring: “The city of Bend graces the Banks of the Deschutes River, which is draped like a silver ribbon between the eastern slopes of the Cascade Mountain Range and the high desert plateaus of Oregon’s central interior. Originally a small mill town, Bend has emerged into a full service city and Oregon’s fastest growing high technology area.” I bring up Bend because it is an example of a rural community that has achieved a phenomenal growth rate over the past two decades, thanks in no small part to a high degree of livability, modern health care facilities and a sophisticated telecommunications network that has attracted retiree and tech worker alike. I think there are many communities in Washington that are either Bend-like or are potential Bends, with Walla Walla, Cle Elum and Bellingham, Wenatchee and even here in Chelan coming immediately to mind. With all the things that are going on in these communities and many others, the Cascade curtain that has divided this state for so long is bound to come down. I put Cle Elum on that list because of Suncadia, a new 6,300 acre master-planned resort community in that area that will certainly draw the affluent types across the Cascades for rest and play. This new community is built on what once could be called scrubland and pine. Lots at Suncadia are being sold briskly in the $100,000 to $750,000 range before improvements. When completed there are two large golf courses, a lodge, an inn and a village with an amphitheater in addition to the home sites so it will be a true destination resort community. Suncadia will no doubt have an obvious impact on local economies of nearby Roslyn and Cle Elum. In fact, for better or for worse depending on your point of view, all of Kittitas County will likely be changed in some respect by this new development. There’s another big resort community being proposed near Brinnon in Jefferson County. I don’t know of any other destination resort communities being planned or built in this state but there probably are others. Port Ludlow near Port Townsend and Semiahmoo in Whatcom County are examples of large-scale planned resort communities that have been built and over the years have changed the face of their local communities. Scientist Louis Pasteur, the father of safe milk, said that "Fortune favors the prepared mind” and that may well be true. Then it is also true that fortune favors the prepared community. There are many factors that come into play to help a community prepare and succeed for a changing world, not just promoting itself with slogans. They are:
It’s easy to say those things, but much harder to do. But we are making good progress. Several businesses that have located or relocated to Southwest Washington have stated that they favored a state with no personal or corporate income tax and were also attracted by the area’s high degree of livability, and proximity to air and sea transportation hubs. Rob Bernardi, the president and chief operating officer of Kokusai Semiconductor, said after considering several sites on both sides of the Columbia River the company ultimately chose Washington due to its “overall favorable tax climate.” Washington State offers a whole series of Business & Occupation tax credit incentives for business, as well as sales & use tax exemptions & deferrals. We will always be fine-tuning our tax system. The debate will continue on whether we need a state income tax of some kind, but it appears that at least some businesses are indeed choosing Washington for its tax climate. As for our educational system, certainly Washington is lagging in many areas but there are also many bright spots and frankly I’d rather tout those. Washington colleges and universities are doing more than ever to make learning opportunities accessible by establishing branch campuses and offering credentialed course work on line so students can get much of their degree done without leaving home. I feel that community colleges are among the best investments that government can make. Community colleges offer smaller class sizes, greater affordability, flexibility and ready access for anyone who wants to achieve their short-term or even lifelong educational goals. Washington is blessed with residents that are well-educated – we are the state with most residents holding high school diplomas. Seattle leads the country in residents with more college degrees per capita. I salute your association for the scholarships you provide to deserving college-bounds. With the help of some private funding such as through sources such as the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, public funding, innovation, the adoption of best practices and the sheer will to improve, I believe Washington is laying the foundation for great educational achievements ahead and that is exactly what we need to stay competitive in a changing world. Washington’s entrepreneurial climate had made us the leading state for both start-up and what I understand are called gazelles, or fast-growing young companies. I suspect these businesses are called gazelles, because, like their African name-sake of these deer-like animals, these companies have to be alert, fast and always wary of predators. Gazelles, like the rest of us, frequently must look over our shoulder for danger. In the case of startups, the danger may be competition and today