The article and column in Sunday’s paper about the fellows who got caught making moonshine was very interesting and further shows how economic development is stifled in our state.
Sure these fellows broke the law because they did not follow the rules about taxes, etc., but to arrest them and destroy their equipment goes back to the days of prohibition mentality and is certainly not forward thinking.
What should be done is to show these fellows how to get legal and to set up a real business of making and selling “Mississippi Moonshine” to the world. Think of the amount of tax money that they would generate, and the number of people that would be employed with their success, and the profits would remain in our state and not sent to another country as is the case for the so-called economic development successes we see around here which are nothing more than political band-aids.
Please encourage entrepreneurship in our state, that is what results in real economic development. Sure, place a fine on these fellows for not playing by the rules, but let them work off their fines from the profits that they will make running a real business making a product that they appear to be very good at realizing.
Their fine(s) are paltry amounts compared to the magnanimous advantages that we give to foreign companies to come here with no guarantee that they will not go away when times are bad for them, and leave us with a white elephant facility and heavy unemployment bills to pay.
I would be very happy to assist them to make a real business plan, and consult them in running a successful business venture. I visualize a good market potential for “Mississippi Moonshine” and its sister products. My understanding is that Jack Daniels was started in the way that I am suggesting, and it is also my understanding that they are now more than a $100 million operation today.
God only knows how much money that they pay for taxes to the state of Tennessee, and the value of their asset sitting in barrels today, aging, which they can borrow money against to finance their operations as needed.
Claude Simpson
Columbus
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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