Some new hope for the Shoals

A new day is here for the Shoals.- With Wednesday's announcement that 1,800 new jobs are coming to Barton Riverfront Industrial Park, the excitement and enthusiasm are like we haven't seen here in a while.

This is big news for everyone, not just those who will be working at the plant.

There could be more companies coming to the area because of the plant, meaning even more jobs. There will be a greater need for training in our schools, more money to spend in the local economy and, let's face it, it will help employees at other plants get a little more money and better benefits.

It will also give hope to a new generation of workers who might otherwise have looked to leave the Shoals.

For the past seven or eight years, I have seen many friends leave this area in search of new jobs in other parts of the state.

Some have left Alabama, others just the Shoals.

I have lived in this area all of my life and feel blessed to be able to do something that I enjoy here at home.

When you get to that age when it's time to go to work full-time, things take on a whole different look.

For many, that means leaving the place you call home.

Northwest Alabama has been losing bright young people to Birmingham, Nashville, Tenn., Atlanta, Huntsville and even Decatur. People have to go where the jobs are.

Now, that's right here.

Don't get me wrong, one new plant won't be able to offer the kinds of jobs that will keep everyone here. Engineers and other professionals will still be looking to move on.

At least for the time being.

The addition of the railcar company, coupled with the new Toyota plant in nearby Tupelo, Miss., as well as future possible projects just south of us, give a new hope that there may be reasons to stay.

Without getting too far ahead of myself and acting as if all the unemployment ills of the day have been cured, at least there is hope now.

For some 1,800 local residents, there is hope of a new job. For others, there is hope that some other industry will follow suit and offer the kind of jobs in their line of work.

Still, there are others who now have hope that employees will stop in their stores, eat at their restaurants or look to buy their land for a new home.

This is the kind of news that we have all hoped to hear for a long time, even if it does not mean a job for all of us-personally.

We don't just have hope of better jobs, we have possibilities of making them realities.

Jonathan Willis can be reached at 332-0140 or jonathan.willis@timesdaily.com.