The benefits to Albert Lea and Freeborn County from a 2,000 employee headquarters meat packing company are obvious and dramatic. They will bring new jobs to the area, many of them high paying.

We are told that 300 of these jobs will be white collar. Total payroll will probably be between $60 and $100 million per year. It will mean more students for our schools, more business for our local merchants, more revenue to our waste treatment system, brisk housing sales, and a general transformation of our entire economy. How could we not move heaven and earth to see this business locate in Albert Lea?

Before leaping into this venture, however, let’s look at some of the challenges that might come along with this new venture. First of all, we have finally thrown off the mantle of &uot;packinghouse town&uot; and many breathed a sigh of relief at this. Do we really want to restore this distinction? Do we really feel that we can attract new, modern, high tech businesses from the metro area and beyond to a town dominated by a packinghouse? What has been Austin’s history? If you think Mayo is the elephant who sleeps anywhere he chooses, imagine an employer twice his size that smells like a pig!

Another major benefit would be the dramatic increases in taxes that this company would pay. This would be a good thing for the State of Minnesota. Unfortunately, the City of Albert Lea does not benefit from income taxes or sales taxes. The tax that supports the city is the property tax. I would not be surprised to learn that we’ve created a Tax Increment Financing District (TIF) for this project. This would mean that we would up-front many of the development costs for infrastructure from current cash reserves and would only receive new taxes perhaps 15-20 years later. In other words, our expenses will increase to provide services but our income will remain the same. Does this sound like a good deal? Maybe.

What challenges might we face from this decision? Are our schools prepared to accept up to 3,000 new students, many of them falling under the mantle of &uot;special needs?&uot; The schools have been telling us that special needs programs are not adequately reimbursed by other levels of government and that our high percentage of special needs programming has put severe pressures on our school budgets in the past. This new experience could make past problems pale by comparison.

With a housing inventory of perhaps 150 homes for sale, where will these new workers live?

Even more challenging, many of these imported workers will be seeking low income housing.

Where is this to come from? Our Housing and Redevelopment Agency has been flat on its back for many years. The new agency under Jon Ford is getting off to a good start, but how much can he do? Look at the community of St. James, where it was common to find 14 or more people &uot;living&uot; in mobile homes. What will be our response to this?

Fortunately, our comfortable little community has not had to face the issue of &uot;gangs.&uot; I’m not saying that they are an inevitable consequence of this new company, but they exist in both Austin and Rochester. Are we prepared for this?

Even our officials have recognized that this &uot;boon&uot; would not be without certain drawbacks. They have scheduled three public meetings where our citizens can express their views on this project. You owe it to yourselves, to your children, and to your neighbors to attend a meeting and to have your questions addressed and satisfactorily answered. This is a big step for us and we owe it to ourselves to make certain we know what we are getting into. Whether we enthusiastically endorse the new plant or decide to let it pass, let’s make certain that everyone is fully informed. Those who feel we are vulnerable and need to accept anything that is willing to locate here just don’t have any faith in our town, our leadership, or its people. We can be whatever we want to be. If the answer to the hog operation is yes, then bring it on! If not, let’s make our position clear. Remember, this is &uot;your town,&uot; not &uot;theirs.&uot;

Tony Trow is an Albert Lea resident and president of Destination: Albert Lea. His column appears Tuesdays.