GwinnettForum | Number 21.74| Sept. 24, 2021
IT’S BEEN 30 YEARS of providing continuing shelter for the homeless at Rainbow Village. To mark the occasion, the nonprofit of Duluth is planning a celebration gala on October 16. For details, see Today’s Focus below.
Duluth Fall Festival is this weekend, September 25-26. As parking in Historic Downtown Duluth is limited, we recommend that you take the FREE Festival shuttles. There are ten large buses that run continuously, except during the parade. You may park at one of the schools: Duluth Middle School on Pleasant Hill Road, Chattahoochee Elementary on Albion Farm, or Mason Elementary on Bunten Road. The shuttle will take you right to the heart of the Festival! It was the only festival in Georgia listed in the top ten festivals in the entire nation by Country Living magazine. Don’t miss this award winning festival!
TODAY’S FOCUS: Rainbow Village to mark 30 year anniversary with gala October 16
EEB PERSPECTIVE: Robotic surgical firm has big expansion plans in Gwinnett
ANOTHER VIEW: Only four ways USA can get high federal debt under control
SPOTLIGHT: The Gwinnett Striper
FEEDBACK: Send us your thoughts
UPCOMING: Peachtree Corners offers four types of grants as a result of Covid
NOTABLE: Rowen Foundation releases final report from Advisory Force
RECOMMENDED: Movie: Fonda in Five Acts directed by Susan Lacy
GEORGIA TIDBIT: Civilian Conservation Corps put the unemployed to work
MYSTERY PHOTO: Stark Clues for you to identify this edition’s Mystery Photo
LAGNIAPPE: Georgia Gwinnett College recognized as “Tree Campus” again
CALENDAR: Gwinnett Stripers last five games of season starts September 29
Rainbow Village to mark 30-year anniversary with Oct. 16 gala
By Melanie Conner
CEO – Rainbow Village
DULUTH, Ga. | Thirty years ago, Rainbow Village was spawned out of the mind and heart of Rev. Joel P. Hudson, founding rector of Christ Episcopal Church in Norcross. Many hands from his congregation came together to renovate a home, then known as Rainbow House, to accommodate one to two homeless families at a time. In the years that followed, the number of homes, the number of lives touched, and the overall vision grew, as well.
Conner
Through it all, the Gwinnett County community has been more than a birthplace; it’s also home to our most loyal supporters. As the mission grew to encompass transformational programming on a 2.5-acre campus in the heart of Duluth with room enough to house 30 families at a time, the “village” surrounding Rainbow Village grew in lock-step. Whether volunteering on our campus or answering the call for donations, countless beautiful souls have given of their time, treasure and talents in support of this shared vision. Even more have faithfully lifted us in prayer or shared the story with others in their circle through the years. From individuals and families to church groups and companies – large and small, Rainbow Village has been the recipient of so many blessings over the last three decades. Those blessings have paved the way for our nonprofit to continue to be a blessing to families in need.
On Saturday, October 16 at Atlanta Athletic Club, Rainbow Village will gather together with many of those loyal supporters to commemorate 30 years of providing help, hope, housing and healing to families experiencing homelessness.
In a sad twist of fate, Rainbow Village lost its founding visionary, the Reverend Hudson, in its 30th and his 90th year. In tribute to his memory and to continue his legacy, this event will mark the inaugural year of the Joel P. Hudson Humanitarian Award. The award is designed to recognize the extraordinary contributions of individuals, organizations, or other non-profits who have made a profound impact on others. The evening will also encompass endless opportunities for us to gather together in fellowship, from a seated dinner to an always exciting live auction and even more activities.
As this organization honors this rich past, Rainbow Village also looks ahead to a bright future filled with hope. Earlier this year, as part of the 30th anniversary, Rainbow Village was proud to unveil a new website at www.RainbowVillage.org, which serves as the best way to gain an early understanding of its mission, programs and learn about the campus. In addition, those interested can discover how they can play a role in the future. They may contact the office at 770- 497-1888 to schedule a visit.
