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4A Daily News – Wednesday, January 4, 2012 Commerce business Warren Woodson once called Corning the town of advertising. He would know. If it was not for adver- tisements he placed and his vision, Corning may have been nothing more than a railroad station. He is the man behind the brand "The Olive City," which like the trees he planted has endured the test of time and promises prosperity for the future. "Woodson was a marketing genius," said Laurie Dana, a market- ing communications consultant. "Woodson's branding initiatives in the late 1890s to bring people from across the nation to the Corning area provide the foundation for current branding efforts to promote tourism and increase business in the area." In the 1880s, Woodson and part- ners purchased 3,107 acres surround- ing Corning from George Hoag, one of the original pioneers in the area. They subdivided the property, which they named Maywood Colony, and sold lots up to forty acres. The May- wood Colony grew to become one of the largest real estate speculations of its time, with over 40,000 acres of subdivisions. At the time, the town of Corning was only 161 acres. Woodson placed advertisements promoting Maywood Colony and the town of Corning in newspapers and magazines across the United States. A vintage ad from 1899 selling on Amazon.com reads: "We sell fruit land as good as there is in California, in lots of 2 1/2, 5, 10 or 20 acres, at $50 per acre. Terms of payment runs three years, making the purchase an easy one. Then we contract to plant these lots to peaches, prunes, pears, walnuts, apricots, and other fruits for $35 an acre. This charge covers cost of trees (90 per acre) planting and care for first year, $12.50 for the sec- ond year, and 12.50 for the third year. . . . You don't have to plant unless you want to." Woodson had a vision of what he wanted the Corning area to be, which he promoted by advertising the May- wood Colony subdivision as another Garden of Eden. More than a million fruit trees were planted to fulfill this vision, but it was the olives that thrived. Olive trees do not require as much care as most trees, and they are drought, disease and fire resistant. For this reason, olives eventually became the tree of choice for the Maywood Colony. In 1923, Woodson branded Corn- ing, "The Olive Town." However, this was not the first brand used to promote and transform the city. According to an article written by Ellen Hultgren in 1985, the town had gained a reputation as a saloon town in the early 1900s. In an effort to rid the city of bars and establish local parks, Woodson led a campaign to incorporate Corning. Incorporated in 1907, the town enacted prohibition laws and Woodson as mayor started an advertising campaign naming "Corning, the Clean Town." The brand promoted a wholesome image for families and hard working indi- viduals. Labels with the slogan were glued to every box shipped out of town and posted on railroad cars. He used the same strategy to later market the "Olive Town" brand. A slogan alone is just one small part of branding. "A brand is about creating points of differentiation," says Jordan Pogue, a consultant for the Tehama County Branding Pro- ject. "Branding is also about what you want to be known for, perhaps not what you have today." Woodson understood this when he planted the orchards and marketed Maywood Colony as another Garden of Eden. People were buying orchards not yet planted, because Woodson created a strong vision of what was possible. Woodson wasn't just selling agriculture; he was mar- keting values that appealed to the type of individuals he wanted to move here. People bought land with the belief that Maywood Colony and the town of Corning would become what Woodson promised. It was a brand the community embraced and made a reality. The values Woodson promoted are essentially the same proposed by current branding initiatives. Incorpo- rating a theme that welcomes visitors as family will extend the brand focus beyond agriculture to include retail- ers, restaurants and the niche culi- nary markets. The direction is a vision of what Corning can be if the community and businesses embrace the new branding initiatives. Woodson would applaud the new push to use branding to transform the Corning area, as it's the same strate- gy he employed over 100 years ago when he planted the first olive trees and placed his first advertisements for orchard land. Through strategic marketing, Woodson transformed Corning from a stop on the railroad to a town with a population of 7,000 boasting the world's largest olive cannery and several gourmet olive oil producers. "That is quite a testament to the power of branding," Dana said. "I look forward to seeing how the Tehama County Branding Project transforms the area further in the years to come." The