Pensacola News Journal from Pensacola, Florida • 40

-4D Pensjcola News Journal Sunday, February 9, 1992 I 1 Taco Casa in sweet home Alabama SIOUX FALLS Major non-government employers in Sioux Falls, S.D. Company employed John Morrell Co. 3.147; Sioux Valley Hospital 2,823 i citibank 1 1 McKennan Hospital 2,100 Midwest Coast Transport 1,050 Sunshine Food Markets 900 Hy-Vee Food Stores 872 Hutchinson Technology Inc. 830 Good Samaritan Centers 607 Sears Payment Systems 592 James I River SD- Sioux I M.nn. Yankton towa 1 Ndb.

City comfortable position of buying 6oft drinks produced by Pepsico. "You have to really think long and hard why you want to stay with Pepsi," Wilkin said. The reason, he said, is that the connection is not so direct he actually does business with Buffalo Rock, an independent distributor and that service is good. In addition to thinking long and hard, Wilkin, 43, has done his share of working long and hard. He began the business in 1974 with $2,500.

"During that time I worked 100 to 120 hours a week," he said. That went on for about seven months. Now he's down to 55 to 60 hours a week. that Taco Casa started in Tuscaloosa. Wilkin believes they are loyal for more elemental reasons, such as quality.

The two taco chains were once similar in price, but now have diverged, Wilkin said. Taco Bell's promotion is about two years old, and has featured tacos as low as 39 cents. Taco Casa has countered with an emphasis on three concepts: fresh, quick and quality. For example, Taco Casa uses never-frozen ground chuck delivered three times a week, and 100 percent mild Wisconsin cheddar cheese. On one product choice, Taco Casa has found itself in the un with one of the largest corporations in America," said Wilkin, Taco Casa president.

Nevertheless, that's business as usual for him, and he claims a good measure of success. Sales at the Northport Taco Casa have continued to climb although Taco Bell opened on a prominent corner just down the street. Also, a Tuscaloosa Taco Casa is having steady sales growth while competing with a Taco Bell on the same street. "We feel like we're the leader in the market here," Wilkin said. "I think some of the loyalty is because we're home-grown," Wilkin said.

Wilkin played football under coach Bear Bryant at Alabama and has stayed in town ever since. Many groups in town have benefited from the 17-year-old company's financial support, as well as through Wilkin's service on boards of directors. Many customers are not aware Associated Press TUSCALOOSA, Ala. There must be some misunderstanding, say the callers to Taco Casa. They want the home office.

For Rod Wilkin and his associates, Taco Casa's bona fide home "international headquarters," he says with tongue in cheek is in the rear of a Tuscaloosa building. Instead of an international enterprise, Wilkin holds the reins of an intrastate business pushing Mexican fast food: four company-owned outlets in Tuscaloosa County and one in Mobile, and a franchise in Birmingham. The most direct competition, however, has international muscle. Taco Bell's parent, Pepsico, is one of the largest food-and-drink conglomerates in the world. Pepsi-co's other children include Pizza Hut, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Pepsi-Cola.

"It's really difficult to compete Source: Sioux Falls Development Foundation. Gannett News Service Wanted: Workers for 'southern city NEED A LOAN? FOR ALL YOUR MONEY NEEDS ANY AMOUNT HOME IMPROVEMENT" Bill CONSOLIDATION AUTO HOME BOAT FARM CLASS MOTORHOME COMMERCIAL REFINANCE YOUR HOME SAVE THOUSANDS $50,000 Home Loan $208.35 Mo. $100,000 Home Loan $416.70 Mo. NO CREDIT CHECK ALL LOANS APPROVED FIND A NEW WAY TO DO FINANCING HOME LOANS NO DOWN PAYMENT NO INTEREST HOMES REFINANCED UP TO 100 OF APPRAISAL BE FINANCIALLY SECURE IN 7 TO 10 YEARS. M.B.

