[nfbmi-talk] Paper says "No plans for Tim Horton's," but

[joe harcz Comcast]

Actually the story alluded to a Tim Hortons franchise in the Anderson 
building, but said there would not be on in the Capitol, though clearly they 
are linked.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Joe Sontag" <suncat0 at gmail.com>
To: "Joe Sontag" <suncat0 at gmail.com>; "VENDORSMI List" 
<vendorsmi at nfbnet.org>; "NFBMI List" <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, September 05, 2013 9:31 PM
Subject: Re: [nfbmi-talk] Paper says "No plans for Tim Horton's," but


>I have the following from a reliable source:
>
> When a TV reporter and camera crew arrived at the BSBP Lansing Central 
> Office earlier today, Director Ed Rodgers ordered his Staff to say that he 
> was not present, while he hid in the conference room until the reporter 
> and crew left the office.
>
> Finally, if there are no plans for a Tim Horton's franchise, why is Bob 
> Essenberg in Canada now, possibly for up to 7 weeks?  Has anyone seen 
> Essenberg around the greater Lansing area lately?  If I were that 
> reporter, I'd be trying to speak with Bob Essenberg, the newly hired 
> 17-level Director of the Business Assistance and Development Program 
> (BADP) within the Bureau of Services for Blind Persons (BSBP).
>
>  ----- Original Message ----- 
>  From: Joe Sontag
>  To: VENDORSMI List ; NFBMI List
>  Sent: Thursday, September 05, 2013 20:58
>  Subject: Paper says "No plans for Tim Horton's," but
>
>
>  State officials were reluctant to comment on reports regarding Tim Horton 
> products
>  going into the state capitol.
>  The Director of Services to the Blind was unavailable for comment on
>  this story
>  , as a cone of silence descended. An
>  employee of the Michigan House and a state licensing department official 
> declined
>  to talk, too, as they walked into a 2:30 strategy meeting on this issue 
> Thursday.
>  There was one state official who did talk, but not on camera. He points 
> out, Tim
>  Horton products would go into a room on the ground floor of the capitol, 
> but the
>  Tim Horton sign would not. Tim Horton employees would not be running the 
> operation,
>  but they would provide training to the visually impaired who would.
>  However, the Tim Horton sign and products could end up in the House 
> office building,
>  right across the street from coffee shop competitor Biggby.
>  Bob Fish runs the Biggby franchises in the area and was not asked to bid 
> on the project.
>  He is worried that franchisees may have their tax dollars subsidizing Tim 
> Horton.
>  "I don't think its a matter of signage or not signage," said Fish. "All 
> of our Biggby coffees are taxpayers. It would feel a little awkward to us 
> that
>  we are paying our taxes and maybe that project is being subsidized 
> somehow with our
>  dollars. That sounds weird to me."
>  As the licensing department director, Steve Arwood, came to the meeting, 
> he was not
>  very forthcoming on what exactly was unfolding as he walked past our 
> camera.
>  (Reporter) Mr. Director, would you help clarify what you are trying to 
> do.
>  "Discussions are underway and no decision has been made," said Arwood.
>  (Reporter) Do you want to put a franchise in there?
>  "Discussions are underway," replied Arwood.
>  (Reporter) Is the state going to pay a franchise fee?
>  "No decisions have been made, Tim," said Arwood.
>  Fish contends that if the state does not pay a franchise fee, he has "a 
> problem with that...
>  it's unfair." We don't know if its unfair, because nobody was talking 
> about it.
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