There are many business owners here in Harper. I know that few know my background which makes me wonder if we really know how that person ended up owning a business or leading a organization?

Since I came up with this idea, I guess I should start off. Like everybody else around here, I grew up on the little devils river on hwy 479 and in the longhorn café.

I headed overseas the summer of my junior year in high school and worked for AMF Tuboscope in Port Gentil Gabon, West Africa and took my days off in Las Palmas in the Canary Islands along with a short stint in Aberdeen Scotland  where I got my first look at an offshore oil rig in the North Sea.

After coming back, I ended up joining the Navy as a Radioman in 1976 where I served six years on a fast frigate in the Mediterranean called the USS W.S. Sims FF-1059.

After that I spent a few years in Maine working as an electronics technician before moving back home to Texas.

Around 1988 the software industry was taking off, and I worked all over the country as a contractor until I ended up in Vegas.

Only very large corporations and government agencies use my skills and when they began to send their best paying jobs to other countries and import guest workers to take the remaining best paying jobs, it totally destroyed my once bright future as it did others.

After many years of struggling, this led me to run as a candidate for United States Senate against John Cornyn because his policies are making what happened to me happen to others.

I did this even though I knew I didn’t stand a chance, and I would do it again because those same policies are making possible what is happening at our border now.

I’m still struggling but it came to me one day that I could use my technology skills to help bring a newspaper to a growing town like Harper.

Tell me, what is your story? You can submit it to me at vbiersch@gmail.com if you’re up to the challenge.

For those wondering, we are a small but growing community and I believe there is a wealth of knowledge here.

As for me, I enjoy visiting with my fellow veterans, talking about real estate and other investments and finding a way to make sure our kids have a future that will make it possible for them to build a future.