Happy to Be Alive

After seven heart attacks in 18 years, Stanley Roberts returns home with implant to help heart keep pumping

Josie Luke

Stanley Roberts returned home June 4 with the distinction of being the 200^th person to have a left-ventricular assist device (LVAD) implanted at LDS Hospital. He expressed that more importantly to him, “I’m still alive; that’s the main thing.”

The LVAD is normally referred to as a “bridge to transplant,” meaning it gives people a chance to make it until they receive a heart transplant, but in Roberts’ case, the device will be with him for the rest of his life. People over age 65 are not eligible for heart transplants, so at 74 he wouldn’t have a chance without this device. He explained it pointedly, “When that pump stops, I’ll be gone.”

Roberts has had seven heart attacks over the past 18 years. Dr. William Mackie has been treating Roberts who worked with Dr. Mackie as a physician’s assistant over thirty years ago. Dr. Mackey worked in the Emery clinic 30 years ago and now as a cardiologist treats many people from this area. The two ran into each other about 15 years later..

Last October things became critical for Roberts. He was given only three to six months to live. In late February he was forced to enter LDS Hospital while the doctors tried to get him strong enough for surgery. On March 15, Dr. James Long, director of the Utah Artificial Heart Program, performed the 13 hour surgery. Dr. Mackie and Dr. Long were both there to see Roberts when he left the hospital to return home.

In simple terms, the LVAD device is implanted next to the stomach and lines from the device connect directly to the aorta and the left ventricle of the heart to pump blood through the heart. A line comes out of the stomach and is attached to a controller and battery pack that Roberts carries in a fanny pack. Some say that the LVAD device is the size of a junior hamburger, but Roberts disagrees. He says it is more like a double or triple burger.

Robert’s had no major complications. One minor setback occurred when his heart went into ventricular tachycardia. His recovery was set back because of the side effects of the medications required to treat this condition. He also says that the device was uncomfortable at first, but it is getting better daily. The doctors told him it could take 3 to 6 months to feel more comfortable.

Robert’s expressed how his beliefs helped him through the surgery. “I’m a believer in Jesus Christ and I put myself in the Lord’s hands. It wasn’t my time to go home.” he said. He gained strength in the three and a half months that he was in the hospital. He revealed that two months ago he thought he might never walk again. He is now just grateful to be home and is excited to have good food. “Since I got out, I’ve been eating really well,” he quipped. Now all he wants is to get back on his four-wheeler.

Robert’s grew up in Carbon County and has lived in Huntington for 34 years. He has always been a very active person. He is known for building and selling guns and has worked as a hunting guide. He was also a corpsman in the Navy for 20 years, serving on submarines for 12 years. He has many exciting stories from the time he spent in the military. He retired in May of 1971 with the rank of Chief Petty Officer.

Even after all the trouble he has had- seven heart attacks over the past 18 years along with a five-way bypass and the implantation of a defibrillator- Roberts wants people with heart problems to know that there are options. He offered, “If there’s anybody in Emery County or Carbon County that has congestive heart failure, give me a call at 384-2825, and I’ll refer them to Dr. Long.”

Community rallies to support Huntington man

 Josie Luke

Hundreds in the Emery and Carbon County community showed their support for Cade Jones after complications set in following surgery with a benefit held on June 7.

Thirty people volunteered to help run the event and more than 300 items were donated. The benefit included a dinner along with a bake sale, bazaar, live auction, silent auction, and raffle. It was held at Canyon View Junior High.

Following dinner the Canyon View gymnasium tables were topped with items that people could purchase or bid on, a wall was covered with gift certificates donated by local businesses, and items for the live auction were displayed facing the bleachers.

Wade Anderson and Mark Justice were the auctioneers for the live auction, which featured many locally-made quilts, along with scrapbook materials, a treadmill, western jackets, several afghans, a cradle, a piano, and even a sun-bleached watusi skull.

Monetary donations can be made at UP&L Credit Union in Huntington to the Cade Jones Benefit account.

Continuing program measures health and needs of Castle Country

businesses

James L. Davis

The economic development directors for Emery and Carbon County spent time last week spreading the word on findings of the Castle Country Business Expansion and Retention Program and the word thus far has been good for local businesses.

Called BEAR the program aims to provide technical assistance to individual businesses, identify trends and issues in the business community, target resources and provide a public relations advocate within the business community.  To accomplish those tasks administrators of the program have been conducting face-to-face surveys with Emery and Carbon County businesses for the past year to determine where businesses need help and the overall health of local businesses.