we don’t always know where that is coming from. Perhaps most critical to the proverbial “pan caking” of Washington are the improvements being made to our technical infrastructure. Extensive investments in fiber optics to build networks and even infrastructure for wireless networks are already making it possible to do some exciting new things statewide. Oh, if I hadn’t mentioned it before I’m kind of a fan of Starbucks coffee, as I am of any business that has started in Washington state and gone global. Boeing, Amazon, United Parcel Service and of course Microsoft all have my rapt attention. But did you know that Starbucks coffee, named after a character in the book Moby Dick, is not the original Washington Starbucks? There is a tiny community called Starbuck over in Columbia County in the southeast corner of our state, founded in 1905 – precisely 90 years before Starbucks the company started selling its famous Frozen Frappuccino drink. Now there is no Starbucks in Starbuck but they do have a saloon. It may be very possible, however, for someone who lives in Starbuck to work for Starbucks due to the advent of high speed Internet access, the sweetest of ingredients in our little pancake recipe. Not too many miles from Starbuck is the city of Pullman, home of Washington State University, which in turn is the home base for the Center to Bridge Digital Divide. The center’s director, a man by the name of Bill Gillis, is an unabashed proponent of any strategy that will flatten our state by use of new technologies and he and his staff work diligently with business and local communities to do just that. When it comes to outsourcing, the center’s premise is for companies to outsource their work to rural communities in Washington first before offshoring their work overseas. Bill and the digital divide center are full of case studies about how the state of Washington is being flattened and if you get the chance I encourage you to speak with him or visit the center’s Web site for some examples that are working. Here are just a few. Washington Dental Services, a Seattle-based dental health care conglomerate, found itself short of space in the late 1990s and subsequently expanded to Colville in Stevens County, where their office there now employs about 90 customer service and claims processing positions. This was made possible through the WSU Rural Telework project as well as careful research and negotiation between the business and community. In Forks, Washington, a small logging town out in the Olympic Peninsula, they are very worried about kids leaving due to the lack of educational opportunities, and were also worried about not being able to provide enough training opportunities for the town populace as a whole. In comes some advance telecom services and, wholah, the very opportunities that were lacking can now be found in a heartbeat and members of the Forks community can participate (through cyberspace) in worldwide events, just like in Seattle. I have a good friend, Bill Sperry, who is able to run seven businesses from Forks thanks in no small part to the availability of technology there. New infrastructure in places like the Methow Valley in Okanogan County north of here have allowed companies like HomeMovie.com to find a home there. HomeMovie.com is in the business of taking old Super 8 movies and videos and transferring them to a DVD, editing them and storing them on the Internet where they can be edited online then viewed by family and friends. Who would have ever thought that such a high tech business could be located in such a remote, but highly livable, area of our state? They truly have the best of both worlds. NCTeleserve, a customer service facility located in Winthrop that started in 2000, is drawing in lots of new customers and hopes to employ as many as 100 people in the near future. SafeHarbor Technology Corporation and TechTell are two high-tech companies that have found a home in rural Satsop in eastern Grays Harbor County and are offering their services 24x7 to clients around the country. Talk about making a silk purse from a sow’s ear! The site of an abandoned nuclear power plant has now been repurposed into a burgeoning, high-tech business park high on a hill overlooking rivers and farmland. Perhaps it’s fitting that the unused nuclear cooling tower remains on the site with lights flashing on top, serving perhaps as a metaphoric beacon from Washington to the rest of the planet. We need to continue to offer incentives for new business to headquarter in non-traditional areas. Some of my staff met with SafeHarbor CEO Annette Jacobs in our office the other day. She estimates that their company has poured as much as $100 million into the local economy over the past decade since the company was founded. Companies like CenturyTel as well as local PUDs such as Chelan County are carpeting rural Washington with fiber optic lines, rapidly bringing high speed DSL Internet access to rural areas where cable companies have not yet established a toehold. And even where fiber optic lines and cable aren’t yet available, some entrepreneurs are establishing expansive wireless networks, such as in Odessa and Wilbur, to meet the demand and to enable new services. Some of this comes from the old “build it and they will come” mentality but increasingly the new infrastructure is being built