Growin' Up Gregory

Let me be very honest and candid about this - when I first read about the proposed airplane tax cut, I was not happy (just say it, I was mad!).  I thought that it was ludicrous to consider cutting tax revenue while counties are already struggling due to decreased sales and collections of local taxes.   However, unlike many people in today's culture, I didn't take to social media to start talking about how stupid the idea was and how much I disagreed with.  Instead, I started doing some research.  I looked up some information, asked some questions, had some conversations, and I learned some things. This was important for me to understand because I own a boat (I consider planes and boats luxury items) and pay Union County property taxes.  However, that boat hasn't been in Union for years.  It's housed and operated in a neighboring county.  There's not even anywhere that I can safely and legally operate my boat on public property in Union, yet I stil...

Have you ever been invited to a meeting with a vague topic and no idea of who else was going to be there?  Like, you literally are wondering to yourself the whole time if they got the right phone number or email address when you were sent the invite?  That was the case for me the other day.  I want to share a little about the meeting and discussions (hopefully that will be allowed or I may not be invited back) and more about what's really driving us. I was invited to a planning meeting for Union County.  I may have the official name wrong but that was the topic.  This was not a specific board or group.  There were people from many different fields - government, education, medical, business, faith-based, and I'm probably leaving some out.  Now you see why I was somewhat anxious about the meeting - this was not the kiddie table. The primary topics were Opportunities and Threats facing Union County - essentially the 'goods' and 'bads' that we could st...

I love numbers.  It's safe to say that I'm a "numbers guy."  I always did better in math where 2 + 2 = 4 every single day instead of English where words and phrases could be interpreted with varying meanings.  And now working in banking, I still love numbers.  They make some decisions black and white where things are perfectly clear-cut.  But sometimes at work, and especially in life, it's about more than a number and we venture into gray areas.  (Note:  I could go on more here about why and how our bank does things differently than most but I don't want to risk stating something incorrectly or sharing confidential information.  If you'd like to know more, please contact me there.) Over the past couple weeks, I have read articles from Union County and from the Union County School District discussing multiple statistics in our school system and the effects it has on economic recruitment.  Some of those statistics are alarming.  I've eve...

Before you put a business on blast on social media, please be sure that you have asked at least one employee (preferably a manager or supervisor) to assist you with whatever the issue is. Maybe your waitress forgot to give you a fork, or missed that you needed a refill.  She could have miscounted or someone may have been away from the table when she passed them out.  Or perhaps she's dealing with a personal issue and doing her best to not let it interfere with work which we all know happens at times. Maybe a company left you sitting in the waiting room too long.  Did you tell anyone you were there?  Or better yet, call ahead to see if the person you're coming to see is available?  The staff may be swamped or short-handed that day, or they may have checked the room just prior to your entry.  So call ahead or say, "Hello" and let someone know you're present. This method of resolving an issue or conflict is not a new idea, and is even...

I don't know how many people have ever bought a brand new, or nearly new, car from a dealership where they offered "free" (remember nothing is free) oil changes, tire rotations, or other routine maintenance.  Disclaimer:  I haven't.  Since my dad is a used car dealer I usually joke with people that if I ever buy a brand new car I get kicked out of the family.  But usually, when you take your car in to get serviced they offer to let you drive a newer, nicer, fancier car that's in their fleet.  Have you ever wondered why they do that?  Hint, it's not just to be nice.  Dealerships want you see their newest and best cars to let you see how good it is in an effort to tempt you into purchasing a newer ride.  Sorry, if you're car guy (or girl) but the rest of this post isn't about cars.  I can't for the life of me understand why some people from Union want to bash, tear down, belittle, or insult anything good that we have here.  If you're n...

This topic has been in my studies and on my mind for several weeks now.  I talked about it on Mother's Day at church with a friend who was party to some of the stories I could tell (don't worry I won't call you out here lol), had the pleasure of teaching it in Sunday School and even sharing with our older crowd at a Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting. It's a story that many of us have lived, admittedly or not, proudly or not, but nevertheless we have lived it.  It's a story of transformation and renewal.  If you ask people who know me about the 2018 John Gregory, they will likely tell you many good things.  I have a successful career, a happy family, well educated, kind, polite, and serve in various roles in an effort to give back to my community. But that wasn't always me.  Yes, I was one of the "good" kids in high school, college, and even shortly thereafter to some extent.  I never committed any major crimes and stayed out of trouble for the ...

