612 N. Main
612 N. Main
Brad Staton
612 N. Main St. welcomes Brad Staton to the turret!
Brad is the very definition of public servant and family man. We cover everything from meeting his awesome wife by "accident", getting involved in local elections/politics, sports parks, drainage, personal finance, work:life balance and so much more.
You're going to enjoy hearing Brad Staton's story.
Hey guys, welcome to six 12 north Maine. If you're interested in learning more about the Henderson Evansville Owensboro area, well, you're in the right place. This is where you hear the story of us and amazing stories. They are to sit back and relax while we welcome our special guests to the turn. Welcome back to the turret. This is Brent we're at six
Speaker 2:12 north main street, I guess, today, as someone who I'm excited to talk to and get to know a little bit more Brad Stayton, welcome to six 12 north Maine.
Speaker 3:Thank you for having me, Brandon. I appreciate being here.
Speaker 2:Well, it's our pleasure. Now we're going to get right to it. Brad statin, who are you?
Speaker 3:That's a really good question. You know, I've, I've been following your podcast from the start and I noticed that you asked that question of everybody and I'm still woefully unprepared to answer them. But now I, uh, grew up in Madisonville, Kentucky, uh, just down the road for the first 18 years of my life. I had a very humble upbringing. Uh, it was just my mother and my sister and me in a low-income household spent a lot of time bouncing around from residents to residents, apartment, to trailer, to, uh, whatnot when I was a kid. So we had very humble upbringings, uh, and in a lot of way, that's made me who I am today. Today I am a father of two children. I've got a daughter who is 11, who is going to start middle school, uh, next week. No, that's a big deal. I've got a son who is six and he's a first grade Ben gate Gator. Uh, I've got a lovely wife named Christie. She is a travel agent here in town and she's, uh, we've been married 17 years, uh, financial advisor by trade. I've been doing that since 2006. Uh, and then most recently, I guess the most important other role that I have other than being a dad and a father and a worker is I'm a member of our city commission as well.
Speaker 2:Fantastic. Well, let's unload some of those things unpack. Some of that. You said you are a financial advisor. Do you work for a foreign firm or do you have your own own shop there? So
Speaker 3:Whenever I started, when I started working in Henderson, I started working for Gibbs die-casting back in 1999. And that's when that's when I moved to Henderson was because of work a few years after that. Uh, and in 2006, I got a job with Edward Jones. I have a degree in accounting and finance and figured it was time to use my degree. I worked for Edward Jones for, for five years there, and it was a wonderful company to work for, but I soon realized that I wanted to be a financial advisor for the rest of my life. If I could help it, I really liked doing the work. And so I made the tough call on the tough transition over to opening up my own investment farm. And I did that in 2011. I've been doing that for 10 years called statin investment management. Uh, and, and I absolutely love the work and it, it provides me some flexibility so that I can be a contributor to our community, which is very important to me. If I'm, if I'm going to live somewhere and raise a family somewhere, then I want us to be plugged into what's going on and do everything we can to try to make it better.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely. I understand that. And, and what a great, uh, mission in life to have is to enable people to have options, right? That's really kind of what you do from a financial perspective. Where are you located? So
Speaker 3:I opened up my office originally in the city center mall, and I thought that was going to be a temporary location for me because it wasn't street front and it wasn't as big and glorious as my first office was. And, and come to find out I really like it there a lot. I like the owner, Greg Jones. He does a good job, uh, working with me and staying in touch. I like the location just being right there downtown. And it turns out that you can do a lot from just a humble little office in the city center. And so I haven't noticed that being an issue for my clients who come in, they, they never come in and turn their nose up at, at how many rooms I do not have. Um, and so I think it, uh, I think it really says a lot about who I am and how I grew up, uh, you know, my humble beginnings, having a humble office, but still being able to do big things there. And as long as my clients are happy with, uh, with the service that I give them, I think I can, I can work from anywhere and I'm happy at the city center mall. So I think I'm going to stay there for quite some time. Oh, that's
Speaker 2:Fantastic. If there's one central theme to this, a six, 12 podcast, it's how awesome downtown Henderson is. And we cover a lot more than that, but it comes up almost every episode. So we're glad you're there. And if there's advice you could give to people who are just starting life as a family, is there one mistake that they make, or one thing that they missed, what do you recommend to those that are they're entering that time a life when, um, uh, things can go in different directions
Speaker 3:From a financial advising standpoint. So most people wait too long until they quote unquote have money. They think they need to have money to make money. And the analogy I find myself using most often with families who are wanting to start saving for their future is to treat it like exercising. You know, the hardest thing to do is to go to the gym and to start going to the gym. And so if you have something you want to say for like a college for kids or retirement or a new home or whatever it is on into the future, the toughest part is just getting started. And even if you feel like you don't have very much money and you don't need to come see a financial advisor, even if you have 25 or$50 a month doing something and creating that habit is, is very, uh, very nice habit to form for yourself as is to be able to save money. And once you sort of form that habit, it gets a lot easier to put a little bit more away in a little bit more way. So the best advice I can give people is to not wait. And if they have questions, go see somebody as somebody like myself, for example, a financial advisor, most financial advisors do not charge a fee to come talk to us. So if you want to sit down with somebody and take an hour of my time and just unload everything about your, your history, your future, where you want to be at the end of that, I'm going to give you some, I hope that you're going to stick to them, but you're not going to owe me a penny for that advice. And so just get out and see somebody. And if you're interested get started right away, that's the, that's the most important part,
Speaker 2:Great advice get started. And, uh, you know, you never too old to start. Right? Right. Correct. Correct. Well, very cool. Uh, how did we get hold of you at the office?