Tehama County Branding Project is a movement in response to an opportunity and desire to improve the economic prosperity of Tehama County and its anchor communities of Red Bluff, Manton and Corning. The key to your best credit card deal? The stacks of credit card offers in your mailbox haven't been bigger lately just because banks have regained their appetite for lending — they've also sweetened their introduc- tory rates and have started offering more kinds of rewards. To make sure you get the best of them, spend some time comparing offers with the following ideas in mind. The right introduction The greatest draw in a card's offer is its introduc- tory interest rate, and in the last year competition has driven banks to offer their best deals yet: some have extended their zero Annual Percentage Rate (APR) from one year up to 20 months. But the deals C & C PROPERTIES aren't always so simple: some cards apply that introductory rate to bal- ances transferred from other cards while others apply it only to purchases made on the new card. And, for others, the rate can change after certain periods of time have elapsed. Choosing the right card, then, requires you to have a clear goal in mind when comparison shopping. Do you want to roll over a bal- ance from your current card to get better terms for repaying short-term debt? Then you should look for a card with the longest intro- ductory period for balance transfers. Have you planned a big purchase you can pay off before (or soon 741 Main Street, Suite #2 Red Bluff, CA 96080 1-800-287-2187 (530) 527-2187 An Independently owned and operated Member of Coldwell Banker Residential Affiliates. FOR 24/7 PROPERTY INFO CALL 1-888-902-7253 AND ENTER THE PROPERTY CODE FROM THE AD. 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Make sure that 0 APR period applies to new pur- chases. Also remem- ber that an intro- ductory period is just that — introductory. Afterward your card could jump to a rate higher than 20 percent. With the help of an online calcu- lator, estimate the interest you could pay based on the balance you plan on holding after the honeymoon period. Which saves you the most money? Rewards are not reasons Keeping your goal in mind is especially impor- tant when you consider the different rewards each card offers. While beneficial, the perks — ranging from airline miles to cash back rewards to, yes, a presti- gious-sounding name — should not be the reason you get a card and are def- initely not worth the conse- quences of adding to your debt load. If you don't carry a monthly balance, though, the right rewards can be a nice way to earn money from purchases you rou- tinely make. When in doubt about which kind to choose, go for a cash back program: the reward is more transparent than abstract point-based sys- tems. Compare the compar- isons There are dozens of sites dedicated to compar- ing credit cards, some of which only list cards that advertise with them. To make sure you get a full range of comparison, check several sites. That way you'll get a balanced picture and the chance to see exclusive offers from sever- al different com- panies. Check your wallet Alan Foley A recent Mas- terCard study found that 55 percent of con- sumers are not familiar with the benefits their credit card offers. Some of the items we're missing out on are significant: automatic extended war- ranties, replacement of stolen purchases and dis- counts on rental car insur- ance and roadside ser- vices. Review the terms of your card with the issuer to see what you might be missing out on before you spring for a new card that may have the same (or fewer) benefits. It's also worth calling your card issuer to see if you can get a better rate on your current card. Under the 2009 federal CARD Act, banks are obligated to reassess your interest rate if your credit warrants it. If you don't want to roll over a balance or make a large purchase on low introduc- tory terms, the best option for lowering your monthly payments may be to skip a new card and bring the rate down on your existing ones. Just for you Alan Foley is a financial advisor and business financial advisor for Ameriprise Financial, 2150 Main St., Ste. 8, and can be reached at 528- 1328. & enterprise The town built by branding Installation Dinner approaching • Happy New Year! - The Corning Chamber of Com- merce wishes all of you a happy and prosperous New Year. We look forward to serving you in 2012 and getting to know our members better. We hope that you will attend as many of the monthly social networking gatherings as you can and let us know who you are and what services your business or organization has to offer. We hope that you, as a member will take advantage of the opportunity to get your business name or organization recognized by attending our events. • Chamber Office Closed - Next week, the office