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Every time I feel optimistic about the Upper Ohio Valley's future, something reminds me of just how much work remains if we do, indeed, seek a better tomorrow.
This past week, that reminder came during a drive north along Ohio 7 from Wheeling toward Warren, Ohio.
During that drive, I passed several remnants of our industrial past that no longer exist. And it made me realize the level of urgency our region needs -- and now.
First, driving through Belmont and Jefferson counties toward Steubenville, there were the shuttered steel plants that not too many years ago supported thousands of families throughout our tri-state region.
All of those facilities are closed. Some have been torn down. None have been put into any level of produtive re-use.
What's worse is that in small communities such as Mingo Junction, much of the infrastructure that powered those plants remains. It's a constant reflection of how life used to be for those living there.
The next reminder hit me about halfway between Steubenville and East Liverpool, at Stratton, Ohio. There sits the shuttered W.H. Sammis power plant, where workers are currently dismantling another longstanding piece of our region's industrial landscape. All that's left of a plant that powered this region for more than six decades are two stacks and part of a building that housed operations.
As I looked at those stacks, my thoughts turned to the families that plant supported, and also those jobs that have been gone for nearly two decades at the closed steel mills. Those jobs helped buy homes, raise children and send them to college. The region's economy depended on those workers.
For generations, large industrial operations such as Sammis and the former Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel plants (and the former Weirton Steel Corp. across the river along W.Va. 2) gave people a reason to build their lives here.
Our task now is to give the next generation of Ohio Valley residents that same opportunity.
Here's the truth, though: we needed to start yesterday.
This is not to say that we shouldn't respect our industrial history. Of course we should. But we also must recognize how urgently we need to build something new for the 21st century.
As I talk with folks and local officials around this region, I worry that too much of our thinking about the future remains tied to our past. Steel, coal and natural gas have shaped this valley, and the businesses still operating in those realms deserve our attention and support.
But a vibrant regional economy needs more opportunities than those industries alone can provide.
We need leaders willing to look beyond the comfortable and actively recruit businesses that might never have considered the Upper Ohio Valley.
That means identifying prospects, making the calls, building relationships and following through. It means having honest answers when employers ask about available land, infrastructure, housing and workers.
It also means asking ourselves a difficult question: Are our local and state leaders making it easier for something new to happen here? Or are they simply too comfortable?
Form Energy in Weirton offers an example of what is possible. A company manufacturing batteries has established operations on land once occupied by the former Weirton Steel, creating opportunities outside our traditional industrial base.
Consider what that represents for a young person with an engineering degree deciding whether there is a future here. It is a potential career. A reason to stay. A reason someone who left might consider coming home.
We need more opportunities like that. Many more.
One project isn't near enough. The work has to continue, across municipal boundaries, county lines and the Ohio River. We need to break down the walls to development in our region.
It's not been too many years ago that former Belmont County commissioner Mark Thomas proposed his county working more closely with Ohio County leaders. That's something that should happen, when it makes sense.
That aside, residents deserve to know what their leaders are doing to attract investment, prepare former industrial sites for reuse and connect people with the skills employers need.
Here's a hard reality, though: other communities in other states are pursuing the same employers and investment dollars. We've got to find ways to stand out from the bunch. Taxes, regulatory burdens, permitting and much more factor in. This needs to be a focused approach, because every year we spend looking at those old mills and plants and thinking about what used to be is another year where other communities are moving forward -- and we're being left behind.
I remain optimistic about this valley because I believe in the people that call it home. Their work ethic helped build the industries whose remnants still surround us. Now we need a serious effort to build what comes next.
That view driving along Ohio 7 will keep changing. Whether those changes include new workplaces and new opportunities depends solely on what we do now.