It?s popular for American cities to have sister city status with another community in a foreign country.
Sweet Home, we believe, has a sister city in Japan, but we don?t hear much about it.
We?d propose the community might be better off adopting Lebanon as our sibling.
We?ve supported a cooperative spirit between the two towns for many years and last week?s announcement that Lowe?s will build a massive distribution center in Lebanon, ices the cake.
The news was outstanding for Lebanon, which has seen economic growth for several years. (Not without some pain and suffering as well.)
Yet, Sweet Home, which has worked extremely hard over the last 15 years to adjust to life with a decimated timber base, can?t land new industry. It certainly isn?t because the community hasn?t tried.
Dozens of volunteers have worked diligently to revamp the community, succeeding in many ways–the downtown median strips, the new housing units near Foster Lake, and soon, we hope, the development of recreational property along the Santiam River.
So, why has Lebanon succeeded in attracting industry when we haven?t?
Location, location, location.
Transportation costs from Sweet Home to Interstate 5 are significantly higher than from Lebanon, especially since Hwy. 34 has been widened to four lanes.
Lebanon also has the available industrial sites, already primed and ready to go.
But we shouldn?t be jealous of our neighbor, instead we should revel in its success and also smile, knowing that while that community will reap the lion?s share of the rewards from landing such a prime business, it will also bear the costs.
Yet, Sweet Home, just 14 miles away, will also reap rewards of new families moving into the area seeking employment. We know that many of those families will move to Sweet Home.
While we may not have prime industrial sites to offer, we do have an updated school district for employee?s families, a strong Boys and Girls Club, quality services such as our fire/ambulance district and police departments, both housed in relatively new facilities.
We also offer a unique recreational opportunity not afforded many other communities.
Persons who enjoy the outdoors could work at Lowe?s and within minutes after clocking out, be fishing in the cool waters of the South Santiam River or boating on Foster or Green Peter lakes, or hiking the many U.S. Forest Service trails that are nearby, or enjoying a picnic at McDowell Creek Falls, or riding a mountain bike up Quartzville road or putting the convertible top down on their car and enjoying the sights and smells of beautiful East Linn county.
Congratulations to Lebanon. Your neighbors to the east say, thank you.
When we first moved to Sweet Home, Jerry Wooley was president of an East Linn Chamber of Commerce that included Sweet Home, Brownsville and Lebanon.
We believe it?s time that group was revived, or the community?s current chambers meet with each other every few months to discuss the common goals and good of all involved.
We are more than individual communities, we are a region, as last summer?s scenic byway designation proves.
We weren?t living here when Sweet Home and Lebanon were high school athletic rivals. We?ve heard stories, but say it?s time to put those things behind both communities and move on, we hope for the betterment of all.
A.P.