Letter: Airport authority must change tune

Originally Published: August 24, 2014 6 a.m.

My letter is in response to the possibility of the Tesla battery factory making a home in Kingman. I believe it would be a great thing to bring to town.

And why not have it at the Kingman Airport & Industrial Park? How is it not a good fit? Isn't that the whole point of the industrial park?

If the airport authority is going to be in the habit of saying thanks but no thanks to job creators, maybe they should get a change in leadership to one that is pro-growth. How do we expect to generate tax revenue in this town when we don't think 6,500 possible new jobs isn't worth doing everything we possibly can to attract them here?

And who knows, a big company like this coming here could spark interest in others to relocate here.

To those who feel Kingman doesn't have the skilled workforce necessary for industry like this, we simply have no room for your negativity towards the good people of Kingman. And if the needs of employers are not met by potential employees here, then it'll encourage people to move here for the jobs that are created, which would be a plus for many businesses here.

I believe Kingman has so much potential that needs to be tapped into, given our location and multiple transportation corridors. Working hard at bringing in new businesses, like Tesla, is a great way to start realizing it.

Shawn Walsh

Kingman