“The businesses have been excellent,” said Mike McCandless, economic development director for Emery County.  “They have been really receptive to the surveys and providing information.”

Tina Carter of Cleveland has conducted most of the surveys with businesses, gathering information that can be used to determine where help might be needed.

The BEAR program is a joint venture of Emery and Carbon counties and has a number of partners who have assisted in the program’s development.  Among the partners are Emery County, Carbon County, Price City, Helper City, the Department of Workforce Services, Vocational Rehabilitation, Small Business Development Center, Business Technical Assistance Center, the College of Eastern Utah, the Southeast Utah Applied Training College, and a number of private individuals.

To get the BEAR program up and running called for an initial $30,000 investment, which was procured through partner investment and a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.  That investment has been returned many times over to local businesses since the program started, according to McCandless.

“We’ve been able to identify $500,000 in tax breaks for businesses that they were eligible for but weren’t aware of,” he said.

The surveys have been ongoing for a year now and McCandless said they are committed to the program for three years and they hope much longer than that. Since starting BEAR seven other Utah counties have joined the program.

“We can share this information with the state.  We actually have better data now than the state does,” McCandless said.

During a briefing on the program to the Emery County Economic Development Council, McCandless and Delynn Fielding, Carbon County Economic Development director, showed findings of the program thus far in a detailed presentation that summed up everything from wages to funding shortfalls of local companies.   The efficient operation of local businesses is one of the questions that administrators of the program hoped to answer with the survey.

“There is a high correlation between good management and sales,” Fielding said.

Some of the findings of the BEAR Program from companies surveyed in the Emery and Carbon counties thus far include:

Large industrial companies are becoming a less significant portion of the overall business community.  The area is predominately characterized by retail and service based industries with 45 percent of the companies falling into that category.  With that fact realized the BEAR program identified a need for retail and service workers to expand the local economy and posed the question of whether companies should be recruited to the area, or people.

Of companies surveyed 350 companies, or 90 percent, had their headquarters in the state, which was determined to be a positive by program administrators.  The negative was that with few having a local headquarters, how easy would it be for businesses to move to a new location.

In determining the life cycle of local businesses the survey revealed that 32 companies or 8 percent were classified as emerging companies; 287 or 68 percent were growing; 86 or 21 percent were maturing and 14 or 3 percent were declining companies.

A total of 75 percent of the companies felt that the services they provided were unique; a statement that the program administrators felt might be naïve.  It was also determined that some of the companies might need marketing and competitive practices training.

Of the companies surveyed, 394 or 94 percent were privately owned and the majority of those (47 percent) were sole proprietorship companies.

Seventy-four percent of the companies surveyed said they had adequate capital and the remaining 26 percent were looking for capital sources.   McCandless indicated that of the companies that were looking for funding sources, 85 percent of them were Emery County based.

One area of concern for both McCandless and Fielding was the fact that 25 percent of the companies surveyed did not have a strategic plan in place for their company.  Fielding said that in a sampling of 11 companies that did not have a strategic plan 10 had declining or low sales growth.

When it comes to wages, area companies pay state and national averages but the perception by business owners is that they pay at the same level or greater than the state or national average, which administrators point to as a potential problem area when it comes to recruitment and retention in a tightening labor market nationally.

Three hundred and seventy companies or 74 percent of those surveyed offer no benefits to their employees.  In the benefits analysis the findings pointed to an overwhelming need for medical insurance.  Fielding said they were surprised to find an increasing percentage of companies offering benefits in 2007 versus 2006.

“We thought this was an interesting trend that is good for our area,” he said.

In looking at the workforce in the area the survey found that the experienced workforce is retiring and there are not enough work age employees entering the local labor market to replace them, especially skilled employees.

It is recommended that employers increase and improve training programs for employees and the Western Energy Training Center and College of Eastern Utah were pointed to as valuable resources.

For sales growth 71 percent of the companies surveyed report recent growth and 45 percent project 10 percent or greater growth in the future.

Employment trends point to an area of concern in that there is a growing need for skilled labor in sectors of the local economy and less skilled areas are reporting a potential decline in future employment.

Few local companies were identified that participate in government procurement programs, which offer an opportunity for future sales growth.

Of the companies surveyed most report a well diversified customer base and few companies report that they try to sell or serve markets and customer outside of the local area, which seems inconsistent with reported current and possible future growth plans.

Two-thirds of the companies report that they purchase supplies from the local area.

