American History 1988
Chapter 90 - 85 Columbus

Chapter 90: Chapter 85 Columbus

After spending a pleasant evening with Miranda, the content Dean was finally ready to set off for Columbus. In the last month or two, he hoped to arrange things in Ohio as well as possible.

In Youngstown and Cleveland, there was no need for him to worry anymore. The former was his birthplace, and there Dean had an extensive network of contacts at his disposal.

Thanks to Susie, rent collection had become easier after Dean had eliminated potential competitors. He had essentially monopolized the housing market credit check sector.

Especially with Kent’s lesson as a precedent, the sign for the rent collection service now carried an additional air of untouchability.

The landlords in Youngstown all knew that if they wanted to check the reliability of their tenants, they should go to the rent collection service. But they shouldn’t try to haggle or target it; otherwise, they might find the police knocking on their door in the middle of the night.

Nobody wanted trouble after you’d shown your strength. Those who came to deal with you again, even if they were an illiterate brute, would become polite in your presence.

Meanwhile, in Youngstown, Price’s List was mainly maintained by Jerry and Debbie. Due to limited market size, it took half a year to barely reach ten thousand users. Therefore, Dean had not implemented Price’s List’s commercialization policy in Youngstown.

Instead, he let it grow freely and used it as a testing ground for new features. As for Cleveland, Price’s List was already operating in a corporate model.

Office location, staff, market, customers -- all these elements were fully in place. The standardized operational processes allowed Dean to confidently leave it in the hands of Simon and others.

So, after roughly sorting through his affairs, Dean took the opportunity of Price’s List market expansion to also pay a visit to Columbus, the capital city of Ohio.

As a representation of diverse cities, Columbus had made significant strides in education, aviation, insurance, banking, defense, food, and other emerging industries.

Also, thanks to economic diversification, this city was far less affected compared to its Rust Belt neighbors. When Dean and his group arrived at the center of Columbus from Interstate 75, the view presented a stark absence of the desolation pervasive in the decline of Cleveland.

"Dong dong dong~ Dong dong dong~" Getting out of the car, Dean and Simon barely took a step before being drawn in by the lively parade happening before them.

Leading the crowd, each person had a flamboyantly Latin drum hanging at their waist, and they were dressed in brightly colored costumes, walking while drumming.

As they passed by Dean and his group, one of the Latin girls in the procession with tanned skin and her face painted in colors, exuberantly splashed some water in the direction of the onlookers with her fingertips.

"Wow~ I feel like I’m in Rio de Janeiro right now, so it’s not Carnaval today, is it?" An enthusiastic Simon, while lingering over the Latin girls, started to move his body in rhythm with the beats.

Hearing this, the oldest in the group, John Donovan, laughed and crossed his arms to explain, "Today is the annual Latin Culture Festival in Columbus, which is celebrated for three consecutive days.

After that comes the Rose Festival where you’ll see the entire Upper Arlington area subsumed in a sea of pink, red, and yellow. If you wish to make a memorable declaration to a girl you fancy, then three days from now would be the perfect opportunity."

"Really?" Simon’s eyes lit up, as he had many opportunities to come here in the future. He was filled with a curious desire to explore the scene before him. "Columbus has such a rich array of festivals? The only time you gather this many people in Cleveland is for a protest march!"

"Of course," said John with native pride as he introduced everyone to the colorful life here. "In fact, before today’s Latin Festival, we just wrapped up the Asian Festival.

Starting from May, Columbus will host various cultural events like the Ohio Expo, Columbus Arts Festival, Jazz Festival... all the way to September’s Beer Festival. The city will spend nearly half the year in celebration."

"Dean," after listening to John’s introduction, Simon turned and looked seriously at his buddy. "I think Columbus needs someone ready to work hard, endure fatigue, and contribute silently for market expansion. Now! I, Simon, am willing to take on such a role."

"Shut up, Simon. With John here, I believe Price’s List will soon break into the Columbus market," Dean knew what his friend was after; he was simply enamored with the vibrant life here.

Compared to Cleveland, the whole city of Columbus was radiating with a different kind of vitality from within. A diversified city had much stronger resistance to risks than the traditional Rust Belt.

Be it population or economic scale, Columbus had already surpassed Cleveland, once Ohio’s largest city, in reality.

John Donovan, who came with Dean from Cleveland, was now the Chief Operating Officer of Price’s List.

He was previously the operations director of the technical department at AT&T in Cleveland. Through connections with Morgan Tailer and after persuasive arguments by Gary and Dean, coupled with the incentive of a 3% equity share, John had finally agreed to the invitation to become the COO of Price’s List.

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