"BILL" JONES INCOME TAX APPLY NOW FOR FUTURE USEl. ELECTRONICALLY FILE YOUR TAX RETURN RECEIVE FAST FUNDS IN TWO TO FOUR DAYS 6 TO 9 MO. FUNDING OR EARLIER SEND SELF ADDRESSED STAMPED ENVELOPE TO: $33.00 start-up manual THE NATURE'S WAY (A.CC. 7O14840O323) ENSLEY 8951 PENSACOLA BLVD. ACROSS FROM WALMART 476-8888 MAIN OFFICE 732 W.

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It is loTtrieenerTtn! owner, who want to reduce the burden of interest on hit or her fomrly lor the rest of thee- lives. By Frank Santiago i Gannett News Service SIOUX FALLS, S.D. It's a good thing Sioux Falls is in South Dakota and not North Dakota, says city planner Stephen Metli, with a dash of humor. South suggests warmth, green grass, barbecues on the deck, a lifestyle that's easy to sell. But South Dakota is a deep freeze; temperatures sometimes plummet to 25 below zero or lower this time of year.

That, however, has done i little to cool one of the fastest-; growing corners of the region. SIOUX FALLS HAS become a hot spot. In the past decade, the city's population shot to 101,000, a 24 percent increase, much of it in recent years. While the country is mired in recession, Sioux Falls' unemploy-. ment rate sank to 2.2 percent in November, one of the lowest around.

As the railroads did to lure settlers to the High Plains, city boosters are looking far afield for workers to fill a shallow labor 'pool. IN AN UNUSUAL move, the Sioux Falls Development Foundation last fall placed classified ads in newspapers in Toledo, Ohio; St. Cloud, Casper, Fresno, and Sioux City, Dubuque and Davenport in Iowa. The ads invited readers to sample the city's abundance of jobs and clean air. Roger Hainje, foundation president, said the ads brought 2,000 callers, more than double the number expected.

"It was overwhelming," he added. How many actually relocated to the city isn't known, Hainje said, but there may be hundreds. What Sioux Falls needs most are people to work in packing houses and credit-card processing, in the medical field and in manufacturing jobs that pay from about $6.50 an hour to $8.50 an hour to Dakota, and from Montana. They're bringing their homes with them," Metli said. New city-issued mobile home permits have been soaring.

Typically, 25 new permits are granted in a year. In recent years, the city has handed out an average of 225 new permits. THE GROWTH HAS triggered a wave of construction. In 1991, total building topped $169 million, almost three times a typical year in the 1980s. Things began to roll in Sioux Falls a few years ago when the city enticed Citibank to move its New York credit-card processing operations.

Citibank liked the fact that South Dakota has no limits on credit-card interest rates. "We took a bold step and invited them in," Hainje said. Citibank moved in workers from as far away as Singapore. Today, the company employs more than 2,800 and is the third-largest local employer. After Citibank, a parade of companies solicited by city and business leaders began setting up shop.

Sears Payment Systems, another card operation, arrived and now has 592 employees. Hutchinson Technology, a Minnesota-based maker of precision components for computers and medical equipment, built a plant. It employs 830. LAST FALL, community leaders announced that First Interstate Bank will open operations to handle credit-card processing for thousands of businesses that don't process their own cards. That will bring in about 200 new jobs.

"We have a very pro-business environment here that's very supportive of growth efforts," Hainje said. South Dakota doesn't have corporate or personal income taxes, two things that make the state an easy sell, he said. Unemployment compensation rates for employers are lower than for most states. Neighboring Minnesota, for example, has rates that are about one-third to one-half higher. The state's unemployment benefits fund has a healthy $48.5 million balance.

WITH THREE MAJOR hospitals, Sioux Falls also has surfaced as a medical center. Some 5,500 to 6,000 people work in the medical field here. "We've seen not only new companies locate, but there has also been expansion among employers already here," Hainje said. "ZIP ZERO NIX NAUGHT NONE nil: start. WHILE THE WAGES usually provide low- to low-middle income, they haven't discouraged new arrivals, Metli said.

