Future Fortune 500 in Boardman?

By Sara Desautel

Story
Video

Summary

What's big business want with the small town of Boardman? We were the first to tell you about a fortune 500 company looking at calling Wallula home. Turns out, they're not the only ones around here who might land the big biz.

Story Published: Sep 3, 2007 at 5:37 PM PST

PORT OF MORROW--The company is still a mystery but we do know a few things about it.

There are only three places that the big company is considering, Wallula, a spot in Utah, and the Port of Morrow.

Boardman resident Mark Maynard said, "The climate's good. The growth with the Columbia River. We've got a lot of good things going for us I think."

The company's name is confidential but we do know that it would bring three-hundred good paying jobs to the area.

Boardman resident James Madison said, "Everything grows. You either live with it or adapt to it. It's a small community, with the racetrack coming in and everything else this town is planning, growth is pretty good."

The state is calling it "Project Goldrush" for the boost in economy it would bring.

Cheryl McDonough said, "With our mini little race track that's coming in and a Fortune 500, we're going to be quite the booming little town here pretty soon."

We do know that it is a consumer goods manufacturer and that has people in Boardman wondering what kind of goods it could bring.

McDonough said, "It'd be a really good thing for Boardman. Something really nice and we wouldn't have to quite travel so far. I know we're going to grow. I just really hope it's not a Wal-Mart."

The area is already seeing tremendous growth with plans to break ground on a new Nascar-style speedway this fall and a new ethanol plant that just started producing ethanol last week.

Madison said, "It's a nice central spot, you've got the freeway, you have the railroad and you have river traffic. It's basically just a nice perfect spot."

The Port of Morrow has hefty competition too.

The land in Wallula is cheaper but it still needs to go through a rezoning process which would take some time.

Port of Morrow thinks they could get the deal done faster.

The Port has already picked a spot for the plant and is even planning new roads that may need to be built to accommodate the growth.

The spot the Port has picked for the potential plant is over six-hundred acres with an option to add more than three-hundred more within the next five years.