“GreensBooming!” Don’t be surprised if the mayor and city councilmembers show up for the Wednesday, Jan. 26 special City Council meeting in “GreensBooming!” T-shirts.
If not at the City Council meeting, it would be surprising if there were not some “GreensBooming!” T-shirts, hats or signs at the 2 p.m. press conference at Piedmont Triad International Airport (PTIA) on Jan. 26.
Councilmember Marikay Abuzuaiter may have let the cat out of the bag at the Tuesday, Jan. 18 City Council meeting when she was talking about the recent economic development successes and used the term “GreensBooming.”
Of course, no one will confirm that the Guilford County Board of Commissioners special meeting at 8:30 a.m., the Greensboro City Council meeting at 10 a.m. and the press conference at PTIA at 2 p.m. all on Wednesday, Jan 26 are to announce that Boom Supersonic is going to build its manufacturing facility for supersonic passenger jets at the PTIA megasite.
But you be the judge.
The News & Observer confirmed in December that Boom Supersonic was considering the PTIA megasite for its manufacturing facility, which was the reason for the $106.7 million Job Development Incentive Grant (JDIG) approved by the North Carolina legislature that month.
With special meetings of the Board of Commissioners and the City Council on the same day followed by a press conference at PTIA – it all seems obvious.
Plus, you have Abuzuaiter spilling the beans when at the Jan. 18 City Council meeting she said that at the announcement of the Toyota battery plant coming to the Greensboro-Randolph Megasite that somebody said, “It’s not Greensboring anymore it’s GreensBooming. Greensboro really is booming.”
Mayor Nancy Vaughan corrected Abuzuaiter by saying that it was Steven Tanger at the Tanger Center for the Performing Arts who first used that term.
GreensBooming doesn’t fit well with a battery plant. In fact, you have to hope that the battery plant doesn’t have any booms, but it fits extremely well with Boom Supersonic coming to PTIA.
“Greensbooming doesn’t FIT WELL with a battery plant”? Would you prefer new businesses coming into town chopped cotton, made clothes and furniture, refined whale oil or made cigarettes? How about subsidizing some buggy whip, corset and scrimshaw factories? How many people do you think will THOSE industries employ in the 21st Century? Time moves on and the jobs of the future DEPEND on growth of new technology, like electrified transportation, machine automation, genetic therapies and clean, renewable energy production. If you want the average Greensboro salary to match state and national averages, you MUST encourage and embrace technological advancement. Creative re-use of the abandoned furniture and textile plants in the area should be encouraged. The old Cone mill could easily house hi-tech startups or create affordable homes for the STEM grads who will be moving here to work in these high tech centers. These jobs WON’T be going to local G’boro kids because the quality and focus of your school systems don’t give them the SKILLS they need to survive in today’s economy. Greensboro needs to produce FAR FEWER English majors, mid-level managers, MBAs, lawyers and bankers, and far more doctors, engineers, scientists, mathematicians, architects, inventors and programmers if it is going to raise the salaries and standards of living of the majority of its citizens. You should add newspaper editor to the list of endangered job classifications as well. When you are a hammer, every issue or problem looks like a nail.
Life without a sense of humor must be terribly frustrating.
Well, we’ve never been ones for progress here.
Or being unable to discern dry humor which was actually a good chuckle. And yeah we don’t need a booming battery plant 🙂 But then again those batteries are not exactly “clean and green” in production, charging, or disposal now, are they? https://www.wired.com/story/cars-going-electric-what-happens-used-batteries/
Fish breath. Please hurry grab up chris and move to one of those socialist countries that have been mentioned before maybe you can get a job building tiny houses
I think you failed to realize the intended pun. If a battery plant “booms” it means batteries are exploding. FWIW batteries can explode if ignited by a spark. Batteries sound like a stick of dynamite when they explode. BTDT.
Tuna, you are a bitter, bitter person.
GTCC has many courses that are tailored to new business coming into the area. Once announcement is made hopefully we will see our community college prepare those for a job tailored to the new business whether it is manual, electrical, physical or any other skill involved.
Steve the sardine give this a chance. Let me know the results in 6 months.
Everyone is entitled to my opinion, but a reasoned argument is always welcome. You know, I could be wrong.