American Medicines Company was recently approved to construct two pharmaceutical factories employing five-hundred workers each with beginning salaries of $50,000, and an overall average of $110,000 per year. The Company has already committed to locating one of these factories in West Virginia. The other will be in New Mexico.
This county has been its own worst enemy over my lifetime. As our people toiled mostly in the oil and gas industry and lived their lives buying homes and raising their families, the leaders of the community had no vision for the future. They actively stood in the way of progress by scuttling plans for interstate highways (I-79) that were originally routed through Calhoun County. A prison that would have provided many high-paying jobs was lost because of a lack of support and active opposition. No thought was given to what would happen to our county when the oil and gas boom ended. This resulted in our young people having to leave home to find employment.
Never in my lifetime have I seen an opportunity for a manufacturing facility with five hundred high-paying jobs being brought to Calhoun County. This generation of Calhouners must now stand up and welcome this company to our county. We must not allow a minority of our people to cause us once again to be left behind. Imagine how the community would change with our people employed in these jobs paying an average of $110,000 per year. Housing construction would boom. The tax base would increase hugely. Families would be stronger and more cohesive with extended families intact. Revenue would increase many times over as these employees would stay home and spend their money locally. Additional spinoff small businesses would come into being. Folks, this is our opportunity to bring prosperity to our county and give our children a chance to pursue their dreams. As with all things, if a community is standing still, it is moving backward. Let us all commit ourselves to be a force for positive change, not be like the leaders of the past with no vision.
Some will say, “Those jobs will never come to Calhoun County.” I say, “Why not.” No one thought Doddridge County would be an economic dynamo like it is today either. One thing is for sure, they will not come if we do not step up and actively pursue this opportunity.
