In recent weeks, citizens have learned about snags slowing the construction of an industrial park near the Grant County Regional Airport.

All of the familiar culprits – scarce dollars; poor communication; bureaucratic obstacles; lack of a single, point person in charge of project planning – have plagued this effort. Ironically, the proximity of the airport could threaten this much-needed seedbed for industry. State or Federal Aviation Administration rules could thwart the expansion of buildable land which Grant County, and the airport itself, so desperately needs.

We would encourage planners to keep their heads down and pursue every avenue to see this project through. If we need to contact our members of Congress to solicit their support, so be it. This industrial park needs to get built.

The Oregonian recently chronicled the economic revival of Reedsport. Reedsport is a coastal community similar in many ways to Grant County. Its wood-products industry struggled for years. School enrollment plummeted. Businesses failed. Then, the turnaround happened.

“Reedsport offers an object lesson in returning from the brink of economic disaster,” the Oregonian reported. “Working with county government, the city went after manufacturing firms that might fit on the Oregon coast.”

Grant County could fit that same template. However, few of our county’s communities can pursue manufacturing firms. We need a place to put these businesses.

Not every city in Grant County faces the difficulties that confront John Day. Seneca has built an industrial park. With grant funds, the city has shown it can develop a local doweling business. Long Creek continues to negotiate with a private landowner for reclamation of its industrial park. Other cities look to beautify their downtown areas as an ingredient of economic renewal.

In Reedsport, American Bridge, a bridge-repair contracting firm, provided a buffer against job losses and population declines. Grant County could nurture its own version of American Bridge. But we need a central and strategically located industrial park first. John Day owns land near the airport. Now it’s time to build the accesses and install the services.

Recent Census figures paint a bleak picture for Grant County. Between July 1, 2001 and July 1, 2002, the county’s population fell from 7,563 to 7,480. In three years, John Day’s population slipped from 1,799 to 1,672 residents. Since April 1, 2000, the county has lost 455 residents – a 9.4 percent decline.

No amount of discouragement should allow these trends to go unchallenged. Grant County can – and will – complete its John Day-based industrial park. But we need unity and perseverance. Then, like Reedsport, our communities can begin recruiting businesses to this central site. Perhaps, businesses could be convinced to root themselves in smaller, satellite communities with the reassurance that a larger site near the airport would be available when they needed to grow.

We can begin turning those Census numbers around. Every community should participate. John Day has taken the first steps. Now, we need a unified push countywide so this chance isn’t lost.