Jim Gordon introduced featured speaker Bill Center. During Jim’s tenure on the Program Committee, he has never let the BBRC forget that he is a former swabbie. One would be hard pressed to remember a speaker during Jim’s tenure who did not have some connection to the Navy. The featured speaker was no exception, having retired as a Rear Admiral in 1999. Indeed, Jim and Bill go back to a mutual seagoing assignment in their early days in the Navy. (Jim, did you retire as a Rear Admiral, too?).
Bill did not come to talk about the Navy, however; he is the President of the Washington Council on International Trade (and not coincidentally the President of Seattle Four).
President Jim Zidar called the meeting to order with some sad news: Bob and Esther Moloney’s son, Mark, passed away on Wednesday, January 17. Bob was present and holding up well. Our hearts go out to the Moloney family.
Dean Pollock delivered the invocation including a prayer for the Moloneys, and led the Pledge of Allegiance. Margie Burnett had really no job at all since there were no guests or visitors to introduce.
Members are reminded that the Annual Valentine Dine-Around is set for Saturday, February 10, is the date. Sign up online to be a host or a guest.
Delayed due to the weather, the December Student-of-the-Month award was presented to Amber Thomas, a senior at Bellevue Christian, who was accompanied by her parents, Mohan and Sunal, and Principal Bill Safstrom. Larry May introduced Amber, who is a National Honor Society member with a GPA of 3.98. She is looking to pursue a career in finance or accounting which warmed the hearts of the BBRC’s many CPA members. A different voice was heard to say, “You have far too much personality to become a CPA.”
Whatever you decide to do, Amber, your past performance and your personality will guarantee major success!
Chuck Barnes, from the Corporate Sponsor Committee for the Rotary Walks! Commtitee, is looking for corporate sponsors for the Rotary Walks! Hike for Healthy Kids on April 28. The Committee is particularly interested in finding community businesses outside the Rotary family and has set a minimum goal of $35,000 from corporate sponsors. The plan is not only to enlist immediate help for this year, but also to find business who are interested in supporting Rotary Walks! in future years as well. The committee has set several levels of sponsorship, gold at $10,000, silver at $5,000, bronze at $3,000, pioneer at $2,000 and $1,000 and $500 levels plus a $250 individual level. If you have any ideas for potential businesses, please contact
or another member of the Committee.
President-Elect Phil Salvatori has set the date — March 23 and 24 — and the place — the Inn at Port Hadlock — for the BBRC Annual Retreat. Members are encouraged to bring your partners. And, if you don’t know where Port Hadlock is, Phil announced that it is somewhere between Port Ludlow and Port Townsend. Presumably, more specific directions will be forthcoming ...
After a long hiatus, Andrew Face made an appearance and focused his attention on John Smolke, who had a nice 1/3-page ad in the Puget Sound Business Journal recently. John’s advice to someone seeking accounting help on a real estate matter was that they undoubtedly needed a “cost segregation study.” This, of course, is CPA secret code for “Segregate the customer from his money.” John got off easy with only an $8 fine.
Sayoko Kuwahara has picked her team. She will be leading the District 5030 GSE team to Japan at the end of April. Her four charges, all female, include Alice, a TV producer; Lindsay, from Edward Jones; Michelle, from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; and Kelly, from the Casey Foundation.
One can only imagine the grilling that the finalists got from Sayoko — a process somewhere between The Apprentice and American Idol. As President Zidar remarked, Sayoko reminds him of his drill sergeant at Fort Dix, only she is prettier ... and he was nicer.
Sayoko also reported on the inbound team from Japan. It will include a CPA leader, a manager from Nissan, a tax advisor, an accountant and a securities person. They will be arriving on March 28 and will be in the District for one month. The BBRC has responsibility for housing and entertaining them during their fourth week, April 19-25. Sayoko would like to find host families with an occupational match. Each team member will be hosted by a separate family. There will be a vocational day on April 23, when the inbound team will be at the BBRC.
John Armenia is the Eastside coordinator for the District, supported ably by Mike Ralph.
Jim Gordon introduced featured speaker Bill Center. During Jim’s tenure on the Program Committee, he has never let the BBRC forget that he is a former swabbie. One would be hard pressed to remember a speaker during Jim’s tenure who did not have some connection to the Navy. The featured speaker was no exception, having retired as a Rear Admiral in 1999. Indeed, Jim and Bill go back to a mutual seagoing assignment in their early days in the Navy. (Jim, did you retire as a Rear Admiral, too?).
Bill did not come to talk about the Navy, however; he is the President of the Washington Council on International Trade (and not coincidentally the President of Seattle Four).
Bill’s background is impressive, with dual degrees in economics and engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy and a degree from the University of Washington Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs. After a stellar Navy career, his last assignment was to command Navy Region Northwest.
Some of the more interesting programs we have had can be described as myth-busting. This was certainly one of them. Bill’s ostensible topic was the subject of off-shoring jobs. But, rather than a CNN diatribe on the evils of off-shoring, Bill presented a very informative analysis, looking behind the sensationalism that surrounds the topic of off-shoring.
As Bill explained, and using Bureau of Labor Statistics data, in the United States, approximately 113 million were fully employed for the entire year 2006. Within that number, however, approximately 30 million jobs were destroyed and 33 million jobs created. As Bill observed, from an overall society point of view, that is a good thing — a net gain of 3 million jobs — but from a micro point of view, particularly if you are an impacted worker, it is not good news at all.
