MASON CITY – At-Large City Council member Scott Tornquist said Tuesday night that new jobs from WS Live headed to Mason City are “so close to the minimum wage.”
WS Live – a company from Dubuque that offers call center marketing – is planning to come to Mason City and move into the former IC Systems building located at 858 Calmus Court.
The company plans to offer 29 jobs the first year it is in operation, 29 more the next year, and so on, until potentially 135 jobs are filled in 5 years. The bulk of the jobs will pay a $9.50 per hour wage. Currently, the Iowa minimum wage is $7.25 with a potential raise to that on the horizon as lawmakers meet in Des Moines next year.
WS Live plans to accept over $70,000 in city incentives to come to Mason City; they must meet employment targets to keep the funds. The last company in that building, IC Systems, got about halfway to the 200 jobs it promised the city. Once IC System failed to meet their employment goal, the company was forced to return economic development funds to the city of about $177,600. IC System manager Scott Bultje made a public spectacle of returning those funds to the city.
City officials, including Mayor Eric Bookmeyer and the City Council as well North Iowa Corridor Director Brent Willett, have touted the WS Live jobs.
Council member Jean Marinos said at a May 21st City Council meeting that the $9.50 per hour jobs are “amazing”.
At that same meeting, Council member John Lee said that the jobs are “nothing to scoff at” and “exciting”.
Council member Scott Tornquist chimed in, saying “people could not survive on minimum wage jobs” and then went on to say that “this was a great project and a great opportunity and a huge win for the community.” Tornquist also added that “it was just as important for the Council to be working on opportunities at these levels ($9.50 per hour) as the $16.00, $17.00, $18.00 levels,” meeting minutes show. Tornquist did not write about the WS Live economic deal and jobs on his news website located at TornquistForRivercity.com, which he has mentioned by name at televised council meetings.
Mayor Eric Bookmeyer said that the North Iowa Corridor agency “exceeded expectations” in bringing the call center and jobs paying $9.50 per hour to Mason City.
Watch video of discussion of low-paying jobs:
I was told yesterday by my niece that works there that they also get paid a commission. She said some are paying as much as $1,000 per month. That puts it up to about $31,700 a year. Still not much of a wage IMO.
John Lee says these jobs are nothing to scoff at and are exciting?? How did he get elected to the city council? Ask him to trade in his $70,000 9 month out of the year job and replace it with a job that pays $19,760 per year and lets see if he and his wife say how “exciting” it is now. This pay may work for some 18 year old who just graduated and living at home but not as a means of a solid independent live-on-your-own-income. It is both embarrassing and maddening seeing the comments of this council. They are either brain-dead or they simply don’t care, or both.
The only people that are moving INto MC are the drug dealers and their baggage from Detroit, Minneapolis, and Milwaukee while our top students move away and never come back. It is all about supply and demand. If so much of our population decided to quit their drug habit this trash wouldn’t bother coming to our town…..so unfortunately, I would have to say that a big percentage of clientele from MC is not real educated. All you have to do is take a seat at Walmart any given day and take a sampling of what we have in this town.
Good one MATT !
It was an exhausting minute or so to watch Bookmeyer Bobble his head up and down.
They got on that quick so it would look good for election time. So obvious.
Tornquist I swear is an alien..who can talk so monotone every word?
They don’t give 2 shents about anyone who may want that job!
I can’t stand looking or hearing them one more minute.
I have no idea how I missed this daft comment which fell off the turnip truck.
“yea! Welfare is broke in the big cities so obammer buses them to small towns to spread the burden around “
There is not a grain of truth to this.
The costs associated with welfare payments, Section 8, Food Stamps, ad nausium are not paid using City funds as you suggest. They are paid through State and Federal programs. There is no allocation or limits on most funding of social programs by any sort of division or political boundary (with the possible exception of Section 8 depending on State laws).
If you are going to disparage the man, at least use some fact.
I have a high school diploma aa in business management and a bachelors degree in business. After I lost my job at Orange Tree Employment Screening I could not find a job in Mason City. I still live in Mason City. I now drive semi since I could not find a high paying job in Mason City. Please quit saying the people of Mason City Iowa are uneducated. It is untrue.
We have high-paying jobs here in Mason City that we can’t fill because there isn’t anyone here with the education and/or training needed for them. I have seen $50k/year jobs go unfilled for over six months! If we brought more $18+/hour jobs here we would have to fill them from out of town.