Speaker 3:Well, my, my phone number is(270) 826-0065. And it has been for the last 10 years. Uh, it is part because of COVID. A lot of people have made changes about the way they do business. For me, I've permanently forwarded my phone to my cell phone. So if you call my office, you're going to get me on my cell phone, wherever I'm at. And so I'm very attainable. Uh, you can, you can get to me, however, however you need to, or whenever you need to. And so just, just put the call in and, and, uh, and then we can work out a time to sit down and, uh, and go over. What's most important to you and what your goals are and how to get there. Perfect.
Speaker 2:Wonderful. Love that. So let's talk a little bit about your wife, because she's an amazing person. I love her Jennifer and I both just love her to death. She was so wonderful when we were starting our wedding planning. Uh, we, we lucked in to talking to her at a meeting and, uh, she was so helpful. We, we did one of those destination wedding slash honeymoon things. And, uh, you guys did that too, didn't you?
Speaker 3:We did. Yeah. We, you know, first of all, my wife has, even if I wasn't married to her, I would think she's one of the most amazing people I've ever met in my life. She's just that kind of person. And I'm so lucky to have her in my life, but yeah, a year, a year and a half after we met, we met at the beginning of 2003 because of a car wreck actually. And, uh, a year and a half later, we found ourselves in Jamaica and Osho Rio is getting married. She's, she's been a travel agent since the summer of 2003. And so she really, a lot of the reason that we travel is, is homework for her. If she's going to sell something to someone, she wants to experience it herself so that if they have questions, she'll know firsthand how to answer those, because it's not just as simple as looking at pictures and reviews online, uh, it's much more effective to talk to someone who's actually been there and been through it and can answer all the little questions that you might have that other resources might not be able to do. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Well, I can kind of hear the conversations at your house, like, honey, I'm sorry, but we have to go to another thing. Somebody has to do it. Yeah. So that's what we ended up doing. We went to, um, the grill based on her, partly on her recommendation and, and just got the right room and the right service. And it was outstanding. So we will always be in debt to her. And, uh, she, she does a great job. Uh, but, uh, you guys have been married for, how long did you say? Since 2004.
Speaker 3:So that would be 17. Fantastic.
Speaker 2:Congratulations. A couple of kids. That's wonderful. How did you, how'd you guys?
Speaker 3:So my best friend that I grew up with in Madisonville today is married to the, her best friend that she grew up with in Litchfield. And the three of them lived in an apartment in Lexington, and this was right after they had lived in Colorado for a year. And so I had lost touch with him and wanted to reconnect. And so he said, Hey, come up. It's, it's new year's night. Uh, I'd still lived in Madison Bell at the time. And so I drove up there and, uh, he and his, uh, fiance at the time, uh, maybe girlfriend at the time as long time ago, I don't remember the timeline. Uh, they had had a few drinks and so I decided to be responsible and be the DD and drive them back to their apartment. We were going to get the car the next day. Excellent. Chris, stay my wife. Now, she wasn't in town. And so I was going to be sleeping in her room and she wasn't going to be there. And I may not have ever met her, except someone ran a stop sign going 45 miles an hour, stoplight going 45 miles an hour. Uh, hit us in the side of the car that I was driving. And we flipped one and a half times and skidded on the roof of the truck, into a tree and, uh, and went to the hospital. And fortunately the most, uh, lingering effect of that as, as my best friend from Madisonville, he lost a digit on his ring finger, uh, because he had his, his hand resting outside the window that, you know, we rolled over on. And so Christie came to the hospital while I was still had blue hospital pants on. And honestly I just kind of gross, but I had some dried blood on my face. And, and that was the first time I ever saw her. And, and, you know, I think it was just, uh, uh, honestly you've probably experienced this with your wife. And a lot of people do. It was just magical seeing her, even in that, even in that kind of environment. And, and, and just the fact that we may not have been ever, uh, we may not have ever even meet, uh, met each other, had it not been for that particular thing. So it's, it's an example of something beautiful can come out of something so ugly. Oh,
Speaker 2:That's definitely a different way of meeting by accident. Sorry for that pun, but not really. Yeah, you're absolutely right when you find that right. One, I mean, Jennifer Lyles is, uh, we were meant to be together and I can't imagine life without her now. So, uh, we've both done well picking our wives or her, you know, I don't know how, how you feel about that, but it's just fantastic. And I know you as a family man, and, and, and love to follow you on Facebook and that sort of thing to see what's happening. Uh, but you and Christie got together. Uh, you're in you're, you're back in Henderson, I guess, uh, uh, uh, working, he worked for Gibbs.