As this vision continues to evolve in hopes of helping as many families facing homelessness as possible, I stand firm in my faith that the Rainbow Village we know and love today will look very different 30 years from now. I invite you to be part of that evolution!
Peace and blessings.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Robotic surgical firm has big expansion plans in Gwinnett
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
SEPT. 24, 2021 | In development circles, a recent announcement out of Peachtree Corners was a blockbuster! It will bring benefits to all of Gwinnett County for years, as high technology will be hitting unprecedented new heights in Gwinnett.
The announcement was that a firm already employing 150 in Peachtree Corners, Intuitive Surgical, would have a major expansion here to eventually employ 1,200 persons. That would include expanding into six buildings, with the total investment of over $500 million.
The key product of the company is the da Vinci Surgical System, a state-of-the-art machine which enables surgeons to do complex operations using a minimally invasive approach. Last year alone, more than 1.2 million procedures were done with this technology in hospitals and health care facilities. There are nearly 6,000 da Vinci surgical systems now in use worldwide.
The company makes robotic-assisted surgical systems. Their plans call for having classes at their offices in their buildings in Peachtree Corners to attract doctors from all around the world who would spend days at a time here learning how to become proficient on this most-modern and delicate robotic surgical system. That means that these out-of-town doctors would need to be housed and fed while spending their instructional time locally. Think of the impact this would make on local hotels and restaurants!
You can begin to understand how much impact this can have. The Georgia Department of Economic Development said the announcement of the expansion is among the largest announced projects in Georgia in 2021 and one of the largest investments in Gwinnett County’s 200 year history. The facilities needed for this project will take up at least 750,000 square feet. It won’t be completed all at once, but in phases, with construction anticipated being completed by 2024.
Wow! Don’t you know other area promoters are envious that Peachtree Corners landed such a major company with this overall large impact!
Currently Intuitive Surgical has about 150 employees in Gwinnett. These are highly-skilled workers with an average salary of $130,000. The Gwinnett location is the company’s U.S. regional headquarters. While publicly the company has said it would eventually employ 1,200 people in Gwinnett, word on the street is that the total figure will probably be more like at least 1,500. Many of these new employees will come from distant places, needing to find new homes in this immediate area.
Altogether, it’s expected that 6,000 surgeons annually will come to Gwinnett for training on these machines, staying 1-2 weeks, and needing 16,000 hotel room nights. It’s estimated they’ll spend $150 per day on food, travel, etc. when in the area. The overall impact is expected to be $4.9 million in revenue for local establishments.
The project of Intuitive Surgical will be built on 17.5 acres, and employ approximately 2,000 in construction related jobs.
Intuitive Surgical’s global headquarters is in Sunnyvale, Calif., where it has manufacturing, advanced research and training facilities. The firm employs over 5,500 people currently. It has customer service representatives throughout the world. It was founded in 1995 and is a pioneer in robotic-assisted surgery. It is publicly traded on the NASDAQ exchange under the symbol ISRG. Its stock price on Thursday was $1,049 per share.
All of Gwinnett will benefit from Intuitive Surgical expanding here. Welcome!
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Only four ways USA can get high federal debt under control
By Allen Buckley
ATLANTA, GA. | As a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), federal public debt is near its all-time high. Mainly because of entitlements, substantial growth is expected to continue. Is the “deficits don’t matter” proclamation correct, or is the national debt a problem? How does monetary policy fit in?
Buckley
In 2007, when total federal debt was less than $9 trillion, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said it foresaw our nation’s debts spiraling out of control. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has said similarly. In 2011, when total debt was roughly half of what it is now, Joint Chiefs of Staff head Mike Mullen called the national debt our greatest national security threat.
