Athens and Limestone County had terrific news yesterday with the Polaris announcement. The announcement underscored for us important issues: First, the realization of the huge impact this will have on our area. More - GOOD jobs - for our citizenry means growth not only in size but, more importantly, financially. Higher-paid workers means more money to be injected in to the local economy and that benefits everyone. Secondly, this type of employment requires skilled labor. More and more we need to come to the realization we must produce qualified workers to fill the ranks of these employers. When a company locates here or expands here we want them to be able to employ our own people. Again, this benefits us all. Thirdly, we have to make ourselves marketable to employers. Athens and Limestone County are great places to live, work, and raise families. We have an enviable location for manufacturing concerns with our proximity to infrastructure. This week notwithstanding we have a great climate. We are in direct competition with other great towns for these manufacturers locations and we have to act accordingly. We have to be forward-thinking about what we can do to be attractive to the decision makers for these companies. We must make them want to come to Athens and Limestone County. We must show them we believe in ourselves and what we can offer them. I am a huge believer in some important things we can do and first and foremost in my mind is supporting the Athens City Schools Capital Plan. The refurbishment of some facilities and the construction of new sites is crucial to our growth. Yes, my taxes will raise, and no one really wants to pay more taxes. My son is a freshman and while I would love to see him graduate from a newly-built Athens High School, that might not happen and since we have no other children, I suppose the argument could be made I dont/wont have a kid in the schools. But both those arguments are flawed. Yes, our taxes will raise but not nearly as much as one might think and the money being invested in the future of the schools will more than pay for itself. And I will still have kids in the schools after Mitchell graduates: our niece and nephew, every Cub Scout, every neighbor kid, and indeed every kid in Athens is my kid and I need not only to provide for them a great educational facility (with up-to-date electrical and digital facilities so they can be taught using the current technology, with consistent physcial needs like hot water, with dependable structural integrity, with...) but also I need to help make Athens a viable location for industry and business to keep announcements like yesterdays happening. Every time a worker gets a better-paying job and improves themselves, it impacts each and every one us. Every time a fiscally-healthy family moves to Athens, it impacts each and every one of us. They buy homes from realtors and keep our neighborhoods sound. They eat out and buy gas. They buy clothes and groceries. They boost the tax base and our governments can afford improvements and additional services. They support the schools as parents. They utilize service businesses like getting their hair cut, hiring things done in their homes. (They get things framed!) All these things happen more and more as we make ourselves a solid and viable option for business. We all need to support ourselves by supporting this plan!
Posted on: Sat, 10 Jan 2015 14:51:21 +0000
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