Check out Banner-Herald associate editor Don Nelson’s mention of my comments last year concerning development of the Orkin tract, or rather the conspicuous lack thereof.
Sphere: Related ContentTuesday, July 17, 2007
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3 comments:
If you're right about this, then somebody's gotta buy it from them; that tract is screaming to be part of Athens' new bioscience economy, and we can't afford to lose out this time.
What's so special about that tract? There are several tracts with utilities available or nearby in the ACC area that would easily accommodate a large industrial development.
Lack of educated workers. Insufficiently prepared site. Lack of "motivation" in the workforce. These are the reasons that were being thrown about as we try to figure out why Novartis went to North Carolina instead of Athens.
One might consider whether execs who consider the site wondered where they would stay (not in the non-existent hotels in Oconee County), where they would eat, (surely not at the Fire Mountain Grill or Cracker Barrel), or, at the root of this dearth, where they might share an after work cocktail. We may not realize it, but in most of the world, the concept of a "dry" county is archaic; a throwback to Prohibition, 'shiners, and revenuers chasing them through the hills. Once again, this may not be the "environment" to which those we would attract would be drawn.
The citizens of this area have to make up their minds about whether we're going to look to our future or our past as our model for governance. Of late we've been looking the wrong way, and should not be surprised that is less than attractive to companies that are looking to the future. We need to wake up, and stop pandering to those among us who would return us to the "values" of an earlier time. I'll drink to that!
(Expanded comments at my blog.)
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