Speaker 3:So I worked for Gabs, uh, and I'm actually moved to Henderson. about four years after I started working at Gibbs. I got an apartment while Christie and I were dating. She moved into the apartment in June of 2003, and the first night she moved in with me, she said, um, we're not staying here. It's a little smaller than what I'm used to because she had lived in Colorado Springs and then Lexington, and we're not going to stay here, just so you know, that's the ground rules I'm moving and we're going to college. And then we'll see where life takes us. The very next night we went to the blues festival downtown. It was the first time I'd ever been to a festival in Anderson and the feeling that I got and that she got as well, just from seeing people that I knew, but didn't really know very well from Gibbs. Uh, there was a lady that worked in, in the plant that I was in her name was Aina may Oakley, and I've never told her this story. And if she ever hears this, then, then God bless her. She'll know, but she's probably one of the biggest reasons that we decided to stay in Henderson. And she, she doesn't realize that I'm sure. Uh, and it's because when we saw her at this blues festival, uh, the way that she said hello was just so kind and friendly almost as if I had known her for years. And we didn't know each other very well at the plant. We just kind of saw each other from a day to day basis. But that kind of feeling really stuck with me and it stuck instantly with Christie. And so the next night she was recounting what she said the first night, she found herself saying, you know, if Henderson's like this, then we should definitely
Speaker 2:Come with you. Have you heard that story? I mean, it's just amazing people come here to, they think, okay, this is going to be a stop along the journey. And then that magic happens and Henderson just grabs a hold of you Vienna. And it becomes home. And, and, uh, thankfully that happened to me. Yeah. Yeah. So you guys are here, uh, your family starts to growing, you've got this, uh, you're in business, you're in financial advising. You're doing well. What in the world made you think that you wanted to get into politics?
Speaker 3:John L Seitz was the person that made me get into politics and he didn't make me, so let me take that back. But he was the one that influenced me to get into politics and it wasn't necessarily politics. He sat on the school board and he moved out of his district. And so he was no longer eligible to hold that seat. He came to me at a rotary meeting and he said, you know, you've been involved with rotary kernels to college, and I know that you have a heart for the kids in our, in our, uh, uh, area. And I think you would do a good job filling out the rest of my term on the school board. It sure would make it a lot easier on me knowing that I had somebody in my district who I could count on to be a good school board member in my place where you consider doing it. I went to a few school board meetings. I put my name in and became a school board member for about a year and a month. Uh, that was the rest of his term while I was on the school board. I really, really enjoyed it. Uh, but there was so much going on in our city at the time that I really wanted to feel like I could be involved in making some positive changes in those areas for the city on a city-wide basis, and still be able to be active in our school system and, and positively affect the outcomes of our kids at the same time. And so I made the tough decision at the time, not to file, to run for school board again, not because I didn't like it, but just because I felt like my path was different. And so I, I filed in 2016 to run for school board and I've been a school or excuse me, a city commission. Uh, and I've been a city commissioner now for almost five years.
Speaker 2:Is that right? And so I think in fact, you got the highest number of votes in the primary for city commissioners. Is that right?
Speaker 3:So the interesting thing about the city commissioner race is the first time that I ran, there was a pride in the city commission. Let me start over the city and the city commission, if more than eight people sign up to run for the city commission, then there's a primary. And so there was a primary the first year. And the interesting thing was, is the first time I ran in the primary I finished in seventh place and the top eight people move on to the general election. And I've never been able to accept mediocrity for myself or for those around me or for the city I live in or any of that. I I'm, I'm very positive and, and really want to see us doing the best that we can, including myself in campaigning. So I went through and, and, uh, assembled this huge campaign team and took it very seriously and, and was very fortunate to get the, the overall number one seat in the general election that year. And then the last two elections, uh, I've been very, very blessed, uh, to finish version those elections as well. Uh, and it really does. It really does feel good because it almost feels like validation for what you're doing, because a lot of the things you have to decide on in the city commission, they're not all glorious and I, and some of them can be, some of the issues can be divisive. And so you always worry about the decisions you make and how they impact people's lives. And so to, to feel the support of that many people still voting for you, it, it does feel good. It feels
Speaker 2:Really good. Yeah. Yeah. I'm sure. Absolutely. So you're elected to the city commission and here's the thing that I've recognized since I've my time in, and in Henderson, I'm a first moved here in June of, I guess it was 1994. There were a lot of Alvery towers and that doesn't seem to be the issue anymore. There are great relationships between the city, the county, the school system, um, the chamber of commerce, the business sector. It seems like everybody's rowing in the same direction. Even if we have differing opinions, folks are getting along and getting things done. And that's in no small part to, to those that are in office who have allowed that to happen. So on behalf of all Henderson citizens, which I'm not allowed to speak for, but I will anyway, uh, let me say thank you for all that are involved. It's it's so, uh, you know, it just makes me smile to see that everybody's working together. You know, there's
Speaker 3:Not one person that really sticks out above all the rest. And it's really nice to see such a, a, a group of leaders throughout the city, both in electric capacity and in job capacity and appointed capacity and, and what else. Uh, and I couldn't have said it any better than what you just said. You know, if you've, if you quiz us on our political beliefs, you're going to see a lot of differences between the people. If you quiz us on our beliefs about where Henderson should be in Canby, I would expect there to be a lot of similarities and it makes it much easier to work with people from the county, people from economic development and downtown Henderson partnership and tourism and everywhere else across the city, it makes it much easier to work with those people when you trust them to be doing the same thing or wanting the same thing that you do. And that's just the best for your city, the best that we can be. Yeah.
