City shouldn’t jeopardize potential jobs for $80,000
The city of McMinnville needs to trash its reluctance and agree to have WastAway recycle its household garbage.
Such hesitation and second guessing is precisely why Warren County is continually losing jobs to other counties. Instead of realizing we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity sitting right here in our own backyard, our elected officials choose to argue and bicker and put off taking any action. Meanwhile other counties jump right in and snatch our jobs away.
That could be the case with WastAway, which has a revolutionary process for recycling household garbage. Given 15 years, it’s a process which could redefine how garbage is disposed of globally.
Based on current projections, WastAway is expecting to add over 300 jobs in the next four years. That’s 300 jobs we hope stay in Warren County, although there’s word that Coffee County is working hard to try and get WastAway to locate a new extrusion plant inside its borders.
We certainly can’t blame Coffee County officials for trying – especially considering the lukewarm support WastAway is receiving from the city of McMinnville. Thus far, city officials have refused to agree to terms to have WastAway recycle McMinnville’s garbage, saying it would cost $80,000 a year more.
While the Standard has always emphasized using tax dollars wisely, we have also continually emphasized the need for jobs. We have to wonder if city officials have been spending too much time with trash bags over their heads. The oxygen to the brain certainly doesn’t appear to be flowing freely.
Here we have a company which could very well turn into the next Microsoft or the next Wal-Mart. And that company is headquartered right here in McMinnville.
We shouldn’t be arguing about an $80,000 difference in garbage prices. We should be asking WastAway if they want ice cream to go with their cake. We should be providing incentives for homegrown industry.
WastAway’s potential payroll has the opportunity to inject millions of dollars into this community. And that’s not to mention all the local companies which would also benefit.
WastAway has been in contact with A.O. Smith about building motors for its manufacturing equipment. And considering A.O. Smith will reduce its workforce by close to 400 employees by February, it can use all the work it can get. It just might help the 250 employees who are left at A.O. Smith keep their jobs.
WastAway has also already contracted with local tool and die companies and that work promises to multiply once garbage recycling really gets going.
What WastAway needs now, more than anything, is McMinnville’s garbage. And WastAway needs that garbage now – not next year, not in two years. WastAway needs to demonstrate that its process works on a larger scale than simply recycling the limited garbage the county provides.
Once WastAway shows it can handle garbage for McMinnville and Warren County, the next step is to market the process to larger cities such as Nashville, Huntsville and Chattanooga. WastAway also has significant interest from the military which could be the first step in carrying the remarkable garbage recycling process throughout the world.
In addition to the financial gold mine WastAway could haul into this county, it’s also significant to note the company is providing an answer to this country’s overwhelming garbage disposal problem. From New York to Los Angeles, our landfills continue to overflow and we’re running out of places to dump our trash.
WastAway has found a way to recycle that garbage into usable potting soil and building materials. Thus far, WastAway has already sold its potting soil to companies in Florida, Virginia, Alabama, Oklahoma, Maryland and North Carolina. Several local nurseries have bought the potting soil as well. WastAway hasn’t sold any building materials, however, because it isn’t handling enough trash to even meet its potting soil orders.
That’s why McMinnville officials must step to the plate and show WastAway we care about their company and we desperately want to keep the jobs they are creating here in Warren County. If city officials are going to let $80,000 stand in the way of hundreds of local jobs, we no longer have to wonder why there are so many vacant buildings in this town.