NIT Opinion –
Fort Dodge must have something Mason City doesn’t.
A South Korean company is proposing a $324 million plant in Fort Dodge that would employ 180 people. The Iowa Economic Development Authority Board just awarded Fort Dodge $1.8 million in direct financial assistance as well as tax incentives to Korean-based CJ Cheiljedang Corporation.
“The company is considering a project to produce amino acids by world-class fermentation technology at a new facility in Fort Dodge,” the board’s press release said.
Meanwhile, in Mason City, the best thing on our horizon is a possible trash to gas plant with about 56 jobs, about half of which is trash sorters. Best of all, we get the privilege of paying $5 per ton to take our trash which was already destined for the landfill. If we are lucky, we may get a new ingredient in the already flavorful air aroma on top of that new fee.
When will our community leaders, who are routinely in the news parroting the tired old phrase “jobs jobs jobs” deliver something like this South Korean deal to Mason City?