Now the total federal debt is $29 trillion and public federal debt is $23 trillion. For prosperous 2019, we added $1 trillion to the debt. For 2020, we raised $3.4 trillion and spent $6.5 trillion. A $3 trillion+ deficit will exist for 2021. Even with the ability to print money, these figures are beyond reason, necessitating actions to keep Treasury rates very low to prevent insurrection. Low Fed rates have produced historically low CD, mortgage and bond rates, with corresponding overheated real estate and stock
In 2008, when the nation’s debt-to-GDP ratio stood at 0.68, a federal bail-out for a crisis was possible. Now, at 1.28 (1.00 considering only public debt), a federal bail-out of the next (inevitable) crisis becomes less feasible by the day. Where does it end? In a best-case scenario, we end up with a dead economy, like that of Japan (2.37 ratio) or Greece (1.74 ratio). The worst- case scenario is a complete financial collapse.
There are four potential ways to get the debt under control:
- Economic growth;
- Heavier taxation;
- Write-downs and/or write-offs; and/or
- Inflation.
After World War II, the U.S. dominated the world economy. Real growth of over five percent was averaged between 1950-1955 and 1961-1968. Annual inflation averaged 7.4 percent between 1968 and 1982. The highest income tax rate did not drop below 70 percent until 1981.
If debt growth stopped, growth alone might get the job done. However, for our mature economy, CBO sees consistent annual growth not exceeding two percent.
Absent addition of a significant net worth tax, additional taxation will not solve the problem. A Constitutional amendment would need to be passed for a net worth tax to exist. It won’t happen.
Because so many nations depend on the U.S. dollar to stabilize world markets, U.S. write-downs and/or write-offs (i.e., default) could cause worldwide markets to collapse. So, they are very unlikely.
That leaves inflation. Congress can blame it on the unelected Federal Reserve System. Congress can keep expanding entitlements and increasing spending and the debt as long as the Fed will continue quantitative easing (QE = money creation) and keeping interest rates low. Inflation also helps state and local government pension plans because liabilities are often fixed.
As of now, there are no credible world’s reserve currency threats.
Continuing money creation is a way for the Fed to potentially recover its ability to use interest rates to meaningfully impact the economy, without potentially catastrophic write-downs and/or write-offs. The Fed owns roughly 25 percent of the public debt. Because the Fed can extinguish the debt and it returns almost all the interest payments it receives to the Treasury, substantively, public debt is $17.5 trillion. The more debt the Fed acquires, the greater its ability to increase interest rates without insurrection. Inflation is the fallout.
Janet Yellen is now calling for an unconditional ceiling increase. Believing deficits don’t matter, few politicians care.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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We encourage you to send us your letters and thoughts on issues raised in GwinnettForum. Please limit comments to 300 words, and include your hometown. The views of letters are the opinion of the contributor. We reserve the right to edit for clarity and length. Send feedback and letters to: elliott@brack.net.
Peachtree Corners offers 4 types of grants as result of Covid
The City of Peachtree Corners has launched four separate grant programs to assist businesses and nonprofits whose operations have been severely impacted as a result of COVID-19.
Through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 which was signed into law on March 11, 2021 by President Biden (H.R. 1319), the city will receive $16.4 million which will be given to qualified small businesses and nonprofits that suffered economic hardships because of the impact of COVID-19. The intention is to help businesses remain open and operate and keep Peachtree Corners’ residents employed and to aid nonprofits serving the community with operational funding.
The grant application process was launched September 20 and ends at 11 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 29. For questions, send an email to grants@peachtreecornersga.gov.
Cory Salley, the city’s finance director, says: “We have worked diligently to ensure the application process is as simple and seamless as possible. Because the funding comes from the federal government, there are restrictions on how the funds may be allocated. The details are included in the applications which are accessible on the city’s website. Additionally, an instructional video on how to apply is included. For any questions, please use the email provided on the website page.”