"They're not 'working poor' jobs. They usually include full fringe benefits, and that's important to a lot of people," he added. The money, some leaders worry, isn't enough to sustain a family. "Many are coming from the energy fields of Wyoming and North Voters don't want ideology, they demand solid solutions Does the national Democratic Party have a death wish on eco- 1 Ck 4 piomic poiicyr rsf Here's what we have to say about closing costs on a home equity line of $15,000 or more. lhat may be the real question in the 1992 presidential election, as an obviously WCQACIICU J.

1 C3 I ident Bush faces an nnno- sition that LOUIS can't decide RUKEYSER HERE'S WHAT YOU CAN SAVE Amount You Percentage Access at of Closing Closing Costs You Save $15,000 100 10,000 65 5,000 35 whether it wants to lead the nation into the Fastest Service In Town. In most cases, we can give you an answer in 24 hours with closing in just two weeks. We also give you two convenient ways to access your line-personal checks and our special Gold MasterCard. Whether you want to buy a new car, finance a college education, or simply consolidate bills, our home equity line offers the cash you need when you need it. So Let's Talk.

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Because unlike other banks, our prime interest is you. And you can quote us on that. many Democrats apparently have started to believe their own propaganda about it being a benefit only for "the rich." Nonsense; as the President briefly noted, 60 percent of the people who would benefit have incomes under $50,000 and many of their votes are up for grabs, as are those in jobs and industries that would be helped. In fact, it was a Democratic-controlled Congress that lowered capital gains taxes in 1978, and the result was as always more revenues and a stronger economy. It could happen again.

HEALTH Americans are justifiably troubled by skyrocketing health costs and the fear of financial wreckage through ill health. But there are many better ways of dealing with this than by creating still another out-of-con-trol federal bureaucracy, and it will not take much of a debate to make this clear. The irony is that this year is presenting the Democrats with a historic opportunity. In economic affairs, George Bush's problem is not so much selling his policies as finding them.A true bipartisan debate on how to encourage sound, noninflationary, private economic growth would be in the interests of a nation that traditionally cares less about ideology and labels than about what will work. Louis Rukeyser writes for Tribune Media Services.

There's really nothing to it. Just access $15,000 or more on your new Central Home Equity Line, and you won't pay any closing costs. But let 's say you don't need $15,000. At Central, you still save. Because while most home equity loans have one-time closing costs ranging from $300 to $500, ours is designed with savings in mind-no matter how much you need.

Of course, insurance will be required on the property securing this line of credit. Tax Savings Opportunities. Interest expenses for consumer loans are no longer deductible on your income taxes. But with a Central Home Equity Line, all the interest you pay may be deductible. Check with your tax advisor to get information on your specific situation.

A Competitive Rate. The annual percentage rate on our home equity line can be as low as 1. 75 over the prime rate as published in the Wall Street Journal's "Money Rates" table. Compare this to the 2 over prime charged by other banks. Central APR on January 25, 1992, for example, was 8.25.

The rate is subject to change, so be sure to call for our current rate. And though the rate is variable, it can never go above 18. Lower Payments. With Central's Home Equity Line, your payments are substantially lower than with traditional of your outstanding balance or $25 a month, whichever is greater. And the annual fee is only $40.

future or the past. The easy applause at primary time comes from singing the old class-war songs. But as has been made clear now over more than a full generation of presidential elections, the American people in the end do not want to put a left-wing rhetorician in the White House. Despite the party's hammerlock on Congress, only three Democrats have won the presidency in more than four decades, and none ran from the far left. The Democrats have been rigged to encourage candidates who stir partisan juices in February but drown in those same juices come November.

For those of us who aren't partisan politicians, the collapse of useful public debate on the economy is a national loss. Consider these issues: TAXES George Bush is such a poor salesman for capital-gains tax reduction (as for the rest of his domestic agenda) that CENTRAL BANK OF THE SOUTH N.A. But VjikelHtwstJsfym. Member FDIC li Uli ftmiiii ii tm fV.Hi Fi.fvhujtii.iwi fiXM-nH tn.im. I A "1 1 fri i fc.

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