What impact could Intel have on Columbus?
Officials must plan now for Intel’s impact on the environment
While Ohio’s elected officials congratulate themselves on winning the Intel site location contest, they ignore, at great peril, the onslaught of major impacts guaranteed to follow the conversion of what is presently low-density, rural farm land to intensely urbanized high-tech/industrial land use in western Licking County.
More:Photos: Licking County site of planned Intel plant
A recent editorial in the Newark Advocate admonished public officials to move expeditiously in planning for these impacts, which will not only be local, but regional as well.
Frankly, the planning should have been done years ago, but Ohio has never placed a high priority on wise land use practices and judicious growth management: witness Columbus’ continuous sprawl, and the zoning disputes over proposed large-scale industrial installations in southwest Licking County.
Additionally, climate change is a fact, yet Ohio’s elected leadership has remained silent on this existential issue, which ultimately underpins all others.
There can be no doubt that manufacturing facilities of the anticipated scale of the Intel plants will generate significant environmental and climatological impacts on the region.
More:President Joe Biden, Gov. DeWine tout Ohio Intel chip factory as manufacturing win
Planning for this now by public officials, with opportunities for citizen involvement, is essential. Not doing so would be extremely poor public policy, and likely very costly.
Dave Lipstreu, Newark
More:How to submit a letter to the editor for The Columbus Dispatch
Education crucial in providing skilled Intel workers
News of Intel’s $20 billion investment in Central Ohio marks a watershed event for our entire state, promising opportunities for thousands of Ohioans to build meaningful, well-paying careers.
Other advanced-technology companies are sure to follow Intel’s lead, bringing many more jobs to Ohio – and with that an even greater need for a well-prepared workforce with the skills those jobs demand.
More:Here’s how Ohio won a bid by Intel to build the world’s largest chip factory
Gov. Mike DeWine and other leaders deserve credit for their strategy bringing Intel to Ohio, but that success requires a second, equally well-coordinated plan.
Ohio needs a skills strategy to ensure a steady flow of proficient workers coming out of our schools and colleges. Industries of the future, like Intel, won’t succeed in Ohio without a dependable, highly trained workforce.
Ohio’s skills strategy will require strong collaboration at every stage of education, from the earliest grades through high school, and at all institutions offering degrees or professional certification.
Let’s celebrate Ohio’s Intel win, but not forget the skills strategy we’ll need to succeed.
Dr. K. L. Allen
Chancellor, Western Governor’s University Ohio
Intel chose Ohio because of its history of ‘greatness’
Ohio, let’s pause and be grateful that Intel chose us for its future, which will provide important jobs and resources for Ohioans for decades.
Why did Intel’s leadership choose Ohio?
Remember who we are: bastion of military generals and heroes, presidents, astronauts, Fortune 500 corporations, entrepreneurs, trusted public-private partnerships, great athletes, famous entertainers, Midwest values, world class medicine, education excellence.
More:Semiconductor factory: What you need to know about potential Licking County site
Ohio gave the world flight, and we had a vast Underground Railroad network. Have you read David McCullough’s book “The Pioneers”? There’s greatness here.
Thank you to Gov. Mike DeWine, Lt. Gov. Jon Husted and all the people involved in convincing Intel that its best future is in Ohio.
Twelve-year-old Cincinnatian James Mastronardo got it right when he suggested our state’s current motto, “With God, all things are possible.” Keep leading, Ohio.
Bryce Kurfees, Columbus
Intel a sign of growth, but can Columbus be great?
With Intel poised to invest $20 billion in central Ohio manufacturing, Columbus has reached a crossroads.
We could double-down on the car and single-family infrastructure that have made this city so livable – for the haves.
But as reported in the Dispatch, Columbus is among the most economically segregated cities in America. It’s unusually hard to climb out of poverty here. We all pay for this in crime, struggling schools, lost lives and opportunities missed.
More:Intel chip factory is part of Ohio’s plan to regain its status as manufacturing powerhouse
Decades of growth have not solved these problems. Neither can future growth alone. Great cities shape their growth through strong planning and public investment.
New York City opened its iconic subway in 1904.
Vienna, shattered by war, started building high-amenity public apartments in 1923. Hong Kong, flooded with millions of refugees from 1937 onward, invested in public housing and transit oriented development. Singapore, destitute and racked with race riots in 1964, made home ownership a universal right.
It’s no accident that these grew into thriving, world-renowned cities.
Columbus will grow, but will we be great?
The time has come to boldly choose a bright future for all of us, and commit the resources to make it happen.
Kevin Polk, Columbus
Mixed feelings about the ‘Silicon Heartland’
There is a lot of gushing and back-slapping going on now. Twenty billion dollars is a huge amount of money.
That’s $20,000,000,000, right? I think I have enough zeros.
The “Silicon Heartland” sounds wealthy enough, but early reactions from those who will be the company’s neighbors don’t sound welcoming. Many, or most, of them will not work for Intel. Nor, I expect, will their children.
More:Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger ‘thrilled to be launching the Silicon Heartland in Ohio’
Another figure I view with mixed feelings is the $30,000/year average wage, projected for employees. That may have been a pretty good wage, what, 30 years ago?
When my tradesman father retired in the 1970s, his hourly wage was under $9. You do the math. He and my mother got by. Were they still living now, they would be poor. That $30,000 is a distance from what the top echelon will earn.
More:Economist forecasts Greater Columbus should gain 30,100 jobs this year
The Ohio governor says we may now bury the Rust Belt label.
Let us hope so.
I don’t know how much toxic industrial waste is generated by electronics manufacture. There must be some. It will have to go somewhere.
As is the case, almost universally, I suspect the economic benefit generated for the county and state is overstated. I won’t be around when that cow comes home. If we choose to live somewhere else, it will not be in the “Silicon Heartland.”
Can’t imagine why we would want to stay.
Paul D. Van Pelt, Columbus
Intel venture is ‘feather in our governor’s cap’
I am thrilled with Gov. Mike DeWine’s success in his latest venture bringing profitable, sustainable and valuable jobs to Ohio.
Intel is one of the most lucrative companies in the world and it’s a real feather in our governor’s cap that he is able to close a colossal deal to bring a bit of Silicon Valley to our beautiful state.
He has been given a hard way to go during this pandemic by critics who think they could do a better job. He has handled the critics with grace and aplomb and soldiered on. I am so happy to see this wonderful news for him now.
The governor is a good man and a prudent politician with a great heart.
Congratulations, Gov. Mike DeWine.
Sue Mogan, Westerville
Read More: What impact could Intel have on Columbus?