B
ig news just about an hour away from the Twin Cities.
This week, Sun Paper announced plans for a $1 billion mill to be built in Arkadelphia, Ark., just up Interstate 30 from here.
Sun Paper is a Chinese company and this will be their first North American facility.
The new processing plant will convert wood into pulp, which will then be used to make paper. Construction is scheduled to start next year and should take about two and a half years.
When finished, the mill will employ about 250 workers. During the construction phase, about 2,000 will be working.
And more workers will be needed in the timber industry to supply the plant. Estimates range up to about 1,000 new jobs.
All this has been celebrated as a great thing for this part of the state. For the most part, at least.
As always, though, there are those with something negative to say. Especially in online comments on news stories and in social media.
The biggest complaint is that Sun Paper is a Chinese company. Why wasn't this an American company, some ask.
Also, the new plant comes with a nice package of tax incentives, grants and loans. Why isn't that money going to an American company, the same folks grumble.
The fact is any new business, American-owned or otherwise, can get incentives. That's just the way business is done these days.
And why a Chinese company? Because they are the ones who wanted to build a new plant. Simple as that. For years, Americans have been complaining about good jobs going overseas. Well, a Chinese company is bring jobs here. That's a good thing. We don't see why anyone would complain about it.
We would love to see American companies building plants all over our area-especially in Texarkana. But we'll happily take what we can get.
There may be other issues that arise that will cause us pause or concern. But these are not them.
Our big hope now is that some folks from here will be making that commute during the construction phase and after the mill is open for operation.