Tough Four Years

I’ll be the first to admit it’s been a tough four years. Although I always try to maintain a positive attitude about business, frankly I’ve never had as bad of beating (financially in our business) in my 30 years at SnoWest as I have received during the past four years—with each of the four worse than the previous.

            Don’t even talk to me about hope and change.

            And the prospects for the next four years don’t look any better.

            Sadly, it seems that no matter what we do in the “fly-over” portion of this country, we always tend to be that area where the sewage from those jets flying over gets dropped. That’s not going to change.

            It would be nice if the snowmobile population had a little better say about the direction this country is headed in. I did a quick look to see how key areas voted. What I found is interesting.

            In Minnesota, a state you would think snowmobilers would have significant influence, President Obama won with 53 percent of the vote. Yet in the area where Arctic Cat reigns (Thief River Falls), Mitt Romney received 51 percent of the vote. Good job Cat. Up the road in Roseau, Romney received 62 percent of the vote. Great job Polaris

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            Wisconsin also has a solid snowmobile presence with Ski-Doo having offices in Sturtevant and Yamaha having its R&D facility in Pleasant Prairie. Obama won Wisconsin with 53 percent of the vote. In Pleasant Prairie Obama took 56 percent of the vote while in Sturtevant he only received 51 percent of the vote. Apparently snowmobilers don’t have much influence in Wisconsin.

            Yamaha is also headquartered in Cypress, CA. Obviously, California went Obama with 53 percent of its vote. But in Orange County, where Cypress is located, Romney took 54 percent of the vote. Valiant effort Yamaha.

            If you’re curious how SnoWest handles the election, in Idaho Romney won with 65 percent of the vote. In Idaho Falls, that margin was 75 percent. Obviously, the snowmobile influence is pretty strong in our neck of the woods.

            Now for all you snowmobilers who may be celebrating an Obama victory … well, I hope your business is doing a lot better than mine. And if your business makes its money from the government … I hope China continues to finance your efforts.

SJ