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HADCO hoping to attract better jobs
Past Chairman of HADCO David Graley speaks during a groundbreaking ceremony for the new site of Alcon on Friday, Sept. 19, 2008, at HADCO Business Park in Eastern Cabell County.
Purchase this photoHUNTINGTON -- Jerry McDonald wants to see more of what he saw on Friday, when Alcon announced that it is building a second plant in Cabell County and adding 350 jobs.
They are manufacturing jobs in which workers make intraocular lenses used in cataract surgery, but they're more than that in McDonald's eyes.
They're great jobs, said McDonald, president of Huntington Area Development Council. They're high-paying, high-tech jobs with good benefits.
And that's the focus of a new five-year plan that HADCO has initiated.
After 16 years in existence, HADCO decided to take a look at the way it's been operating and make changes where they're due. A survey of 50 local companies was conducted by "Funding Solutions" of Austin, Texas. The survey "reinforced things we felt we needed to do," McDonald said.
The goals of the comprehensive five-year plan are many, but boiled down, they include:
- Attracting higher-paying jobs to the area.
- Helping to keep local businesses here and help them grow -- similar to the success story with Alcon, which already has 700 employees at its existing local plant.
- Facilitating the startup of more technology-based businesses, including a public relations campaign to promote math, science and technology education to local students.
- Developing a 100-acre site that has infrastructure in place, and building five more shell buildings to accommodate new business.
HADCO hopes to bring at least 2,000 high-paying jobs to the Huntington area over the next five years, McDonald said. He defines high-paying jobs simply as those that will support a family.
"You know that $7, $8 or $10 an hour will not support a family of two children," he said. "You know that $50,000, $60,000 or $100,000 (a year) does. And pay is not the only thing -- it's benefits and security."
HADCO plans to recruit businesses in sectors where Huntington has a competitive advantage, such as the medical and biotechnology fields, the automotive industry, metalworking and transportation.
Again, Alcon is a good example of how an international company has thrived by putting the skilled local workforce to the test, said Mike Perry, co-chairman of the HADCO board.
"These are high-tech manufacturing jobs. They're wearing white suits and using microscopes," Perry said. "What could be more high-tech than making something small enough to fit in the eye?"
It takes support and a lot of encouragement to draw companies here and nurture their growth, and that's where HADCO fits to work with companies and the city, the county and the state, Perry said.
"And it takes a lot of years to buy land and bring in utilities," he said. "A piece of land without water, sewer, electricity and gas just won't do it."
HADCO was instrumental in facilitating the expansion for Alcon, said Jim Baden, vice president and general manager for Alcon Huntington.
Such efforts also take a lot of money, Perry said, which is why he's glad HADCO has seen support in a recent fundraising campaign. The organization -- which is funded mostly through private money from local businesses, and a lesser amount of government funds -- has a goal of raising $3 million to work toward its goals.
Businesses have been generous, McDonald said. HADCO already has raised 85 percent of that goal, and he expects to reach, maybe even exceed, the goal by the end of October.
"When they write a check and make a commitment to this, that shows there is support," McDonald said.
HADCO also has added more executives to its board, to get more voices from the local business community involved. It has about 20 members.
The council now has three paid staff members. They are McDonald, as well as Pat Kurtenbach, who works in business development and investor relations, and executive assistant Donna Vineyard. It plans to add an ombudsman to work with companies about their needs.
It also wants to lead a "rapid response" team that would address opportunities and threats to job growth in the area, and to establish a pool of money to assist existing businesses with expansion.
When it comes to attracting technology-based jobs, HADCO already has worked in partnership with Marshall University on the construction of a new incubator site for biotech businesses. That space will be provided inside an expanded forensic science center at Marshall, to be finished next year. HADCO also wants to create more seed capital for commercialization of biotech research at Marshall.
As for developing new sites and buildings, HADCO hopes to finish the new HADCO Business Park on W.Va. 2 within the next year so that it's "shovel ready" for new businesses that want to move in. That's where Alcon plans to build its second plant.
HADCO also wants to build more shell buildings.
It's already constructed five shell buildings that have been leased or sold to manufacturing companies. The sixth and largest is a 100,000-square-foot building on 10 acres at HADCO Business Park, and two companies have been in discussions with HADCO about locating there, McDonald said.
Shell buildings are good for raising awareness, even with businesses that don't need a facility, he said. Alcon contacted HADCO about its new industrial park after the shell building got under way there, even though Alcon has no plans to occupy that building.
"These shell buildings are kind of magical," McDonald said. "As soon as we start constructing a shell building, it attracts attention."
