The Decatur Daily Review from Decatur, Illinois • Page 49

DECATUR SUNDAY Section 4 Editorials Mwdto and 3tarito Section Finance 4 Decatur Herald, Founded 1880 Decatur, Illinois, Sunday, May 21, 1972 Decatur Review, Founded 1878 Economic Pressures on Private Airports '3 Costs Force Many Operators to Close cially lucrative return on his investment. The Illinois Department of Aeronautics estimates the 63 privately owned airports in the state have a replacement value of $350 million. Even the small one-cr-two man operations have $50,000 to $100,000 tied up in land, let alone buildings and other improvements. Dyson has a medium-sized operation, employing 15 to 20 persons Like the other 62 operators in the state, his income comes from hangar rent, gasoline, maintenance, flight instruction and airplane rentals. 'Whaf That The view of Willis Winn, who operates the Tuscola Airport with his partner, E.

J. Armstrong, mirrors that of "I don't see too much future for this kind of operation," he said. "But people are showing more of an interest this year than last." When asked if the airport made a profit for him last year, Winn just laughed: "What's that word again?" Winn farms 970 acres; Armstrong works for the University of Illinois. The two split the actual operating chores of the airport, hiring only one other part-time employe. If there is a trend in business nowadays that rewards the efficient "big fellow" and penalizes the inefficient "little fel- Twenty-three per cent of Continental Bank employes in Chicago belong to minority groups.

Mosf Blanks Fill White Collar Jobs Few Trained for Bank Management By James P. Warnick -Lindsay-Schaub Newspapers Editorial Writer One by one, many owners and operators of privately owned airports in Illinois are gassing up their airplanes and flying off into a less than financially glowing sunset. Airports in the Chicago area have been especially susceptible to economic woes the 29 privately owned airports that were in the Chicago area after World War II have been reduced to nine. Those concerned about aviation in Illinois maintain the Downstate airports will eventually succumb too. The airport owners, regardless of the size of their operation, have a common problem they are having a difficult time balancing their books.

Poor management is undoubtedly a factor in some operations, since most people operating private airports love aviation and have little training in business, but the problem goes deeper than that. "Our taxes and overhead have increased tremendously in the last few years," said Louis Dyson of Rlini Aviation in Champaign. "I've been able to do pretty good until last year. Then I just about broke even." It would cost $1 million or so to replace his operation. Dyson thus does not earn an espe He said, "This program trains a black in a large bank for one year.

When he comes out he is a specialist. He can't handle all the duties he would have to handle in a small bank." The NBA after operating its program for two years and training 60 men for middle management is re-studying its program to answer its critics. How are opportunities Downstate for blacks with some college training? Walter W. Meek 32, black assistant vice president of the Peoples National Bank of Springfield, said opportunities are not as great in Downstate cities as in Chicago. Meek, who was one of the 21 graduates of the first year of the national ABA-NBA middle management training program, found a job as assistant auditor of a Springfield bank upon graduation.

Meek, a native of Springfield, was administrative assistant to Adlai Stevenson III, then state treasurer now U. S. senator, when he was selected for the bank trainee program. "It is not easy for a black to find a bank management job Downstate," Meek-said. "I was well-known in Springfield.

I probably couldn't have found a job nearly as easy in Decatur, East St. Louis or any other Downstate city," he said. Meek believes that black-owned or integrated banks will provide the best opportunity for blacks in banks Downstate. "White-owned banks are not realistically allowing blacks to come into management posi-, tions," Meek said. "The bottleneck is not really in the banks but within society itself." Meeks said a vital need Downstate is for white-owned banks to train blacks in bank management.

Meek tried to get three large Springfield banks to organize such a program. He said they indicated they were willing "but nothing ever low," it hasn't proved true for Illinois airports. The smaller operations, in fact, seem more economically sound on the whole than do the larger operations in the Chicago area. He Has Problems No tale of woe, however, matches that of George Priester, owner and operator of Pal-Waukee Airport in Wheeling, a Chicago suburb. Not just a run-of-the-mill airport, Pal-Waukee is the world's busiest privately owned airport, handling about 20,000 operations (take-offs and landings) a month.

When Priester bought Pal-Waukee in 1953, the airport had 109 acres and a $224,000 mortgage. He has since expanded the operation to 270 acres, built new runways and made other improvements to accommodate additional traffic. Accompanying his expanded acreage has been an expanded mortgage. "Now we owe $2.5 million," he said. "The only thing that keeps us going is the appreciation of land values." (Developers have offered him more than $8 million for his 270 acres.

"It's a thankless business to be in," he said in his office atop his restaurant. "Sometimes I think if it weren't for the employes I'd forget it all. I have 140 employes with more than a thousand total years in the business. Where would these people go?" Hanging in There Despite the' economic pressures, Priester and other operators of privately owned airports in the state have not given up. Recently the more influential operators in the state formed a group called the Voice of Illinois Aviation (VIA).