Speaker 2:And I think the embodiment of that is this amazing announcement that we had from Pratt industries lat just last week, we're recording this session in early August of 2021, uh, after all this time, after all these efforts that we've had to, to, uh, court different, uh, industries and, and employers, we have an amazing one coming. And, uh, we just announced that last week. What can you tell us about that? So
Speaker 3:For starters, I want to start by saying that Missy Vanderpool, uh, Whitney Risley and the folks at our economic development part, a department, they are the front line for anything like that, that comes to our city. And so the very first thing that happens is a request for information. And so those all get funneled through our economic development department. And I can't say enough things enough, nice things about Messi and her staff and the job that they've done through the entire process. What I can say, uh, about from, just from my point of view about the entire process, what was refreshing to me is that it seems like for years, Henderson had this attitude overall, our prevailing attitude as if it didn't want to grow that there were certain reasons why we couldn't have a nicer things or, or more, more businesses come in or whatnot. And that wasn't the case at any step that I saw throughout this entire process, whether it, uh, whether it was the county's role, whether it was the city's role, whether it was the economic development's role or HW user role, it was very interesting. And from the city standpoint, uh, there were, there was a lot of money that we had to come up with to make this happen. And so I'm sure there was a time when you said, Hey, we need to figure out a way to come up with 10 to$12 million on the local city level to be able to make this happen. I'm sure there was a time when it was immediately dismissed. Now we can't do that, but we've got just a wonderful city manager who worked with, uh, of all people, our, our director of HW, our Henderson water utility very closely to come up and make the numbers match. And when we were, when we were able to make the numbers make sense, then it was a no brainer and unanimously supported throughout the city and throughout the county, throughout every step of the way everybody was working in lock step. And, and it really was a nice thing to see. And, and it was really nice to see what can happen when that happens. And what happens is we've, we've landed the elephant. We're, we're very, very fortunate to have 320 plus jobs. The average salary, not including benefits is going to be around$60,000 a year to start out. It's a big deal for our community. And it's going to pull a lot of people who might be living close to the poverty line out of poverty. Uh, it's going to do some wonders for the, the, uh, uh, our tax base at the city. Uh, and, and some of them, some of the things that you may not think about, uh, from the water standpoint, for example, they're going to use almost one and a half million gallons of water a day, and we can a day and we can provide that very easily. And our water department has stepped up to the plate. One of the benefits that our citizens are going to see is, um, I'm not going to speak for the water department, but I would expect that we will not see a rate increase in our water for 10 years plus, uh, because the amount of volume that is going to be added to that. And so that's going to help take care of our citizens in a different way. Even if you don't work there, you're going to, you're going to benefit because you're going to have the same water rates for a long, long time to come.
Speaker 2:That's just fantastic. I mean, it touches everything. It's going to help our schools. It's going to help our infrastructure. It's just going to grow everything. And, uh, so thank you to, to you and everyone else that was involved. It's just super exciting about where Henderson's going. So let's talk about the other side of things. Let's talk about the other side of the coin. What are some of our hurdles? What are some concerns? What, what keeps you up at night in terms of the city of Henderson?
