Dear Editor: Please accept this guest editorial from State Rep. Todd Eachus, D-Luzerne. For confirmation please contact Bob at 717-787-2229 or e-mail bcaton@pahouse.net
It’s been nearly 30 years since the Susquehanna Steam Generating Plant was built – a multi-billion dollar construction project that created 1,000 direct jobs and tens of thousands of additional ancillary jobs in the region.
Since then we’ve brought in some great companies who have filled our business parks with jobs and economic development, but there hasn’t been that one major project that, with a single stroke, creates a whole new industry and changes the future of our area for the better. Until now.
The proposed Hazleton Cargo Airport is going to be an economic engine that drives the entire region to newer and greater heights. Thousands of good-paying construction jobs will go into building the airport, more than 4,500 permanent on-site jobs related to the airport will be created and an estimated 100,000-plus ancillary jobs will be generated in our region as a result of this project. The Hazleton Cargo Airport will lead to a brighter future for the entire area.
The facts are clear: new federal laws requiring ALL air cargo to be inspected is going to paralyze the major cargo hubs at Newark, Philadelphia and JFK. Inspectors at those airports are doing the best they can with out-of-date equipment, but the new laws will grind commerce to a halt. Our airport will be cargo-ONLY, allowing us to offer a unique product that will be dedicated to cargo, with state-of-the-art screening systems run by local workers.
The modern economy is based on speed. Some of the non-airport businesses that have risen around cargo hubs like Memphis, Tennessee include the world’s largest home entertainment distribution center, laptop repair depot, overnight drug-testing lab and cornea bank. While the direct airport jobs are great careers, here are some of the other professions – with average salaries – that have risen near that airport because of the companies with a “need for speed” to serve customers:
These solid, family sustaining wages come from dependable jobs that will help residents of Hazleton and surrounding communities plan for the future. The average wage for the more than 150,000 people in Memphis working directly in the transportation/trade industry related to their airport is $43,285 – the average wage in Luzerne County is $17,200 annually. The development of the cargo airport will bring similar opportunities to our region.
The airport will move goods in more ways than just via air, though. With our proximity to Interstates 80 and 81 and our rail infrastructure, the new airport will be a short trip to more than one-third of the nation’s population, and have none of the hassles of a major metropolitan area for workers or for companies.
The Hazleton Cargo Airport will be “one stop” to anywhere in the world. Air Cargo Carriers are putting in more orders for long-range wide-body aircraft. Companies like UPS, FedEx, Lufthansa, Korean Air, DHL and other shippers are placing orders for more cargo aircraft from American manufacturers. They’re planning decades ahead and they know, like we do, that the airport infrastructure around the major cities cannot handle any more air traffic and certainly can’t handle screening additional cargo. Hazleton can and will be the NEW hub of international air cargo in the United States with this state-of-the-art airport staffed by well-trained hardworking people who will keep the global economy running while living right here in northeastern Pennsylvania.
This airport is a partnership between everyone who believes in a better present and a better future for our area. I assure you this airport project will be subject to vigorous public review and go through approval by officials at the local, state and federal levels to make sure we get the maximum benefit at a reasonable impact.
I encourage everyone in our area to examine the facts and I believe you’ll come to the same conclusion we have – the Hazleton Cargo Airport will be the largest economic development project in our area in generations, and help guarantee jobs today and in the future.