On September 19th of last year I wrote and broadcast on
this commentary these words:
“Young families are not going to move here or stay here because of
a nature trail or a nicer looking water tower. They need jobs. Jobs should be
the focus. We are becoming a bedroom community to Albion, Flora and Mt. Vernon.
People here work at Champ, NAL and General Tire. We need jobs here.”
Fast forward to last Friday when independently verified social
media posts have at least 10, maybe more jobs extinguished at Airtex. You knew
that this was coming after the sale of the company three weeks ago.
Skilled local workers now looking for a paycheck…Look, I know we
live in an unfriendly state for business. Taxes, already too high, are certain
to go higher with the new administration in Springfield. But we can’t use that
as an excuse. We must utilize a meager tax increment financing fund in
Fairfield to bring jobs here….and that has to happen before it’s too late.
Put the best minds in town around a table and find some innovative
solutions to attract jobs here. And let’s take it a step further….We need to
keep what we’ve got. Fewer paychecks in town means less money going to local
merchants. Now, more than ever, we need to support the small businesses..
In January alone, the U.S.
economy added 304,000 non-farm jobs, or twice as many as expected. Those jobs
are going somewhere----why not here?
If it doesn’t become the priority, I shudder to think where we are
going to be in five, or ten years. Too many of our best and brightest are
gone…and only come home to visit…once or twice a year.
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