Here’s a little window into the world’s billionaires! According to Forbes Magazine, at the end of 2021, the world’s richest person was Jeff Bezo, founder of Amazon, at $177 billion. No. 2 was business magnet Elon Musk, Tesla CEO, at $151 billion. No. 3 was Bernard Arnault, a French luxury goods tycoon, at $150 billion. No. 4 was Bill Gates, developer of Microsoft, at $124 billion. No. 5 was Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder, at $97 billion. No. 6 was Warren Buffet, who runs Berkshire Hathaway, at $96 billion. * Wisconsin’s richest billionaires are John Menard Jr., Eau Claire based Menards, at $14.2 billion. No 2 is Herbert Kohl, Kohl’s Department Stores, at $9.3 billion. No. 3 is Diane Hendricks, of Beloit based ABC Supply Centers, at $8 billion. * The country with the most billionaires is the Unites States with 724. China is No. 2 with 698 billionaires. No. 3 is India with 140 billionaires. No. 4 is Germany with 136. And No. 5 is Russia with 117. In 2020, the Unites States had 614 billionaires and China had 456. So you can see that China is gaining fast on the United States with the number of billionaires. * Interesting facts: Beijing, China is the home of more billionaires than anywhere in the world. (And that’s Communism?) The top ten richest people in the world are worth $1.15 trillion. The United States youngest billionaire, at age 25, is Austin Russell who started the automotive sensor firm, Luminor Technologies. His worth is $2.4 billion. *** Did you know? On average 8,610 die each day in the United States. If you do the math that is 369 people every hour or about 6 people per minute. One can be gone in a flash! +++ In the U. S., 42 percent of those age 12 to 54 were nearsighted in the early 2000s – that is up from 25 percent in the 1970s. If current trends continue, one study estimates, half the world’s population will be myopic (nearsighted) by 2050. +++ Over the last 25 years, some of the best companies to work for, that you may recognize, are CISCO, Marriott International, Publix Supermarkets and Edward Jones. With 230,000 workers, Publix is by far the largest worker owned company in the United States. A part of Publix’s success might be attributed to the fact that 90 percent of its supervisors started their career working on a supermarket floor. *** Our very first visit on our recent trip was to what was known as the Kentucky Artisan Center. It was a large series of buildings that housed many products made by artisans from across that state. I mention this only because it has been announced that Gilman will be having a similar sales outlet, but of course on a much smaller scale. The building that was built for the former Gilman State Bank is being retrofitted and will serve as an outlet shop known as Gifts on Main. A number of Gilman area artisans will be having their products for sale at this cooperative store. It is a new beginnings for a nice building, in a good location and it has come about because of people who believe in their community and themselves. Good luck to them. It will become a destination for us one of these days. *** Stanley is gaining another business and it will be located in our East Industrial Park, off Pine Street, just beyond Junction Avenue. Rural Electric Supply Company (RESCO) is a member owned, not-for-profit electrical wholesaler and one of the Midwest’s largest full-line distributor’s of high-voltage electrical products. The building being constructed in Stanley will cover 40,000 sq. ft and house an expansive warehouse, offices and a training room that can double for other uses. The need for this warehouse, by its cooperative members, came about with supply chain disruptions in recent years that seriously challenged electric utilities. The new facility will provide an expanded on-hand inventory of materials, supplies and equipment needed by utility providers. Why Stanley for a location? With sister warehouses in far away Middleton, WI and Moorehead, MN, the Stanley location will serve member cooperatives and municipal utilities in northern and central Wisconsin, with a large inventory at a more geographically central location among Wisconsin’s electric distribution co-ops.. If all goes as planned RESCO’s Stanley location will be built in 2023 and open in early 2024. *** If your a Chippewa County taxpayer, it is going to be another good year for your pocket book. The budget that was approved by the Chippewa County Board calls for a tax rate of $2.72 per $1,000 of valuation vs. last year’s rate of $3.10. The county’s overall budget went up more than $20.26 million, largely due to increases in state and federal aid. According to county officials the top reasons for the budget increases were inflation, the battle against meth and mental health needs. What will this gigantic increase in the budget pay for? Wages will be increasing 3% for county employees, with unchanged insurance rates. The county will also be hiring 11 new or modified positions in the budget, including seven social workers, a counselor and a clinician, an environmental health specialist and an administrative assistant to the UW-Extension. Most of the increased funds in the budget is money that came to the county from the Federal Government’s “American Rescue Plan Act.” Unfortunately, none of that $20 million was shared with any other government entities or non-profit organizations. Some other counties shared their funding with non-profits who applied for it. *** There was good news for one Chippewa County business when it came to the distribution of the funds from the federal Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program. Crescent Meats, located along Highway 27 north of Cadott, has received $1.6 million that will allow owner Wayne Lautsbaugh, to increase his plant size from 12,000 to 20,000 sq. ft. This in turn will allow processing of meat to increase from 3,000 to 6,000 pounds per day to between 10,000 and 20,000 pounds per day. Besides increasing the processing area, the funding will also allow expanding the store’s retail space, more freezers and expanded loading docks. *** Smile. Ask your doctor if any medicine with 32 pages of side effects is right for you? +++ Today I learned that the average person consumes 9 alcoholic drinks a week. Today I also learned that I am above average. +++ I can’t afford an Ancestry DNA Kit to learn about my relatives. So instead I posted on line that I had won the lottery. +++ In the 70’s I was riding on my bike and fell off and hurt my knee. I’m telling you this now because we didn’t have social media back then. +++ They say I changed a lot. I say a lot changed me. +++ It’s not my age that bothers me, it’s the side effects. +++ I’m not saying I’m old and worn out, but I make sure I’m nowhere near the curb on trash day. +++ As I’ve gotten older people think I’ve become lazy. The truth is I’m just being more energy efficient.

BY DAVID JANKOSKI