Dorchester Times: Source: Dorchester Business "On The Brink"

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Source: Dorchester Business "On The Brink"

A reliable source has informed the Times that a Dorchester business is "on the brink" and could close its doors within weeks unless it experiences a significant uptick in income.

Our source appealed to the Times, asking us to alert readers and urge them to do more business in our community. So we are sounding the alarm.

What can you do to help ensure every Dorchester business succeeds in these leaner times? Do business in Dorchester every chance you get. Spend at least $50 that is currently spent outside town at a Dorchester business. Then tell your friends and family to do the same.

Consider this: If half of Dorchester's residents spent just $50 a month at a Dorchester business, that business would generate $15,350 in sales over 30 days. That is more than $184,000 a year.

The loss of a Dorchester business is more than just an inconvenience for area residents. It means a loss of local jobs -- and the loss of much-needed property tax revenue that pays for our school, town infrastructure and village employees. It means the loss of another sponsor of local youth clubs and high school athletics. Wost of all, the closure of a Dorchester business spells the possible loss of a hard-working individual or family who wanted to call Dorchester home, but had to look elsewhere because because he/she was not supported by friends and neighbors.

The Dept. of Labor reports that for every $100 spent in independently owned stores, $68 returns to the area community through taxes, payroll and other expenditures. If you spend that in a national chain, only $43 stays here. Spend it online and nothing comes home.

So get your hair cut in Dorchester. Have fun on the town with dinner and an adult beverage. Buy your weekly groceries and gasoline. Shop for antiques. Upgrade your used vehicle. Use a Dorchester businesses when building or making repairs to your home.

"Use it or lose it" goes the old saying. That phrase especially rings true when it comes to local business. It is time to rally around our community and its centers of commerce that enhance our quality of life. (*Editor's Note: The ads appearing in this article were used only because those particular businesses sponsored a recent high school football guide published by the Lincoln Journal Star. The Times supports all Dorchester businesses and encourages readers to do likewise.)

10 comments:

AnonymousAugust 18, 2009 at 1:49 PM
well if we knew what business it was, we could go there.
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AnonymousAugust 18, 2009 at 2:14 PM
And if I knew who it was that left the comment above, I would leave a flaming bag of dog poo on their front door ... if they even live in dorchester.
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AnonymousAugust 18, 2009 at 7:52 PM
Would shop more at store if he took coupons. I have a large family, coupons help alot when on a budget.Sorry if this upsets people but that's the facts of life!!!!!!!
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AnonymousAugust 18, 2009 at 11:26 PM
I think people should support the merchants in Dorchester. People will drive to Crete to buy gas because it's "cheaper" by a few cents. Few sense indeed!
Hair care and restaurant food; pretty much the same but buy local and support Dorchester. Use it or loose it.
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AnonymousAugust 19, 2009 at 7:26 AM
maybe the school should reconsider their new off campus policy and allow the students to go downtown to eat. Especially the rural kids that can't leave campus because they don't live in town. The school wants the businesses to support the school so in return the school let the students support the town.
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AnonymousAugust 19, 2009 at 9:29 AM
I hear Joe's Place is going to have a big event early next month around labor day.
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AnonymousAugust 19, 2009 at 10:36 PM
Just a thought but I think if everyone factored in the price of gas and what it really adds to the cost of your merchandise when driving to Crete or wherever to buy things readily available in Dorchester, they're really not "saving" any money. Plus, if you shop in Dorchester, you can actually walk to the grocery store, hair care place or have a beer, save gas and get some exercise in the fresh air. And, time is valuable and time on the road driving to a "cheaper" place really isn't a bargain, it's wasted time, in my opinion. I think if it's available in Dorchester, you should buy it in Dorchester and actually save money.
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AnonymousAugust 22, 2009 at 3:37 PM
Either way, EVERYONE in Dorchester should support the towns businesses. If you people are so worried about wasting money, quit going to walmart in crete and lincoln for all of your needs.
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AnonymousAugust 25, 2009 at 6:43 PM
I don't live in Dorchester,but if they had a fund set up I would give $50.00 a month to the merchants.I'm only able to make it there once a month.
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AnonymousAugust 28, 2009 at 8:43 AM
isn't there a well business with a Dorchester address?
They advertise in the year book and crete news.
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Dorchester: A Good Little Family Town

Dorchester, Nebraska (est. population 630) is located in northern Saline county. Close in proximity to Interstate 80, Dorchester is only 25 minutes from the state capital of Lincoln (est. population 250,000) and about 55 minutes from Omaha (metro population 725,000).

