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So was Cree that great of a company which lacked complete leadership? Guess all on here are part of the Commerce JDIG commission…Silicon South..yeah sure stay in your lane which was agricultural and we sold that out too
I'm not sure I understand where this thread is going. An American company is making a huge investment in a local area, to manufacture a product that is in demand. It will bring money into the economy, and likely provide an opportunity for local people to retrain, as well as have people to relocate to the area. But the message in this thread is that it's the wrong type of jobs.
There is no doubt it will change things for Chatham County, but business isn't static - simple examples are when furniture manufacturing relocated to the far east, or people massively reduced their tobacco consumption, with the corresponding reduction in tobacco processing.
Siler City has a big chicken processing facility - perhaps that is the type of investment people want? I believe a lot of people from south and central America are employed there rather than longtime Chatham County residents, but I can't pretend I have an understanding of the dynamics.
Perhaps the question to understand is what investment could be made into Chatham County that would be acceptable to those complaining about Wolfspeed? Another chicken processing plant? A distribution warehouse? Nothing?
I'm not sure I understand where this thread is going. An American company is making a huge investment in a local area, to manufacture a product that is in demand. It will bring money into the economy, and likely provide an opportunity for local people to retrain, as well as have people to relocate to the area. But the message in this thread is that it's the wrong type of jobs.
There is no doubt it will change things for Chatham County, but business isn't static - simple examples are when furniture manufacturing relocated to the far east, or people massively reduced their tobacco consumption, with the corresponding reduction in tobacco processing.
Siler City has a big chicken processing facility - perhaps that is the type of investment people want? I believe a lot of people from south and central America are employed there rather than longtime Chatham County residents, but I can't pretend I have an understanding of the dynamics.
Perhaps the question to understand is what investment could be made into Chatham County that would be acceptable to those complaining about Wolfspeed? Another chicken processing plant? A distribution warehouse? Nothing?
There are a couple of posters here whose entire POV (which they are free to have) is basically any growth/progress/development is bad because it takes away trees and changes the character of the area etc etc etc. They pine for the simpler times.
The problem is, an area is either living or dying. There is no such thing as a status quo. My mother in law is from Great Falls MT. She sings the praises of Great Falls like the Sun rises and sets on the place. Its like a GD Norman Rockwell painting. Just perfect old timey Americana.
I went to Great Falls in 2013. Its an effing chithole. Half empty strip malls, no young people (because there is no opportunity, the ones that can, leave), and an overabundance of meth mouth. Its basically Malstrom AFB and nothing else. We went to a music festival and it was 90-10 just end of the road people. The future there may not be Mad Max...but certainly closer to that and a vibrant, "coming back to the heyday" city of the 1950s/1960s (its basically what the Rest Belt cities are).
Now, before someone tries to apply words to my opinion, I am not for unfettered development. Sprawl should be managed. Green spaces should be part of any development plan. The infrastructure should accounted for what you are developing (arguably my biggest issue with growth here in my ~6 years here; build all these houses and condos....but add no roads, no schools....makes no freaking sense).
But idea that its either all development or all non development is the idea of a simp. Shades of gray and what have you. Its like people want counties around here to remain like a version of Marmet WV....wooooof...... no thanks. I grew up in the Third World....I'm good.
In the end, from my seat, a company investing (with yes, some subsidies, because thats the American Capitalistic way) is a good thing. The alternative is companies leaving, which hurts everyone. Even the folks who just want to sip sweet tea and rock on the porch.
Hate to see it. I've been out there as an Amazon-Flex driver (I use my own car). Lots of woods and deer...which will be demolished. It will be like Holly Springs, Faquey Varina (however that's spelled), where swaths of forest have been bulldozed and destroyed for cookie cutter McMansions.
Sad.
You...hate to see...growth...? Your opinion is your opinion but what a bizarre take. If you want to live in a stagnant or declining place, I hear Rocky Mount is nice? Maybe Kinston, Goldsboro, Lumberton, Fayetteville are more your speed? Or outside of NC you have wonderful options such as Baltimore, St Louis, Detroit, etc?
There are a couple of posters here whose entire POV (which they are free to have) is basically any growth/progress/development is bad because it takes away trees and changes the character of the area etc etc etc. They pine for the simpler times.
The problem is, an area is either living or dying. There is no such thing as a status quo. My mother in law is from Great Falls MT. She sings the praises of Great Falls like the Sun rises and sets on the place. Its like a GD Norman Rockwell painting. Just perfect old timey Americana.
I went to Great Falls in 2013. Its an effing chithole. Half empty strip malls, no young people (because there is no opportunity, the ones that can, leave), and an overabundance of meth mouth. Its basically Malstrom AFB and nothing else. We went to a music festival and it was 90-10 just end of the road people. The future there may not be Mad Max...but certainly closer to that and a vibrant, "coming back to the heyday" city of the 1950s/1960s (its basically what the Rest Belt cities are).
Now, before someone tries to apply words to my opinion, I am not for unfettered development. Sprawl should be managed. Green spaces should be part of any development plan. The infrastructure should accounted for what you are developing (arguably my biggest issue with growth here in my ~6 years here; build all these houses and condos....but add no roads, no schools....makes no freaking sense).
But idea that its either all development or all non development is the idea of a simp. Shades of gray and what have you. Its like people want counties around here to remain like a version of Marmet WV....wooooof...... no thanks. I grew up in the Third World....I'm good.
In the end, from my seat, a company investing (with yes, some subsidies, because thats the American Capitalistic way) is a good thing. The alternative is companies leaving, which hurts everyone. Even the folks who just want to sip sweet tea and rock on the porch.
