Regional plan needed to replace Carrier jobs
State and local officials are finally beginning to open lines of communication and address the task of recruiting industry as a regional concept.
It’s a long overdue approach and it’s a shame it took the loss the magnitude of Carrier to get representatives from several counties working together.
That’s not to suggest the loss of Carrier could have been prevented. It’s to emphasize the fact that many counties benefit when a new plant opens, just as many counties feel the sting when a major employer shuts down.
By combining resources – and it’s been suggested that nine counties have representatives on the newly formed regional economic development committee – it only serves to make this area more attractive. Perhaps more incentives could be offered that will make the difference in jobs coming to Middle Tennessee as opposed to going elsewhere.
Gov. Phil Bredesen brought the idea of regional industrial recruitment to center stage during his run for office by making the correct assumption that several counties would have more to offer than just one. That’s a point hammered home during the regional meeting last week when White County Executive Herd Sullivan said it’s nothing for people to drive 30 or 40 miles just to get to work.
We saw that with Carrier as a number of Smithville residents made the commute to Morrison. Carrier drew employees from as far away as Columbia and Fayetteville. We are also seeing the other side of that as a growing number of Warren County residents are making the commute to Decherd and Smyrna to work for Nissan.
Since a major employer locating in Manchester would certainly help the workforce in Warren County and several other counties, it only makes sense for those counties to combine their resources to get those jobs here in the first place.