and people are coming – and in droves – to open up new opportunities across the state. Again, communities that prepare will be those that can compete. New technologies are in fact opening up some very real and exciting choices for job growth in our rural areas. Attractions for both employers and employees are that many of our rural areas are more affordable places to live and work yet offer a ready and talented pool of skilled labor. Because people often want to live in rural areas, companies will find far lower turn-over rates than their more urban workforce. They can offer a very competitive salary as well to local economies where the cost of living is not so high, and can often offer health care benefit and retirement packages that are second to none in the local community. Mr. Gillis of the Center to Bridge Digital Divide tells us that urban-based companies can save 20 to 40 percent by expanding to rural areas. When it comes to outsourcing, he asks, why go to India when you can go to Forks? A well-wired Washington is also helping to equalize education is our state’s K-20 Network. The K-20 network connects 475 public education sites throughout the state including campuses of community and technical colleges, regional universities, research institutions, public libraries, tribal schools, and K-12 school districts and educational service districts. With this network, tens of thousands of people can now conduct or have the potential to conduct research and communicate with one another without the traditional constraints of distance and cost. The network is shortening the distance between our learning hubs to practically zero. Extensive networks are also being set up between Washington hospitals, allowing for more sharing through telemedicine as well as the consolidation of administrative service operations between distant facilities. Finally I will touch on the subject and importance of having a diversified business base. We all know what happens to towns that do not diversify. One-industry mining towns like Monte Cristo in Snohomish County and Bossburg in Stevens County that were booming 100 years ago are now no more than ghost towns. Towns like Leavenworth and Winthrop in this part of the state that change and adopt with new opportunities like tourism will survive. The Weyerhaeuser Corporation announced the layoff of 342 mill workers last fall in Aberdeen and Cosmopolis. This was terrible news, especially for the individuals and families directly affected. The news was bad, but not as bad as it might have been two or three decades ago when the impact of such a layoff would be devastating. Now, with a much lower unemployment rate in that area and with the new more diversified economy, I have much more confidence that the impact of those Weyerhaeuser layoffs will not be felt nearly as deeply as they might have once been. Livability and quality of life are key attractants to any community. How people live, what opportunities they have to recreate, patronize the arts, socialize, shop and work are very important factors. My wife Linda is a big fan of the arts and particularly of the late Norman Rockwell, painter of all things Americana, and we have a collection of many of his famous Saturday Evening Post covers at our home. I think we all tend to cling to these images of a simpler, more family-centric time depicted by Rockwell. Images like brother and sis sledding with the dog prancing close by, or fishing with grandpa, playing baseball, or grandma presenting the turkey at Thanksgiving. These all summon either memories of our own youth, or perhaps even memories we wish we had. I submit that there are more opportunities to create these special Rockwellian memories as long as we continue to strive for a better tomorrow that ensures the same quality of life that we have been blessed to enjoy. We must firmly establish our place in this fascinating and a little scary new global world economy in a way that preserves our envied way of life. So when we are discussing where in the world is Washington going we have to point to some exciting opportunities that are ahead as well as some challenges. While international trade is an important part of our economy it’s not the whole enchilada. It’s also about domestic trade, developing new ideas into meaningful processes and expanding the capacity of existing businesses. It’s about meeting the demand for new types of labor while making sure we maintain the resources necessary to keep our traditional and stable industries alive. It’s about keeping up with constant changes and making sure we have the skills to meet and compete. It’s about being visionary and creative in a new world economy. It’s about maintaining, not draining, the environment and quality of life we love here in our great state. It’s about making our kids have the right role models and mentors so they can grow to lead productive and meaningful lives and be able to pursue their dreams. And most importantly, it’s about taking care of our families, our children and grandchildren. Now after all of that let me leave you with one more thought to ponder, which I suspect some of you already have. What if the hokey pokey is what it is all about? Thank you for allowing me to share my thoughts with you today and have a great conference.
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