The city has created four distinct funds and grant application pathways that will provide operating funds for small businesses and nonprofits; capital funding for businesses and nonprofits to use to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 or to improve the exterior of their facility; and emergency funding for nonprofits to distribute to Peachtree Corners’ residents most severely impacted. They are:
- Business operating grants, which offers small business funding to use for general operating expenses;
- Nonprofit operating grants provide nonprofits serving Peachtree Corners’ residents with operational funding.
- Nonprofits emergency assistance to Peachtree Corners’ residents who have been hit the hardest during the pandemic.
- Capital expense funds, which provide money to beautify a small business or nonprofit’s facility’s exterior and or renovate the facility to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Mayor Mike Mason says: “We are very pleased that the city is able to present this grant program to our businesses and nonprofit organizations. It will be the mechanism we use to distribute these monies into the hands of those who need it the most.”
- Learn more about each of these funds and their corresponding grant applications on the City of Peachtree Corners dedicated web page, American Rescue Plan Act, https://www.peachtreecornersga.gov/businesses/american-rescue-plan-act.
Rowen Foundation releases final advisory report
After a series of five meetings spread over five months, the Rowen Foundation released the final report of its Gwinnett Community Advisory Task Force.
The report includes 20 immediate, short- and long-term action items that the Foundation will advance to ensure that Rowen – a visionary knowledge community that will bring together entrepreneurs, researchers and innovators – delivers on its mission, vision and core principles in partnership with the Gwinnett community.
Mason Ailstock, Foundation president, says: “The Rowen Foundation has the direct feedback and support of our community’s leaders. The Task Force members were able to share their deep wealth of knowledge about the Gwinnett community and provide vital perspective to Rowen’s future goals. We look forward to implementing their suggestions and continuing to work with our members during our next phase in establishing Rowen.”
In addition to the direct-action items included in the report, Task Force members reinforced the need for the Rowen Foundation to consistently continue a participatory process throughout the lifetime of Rowen’s development, particularly engaging younger audiences such as K-12 students, college students and young professionals.
The Foundation will continue to build partnerships in 2022, expanding and diversifying ways for others in the county and state to engage with Rowen. The project has made significant progress since its announcement in August 2020 and anticipates site work beginning in 2022.
Gwinnett County Chairwoman Nicole Hendrickson says: “Every Task Force member is committed to working with the Foundation to help implement future phases of Rowen. This speaks to the incredible collaboration and impactful conversations we were able to accomplish. I look forward to watching the project continue to grow and positively impact the citizens of Gwinnett County.”
- To download the full Gwinnett Community Advisory Task Force report, visit rowenlife.com/announcement/gcatreport.
County to adopt non-discrimination policy as of Nov. 1
It’s equity in motion. Gwinnett County Commissioners took a bold step to amend and expand the County’s nondiscrimination policy. The changes take effect November 1.
As it stands, a County employee cannot be discriminated against based on their sex, race, color, national origin, gender (identity and expression), sexual orientation, age, religious or political affiliation, marital status or if they are pregnant, disabled, active duty military or a veteran. The changes to the policy will now protect a person’s ancestry, family status, immigration status and homeless status as well.
The amendment also draws inspiration from the Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair Act (CROWN), which ensures that race-based hairstyles, textures and protective styles such as braids, locs, twists and knots are protected in the workplace.
Trans Housing Atlanta is designee of Gwinnett Stripers
Minor League Baseball has announced the creation of a charitable component to the 10-game Triple-A Final Stretch of games that will benefit 501(c)3 charities in each Triple-A city. For each home run hit by Triple-A teams (home and road games) during the Triple-A Final Stretch, Minor League Baseball will donate $50 per home run to a local charity selected by the team. The team hitting the most home runs over the 10-game span will generate an extra $5,000 donation for their charity. For the Gwinnett Stripers, the local charity to get such funds will be Trans Housing Atlanta.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Movie: Fonda in Five Acts,directed by Susan Lacy
From Susan J. Harris, Stone Mountain: Jane Fonda in this film talks about her life and times. This is an unvarnished look at her life from childhood until the present. She describes the fraught relationship with her father Henry Fonda, which resolves somewhat appearing together in On Golden Pond. She talks of marriage to French film director Roger Vadim, with whom she has a daughter. Act three is her marriage to Tom Hayden, with whom she has a son. Here her life takes a quixotic turn, including controversial actions during the Vietnam War. The final act is her marriage to media mogul Ted Turner, where she shared 10 happy years which eventually became confining and unsatisfactory. In the present day she actualizes her talents for both acting and activism. Fonda in Five Acts is not only entertaining, but also a look into the growth of a courageous woman who models personal growth with candor and humility.