Speaker 3:So one of the constant things that we've always had to battle at, uh, as an elected official in the city of Henderson is this stigma that has been in place for a long time, that if you care and do good for one part of the city, that means that you don't care or don't want to do good by another part of the city. So if we happen to be doing a project that is going to benefit the downtown then because of, uh, years of people feeling neglected, even if they weren't that feeling that was, was neglect, uh, in the east end or in country view, or some other, uh, major areas of our city, when you do something good in downtown, it may make them feel like you don't care about doing anything good in their area. And so one thing that, that I'm constantly challenging myself, and I think others are constantly challenging their selves with or themselves with is how do we do do right by all of our people, you know, in, in country view, for example, I remember walking country view the first time, uh, I was campaigning. And one of the things that I pulled and, and has stuck with me from that, uh, from that walk-in country view over the years, I knocked on a lady's door. Uh, I told her that I've been talking to the people in our neighborhood and trying to figure out what's important to them. And a lot of them said their, their drainage and their flooding issues in neighborhood are important. And, and I told her, uh, you know, I really want to help with this. And she laughed. And it really wasn't the reaction that I had expected. And I asked her why she was laughing. And she said, you know, I've been listening to the same. People come around to my doorstep for 20 years, 30 years telling us that they want to fix this or want to help, and nothing's ever getting done. And so that's been a big challenge for me is to make sure that we stay on task there. And it's really a much more complicated process than you might ever imagine. We've designed a five stage multimillion dollar plan to help, to help alleviate some of the flooding issues there. We've gotten through phase one, but then you've run into funding issues and, and keeping it on the front burner. And, and so it's a challenge for me, or what keeps me up at night is to make sure that we stay focused on improving flooding and country view, uh, to make sure that we stay focused on improving the lives for people in the east end and other surrounding areas. And in other areas of our city, while at the same time, uh, making major improvements in other areas of our city that historically have been well taken care of. And so from a, just a holistic standpoint is looking at our community, making sure that everybody feels involved and that their needs are respected and that the time is being spent to try to address those needs.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And, and, uh, so I'm going to tell you this, and I don't want you your head to get too big, and I don't want you to think I'm brown nosing you because, uh, those folks that know me know that I don't do that. I just, uh, I have rather a blunt, um, delivery. And I apologize for that sometimes. Um, I'm not gonna apologize for that this time. Here's what I've heard about Brad, is that you listen, and I think that's what we need from those that we elect. You know, even if you don't agree with me, even if you can't convince me that your, um, point of view is correct, uh, and mine's not. Um, and I don't mean that from a arrogant point of view, I'm sure you're, you're just going to be right sometimes. And I'm going to be right. Sometimes if we disagree, that's just the way things go. But what I've always heard about you is that you listen and that you try to include that in your decision. So that I think is probably the greatest strength that you have, and probably why you get so many votes. But, um, like I said, I don't want to, I don't want your head to get too big. So let's, let's talk about something that, that, um, is been on the books and on the horizon for a long time, we've got this amazing new industry here. Uh, what can really put us over the top and make generations of Henderson, Indians feel comfortable and to have a home and have reasonable growth is as 69. Okay. So that's a federal and state level project. Yes. But there are certainly influence and cooperation on the local level. So bring us up to date on that. What do you know what's happening?
Speaker 3:So it looks like we're going to be breaking ground within a matter of months, uh, which is fantastic. It's something that we, um, a year or two ago, you may not have thought would happen. You, you might've thought it was still years away. And so we're about to go through an exciting period in Henderson, where we've got construction, that's going to be going on for I 69, where we've got a half a billion dollar facility that's going to be, it's going to have to be built for Pratt. And then we've got a new sports complex. That's going to be built from the ground up starting, uh, uh, later on this year, early next year. Uh, and then, and that
Speaker 2:Will eventually grow revenue, right? That will be a revenue producer, not just an expense
Speaker 3:For this. We certainly hope so. You know what? My, one of my wife's dear friends works for the Evansville visitors bureau. Uh, she's, she's in charge of that, I believe. Uh, and she calls me from time to time and just says, Hey, when you get close to having that sports complex built, please let me know because there's lots of spillover opportunity from Evansville, and we're all the time trying to locate fields. And we'd love to, we'd love to help work with no work in partnership with you over that. And, and, um, so we've got all this construction that's going to happen. And then one of the most important things that we're going to have to do, uh, from a city standpoint is we're going to have to figure out how to get 100 to 400 new homes here in the city of Anderson. And we're going to have to do that within the next few years. And the great thing is we were already working on expanding our housing inventory as being a priority of what we're looking at, even before Pratt called with their initial call to economic development. So a lot of the groundwork is on the way, and I, you know, again, uh, I want to stress whenever we're talking that a lot of this stuff I'm excited about, but there are other people who are working on this. So buzzing Newman, our city manager, uh, Brian Bishop, over at the planning commission and his team, they've been working really hard and have, have worked with a number or have talked with a number of developers over the past few months. And I think we're close, you know, so when you have all of that construction and all of that growth going on at the same time, uh, it's, it's going to present some, some nice hurdles, uh, for us to leap over. Yeah,
Speaker 2:Sure, sure, sure. We're going to have to come up with that housing inventory, regardless of construction cost. We're going to have to figure that out. And I guess we're still on track to change the, uh, corridor, uh, the, the, uh, second street entrance into downtown will be the main, main drag moving forward. Is that, is that true?
