May 05, 2009

Buy Local & Buy Worcester

Although I find the latest push to Buy Local or Buy Worcester to be a great idea, it is nothing new to me. As a local business-owner always try to buy from other local business owners. The other day, we had a broken water heater and my guy mentioned that he would run to Home Depot. Told him, no way go to Barrows and charge it on my account. He called me later and was impressed with the service and price.

Maybe the developers of our our number 1 growth business, low to mod income, should also buy local. Check out any of the contractors at any of these low to mod income projects--almost impossible to find. I have seen one local environmental company, one electrician and one fence guy. That's it!

I am on this rant today, because I have learned that the $6,000,000 Southgate Place was put out to bid by invitation only to three bidders:

  1. Quincy, MA
  2. Oxford, MA
  3. Harvard, MA

It appears to me that not one Worcester contractor was invited to bid? Considering that this is a project where one of the partners is the South Worcester Neighborhood Center, that receives support from the City of Worcester, one would think that Worcester General Contractors would have been given an opportunity to bid?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Harry the Threadkillah strikes again... leave it to the Irish to charge by the pound when flying:

http://a-list.msn.com/default.aspx?cp-searchtext='Flying%20while%20fat

Good thing Paulie flies Aer Lingus instead of RyanAir!

Harry T
Worcester,MA

Jahn said...

If I was a Worc area contrator/builder and in need of work, I'd be at a council meeting and I'd be making noise about this bid ...noise that the councilors would never forget.

Worc Common Grd built a duplex townhouse on Mason St opposite the old Institutional linens site and last fall there was sign on the new duplex "Financing Provided by Butler Bank" So i said to myself BUtler Bank...????... .where/what the heck is that? When I got home I goggled it. If my memory is correct, it's up in the Lowell or North Shore area. Lotta bad boys up in that North shore area........maybe they know how to grease things...????

Bill Randell said...

Check out the new project on Piedmont Street. Contractor from Oxford.

Check out the Burwick building. Not sure where they are from but they are not from Worcester.

What happened to Buy Local or Buy Worcester???

Jahn said...

Bill, too many of our leaders subscibe to the do as I say not as I do "Phil"osophy.

Witness one Mr Phil Palmieri in todays T&G (Thursday 5-6) re: the downed treee limbs that have accumulated at curbside all over the city. Poor Mr Palmieri bemoans the fact that these branches are negatively affecting the quality of life in the Worc and are a public safety hazard as well. Yet Mr Palmieri's neighbors report on local blogs that he rarely, if ever, shoveled his sidewalk in the winter and he was instrumental in passing a "new" snow & ice removal ordinance a few months ago AND after voting for the ordinace and arguing for its passage he still didn't shovel his sidewalk for the first 6 or 8 storms thsi past winter and only started shoveling after local bloggers posted stories and pictures of his unshoveled sidwalk on the internet.

DO AS I SAY, NOT AS DO

What's up the Konnie Kar Kaper? Was is really towed? I'd suggest she call Sam's Pull A Part up on Granite St opposite Linders. It's the tempoary holding "pen" for many caaaahs that are on their way to being crushed and shredded. Stay tuned.
is this a case of a councilor leaving an inoperable car with a flat tire sitting in the driveway for too long? Also check local scarp metal yards.

Paulie's Point of View said...

looks like no one is buying their sushi in WoTown anymore...everyone is recommending sushi joints outside the city