An invitation: what books, restaurants, movies or web sites have you enjoyed recently? Send us your recent selection, along with a short paragraph (150 words) as to why you liked this, plus what you plan to visit or read next. Send to: elliott@brack.net
Civilian Conservation Corps put the unemployed to work
Among the numerous New Deal programs of Franklin D. Roosevelt‘s presidency, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) is remembered as one of the most popular and effective. Established on March 31, 1933, the Corps’ objective was to recruit unemployed young men (and later, out-of-work veterans) for forestry, erosion control, flood prevention, and parks development. The president’s ambitious goal was to enroll a quarter of a million men by July 1, 1933. In what is considered to be a miracle of cooperation, four government agencies collaborated to turn Roosevelt’s goal into reality.
The U.S. Department of Labor recruited men for six-month enlistments; the U.S. Department of War provided army officers to operate 200-man work camps; and the U.S. Departments of Interior and Agriculture identified projects and supervised the work (local experienced men, called “LEMs,” were also employed to train and oversee the mostly unskilled laborers). By the president’s deadline, 274,375 men were at work in 1,300 camps nationwide. During the CCC’s nine-year existence, more than three million men, endearingly called “Roosevelt’s Tree Army,” worked from 16,000 camps carrying out projects across the nation.
To manage this complex organization, President Roosevelt tapped Robert Fechner, the vice president of the International Association of Machinists. Raised in Macon and Griffin, and trained as a machinist in Augusta, Fechner proved to be an exceptional choice for the job, working tirelessly on behalf of the program and the men until his death in 1939.
Despite opposition from Georgia governor Eugene Talmadge, who argued that federal New Deal programs were an intrusion into state government affairs, the CCC was overwhelmingly popular in Georgia. Before the corps’ termination on July 1, 1942, more than 78,000 men were employed in 127 camps (approximately 30-35 camps operated at a time) across the state.
Enrollment in the CCC was determined by quota based on state population and unemployment rolls. By law, racial discrimination was prohibited. Nonetheless, nearly all the camps were segregated, and African Americans were often discouraged or even prevented from enlisting. Early in the program, several southern states, including Georgia, failed to recruit eligible Black workers until the Labor Department threatened to withhold a state’s entire quota unless the issue was satisfactorily addressed.
The CCC’s motto was “We Can Take It!,” and camp life was a mixture of hard work and camaraderie. Enrollees from city streets and rural farms learned to live, work, and play together. Men acquired skills that, for many, led to careers or prepared them for service in World War II(1941-45), and the $30 per month they earned ($25 went home to families) helped loved ones survive the dark days of the Great Depression. The men of Company 4463 GA SP-13, who developed a state park on Pine Mountain, even had the distinction of serving as President Roosevelt’s honor guard during his visits to nearby Warm Springs for polio therapy.
(To be continued)
- To view the Georgia Encyclopedia article online, go to https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org
Stark clues for you to identify this edition’s Mystery Photo
A plaza with flags of several nations, a soldier with a weapon, but there is little else is seen to go on in order for you to identify this edition’s Mystery Photo. Do your best, and send your idea to elliott@brack.net and include your hometown.
