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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Jilted Again, Region Waits And Learns Micron Courtship Renews Debate Over Growth, Economic Future

Grayden Jones Staff writer

For a moment, the romance was sweet.

We had the land, the power, the affection. They had the money, the muscle, the longing.

Betrothal seemed imminent until a “Dear John” letter rolled coldly out of the Fax machine, ruining Valentine’s week for hundreds in Kootenai and Spokane counties.

Fickle Micron Technology Inc. had found love in Omaha, Neb.; Utah County, Utah, and Oklahoma City.

“It was like courting someone that you’re sure you love and then they say no,” says John Hendrickson, Post Falls city administrator. “Absolutely, it hurts.”

As broken hearts mend in the wake of Micron’s decision last Monday to not bring thousands of high-paying jobs to Post Falls, residents are left wondering if a catch like that will ever come along again?

For that matter, how badly do we need one?

Micron wasn’t the first company to romance Spokane and Kootenai counties only to get cold feet. But the timing of Micron’s decision could make it a watershed event as the region contemplates its economic future.

Even before the Micron courtship, attention was focused on the region’s economy and the implications of growth because of: a slight slowdown in the construction industry, the freeholder process to study Spokane County government, and the phase-in of growth-management regulations in Washington.

Some say the bi-county area is growing too fast to build up the infrastructure needed to feed, transport and heat 4,000 employees - the number of workers that Boise-based Micron expects to employ at its expansion computer chip manufacturing plant.

Others say well-heeled employers such as Micron are the best cure for Kootenai County’s 9.7 percent unemployment, the county’s highest rate since 1986. Such jobs would replace losses in mining, wood products and aluminum production - industries not expected to see much future growth.

“We’ve got to come up with new jobs and new technologies. And whether this company selected us or not doesn’t change that,” said Pete Kerwien, a Washington Water Power Co. executive who assisted in the recruitment of Micron. “This effort was like a fire drill.”

The drill involved hundreds of people in both states. Less than a week before Micron jilted Post Falls and 10 other semifinalist cities, 1,700 residents went to the polls to clear the way for Micron or other firms to receive tax-increment financing.

Kerwien equates the pitch for Micron to the one Spokane made three years ago to Alaska Airlines, which sought bids for a 2,000-employee airplane maintenance base. Using the motto “Alaska Airlines We Want You,” business recruiters overwhelmed the Seattle-based airline with bumper stickers, billboards and offers of incentives worth $4 million.

In the end, Alaska decided not to build the center at all because of financial problems.

Many people felt dejected after the Alaska experience. But Kerwien says the effort made it easier for the community to subsequently nab Egghead Software, Sallie Mae and other companies that have placed regional centers and good jobs in Spokane.

“We’ve made a run at a lot of companies - Rohr Industries, Alaska Airlines, Northwest Airlines,” he says. “We didn’t get them, but we were tuned up and ready for the next one.”

Although many new companies have moved into the area, the number of people out of work - or underemployed - continues to be a sore point, especially in North Idaho.

Roughly 54 percent of those working in North Idaho are employed in higher-paying industries such as construction, mining, manufacturing and government, the Department of Employment says. That’s down from 58 percent in 1989.

Even the higher-paying industries pay wages that average $23,600 a year, or $3,000 below the average wage for all industries in the United States. While that may reflect a lower cost of living in Idaho, Kootenai County residents in particular have experienced skyrocketing housing costs in the last five years.

The remaining 46 percent of the North Idaho work force - employed in primarily retail and service jobs - reap an average income of $14,800 a year, the department says.

Micron would have bridged some of those differences in wages and employment. But many residents believed the disruption would not have been worth it.

“It’s harder to sell the anti-growth position because there’s no immediate economic benefit that can be shown,” says Coeur d’Alene attorney Cameron Phillips. “But we live in a pretty spectacular place, and I’d hate to turn it into cookie-cutter environment. When you do that, you’re not benefiting the bottom line as much as you think.”

Jobs Plus in Coeur d’Alene wrestled with those concerns nearly a year ago when it first learned that Micron was considering an expansion.

Charlie Nipp, chairman of the economic development agency, said Micron didn’t fit the Jobs Plus mission of recruiting small- and mediumsized companies to Kootenai County. But the board agreed that if the plant could be built over several years near the Washington border, the company’s impact would be sufficiently spread out to avoid overtaxing the infrastructure and environment.

“It’s very, very easy to lose jobs,” Nipp says. “It’s very, very difficult to create them.”

The Micron plant was slated for International Expo, a 640-acre development planned along Interstate 90.

Now, Expo developer Jim Watson says he may scale down the project. But the Micron effort has convinced him that his site is best suited for industrial use, not retail and housing.

“I have a lot of confidence in the area - more than when I first purchased the property,” he says.