Friday, November 02, 2018

Montgomery County shut-out of contest for UK firm's first US factory

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announces
another win over Montgomery County
Score another one for Virginia, as Montgomery County continues to sit out the regional economic development competition. British firm Harlow Group Ltd. has chosen Danville, Virginia for the site of its first U.S. precision sheet metal manufacturing plant. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced the win Thursday. Alabama was the other Harlow suitor; Montgomery County did not even try to woo the firm.

Virginia will spend only $147,000 in financial incentives, while Harlow will invest $8 million in the state building the facility in Danville's burgeoning Cyber Park. Meanwhile, Montgomery County leaders are turning office parks ripe for aerospace, defense and tech campuses into bedroom community townhome developments instead. No wonder Montgomery has a $208 million budget shortfall this year.

"Virginia has once again attracted a leading international manufacturer, and we are thrilled to welcome Harlow Group to this region’s impressive corporate roster,” Northam said yesterday. Harlow Group CEO and Founder Alan Pearce praised Virginia's pro-business climate. “Virginians have been amongst the most welcoming and friendly people and their appetite to make things work and overcome obstacles is second to none," Pearce said. "The ambition of Virginia to embrace new technology and invest in the future will keep the Commonwealth as the number one destination for expansion and business investment, and we are extremely proud to be associated with Danville and the Commonwealth of Virginia.”

Montgomery County has failed to attract a single major corporate headquarters in two decades, and just lost one of its few high-tech manufacturing facilities to Frederick. It hasn't pursued lucrative aerospace firms in any serious way in the same amount of time.
Tired of losing to Virginia?
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County Council At-Large candidate
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Robert Dyer
Meanwhile, Danville's Cyber Park is becoming the latest aerospace hub in Virginia. “The community’s vision of becoming a hub of automotive and aerospace suppliers is now reality," said Robert Warren, Chairman of the Danville-Pittsylvania Regional Industrial Facility Authority (Montgomery doesn't even have such an authority). Danville Mayor Alonzo Jones was equally celebratory Thursday. "We believed we would create a magnet to draw aerospace and automotive metal working companies from around the world," Jones said. "Our students and residents could be employed in jobs here in our home community that would be highly paid. It is so rewarding to see this vision becoming a reality.”

Another humiliating defeat for Montgomery County. Another reason to throw the bums out on Election Day. You'll notice the four developer-funded Democrats running for Montgomery County Council At-Large have no specific economic development plan on their campaign websites; just generalities and mindless pablum. That's because they don't understand how business works in the year 2018, and because their developer sugar daddies want all the potential land that could hold corporate HQs, and related research and manufacturing facilities to instead be developed as residential housing.

The only way to break this cycle of failure and corruption is to vote for Robert Dyer on Tuesday, November 6.

13 comments:

Baloney Concrete said...

Today we learned that Dyer thinks it’s worthwhile to compare Montgomery County to a tiny town 200 miles away on the North Carolina border. Just one of the many reasons he’s unfit to serve on the County Council.

Robert Dyer said...

5:16: A tiny town that is kicking Montgomery County's behind in economic development. Intelligent voters will indeed vote for someone like me who is actually talking about our moribund economy, and proposing common-sense solutions.

It's the pablum-spewing 4 developer-funded Democrats on the ballot for At-Large who are unfit to serve, because they are going into office with no plan whatsoever to address this crisis.

Only a low-information voter votes for a low-information candidate who hasn't even taken a position on major infrastructure projects, or stated clearly what he will do to address our stagnant County economy.

Anonymous said...

No, Robert, it's you who is wrong to try to compare MoCo with a town in the sticks of Virginia. Perhaps if you were trying to represent Salisbury or Hagerstown, then your critical views would be more realistic. Those are the areas of MD that are comparable with southern VA. Stick to the immediate counties around DC for your commentary. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

I have to agree with these other posters; Danville is an old textile factory town that has hit very hard times. Housing is cheap - unlike around here. The state of Virginia is quite a bit larger and more diverse than Montgomery County so may not always be a good for comparison.

Anonymous said...

I find it unlikely that Montgomery County would be ideal for a new heavy industrial use like a new sheet metal stamping and fabrication plant. Huge requirement for industrial scale deliveries near multiple freight rail lines, extensive waste water management issues and a requirement for many industrial workers. Sounds like a rust belt industry that would require hundreds of acres of heavy industrial zoned land.

Roald said...

Looking forward to it!!

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

7:47am the cemetery issue seems dead.
The neighborhood wants a new Starbucks, maybe a Panera, and a new parking garage.
Folks could care less about slave burial grounds. Just a bunch of bones anyway.

Anonymous said...

I don't like the idea of only seeking out high-paying high-tech jobs. Not everyone in MoCo is qualified for those. We should have a wide range of jobs available.

Anonymous said...

"Their developer sugar daddies want all the potential land that could hold corporate HQs, and related research and manufacturing facilities to instead be developed as residential housing."

First, this is a sheetmetal factory which is anticipated to hire 49 employees, not a "corporate HQ". And second, none of your fellow NIMBYs in Westbard would want to see their decaying shopping center become either a sheetmetal factory or a Fortune 500 HQ.

Anonymous said...

Another reasonable conclusion might be that it pays to have a Democratic Governor. Headline could read "Gov. Ralph Northum (D-VA) Announces he Just kicked Gov Hogan's (R-MD) Butt Again!"

Howard said...

As I was about to post, I saw others had already stated the obvious. Robert - you yourself said it's [Democratic] Gov. Northrum who again was able to celebrate another job-creating win over our lame [Republican] Gov. Hogan. D'Oh!

Anonymous said...

Couldn't this be viewed as a failure by Fredericksburg?