Speaker 3:Yeah. And, and it's been in the works for even before I became a city commissioner, they were already making a zoning adjustments, uh, and talking about what we can do to improve that area. You know, it's interesting how some of these puzzle pieces fit together. We were talking about the sports complex earlier. Uh, one of the main reasons for the sports complex is to replace the PCMA ball fields that they've been in, uh, for lack of a better term disrepair for a while. And they're horrible. And so they've required significant investment. The problem for us is, is the city doesn't own that property. We lease it from the school system. And so when we started talking and about the number of, you know, several hundred thousand dollars, just to get it up to par, uh, how much sense did it make to us to spend that money on property that we do not own? Uh, then it became more realistic for us to take a look at relocating to a sports complex. Well, when PCMA has relocated from those fields to the sports complex, then the school system is going to need to figure out what they do with those fields. And so going back to your corridor comment, uh, you can see those fields from the expressway. And so in, in my opinion, I think that would be an area that will be well-suited for, uh, economic development of restaurant. A if one of the hotel managers want to move there. Oh, sure. Sure. And so having that area defined as the corridor into downtown opens up other opportunities along that area, and it's, it's really starting to shape up really nice, the housing development, uh, the six homes that are being built right there, uh, across from Lee's barbershop and right there next to the brewery. Those look really, really nice. It's, it's a very attractive way to kind of roll out the red carpet for people who come to our downtown for the many, many festivals that we have in our downtown area.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Those festivals, man, I don't know how we got to be so lucky music and hinder just Henderson, just go together. And, uh, I can't think of words to describe, uh, how awesome it is. I lived in Memphis for five years. Okay. Memphis is a pretty cool music town, right? The artists love hinders, uh, Memphis, let me just put it that way. The artists love Memphis and they enjoy coming there to perform. And we saw some amazing talent. And of course there was Memphis in may and there's all these food. Uh, extravaganzas. This is Henderson is a miniature version of that type of environment, summer and Henderson with, uh, starting with handy Fest and song, and bluegrass is going to be here before, you know, it that, um, that I mentioned, uh, porch fast porch Fest is fantastic and everything that Lindsey and, and downtown Henderson, uh, partnership are doing is great. So, uh, I'm just, I get excited every time I think about it. And, um, one of these days I'm going to have to stop talking about it. Cause it seems like it comes up in every podcast, but if you're not coming to, to Henderson for some of these events, you are missing out, uh, friends and Owensboro and Evansville. We have people from around the country that come to little Henderson, Kentucky to experience some of the best festivals in the United States. So, all right, I'm off my soap box. I will, you know, I didn't even get paid for that. So tourist commission, you know, you're welcome. Uh, or I'm sorry, one of the two, I'm not sure which one it is. Uh, but Brad, let's, let's get Senator back on city of Henderson. Sure. So where are we going from here? So we're
Speaker 3:So, so I have been talking with Brittany SPE. You've been talking with Brittany Spears, Britney Spears about her financial needs. Okay. It's not
Speaker 4:Getting cut out. I heard, I hear she's going to need an advisor.
Speaker 3:Oh my goodness. I think so. I've been talking with Brittany Smith, uh, uh, habitat for humanity. And we've been talking about how we can make an impact on people specifically in the east end and surrounding areas who want to improve the exterior aesthetics of their home from a neighborhood pride standpoint, but maybe don't have the money to do so. And so she and I are actually scheduled to meet in the coming weeks and talk about how we can write a matching grant program so that if you, if you live in a certain area of town, there's going to be money available up to a certain amount. If you want to freshen up your landscaping or put in a new front door or add some shutters or fix your roof, or do whatever. Uh, just to, just to, just to be a part of the process of, of, of taking pride in your home and, and, and doing some things that you, that you may have wanted to do for a while, but you just need a little extra to get over the hump there,
Speaker 2:Not new construction, but improving making improvements. Sure. And, and current property, uh, that may not be able to be done if you're, if you're going out by yourself.
Speaker 3:Right. Right. And, and, uh, we'd been talking with Missy Vanderpool at economic development on how we can structure some business incentives for people who want to open businesses in that area, because as other areas have flourished in town, uh, we want to make sure that that specific area flourishes as well and brings back some of its, uh, days of old, so to speak when, when more businesses were there and more people were participating in the overall economy of our city, uh, by owning businesses and, and doing, uh, doing work for others. So, um, and from a city standpoint, we've got a, we've got a lot of work to do. Uh, obviously we talked about the housing earlier. Uh, that's been a front burner issue ever since this whole housing glut started where you put a house on the market and it sells yesterday for, for$15,000 more than what you asked. Uh, and the reason that it's doing that is because we have a severe lack of homes here in Henderson. And, and we have a severe lack of space, which is a challenge, but it's a challenge that we can overcome. And so one of the, one of the things I think are going to be most important for us in making sure that not only we have the people who Pratt needs, but the people who are existing businesses need, uh, to, to, uh, uh, help to, to fill out their workforce and to keep on keeping on, uh, we're going to need more people here in Henderson. And so that's going to be one of the most important things that I see that challenge of[inaudible], uh, there's a new group that just started to, uh, to try to figure out how we can still best provide service to our businesses, uh, patronage to our businesses on the strip, uh, because I, 69 is going to curl around the strip. And so people aren't going to be forced to go right through and patronize some of those businesses. And so there's a, there's a worker that starting that. I'm proud to be a part of that one as well, to figure out what do we need to do over the next few years so that when this road gets built, that it doesn't have as negative of an impact as it, as it potentially could on some of those businesses that rely on traffic, on traffic count, so to speak. And so there are a lot of challenges that way we've got to get to look forward to. But, uh, yeah, we're just blessed. Like I said, to have a really good group of people, uh, in city management, uh, and, and in leadership positions throughout our community, that I have faith that no matter what kind of challenges we're presented with that, we're going to be able to tackle them and that we're going to be able to do a good job for Henderson.
