MOUNT VERNON — A panel of experts, journalists and Knox County residents assembled Thursday night to collectively answer an impossible question.
How will the arrival of Intel’s $28 billion semiconductor project in New Albany affect Knox County? Specifically, will the company’s investment boost the local economy, change residents’ way of life or strain resources?
It’s an impossible question, of course, because Intel is not operational yet — and may not be until 2032, a decade after first announcing the project in January 2022.
Nevertheless, billions of dollars have already been spent on the project. And whether the final form takes the name of Intel or something else, the impact will be felt in Knox County, Knox Pages Managing Editor Larry Phillips said Thursday.
Knox Pages reporters Cheryl Splain, Grant Ritchey and Grace McCormick spent the last five months tackling these questions with a series dubbed Beyond the Chip.
Thursday’s event served as the series’ capstone, Phillips said.
“To share what we’ve learned, and glean your feedback,” he said, addressing an audience of roughly 60 people at Mount Vernon Nazarene University’s Jetter Hall.
What was learned?
First, let’s zoom out.
To answer the impossible, reporters traveled to Sherwood, Oregon. The semi-rural city of roughly 20,000 is located 17 miles south of an Intel plant, in Hillsboro. Mount Vernon — population roughly 16,500 — is located 25 miles north of the planned site for Intel.
The trip put into focus what Knox County might be able to expect when or if Intel is operational.
So what did they learn? Here’s the short answer.
There’s no doubt Knox County will feel an impact from Intel or otherwise, but the county is not ready for an influx of growth in the way Sherwood experienced, Splain said.
“The (Beyond the Chip) project was more about the effect of growth in general,” Splain said. “Growth is already happening, and more is headed our way.
“We’re gonna have to deal with growth and change.”
There are not enough housing units in Knox County, Splain said.
There’s also not enough industrial space, said Jeff Gottke, president of the Knox County Area Development Foundation.
“We have enough land, of course,” Gottke said. “But development is like water, it goes where you channel it.”
The onus, therefore, is on planners to create the proper conditions through zoning, utility infrastructure development and (tax) incentives.
School districts and secondary institutions have taken steps to offer the programs and skills that Intel and manufacturing-related companies will need.
Ritchey, the publication’s education and workforce reporter, said Knox County is ahead of its Oregon counterpart in this fashion.
Bracing for impact
So if the area is not ready for inevitable growth in some respects, how will Intel’s or another similar company’s move-in affect residents’ desire to maintain a “small-town feel?”
Gottke said connections matter more than population.
“Small-town feel can exist in larger places, like a town of 100,000 people — and it can also not exist in smaller places. So it’s more about connections than it is about population,” he said.
Officials remained optimistic for the inevitable change. So did Splain.
“We’re doing a lot of things right,” she said, adding the things being done in Knox County align with advice officials from Sherwood offered.
Splain said more can be done, however.
Trimming the commute time for residents, more civic engagement, more long-term planning, strengthen relationships between officials and residents — those are all areas in which Knox County could improve, Splain said.
For the long answer to the what-was-learned question, check out the series’ landing page.
Thursday’s event included a Q&A session, where members of the audience asked questions of an expert panel, which included:
- Kayla Jones: Knox/Licking County Farm Bureau
- Elaine Robinson: Director of the Knox County Career Center
- Matthew Starr: Mayor of Mount Vernon
- Jeff Gottke: President of the Knox Area Development Foundation
Listen to the event’s Q&A portion below.