YMMV
Good Post! Id like to add though it isn't everyone's dream to make a million dollars and live life in the fast lane. A lot of people in places like Chatham grew up a rural and impoverished life. Some escaped it, some did a bit better but still live the same simple lifestyle because that's what they enjoy. Not everyone cares if there area is growing or not, some do. As for being anti-development, I'm only as anti development as this area is pro mismanaged development. I envy places that manage growth better than us, no where manages it perfectly as growth isn't something you can truly manage, but there are places that do it a lot better.
Good Post! Id like to add though it isn't everyone's dream to make a million dollars and live life in the fast lane. A lot of people in places like Chatham grew up a rural and impoverished life. Some escaped it, some did a bit better but still live the same simple lifestyle because that's what they enjoy.
1000000%. Nor should that be the expectation. My dad is from Southern Illinois (which if you havent been there, is nothing at all like Northern Illinois. It's like a different planet). His family has been there since both of his lines came over from Poland in the mid 1800s.
His family is completely cool with the simple life. And that is great. His dad (my grandfather) moved the family to the St Louis suburbs and then to Cincinnati in the 1960s. Because he wanted better opportunities for his kids. His dad "made that choice" and my dad reflects on it as perhaps the most pivotal moment in his life. As he says "if my dad doesn't leave Chester, I'm probably driving an '89 Buick Celebrity and greeting people at WalMart". However, because his dad made that choice, my dad has his name on patents in shoe world, made the first veresion of Shaq's Reebok pump shoe by hand. He achieved a ton given the humble starting point he had. I'm the first in my dad's line to get a Bachelor's degree (my mom's is the complete opposite end of this spectrum). My parents made ends meet in Cincy (we were certainly a blue collar/family; my first job out of college I made more money than my dad did as a father of two in his 30s) until my dad's big break with one of the big 3 footwear companies in the early 90s. We went to MA, then Indonesia and the rest, is as they say, history.
But millionaires we are not and while I like bougie things in certain contexts, I mostly don't seek them out.
I want my kids to have it better than I did. This is the only point where I think my position stands out. If my kids only have it equal to me (or worse) then I have failed. Generational progress is my goal. But we're never going to be the Waltons or even the Kardashians. That is and never has been the goal.
Quote:
Originally Posted by muslim12
Not everyone cares if there area is growing or not, some do. As for being anti-development, I'm only as anti development as this area is pro mismanaged development. I envy places that manage growth better than us, no where manages it perfectly as growth isn't something you can truly manage, but there are places that do it a lot better.
I agree the development in this area seems ham-handed. But like politics at the national level since 1971, when you allow legal bribery, cough, cough, sorry Lobbyists, then the direction of development is set by politicians who are bought by the biggest wallets. WF (where I live) has former developers and their cronies on town Board. You think they are going to do what's best for the town development wise or what's best for their buddies who funded their runs? It's the beauty of unintended consequences. Check out a video on Youtube called the Cardboard box Reform. It gets into this in greater detail than I can here. But it literally lays out why our systems are so broke (development being one)...basically because Public Vote recording gives massive power to those who lobby the system. Who would spend a million bucks backing Paula J Candidate if they couldn't guarantee that Paula would vote for their interests? No one would. The ROI wouldn't be worth it. But make that vote public (Because we need "Sunshine in the system") and boom...money talks and BS walks.
However to your point, our growth seems to be a pain point because of the drastic changes in such a short time. My buddy is from North Raleigh. He used to park in fields in WF that were the "middle of nowhere" and have keg parties. Less than 30 years later, his middle of nowhere kegger field is a McMansion development in a town of ~45K people. Places that manage growth better, don't typically see increases of that scale in that short of time. And therein lies the rub (IMHO). This metro area isn't small anymore and that is only going to continue to be exasperated. I have talked with TarHeelNick about this. The sububs/exurbs of the area I moved here from extend 50 miles in every direction but East. Applying an equal, rough circle to this metro, puts development waaaaaay further out than exists today. Leaders here bring ideas that may have worked with marginal growth rates; sorta like how someone who runs a startup can apply those learnings when the company is at the low level of self sustaining. The issues show themselves when you apply policies that worked for say a $10M company with 50 employees to a company with 10,000 employees and $500M in revenue. The scale of the latter cripples the policies of the former. I mean the mayor of my town turned away GB fiber internet ISPs because "who needs internet thaaaaaat fast!?". Spoken like someone who was probably a hoot in the 1980s and can't see past the analog world.
People may not care if their area is growing. But everyone should care if its stagnating. I don't know many people who seek to struggle.
SILER CITY — Wolfspeed is now on the fast track to construction of its Siler City facility after securing a key air quality permit from the N.C. Dept. of Environmental Quality on Thursday.
The plant in Siler City is slated to be the largest economic investment opportunity in state history. It promises 1,800 new jobs and $5 billion over the next two decades for its 445-acre silicon carbide chip manufacturing factory.
According to the state Division of Air Quality, nitrogen oxide emissions from the Wolfspeed plant could reach 113 tons per year. DAQ considers the facility to be a "major source" of emissions.
"The site is fully prepped, and now we can move forward with actual construction of the building,” said a Wolfspeed spokesperson in a statement.
The semiconductor firm has secured up to $2 billion in new financing.
The Durham company said Monday it had secured note financing from an investment group led by Apollo Global Management (NYSE: APO) that means $1.25 billion in immediate cash to Wolfspeed. There’s also an option for an additional $750 million.
The 9.875 percent notes will mature in 2030.
The funding comes on the heels of a federal decision to allow CHIPS Act incentives to go toward semiconductor materials manufacturing – the purpose for Wolfspeed's $5 billion plant near Siler City Chatham County, which is under construction.
This reminds me of the Samsung Semiconductor plant in Austin Texas. Absolutely huge and impressive, and I think they are only a fraction of what they will ultimately be when complete.
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