Editor’s Notes: But shall I live in hope?
Trending
Is it "two steps forward, one step back," or "one step forward, two steps back?" Residents living along the Ohio River may be starting to feel as though we are dealing with the latter. From promised cracker plants that never materialized to the delayed hopes of jobs on their way from Intel (even if the commute might be a bit of a slog) it's worrying to say we're just used to being let down.
Not much compares though with the news from Cleveland-Cliffs that it is planning to shut down its Weirton tin plant and lay off an astounding 900 people because of a tariff ruling. That's a gut punch.
"In what was our final effort to maintain tinplate production here in America, we proved that we are forced to operate on an uneven playing field, and that the deck was stacked in favor of the importers," said Cleveland-Cliffs Chairman, President and CEO Lourenco Goncalves. The trade commission ruling was shocking and made it "impossible for us to viably produce tinplate."
Note his use of the phrase "final effort." What a shame.
Rulings from faraway commissions, political instability, market fluctuations a world away, even bad weather ... there seems no limit to what conspires against us getting ahead with the help of large employers that resemble those we thought were sustaining our local economies in the past.
Actually, while I'm thinking of it, where are we on that Virgin Hyperloop Certification Center that was supposed to come to Grant and Tucker counties and contribute $48 million annually to the state's economy? Oh, yep, no where. In fact, a December Bloomberg story declared Hyperloop One is shutting down "after failing to reinvent transit."
We've got invisible big box retailers that exist as nothing more than a sign out by the interstate, leading hopeful shoppers to an empty lot. We've heard $83.7 billion assurances that China had shale and chemical projects in store that were going to blow the lid off our economy.
It gets difficult to get excited about any economic development news -- or to act surprised when yet another economic pillar crumbles. Forget "fool us once, shame on you; fool us twice, shame on us." It feels as though we've been fooled so many times it is foolish to hope.
A coworker once said to me, about the persistent rumor of the arrival of a different big box retailer to our area, "I'll believe there's a XXXX coming to Parkersburg when I'm standing in the checkout line holding a receipt."
That's how skeptical we've had to become to protect ourselves from what seems like regularly scheduled disappointment.
What then? Do we just give up? Stop trying to attract the big guys? Pull the whole state off the grid and retreat to the woods? (Tempting).
Of course not -- though it wouldn't hurt if public officials could figure out how to make it harder for these big-talking employers to back out of their promises.
Meanwhile, imagine the big ideas that might come out of our own young entrepreneurs if we were providing a decent education for them, or a quality of life and socio-cultural environment that made them want to build their (and maybe our) futures HERE. Imagine how much less likely they'd be to turn their backs on expanding and diversifying our economy if their own families' wellbeing depended on it. Because their loved ones, their schools, their communities are HERE.
Somewhere, in an elementary or middle school in West Virginia, is a brilliant student with big ideas whose parents are trying to decide whether they want to stay or go. In fact, there are probably lots of students whose dreams might end up coming true to the benefit of us all -- if we teach them; and if they stay. That's what will save us, folks. Not the faceless corporation sweeping in and back out again before we know what hit us.
Don't give up. We can do it -- if we decide to.
Christina Myer is executive editor of The Parkersburg News and Sentinel. She can be reached via e-mail at cmyer@newsandsentinel.com