The key to Bill’s theme was that, of the 30 million jobs that were destroyed last year, only 600,000 of them were lost to off-shore jobs. In percentage terms, that is 2%; and according to statistics which Bill presented, the number of jobs within the economy that are lost each year to off-shore workers has remained relatively constant since 1990. So, the phenomenon of off-shore job loss is nothing new and only amounts to 2% of the total job lost in the economy. Bill pointed out that the real problem is how to deal with the 29.4 million jobs that are destroyed in the U.S. not due to off-shore causes. Those most likely to lose jobs are people with limited or low skill sets. The jobs that are created, on the other hand, are typically high-tech jobs requiring sophisticated skill sets. Those jobs are filled by people moving from other skilled jobs in the market, whose positions are then filled by other skilled people within the market who move up a notch or two. The big losers are the unskilled.
One of the other myths which Bill exploded was the notion that most new jobs are created in the service sector of the economy and are low-paying jobs. This statement, often repeated, is only half true. As Bill pointed out, the service sector as measured by the government is everything other than manufacturing, government or agriculture. It includes not only low-paid hotel workers, for instance, but also highly-paid professionals. In fact, the service sector is higher paying than any of the other sectors on average.
Yet another myth which Bill took aim at is the notion that American workers are unproductive. He pointed out that there are approximately 85 million manufacturing workers in China and only 13 million manufacturing workers in the United States; but the 13 million United States workers turn out twice as much manufacturing output as do the 85 million Chinese. In fact, he noted that manufacturing in China is undergoing a massive change as well, which could have severe consequences for its economy. As he pointed out, it is not possible for 1,500 workers with hammers to turn out highly-sophisticated electronic devices, for example. In other words, the more sophisticated the products, the less important becomes the huge unskilled labor pool in China. Indeed, he observed that the Chinese are complaining that they are losing manufacturing jobs to Cambodia!
Bill suggested that the United States would do well to focus on the major problem caused by the loss of 30 million jobs a year, and that is the lack of an educated workforce. To him, education is the key to success in our knowledge-based economy. As he pointed out, Ph.D.’s create many more jobs than do high school graduates.
Bill pointed out that Washington State is a particularly large player in the international trade world. On a per-capita basis, Washington state is number one in international trade. In gross figures, it is behind California, New York and Texas; but on a per-capita basis, international trade amounts to $16,000 per person in Washington, as compared to $8,000 per person in California. Bill pointed out that off-shore trade creates (as well as destroys) new jobs; in particular, those companies engaged in international trade create high value jobs and they remain in business, providing jobs. They also grow as the international economy grows.
So, if you want a few contrarian statistics to throw around at your next cocktail party, call Bill and get a copy of his presentation.
Have you ever been guilty of looking at others your own age
and thinking, "Glad I don't look that old?"
I was sitting in the waiting room for my first appointment with a new dentist. I noticed his DDS diploma, which bore his full name.
Suddenly, I remembered a tall, handsome, dark-haired boy with the same name had been in my high school class some 40-odd years ago. Could he be the same guy that I had a secret crush on, way back then?
Upon seeing him, however, I quickly discarded any such thought. This balding, gray-haired man with the deeply lined face was "way too old" to have been my classmate.
Hmmm ... or was he?
After he examined my teeth, i asked him if he had attended Morgan Park High School.
"Yes. Yes, I did. I had a Mustang," he gleamed with pride.
"When did you graduate?" I asked.
He answered, "In 1969. Why do you ask?"
"You were in my class!" I exclaimed.
He looked at me closely. Then, that ugly, old, wrinkled jerk asked me ...
"Entrepreneurship & Creativity," Ron Erickson, Co-Founder & Chairman of the Board of Blue Frog Media. He has 30 years of experience as a manager, attorney and senior level executive and has been instrumental in building several businesses serving as a senior executive, board member or advisor. Previous companies he led or co-founded include eCharge, GlobalTel Resources, Egghead Software, and MicroRim. (Gordon)
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK
“Wise are those who learn that the bottom line doesn’t always have to be their top priority.” William W. Ward
Click on the names below to wish your fellow members a happy birthday or congratulate them on their BBRC anniversaries.
Mark E. Moloney
Mark E Moloney, 38, son of Esther and Bob Moloney and brother of Pat, passed away on January 17th. Despite the challenges imposed by Prader-Willi Syndrome, Mark enjoyed many community, social and family activities. His family and friends admired his friendliness, giving nature, jokes and adventuresome spirit.
Mark especially loved and respected his friends who competed with him in Special Olympics, worked with him at Northwest Center and lived with him in homes where the Camelot Society provides services.
A Memorial Mass will be celebrated on February 10th, 1:30 p.m., at St. Madeline Sophie Catholic Church, 4400 130th PL SE Bellevue. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Camelot Foundation, 18606 Bothell Way NE, Bothell 98011, or Northwest Center, 7272 W. Marginal Way S, Seattle, WA 98108. Both provide outstanding services to persons with developmental disabilities.
• • •
Following the Mass in celebration of Mark's life, there will be a short reception in the church reception room that will accommodate short eulogies/comments by Mark's friends. The family's Rotarian friends are invited to also attend a reception, at about 3:30 pm at the Moloney home.
or another member of the 
Annnual Retreat
Sergeant At Arms Corner