Speaker 2:I love that. Thank you so much for, for sharing that with us. Now, let's turn our attention back to you, cause this is your story. And I understand the city commission is a huge part of your life. And, and, uh, I could sit here and talk to you all day about multiple, multiple topics, uh, and I'm, uh, squelching my inner government affairs, uh, uh, committee, uh, uh, tendencies. But, um, uh, but I love the direction we're going in and I'm just so happy for this community and those that are surrounding, but let's turn ourselves back to Brad state. Okay. So what's next for you? Or do you have to these days
Speaker 3:For me, something that, uh, you know, everybody has, has got gotten through COVID so far and made life adjustments and whatnot. For me, something that I had to realize is that my work and life balance were out of whack. Uh, ever since I started on the city commission, uh, I would have liked to have thought that I could have hit the ground running and done the best job I could for the city. And at the same time, still be able to put my best effort forth with my family and my wife and my business and everything else. And, and honestly, it's a challenge sometimes because no matter how much effort you want to put into something, uh, if you, if you don't have that balance, it's, it's going to take away from certain other areas. Uh, I was over committing myself and, and, uh, honestly there were three or four nights a week where I was gone from the house and not spending time with my family. And, and, uh, and so I've tried to find ways recently to where I can still make just as much of a positive impact as, uh, always have, uh, but take on things that maybe don't meet at night. Uh, so I can spend more time with my family. Uh, and so what what's next for me is just continuing to try to do the best job I can for my business and for my clients there. Uh, and then continuing to be present every single day, uh, for my wife and for my kids and making sure I pick up some of the slack around the house because she works. She works way more than I do. Uh, from a, from an hourly standpoint, she, a travel agency has been a travel agent. Business has been quite different over the last year and a half imagine. So, you know, she, she went from, uh, uh, working to try to get people onto trips, to working for a year to try to get people off of trips. And she makes money when people travel. And so it was, it was a challenge for her in a number of different respects. So what they did is build up this, uh, build up this demand and that demand is being unleashed on her. And she is going through an extended Barry's busy period. Like I have never seen before and bless her. She wakes up every day, 6:00 AM, starts work by six 30 and then we're lucky if she can end work by six 30 at night, just to keep up with, with all of this pent up demand. And so I need to make sure that, that I'm there to help, uh, and, and be there in all facets of life while still doing the job that I've, that I've always done and expect to continue to do. And the other areas that I'm involved in.
Speaker 2:Yeah. You know, that balance is so important in a I'm happy to hear you talk about that. How old are your kiddos now?
Speaker 3:So Marley is 11 years old. I just turned 11, July 15th, and my son Davis is six and he'll be seven in September. All right.
Speaker 2:So, uh, sports, dance, uh, any of that kind of stuff going on in your life?
Speaker 3:Lots of that kind of stuff. I see a lot of myself in both of my kids a lot. And in Marlay where I see myself the most is her, her willingness and desire to be involved in just about everything. And, uh, you know, she'll come home one day and it's one day it's girl Scouts the next day, it's horseback riding and then it's band, and then it's this, and then it's that. And so the things that I think she's most excited about coming up are going to be banned. Uh, she's going to give the French horn a world there. Yeah. And then, uh, and then she's, she's a very, uh, uh, she's very interested in becoming an avid horseback rider. Uh, and then archery, she, she likes archery Davis. Uh, we're, we're lucky if we can get Davis away from his Kindle or his Nintendo, you know, we have to ration this time, just like any good parents will. Uh, but we start him actually today at five o'clock, he's going to start out at Meek's and do some karate. And, uh, and so I'm trying to find activities that he enjoys that gets him away from the screen. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that's, that's kind of what's, what's next for them. So wonderful.
