Staff report
Glasgow Daily Times
GLASGOW —
Officially, the good news came Tuesday morning when Glasgow Mayor Darrell Pickett announced that a Burke’s Outlet store will be moving into the vacant space once occupied by Goody’s in the Barren River Plaza on U.S. 31E bypass.
While that was the official good word, the real good word came the week prior when it was learned that two local businessmen — Pat Vann and Larry D. Glass — had secured the purchase of the shopping center that was once a retail hub for Glasgow. Since many of the stores had left the center in the past five years, it had stood as an eyesore in the heart of the retail area of the community. There had been occasional rumblings of some business planning to locate in the facility, but nothing had come to fruition.
There had been rumors of various types of businesses looking at purchasing what is commonly called the “old” Walmart building. None of those rumors had grown beyond the whispering stage.
There is talk now of other good news announcements to follow the one last week and we believe they will come, maybe in a flood or maybe in a trickle, it doesn’t matter as long as they come.
Some in our community will ask, “But where is the manufacturing? We need those jobs.” It’s a valid question and the valid answer is we do need those types of jobs, but the hangup on attracting them may have less to do with our civic and political leaders and perhaps more to do with the economy on a greater scale. There just aren’t that many manufacturers opening new facilities anywhere. Furthermore, we are certain our local leaders, most of them, are going after every job available to be brought to Barren County.
While retail or restaurant jobs don’t offer manufacturing-level wages, they are a signal that those companies believe their investment in our community will return a profit. It means, they believe our economy is strong enough to support their business. That is a positive sign in itself that should not be overlooked.
This is also a time to appreciate neighbors who have chosen to invest their money in where they live because they also know there will be a good return in the future on that investment.