Virginia Klaer, Duluth was the first in with the last Mystery Photo. She reported: “The mystery photo today is Trostletown Bridge located in Somerset County Pa. It was built in 1845 and is 104 feet long with King post trusses. I found three other covered bridges in Pa, with the same logo at the top of the entrance with Queen post trusses.” The photo came from George Graf of Palmyra, Va., who smudged the name of the bridge.
Others recognizing the mystery included Robert Foreman, Grayson; Lou Camerio, Lilburn; and
Allan Peel, San Antonio, Tex. who writes: “Today’s mystery photo is of the Trostletown Covered Bridge (also known as the Kantner Covered Bridge), located approximately 3.6-miles northwest of the Flight 93 National Memorial, the site of United Airlines Flight 93’s September 11, 2001 that crashed in the fields near Stoystown, Pa. Trostletown Bridge is a three-span, Multiple King Post Truss bridge that is 104-feet long, 12.5-feet wide and crosses over a small stream just before it flows into the Stonycreek River.”
Peel adds: “There is some conflicting information on exactly when this bridge was first built. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in December 1980, and according to NRHP, it was originally built in 1845. However, by the mid-20th century, it was in dire need of repair and restoration, and so it was purchased by the Stoystown Lions Club in 1965 and they completed the restoration in 1993. Part of the confusion in when this bridge was first built stems from the discrepancy between the dates documented by the NRHP (1845) and the date claimed by the Stoystown Lions Club (1873).”
Lou Camerio included a photo of the sign on the bridge.
Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC) has been recognized as a Tree Campus for 2020, the third consecutive year by the Arbor Day Foundation, a nonprofit organization, which is dedicated to planting trees in communities around the world. This aerial view of the campus shows how it is surrounded by a tree cover. To remain a tree campus, GGC must uphold five standards every year by maintaining: a campus tree advisory committee, a campus tree-care plan, dedicated annual expenditures for its campus tree program, an Arbor Day observance and a student service-learning project. The tree planting event served as GGC’s service-learning project for 2020. Benefits of having trees on campus include reducing erosion, stormwater runoff and heat islands, and absorbing pollutants in the air through their leaves.
Box seats: Gwinnett Stripers are partnering with Coolray Heating and Cooling for a special ticket offer to wrap up the 2021 season. For the Stripers’ final five games at Coolray Field from September 29 through October 3, fans can purchase Field Box seats for just $5 each. The Stripers will play into the month of October for the first time in team history, hosting the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp for a five-game series as part of the “Triple-A Final Stretch.” Fans can purchase the $5 Field Box now at GoStripers.com.
Author to visit: Local author Mary Kay Andrews will visit the Duluth Branch Library in person on Saturday, October 2 at 7 p.m. to discuss her new holiday novella, The Santa Suit. Copies of the new book will be for sale and available for signing. Beverages and a silent auction is sponsored by the Friends of the Library.
Author set virtually: Join Gwinnett County Public Library in welcoming Rick Bragg virtually on
Monday, October 4 at 7 p.m. as he discusses his new book, The Speckled Beauty: A Dog and His People. Signed copies are available from Eagle Eye Book Shop and shipping is free. Visit https://eagleeyebooks.com. Register at GCPL Adult Services and the link will be sent to you.
National Night Out in Lilburn will be on October 5 from 6 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. at the City Park. The Lilburn Police Department will host this annual event at Lilburn City Park. All, especially kids, are invited to come and interact with various public safety agencies in an up close and personal way.
Education Matters, a discussion on school issues, will be held Wednesday, October 6 from 6 to 7 p.m. at T.W. Briscoe Park in Snellville in the Williams Pavilion. Speaking will be Rep. Rebecca Mitchell of House District 106 and Everton Blair Jr., chairman of the Gwinnett School Board.
Author Martin Paggett will appear via Zoom on Wednesday, October 6 at 7 p.m. through the Gwinnett County Public Library. He will discuss his new book, A Night at the Sweet Gum Head: Drag, Drugs, Disco, and Atlanta’s Gay Revolution. Register at GCPL Adult Services and the link will be sent to you.
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