Letter: Don’t let NGOs determine our counties’ fates

Non-Government Organizations (NGO) are in the news almost everyday. Many of these NGOs provide food and shelter to the disadvantaged from natural disasters. And, many are along the Southern border and in the cities helping people who cannot help themselves. We used to call them charities.

Today there other, more politically aligned, NGOs. Three of these are the Martin County Alliance, Dubois Strong and the Daviess County Economic Development Corporation (DCEDC). They all profess to help their respective counties develop strong economic policies.

The Martin County Alliance, led by Jessica Potts, is opposed to the new terrain Mid-States Corridor. Ms. Potts sees that any new transportation infrastructure that by-passes Loogootee cannot, by definition, help improve/grow the economy of Martin County. I commend her for her position.

Dubois Strong, led by Ed Cole and the DCEDC, led by Bob Grewe, both favor the Mid-States Corridor. These two NGOs seem to think that bypassing Huntingburg, Jasper, and Washington/Montgomery is a good thing. Bypassing communities is nothing but a prolonged death sentence for the bypassed towns. The bypassed towns’ shops, stores, restaurants, gas stations and other small businesses wither and die due to a lack of patronage. It’s hard enough for these small retailers to make a go of it, with the likes of Walmart and all the other national chains setting up competition.

Dubois Strong thinks a Walmart Distribution Center will be a boon for Jasper and DuBois County. Why? The distribution center will be a pass-through, just the same as Mr. Menke and Mr. Braun’s distribution centers. Who will benefit? The owners of the distribution centers only. The rest of the residents of Dubois and Daviess counties will suffer the same fate as those residents of Dale and all the little towns bypassed by the Southern portion of the Mid-States Corridor.

Once again, the devil is in the details and opposition to the Mid-States Corridor is the correct decision. Keep the pressure on our elected officials to continue their opposition to the Mid-States Corridor.

Jim Arvin
Rutherford Township
Martin County