Steve Mensing, Editor
♦ A popular game played in economically struggling and desperate parts of the United States is squandering taxpayer money on speculative industrial buildings for manufacturing. We’re not talking about “flex” buildings for distribution centers and warehousing where interior walls can be adjusted for floor space requirements–-they are less of a gamble unless your area has a large inventory of empty buildings suitable for distribution and warehousing. Here we are focusing solely on large and expensive speculative industrial buildings for manufacturing built on the taxpayers dime.
Constructing large and expensive speculative industrial buildings for manufacturing is largely a high risk gamble that seldom pays off save for the architects and construction outfits who profit from the construction and those who might be in line for money under the radar. Frequently kickbacks and bribes are the major motivation for high-risk gambles on “build it and they will come” projects.
But why are speculative industrial buildings for manufacturing, built on the taxpayer’s dime, high-risk? Let’s count the reasons.
• Each manufacturing company has their own unique building specifications that a one-sized fits all building will seldom if ever match. For example:
* Floors might be required to bare a specified weight.
* A building’s shape and length might have to adhere to assembly line anomalies like curves and forks.
* Ceilings must be height specific.
* Roofs may have to support weighty cooling units.
* Support beams must require a certain load baring ability.
* Ramps and truck entrances/exits need to be a certain size and width.
* Are the areas statistics inviting to industrial manufacturing companies? Companies, looking to transfer staff and their families, take very seriously an area’s crime, public school performance, and poverty statistics. Salisbury and some parts of Rowan County would get short-shrift based on statistics alone. Many other areas are far more livable.
* How about the area workforce? Are they educated and specifically trained to meet a prospective manufacturer’s criteria?
* How about the economy’s fluctuations and its impact on an industry? The need for a company’s expansion may vanish overnight.
Constructing speculative industrial buildings for manufacturing is an extremely high-risk gamble. The landscape across the United States is littered with “build it and they will come” vacant buildings and empty job promises never fulfilled.
While it would make good sense to prep land for industrial use and make sure zoning requirements are in place so fewer obstacles for an industry stand in the way–speculative industrial buildings built with little thought about a specific company’s needs are risky business.
The Dark Side of Build It and They will Come:
http://rowanfreepress.com/2014/05/25/the-dark-side-of-build-it-and-they-will-come/
