Editorial: Will state and CSX seize opportunity to get it right in Johnston County?
North Carolina and CSX officials need to work openly and effectively with local residents to avoid squandering an important economic development opportunity for Johnston County and the eastern part of the state.
Posted — UpdatedWith it, the town of Four Oaks had indicated it is interested in having the 450-acre terminal in the community.
In mid-January, an ebullient McCrory enthusiastically announced that the project to be located near Selma would "maximize both public and private investments for economic development and job creation."
Nick Tennyson, McCrory's transportation secretary, said the project would "provide vibrant economic benefits." Fifteen hundred jobs, an investment of $150 million by CSX along with up to $100 million of state government incentives, would come to the area.
With an awareness of what happened, what went wrong and why, there's a clear path forward that will work to bring the CSX terminal to a community that will welcome it with open arms.
Economic development officials and CSX personnel need to work with the communities -- particularly the resident and landowners -- in an open and full manner. The should organize community meetings, fully and completely share all plans, solicit community concerns and needs, and be willing to modify plans in response to those concerns.
This is not magic. CSX, state officials and local economic development interests, have this unique opportunity to show they can be good neighbors.
If they embrace the concerns of the people who live in Johnston County, work openly and honestly on the project’s plans and needs, there's a far better chance it will all end with greater economic opportunities for eastern North Carolina. And North Carolina will gain an important facility that will open doors to more appropriate industrial and economic growth.
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