Twenty percent of the companies surveyed report that the internet is not important for their business operations and Fielding pointed to this as a problem area that needed to be addressed. 

“Those who won’t use the internet are dying companies and they won’t survive.  They just don’t know it yet,” he said.

Overall the reported business climate is good and expected to improve, according to the findings of the survey.

As the BEAR Program begins its second full year it has thus far generated 240 referrals for assistance to local companies and provided a projected value of service of $254,530.

McCandless said they would like to see the program continued long term, eventually funded or taken over by the state to provide services to help business.

“We think this is the best thing we’ve come up with for a long time,” he said.

OHV club ponders trail linking Huntington to Emery

Josie Luke

Imagine riding your four-wheeler through Emery County on trails across the face of the mountains from Emery to Huntington. With a trail already existing from the Pageant site outside of Orangeville to Huntington, the SouthEastern Utah OHV Club has hopes of making the rest of it a reality.

The club wants to take advantage of already existing trails that aren’t connected. They explained, “We want to be able to upgrade and maintain existing trails, except where a trail is necessary.” In response to the question of why with many other trails in the area, another trail was needed, club-member Paul Conover commented, “Our goal is not to tear up the world, but enjoy it.”

For the club one of the first steps they have planned to achieve their goal is to establish a trail between Emery and Ferron. They had been working on this with former mayor Gill Bowden of Ferron, and hope to continue discussions with the city. They are now working on raising money to pay for a required archeological study of the area.

The O H V club was started more than 10 years ago and now has about 70 members, some from as far away as Salt Lake City and Las Vegas. The club’s website describes their purpose: “We are a non-profit organization located in Castle Dale. We represent the interests of OHV and Motorcycle enthusiasts not only in our area but statewide and nationwide through our work in the San Rafael Swell and the Manti Mountains. This includes trail improvements and maintenance, safety and etiquette awareness, and political action.”

The club participates with three other local clubs in helping to maintain existing trails. Members take responsibility to adopt existing trails, including trail maintenance, picking up garbage and fixing signs and fences. They are participating in a work project at Indian Creek on June 30. The project will begin at 8:30 a.m. at Willow Lake.

The club has a monthly ride. This month’s ride will be June 23. Members will meet at the first cattle guard north of the Buckhorn well for a ride to the point of Cedar Mountain. According to Mark Williams the advanced ride will be beautiful, with the trail dropping 1,500 ft. in 1.5 miles.

The club views OHV riding as a family sport and so a family can join the club for $20. Membership forms and contact information can be found on their website at www.seuohvclub.org.

Relay organizers plan ‘beauty contest’ of a different kind

The annual American Cancer Society Relay for Life always draws a large number of the community to do their part to help in the fight for a cure for cancer, but during this year’s relay those walking for a cure might look a little, well, different.

That’s because during June 29-30 Relay for Life at Emery High School there will be a “beauty contest” of sorts taking place, and the term beauty is used loosely here.

The title of “Miss Relay” will go to some lucky man during the relay.  Several teams have agreed to have one of their male contestants come to the relay dressed in…a dress.  They will walk the laps in their dresses and gather votes in the form of monetary donations for the relay.  There will also be a talent portion to the contest.

“It’s another way to raise money for the Cancer Society,” said Deanna Hansen, organizer for this year’s relay.  “The winner will get a huge crown, cape and ribbon.  We want them to ham it up and have some fun.”

Hansen said of the 22 teams signed up to take part in the relay so far most are participating in the “contest.”

This year’s relay has the makings to be a huge success as the community rallies to the cause of finding a cure for cancer.

The relay will start on June 29 at 6 p.m. and end with breakfast on June 30 at 9 a.m.  The theme this year is A Circus with a Purpose.

At 6 p.m. on June 29 the event will begin with a Survivor’s Walk around the track.  The “Miss Relay” contestants have between 6:30 and 10 p.m. to parade in their dresses and get donations that will lead to the crowning of “Miss Relay.

There will be a dinner for those who attend for $5 and a Memory Wall is being planned.  If you have lost anyone to cancer organizers of the relay would welcome the opportunity for you to honor then on the memory wall.  Those who wish are asked to submit a picture and a short biography to Sandy Behling at sammyjo@etv.net or mail to PO Box 554, Ferron, UT.  84523.  For more information you can call her at 384-2983.

There will also be a MECCA bike ride taking off from the relay after the opening ceremonies.  For more information call Jami Jensen at 653-2219.
As always, individual teams with have a variety of activities going on throughout the night to help raise funds for the relay.