If history repeats itself, Allen County can expect to prosper handsomely from last week’s news that a mini-Silicon Valley is coming to Coffey County.
EMP Shield of Burlington announced plans to build a $1.9 billion computer chip manufacturing plant at a 300-acre campus near Beto Junction.
The manufacturer plans to hire 1,200 with an average salary of $66,000.
Six ancillary businesses will piggy-back on EMP Shield’s product line, creating an additional 1,000 jobs and an additional $3.3 billion investment.
Federal funding from last summer’s passage of the CHIPS Act (Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors) is expected to jump-start the initiative.
Almost 50 years ago, the construction of Wolf Creek nuclear power plant outside of Burlington created a similar boom.
At one time during its five years of construction several thousand were on the payroll, drawing from a wide area.
Here’s a typical classified ad from a 1978 edition of The Iola Register: “Need ride to Wolf Creek Project, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. shift. Will share expenses.”
The first priority for the project was accessing water.
In 1977, Wolf Creek was just a tiny stream running parallel to John Redmond Dam north of Burlington and joining the Neosho River several miles downstream. For most of the year, it was dry.
No problem, the higher-ups assured.
“As you can see, this creek doesn’t supply much, so we’re laying a water line from John Redmond,” said Glenn Doester of KG&E, one of the partners.
“We’ll build a dam on the creek south of Burlington and fill it up with water from John Redmond. Once it’s filled, the runoff from the creek itself should be enough to keep it full.”
And it does. The plant thrusts into the center of what is now a six-mile-long lake, whose water cools the reactor.
When preliminary construction began, more than 6,000 applicants within a 100-mile radius of Burlington applied for the 750 spots.