Speaker 2:It sounds like you've got a lot of exciting things going on. Uh, you know, that age is just so, so very interesting. Um, when my daughter turned 12, she asked if she could start taking acting lessons. I had no clue that she was interested in doing that. Wow. And, uh, to say that that had a major impact on my life is the understatement of the century, uh, and in terms of, of where my journey has gone. Uh, but you know, that that thing can happen to you. It's about that time for the, for the kids, you know, when they start making those choices, it's just incredible and so much fun and enjoyable to watch them. And I'm so happy she's in band, I'm an old banger and, uh, that whole social, uh, tribe, uh, was fantastic for me. And I just hope she enjoys it. Just a fraction of that. You
Speaker 3:Know, if I heard it was, it came down to band or choir, she couldn't pick out which one she wanted to do. And I think, I think her heart fell with band. And, um, fortunately the school, you know, she's going to south metal and they have some loaner French horns. So she gets to start out and, and we don't have to lay out a few thousand dollars for her instrument. And she, she has like a trial period and, and, and I hope to goodness that she likes it and continues to do it, but if she doesn't, it's no big deal
Speaker 2:Know she can easy instrument to play. Oh, no, it doesn't. It looks complicated. Yeah, no kidding. So, um, my best friend, uh, when I was a, that age chip Dawson, uh, JIP played the French. He could, he could look at an instrument and could play it, you know, I mean, he just had that talent. He could play any musical instrument ever. He played guitar, he could play piano. His mom taught piano. And, um, you know, I was always jealous. I was, uh, I was the big kid in the back that had no talent, but I was big enough to hold up the tube and those were loners, so I didn't have to pay for it. So, uh, that, that was my band experience. But, um, so, uh, you're moving forward. You're, you've got this work life balance, um, thing happening and, and, and, um, you know, uh, things are going great for the city, even though there are still challenges. Absolutely. There there's certainly challenges in the financial world. I look at my account every day and I have no idea when I opened as a, is it going to be up this much or is it going to be down this much? And I probably shouldn't look at it every day, as long as I'm following my plan, but I can't help it. I'm addicted to it. I can't, I can't stop looking at the numbers. I'll have to say COVID was a very interesting time to be an investor. I bought some stuff pretty cheap, and I'm really happy with where it is now. Uh, I couldn't sleep a couple of nights, you know, uh, last oh last summer, I guess was probably the worst time. Um, it's like, is this ever going to go back up, but it's going back up and, uh, I'm pretty happy. So, uh, what do you think about the financial markets? Are we, are we heading toward a good cycle or that we need to be aware of another housing bubble or anything else?
Speaker 3:So you asked a few questions there, so there's a little bit to unpack. They, they, uh, it's so hard, you know, once you predict something with the financial markets, uh, nine times out of 10, you're going to be wrong. And the, and the one time out of 10, that you're right, you write a book about it and everything. So with the financial markets, if you've noticed with your statements and with the, with the accounts for, for about maybe three to five months, it's been trading sideways. So it goes up and down and kind of stays, you know, about the same. And I think that's a, I think that's kind of an accurate portrayal of where we are economically. Uh, you know, you've got a, you can't drive down the road and without if you're driving past businesses anyway, without seeing help wanted signs. And so this is nationwide we're, we're experiencing our businesses are experiencing a challenge of we're able to grow, but we have a short, we have a shortage of parts because maybe a supplier is short on people, or there's been a, a pent up demand that had the car lot. Oh my goodness. Yes. And, and so we have a lot to work out and work through the system. Now we will learn a lot about ourselves in a month or two when some of the, uh, benefits that have been in place for so long disappear, uh, from a federal level. Uh, and, and, and at that point in time, I think things will become much clearer. You know, if, if businesses have an easier time of hiring people and we can get through some of those bottlenecks that are in our economy, then I don't think that we are in a bad economy at all. I think we're in a good economy, uh, uh, but it really, it, it, there are a few variables with COVID that are happening now. Uh, you're starting to see some spikes in the number of cases that are causing a government action, uh, at the state and federal level that sort of filtering down to the cities and counties as well, as far as masks returning and whatnot. So as we get through that, I think we're going to learn a lot about how the economy is going to shape up and, and move forward. So, um, I'm interested to see, I don't think there's any reason to, there's, there's two buttons I don't ever like to hit, and that's the panic button and the snooze button likes to. Yes. Uh, so, so I, I, I don't think it's, I don't think there's any costs to hit any kind of panic button right now, but I do think it's, it's worthy to keep our eye on and see how we come out of the day.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Fantastic. Brad state. And it's been a pleasure talking to you today. Uh, you know, we're definitely gonna have you back in the future. We, we, uh, need to learn more about what's going on with the city and with the financial markets and, and with your family. And, uh, you're just a blessing to Henderson and, uh, you know, what can I say, thank you for everything you do. Well, thank
Speaker 3:You for having me in any time. I can be on a show as positive as this one that also challenges my vocabulary and makes me look up a word in the dictionary before I come. Uh, I'm glad to be a part of it,
Speaker 2:So, well, thank you so much. And until next time, we'll see you in the turret
Speaker 1:Six, 12 north[inaudible].