The group hopes to get everyone in Illinois aviation involved in its membership. "VIA could have a-membership of over 80,000 if Illinois aviation people get with it. This would be a formidable 'voice which would be 'heard' everywhere," said the group in an appeal to the aviation public. Priester and the members of VIA have two major gripes against the laws that dictate how they should operate. First, Congress passed the Airport and Airway Development Revenue Act of 1970 to generate revenue for the expansion and improvement of publicly owned airports in the nation.

This is basically a user's tax that must be collected at privately owned as well as public airports. Operators such as Dyson and Priester and Winn collect the tax, keep the records and then return the money to the federal government. The government then returns it to the publicly owned airports. The operators of privately owned airports receive no collection fee and no funds. Most of the operators believe they should receive a portion of this year's tax, or at least a collection fee.

Since such changes in the act could result only from federal legislation, there seems little likelihood of help in the immediate future. Second, most airport owners maintain the real estate taxes have increased so much that they are wiping out their profit. Although many Downstate airports are given a tax break, being taxed at the same rate as farmland, most persons connected with aviation see the reduction of real' estate tax as a way of easing economic pressure on privately owned airports. "Good farm land will bring in $50 to $60 an acre net," said Gene Utz, flight safety coordinator with the Illinois Department of Aeronautics. "But the airport managers have to Louis Dyson, seated, spends spend $10 to $12 on each acre just to maintain the ground.

And major improvements such as putting down a hard-surface runway are out of the question." Problem of Definition The major problem, either in reducing real estate taxes or in channeling part of the user's tax back to the airports, involves defining if a privately owned airport is basically a'? private or public operation. The operators usually refer to their airports as being privately-owned, but publicly-used. A pilot can land at almost any privately owned airport and never pay a cent unless he decides to buy some gasoline or have a cup of coffee. So most of the people in aviation believe a privately, owned airport is just as "public" as one owned by a county or a municipality. This was the thinking behind a piece of legislation introduced into Senate that would exempt from real estate taxes publicly used portions of privately owned airports such as runways, taxiways and parking lots.

The owner would pay taxes on income-producing facilities such as hangars. If this or any other legislation providing privately owned airports with a break were to make it through the General Assembly, there would probably be a constitutional challenge. Giving funds of real estate tax relief to a privately owned airport might conflict with the 1970 Constitution. (Twenty states, however, exempt so-called privately owned publicly used airports from property taxes.) The-Voice of Illinois Aviation also seeks reduced rates on insurance, expansion capital at a low rate of interest, zoning protection and "government assistance equal to that given to other forms of transportation Problem Submerged On the whole, neither the public nor most legislators are aware of the problems facing privately owned airports. About 70 per cent of the people have never flown in an airplane, and most of those have flown only on airliners.

When George Priester asked much time on paperwork, a legislator for help, the lawmaker reportedly shrugged his shoulders and replied, "Priester, you are right, but as far as we're concerned you only vote once." Priester also wrote Sen. Adlai Stevenson and Rep. Roman Pucinski. Sen. Stevenson promised to check into the situation; Rep.

Pucinski suggested that Priester "increase landing 811 registration fees." (Pries ter saw privately owned air ports usually don't charge landing fees because it isn't profitable.) "I think the future of aviation is great" said S. W. (Bill) Sisk of Bi-State Parks Airport in Cahokia, "but it's going to wind up being public. The only answer is federal aid. But if the government gives aid to private airports, the guy running the drugstore is going to want his share too." There are two key questions concerning privately owned airports that need answers.

First, if the state were to exempt airports from real estate taxes, would this be enough to improve their economic situation? Gene Utz of the aeronautics department said' it would help everyone and would permit most of the airports to make a profit. But, he continued, this particular kind of relief would not permit the owners to build the hard-surface runways that some need. He believes that at some point in the future the state, or the federal government, will have "to appropriate money to these people." Second, why should the government concern itself with privately owned airports? Maybe these airports have outlived their usefulness and should be discarded along with buggies, push lawnmowers and vaudeville. "We have 63 privately owned airports in the state," said Utz in answer to the question. "If they fold and all of them will in time if something isn't done it will hurt the communities.

We have letters on file in our office from corporations asking us to somehow keep Pal-Waukee open." George Priester took a more cynical view. "If we lose," he said, "I'm sure the people will say 'but we could have helped you, George, if you'd only said By Walter E. Wolff Lindsay-Schaub Newspapers Editorial Writer Many more blacks are being hired by banks in Illinois than a few years ago. But opportunities are a mixed bag depending oh the type of job, location, bank size and ownership. Generally speaking, the opportunities are much better in Chicago than Downstate.

White-collar positions are fairly numerous while managerial ones are very scarce. There are more and better openings and better advancement in larger banks. And black-owned banks hire many more blacks percentage-wise than white-owned ones do. In 1970, larger, white-owned Illinois banks (those hiring more than 50 persons) had about 5,300 minority employes or 15 per cent of their total work force of about 34,500 persons. This compares with about 1,500 minority employes or 6.5 per cent of a total work force of about 24,200 persons in 1966.

