Trending
When a figure as successful as Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates comes to town, it tends to dazzle and distract -- maybe even spark a little hope. What a wonderful possibility, if Gates genuinely believes what is happening in West Virginia is "pretty exciting," and thinks of us as an energy state willing to consider the construction of a nuclear power plant.
There was a lot of tenuous connecting of dots as U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., took Gates around Charleston Monday, with talk of how beneficial West Virginia's repeal of a ban on nuclear power facilities could be. Gates called the repeal "quite impressive," and noted he is looking for sites to expand his nuclear efforts on the East Coast.
"There are very concrete projects that draw on the workforce here," Gates said. "The fact that it's a small state that is committed to a future and wants to create these new jobs, I think that is pretty exciting. The country needs on the East Coast a state that wants to generate lots and lots of energy."
Gates is an investor in Form Energy, the company that recently announced plans to build a manufacturing facility for a proprietary kind of iron-air battery on the former Weirton Steel site. The idea that he is considering West Virginia for another of his projects is tantalizing.
But let's be cautious in our optimism. Too many of our "home run" economic development announcements in recent years have turned out to be foul balls.
Gates and Manchin were careful not to make any announcements this week. What Manchin did say was "All of this has happened because of the incentives we created ... We want to invest in incentives."
Sure. But given the number of times Mountain State residents have been disappointed, lawmakers must not forget to invest in us. Infrastructure, education, healthcare … there are so many ways in which investing in improving the lives of ordinary West Virginians will in turn be an investment in attracting businesses big and small to our state.