I count myself one of the lucky ones.  I have been given an opportunity in my life to grow up in a great town, get an education both locally and in a neighboring small town, and then be given an opportunity to pursue a rewarding career in my hometown.  Yes, I consider being "stuck" or "left behind" in Union to make me lucky. Nearly 13 years ago, a local company took a chance and hired a 22 year old kid not long out of college with no experience who was looking for a job primarily because I was too lazy and unmotivated to go back to school to become an accountant.  When asked why I wanted to get into banking my response was literally this, "I don't know, I just heard it's a good career to get into."  Looking back, I don't even think there was a need for the position I was hired into, but for whatever reason it happened.  And I believe that it has worked out well for both the company I work with and myself. My message to young people, and pot...

Tuesday at Rotary, we heard from Steve Aldrich, the Director of Manufacturing Operations at Haemonetics about the new expansion at their production facility here in Union.  If I recall the statement correctly, they will be adding 100+ total jobs in several different areas to fully staff the new expansion.  It was also mentioned that Gestamp and Standard Textile are continuing to look for more workers as well.  And there is also a groundbreaking scheduled for Thursday on a new 100,000 square foot spec building that the County will be marketing towards bringing another large business to Union. For the first time in a long time, likely since many of the textile mills were running strong, Union is not hurting for jobs.  We are hurting for workers.  There are many good jobs in Union County.  If you live here, I encourage you to go look for one.  If you live in a neighboring county, I encourage you to look for one here.  And then if you like it, I hop...

Most of my close friends and family, especially my wife, are well aware that one of the words I'm not very good at saying to others is "No."  I have a tendency to make every effort possible to be everywhere and do everything that is asked of me.  Sadly, that is often at their expense because of the stress and pressure I put on myself to perform to an extremely high standard.  I don't know why that is, but I am working on it.  And oddly enough, today was one of those days that I officially unofficially said "No" to something that I had wanted for the past 18 months by allowing the deadline to pass by. In Fall 2016, as the presidential race heated up and politics in general took center stage, I began to pay a lot more attention to politics and our elected officials.  I began to read up on who they are, listened to what they were saying, and watched how they interacted with others.  I began studying up on politics in general to learn what impact certain posi...

With all the hate and animosity being spread online, on social media, and on TV, I think it's time to spread a little bit of goodness and cheer. Over the past few weeks, I've had several businesses that I've had very pleasant interactions with and feel that they deserve some credit. Just because a business isn't mentioned here does not mean I have any issue with them, I'm just sharing the ones that I have personally dealt with recently. First, a couple weeks ago I hit a deer headed home from the Y. Thankfully I was in the City so I was going a lot slower than if I had been on 215 close to home. Well, I called my local Farm Bureau office that morning, they put me in touch with the claims department, and they had an adjuster calling me by about lunch time that same day. Then had an appraiser out to look at my car the next business day.  Very quick and efficient service.  Thank you. Following up on that, I obviously had to get the car fixed.  Once t...

A zoning ordinance that would allow a bar or tavern to open on Main Street has been in the news for Union recently.  There has been a significant amount of both strong support and strong opposition to this considered amendment.  I am still attempting myself to figure out and comprehend ALL of the facts but here is what I have come to so far. 1.  It my current understand that the present ordinance ALLOWS a restaurant to open on Main Street and serve alcohol.  This misconception is being passed around that alcohol sales are not permitted at all in the City of Union.  You may open a restaurant (key part first) that is focused on food yet serves alcohol.  You may not open a bar or tavern whose primary purpose is the sale and consumption of alcohol.  I have not read all 80 pages of the City's zoning ordinance book online but based on conversations I have had with people that is what I currently understand to be the law.  If I am wrong in that, severa...

If you listen to some news stations and read certain newspapers, studies, and online articles, you may believe that Union County is one of the poorest, most uneducated, drug ridden towns in South Carolina.  They even will often share statistics that support their claims.  I'm not saying that any of these people are lying when they share this info.  But I will state that being a numbers guy who has spent a ton of time doing calculations for many organizations, that numbers don't lie, but they can be calculated and presented in such a way that benefits one party more than another. Numbers don't always paint the whole picture.  No, Union's test scores may not be the highest.  But some places manipulate (that's such an ugly word) their SAT scores by only allowing their smartest students to take it.  Union County Schools prepared me to score the necessary SAT score by my senior year to earn a hefty scholarship by allowing me to take it in the 7th grade for the...