(Nc comparable figures are available for banks with fewer employes, but persons in the banking profession agree that smaller banks statewide hire a smaller percentage of blacks than larger banks. Quite often the smaller banks are located in smaller communities where there are few or no blacks.) Federal Push Helped The large increase in minority hiring after 1966 is due in great part, according to banking officials, to the federal government's Equal Opportunity Employment Program begun that year. Under the Government Contract Compliance ruling banks are required to be "equal opportunity employers." They are required to report to the Treasury Department the number of minority persons they employ in various types of positions. In Illinois, the number of minority white collar workers increased to 4,918 in 1970 from coming greater and greater in both black-owned and white-owned banks." Linyard, a black, said that banking "is growing by leaps and bounds," and "is an exciting business with so many facets." The Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust Chicago's largest bank wih 8,207 employes, sees great possibilities for black college students in banking, according to a spokesman. Continental has a college recruitment program at several black schools: Hampton Institute, Florida A Fisk University, Howard University and Atlanta College.

It provides in-bank training for its' management trainees. Some black employes go on and get graduate degrees or undergraduate degrees under a "tuition refund program," the spokesman said. Under this arrangement, employes are refunded nearly all of their tuition costs. Continental also does extensive recruitment in high schools for white collar jobs. It has the largest Office Occupations high school work-study program in Illinois.

George Brokemond, the black president of Highland Community Bank, a small black-owned Chicago bank, said the opportunity for college students in small black banks depends on finding a way to give them some broad training in banking. Brokemond, a University of Illinois graduate, with 13 years in banking said: "We're looking for an operations man right now. We need a man trained in small banks. We don't want a specialist. Our man must wear many hats." Brokemond said that the Middle Management Training Program for Black Bankers, co-sponsored by the American Bankers Association (white-owned banks) and the National Bankers Association (black-owned banks), is "not doing the job" so far as small banks are concerned.

Bank officials in Chicago and Downstate said they have opportunities for high school graduates in white collar jobs. These include' teller trainee, business machine operators, clerical and bookkeeping work. Most banks indicated that they, of necessity, do a large amount of on-the-job training of both high school and college graduates. Statistics on banks in Peoria, Decatur and Springfield indicate that blacks are hired for white collar jobs such as teller and bookkeeper, but none or very few for management positions. In 1970, Decatur Banks (with more than 50 employes), had 384 workers.

Sixteen blacks were employed compared to three in 1966. There were 13 white collar workers, three custodial personnel, and no one in management. Peoria banks also had no blacks in management in 1970. There were 676 employes of which 67 were blacks compared to 50 in 1966. There were 21 white collar workers, and 46 custodial or service personnel.

In 1970, Springfield banks, according to federal statistics, had no blacks in management. There 629 employes of which 27 were black compared to 13 in 1966. That year Springfield banks had 18 white collar workers and nine service employes. Both Meek and Brokemond stressed that the failure to train blacks for management positions in small banks is a major bottleneck in the opening of new black-owned banks. The problem is to find a way to finance such training.

Black bankers estimate an additional 30 to 40 small black-owned banks would be able to open across the country if there were a supply of trained black bank managers. Each these banks would offer opportunities for more black management and white collar workers. 1,341 in 1966, a jump of 267 per cent. Also the number of executive-managerial workers rose to 121 in 1970 from 27 in 1966 a leap of 348 per cent. The percentage increases for executive-managerial workers is perhaps overly impressive.

It is placed in perspective when it is remembered mat it is figured on an extremely low base. It serves to emphasize that there were only 27 minority persons blacks, Spanish surnames, Orientals and American Indians employed by larger, whitewned banks in Illinois in 1966. Blacks Own Banks One of the new developments in banking is the formation of black-owned banks. There are four black-owned banks in Illinois three in Chicago and one in Springfield. There are 38 minority-owned banks in the nation.

The Illinois banks have all been started since 1964. They employ about 150 blacks. The black-owned banks in Chicago have about 90 per cent black employes including about 80 per cent blacks in executive-management positions. The Springfield bank the People's National Bank has 10 employes and assets of $5 million. It was started in September, 1970.

About 30 per cent of its employes are black and one of its two executives is black. While the 85 larger (more than 50 employes), white-owned banks the state employ 42 black executive-managerial workers, the four black-owned banks hire 25. What opportunities are there for blacks with some college training? Richard Linyard, executive vice president of the Seaway National Bank of Chicago, a black-owned bank with 90 employes and assets of $35 million, sees excellent opportuni-ties for managerial positions for such blacks. "I would definitely advise black college students to plan to go into banking," Linyard said. "Opportunities are be lllini Aviation near Champaign, operated by Louis Dyson, is one of the 63 privately.