MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — The Berkeley County Council and the Berkeley County Development Authority are basking in the glow of another win.
The recent announcement of plans for the Clorox Corporation to locate a kitty litter plant in the Tabler Station Industrial Park only sweetens the return on investment to develop the location.
Dan Dulyea, a member of both the council and the development authority, says with the right tools in place, Berkeley County has become an attractive location for industry and it’s now feeding on itself.
“We put everything in place so that everybody who really wants to be successful is looking at Berkeley County,” Dulyea said on Metronews “Talkline.”
The Tabler Station location is also the home of the new, state of the art Procter & Gamble plant. Both indicated the proximity to a large population, access to I-81 and a railroad, and the availability of Blue Ridge Community and Technical College were huge factors in the sight selection.
“We’ve got the infrastructure in place, access to I-81, the training facility. We’ve put together our engineering and planning in Berkeley County so that it does what it needs to do to make things go better for the customers and the customers are these companies,” Dulyea said.
Dulyea was hesitant to name names, but noted there are at lest 20 more companies which are considered lucrative prospects they are courting daily to come to the area and set up shop.
The development creates problems of its own with overcrowding, and increased costs of living. However, Dulyea defended that saying the cost of things was going to rise regardless, but the creation of good paying jobs helped to raise the average household income in the region.
“They’re bringing 100 full time jobs that are above the average. So they’re raising the median household income and that’s the goal. If you have people struggling for rent, then get the incomes up and they can afford the rent.”