Dorchester's median resident age is 37 years. In 2005, Dorchester had a median family income of approximately $35,600. The median house value was about $63,000. About 95 percent of Dorchester residents commute to work via Interstate and highways.

The village has a quality public school, which received a $4.1 million expansion and modernization in 2008; it offers a small classrooms and individualized attention. Total enrollment of grades K-12 is around 230-250 students.

Ancestries of the Dorchester area are primarily German (42.4%), Czech (24.9%), Irish (12.5%), English (5.4%), and Dutch (4.9%).

Dorchester Historical Facts

* On July 4, 1871, the railroad reached Dorchester.
* Incorporated in 1881, Dorchester's population grew from 200 to 500 by 1882.
* In 1882, Dorchester had 90 buildings, 35 of which were businesses or public facilities. Brick buildings lined both sides of Washington Avenue for two blocks.
* Dorchester's longest-running newspaper was The Dorchester Star, which was published until the late 1940s.
* By 1889, Dorchester's population is said to have reached 800, while the town housed an opera house, a two-story brick schoolhouse with a bell tower, and four churches.
* By the 1910s, Dorchester had electricity, a water tower and a fire department.
* Dorchester's main arteries, Highways 6 and 33, were graveled in the 1940s.
* Dorchester's first irrigation well was drilled on Chris Weber's farm and rural electrification was finished following WWII.

A Village with History

Dorchester is one of the "alphabet towns" on the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad line built west from Lincoln. The town site was selected for its pleasant location in the northern part of Saline County, about eight miles west of Crete. This situation is an attractive one, being on the level prairie land, midway between the West Blue River and Turkey Creek. The first named stream is three miles north, and the latter about the same distance south from the town. Dorchester was platted in 1870 and incorporated in 1881. The name "Dorchester" came from either for a suburb of Boston by that name or a town in England. No one is sure. Two of the very first settlers were James Seely and Edward McIntyre, who both made Dorchester their permanent home.

Dorchester: In The Beginning

Here is a look at Dorchester around 1890, less than a decade after its official incorporation, as documented by Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska:
* POPULATION: "About 300, and is made up of a substantial and progressive class of citizens, who are moral and industrious. ... The town grew but very little until the year 1879, for the reason that Pleasant Hill, on Turkey Creek, a short distance south, was the county seat and naturally drew a trade for quite a large scope of country."
* BUSINESS: "The business and professional interests of the town are represented by three general merchandise stores, two drug, one grocery, one furniture, two hardware, and two millinery stores, one bank, two restaurants, two hotels, three livery stables, a post office, one newspaper office, two elevators, two lumber yards, two coal yards, two blacksmith shops, two lawyers and four physicians."
* SCHOOL: "The schoolhouse is a good one. The schoolhouse was built in 1872, since which time the public schools have been continually kept up. The present schoolhouse is 24' x 40' in size, two stories high. The school is graded and consists of three departments. The house is found too small, and arrangements will soon be made to increase its size."
* CHURCHES: "There are three substantial churches."
* HOMES: "The residence portion of the village is made up of neat houses of different styles of architecture, but none of them very large."
* NEWSPAPER: "The Dorchester Star, which was established August 21, 1881, by H. C. Bittenbender, who edited it until January 19, 1882, when he sold it to Ryerson & Bullock, the present proprietors. The Star is a bright weekly paper, five-column quarto, in size, and is Republican in politics."