Bill Estep of the Lexington Herald Leader published a story online this morning about the possibility of Manchester, Kentucky becoming the home for a waste-conversion plant:¹
Manchester, in Clay County, is under consideration for a large manufacturing plant that would turn household garbage into building materials, according to the mayor and the state Economic Development Cabinet.
WNT LLC, which stands for Waste Not Technologies, estimated in an application for tax incentives that the project would create 1,411 jobs, according to a summary provided to the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority …
Considering the fact that Clay County has a projected 14.1% unemployment rate, according to the KY.gov Workforce Kentucky website, we sure could use the jobs. Clay County alone will not be able to fill all of the 1,411 positions, but even those commuting from other counties will help the local economy by paying Clay County occupational tax in addition to purchasing food, gas, and other goods and services in the county. This stimulation of the economy could prove to be monumental, considering Clay County is the fourth poorest county by median income in the United States.² Also, if families relocate to Clay County, the tax base will increase, along with the number of students enrolled in the school system. More residents means more consumer demand. In order to meet the demand, businesses will open, thus adding more jobs. As you can see, a cycle begins. This plant could be the snowball that gets things rolling down the hill.
There is an entire website dedicated to information about Global Green Holdings and David Bennett. It can be found at http://sites.google.com/site/ggh411