will be closed from Friday, Jan. 6 to Thursday, Jan. 19. There will be someone in the office periodically and your reservations for the Installation Dinner will be received. No tickets are necessary to get in. Your name will be on a roster and you will pick up your tickets that night to indicate your choice of meat. • Installation Dinner - Have you sent in your reservation for the dinners Saturday, Jan. 14, at the Veterans Memorial Hall? You have until next Wednesday, Jan. 11, so don't pro- crastinate. A no-host reception begins at 6 p.m. and the din- ner is at 7 p.m. Tickets are $40 per couple and $25 per per- son. This year promises to be a fun evening, with a hoedown theme and live music and dancing. The awards for Business and Volunteer of the Year will be awarded and the new offi- cers on the Chamber Board of Directors will be installed. They are: Marti Syed - President, Willie Smith - Past President, Terry Barbo - President Elect and Linda Tousey - Treasurer. New directors are: Jesus, (Chuey) Valerio, Kate Linnet, Larissa Henson, Eric Ludwig and Maria Salas. Con- tinuing Directors are: Sonja Akers, Tony Cardenas, C. Jerome Crow, Carolann Fernandez, Skylar Gravatt, Ronda Haywood and Don Holden. The Chamber Board of Direc- tors and staff are here to serve you, the Corning communi- ty and we look forward to working with and for you in 2012. • Chamber Reporter - The monthly newsletter, The Chamber Reporter, is being sent via e-mail to the majority of members unless you requested that it be sent as a hard copy in the mail. If you are not receiving the newsletter or any correspondence from the Chamber, give us a call at 824-5550 to let us know. The events calendar is something that most people like to have to keep informed about what Chamber events are taking place and what other members are doing. If there are several in your office and you would like each one to receive the newsletter, just e-mail their addresses to the Chamber at corningchamber@sbcglobal.net and we will include them on our list. Also, if you have an event you would like us to publicize email the information with the date, time, location and a brief description. We will be happy to include it in this weekly article or in the monthly Chamber Reporter. • There will be no Corning in the Evening for January but there will be a Corning in the Morning Thursday, Feb. 9, at the Corning Library hosted by the Friends of the Library. If you are interested in hosting a Chamber Corning in the Morning or Evening give us a call and let us know what month. This column is prepared and submitted by the Corning Chamber of Commerce. Fed to regularly forecast interest-rate changes WASHINGTON (AP) — In a major shift, the Feder- al Reserve will start announcing four times a year how long it plans to keep short-term interest rates at existing levels, according to minutes from its December policy meeting. The shift marks the Fed's latest effort to make its communications with the public more open and explicit. The change is intended to reassure consumers and investors that they will be able to borrow cheaply well into the future. And some economists said it could lead to further Fed action to try to invigorate the economy. The Fed's first forecast for interest rates will be included in the economic projections it will issue after its Jan. 24-25 policy meeting. More guidance on rates might help lower long-term yields further — in effect providing a kind of stimulus. Lower rates could lead consumers and businesses to bor- row and spend more. The economy would likely benefit. Lower yields on bonds also tend to cause some investors to shift money into stocks, which can boost wealth and spur more spending. The Fed has left its key short-term rate at a record low near zero for the past three years. In August, it said it planned to leave the rate there until at least mid-2013, unless the economy improved. In January, the Fed will release an interest rate fore- cast for the October-December quarter of 2012 and for the next few calendar years, the minutes show. It will update that forecast each quarter. After its Dec. 13 policy meeting, the Fed issued a statement that portrayed the U.S. economy as improving slightly. It declined to take any further steps to boost growth. The minutes show that some on the policy com- mittee favored additional action to try to lift the economy — but only after the Fed's more explicit communication policy was in place. Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, said he thought the minutes signaled that the Fed will keep its benchmark rate at a record low beyond the mid- 2013 target it previously set. ''Most people had expected the funds rate would start rising in the second half of 2013,'' Zandi said. ''But Fed officials seem to be more concerned about the econo- my's prospects than investors currently think.''