The Tri-Cities Area

[wrldcoupe4]

Looks like a Lidl. 

[I miss RVA]

1 hour ago, eandslee said:

…no, that’s pronounced “Smokewell.”  

How many among us are 1.) old enough and are native Richmonders or -2.) are old enough and have been in Richmond long enough to remember the disaster that was Allied Chemical Corp. dumping Kepone into the James? I recall it being on the news just about EVERY night -- and in the Times-Dispatch and News-Leader EVERY DAY for quite while in the mid '70s (I looked it up and everything came to a head in 1975). It was a HUGE stain on Hopewell and the Tri-Cities and obviously Allied was on the hook for a huge settlement -- about $200 million. Allied later became AlliedSignal and then merged with and took the name Honeywell in 1985.

[eandslee]

2 minutes ago, I miss RVA said:

How many among us are 1.) old enough and are native Richmonders or -2.) are old enough and have been in Richmond long enough to remember the disaster that was Allied Chemical Corp. dumping Kepone into the James? I recall it being on the news just about EVERY night -- and in the Times-Dispatch and News-Leader EVERY DAY for quite while in the mid '70s (I looked it up and everything came to a head in 1975). It was a HUGE stain on Hopewell and the Tri-Cities and obviously Allied was on the hook for a huge settlement -- about $200 million. Allied later became AlliedSignal and then merged with and took the name Honeywell in 1985.

[The sound of crickets]  Dude!  We're all younger than you!    @Hike and I may be the oldest on this site (I was born  in Jan 1975) and I know Hike is "more seasoned" than me!  LOL!  

Honestly, I didn't even know this happened.  I was just a mere embryo when this occurred! 

[I miss RVA]

56 minutes ago, eandslee said:

[The sound of crickets]  Dude!  We're all younger than you!    @Hike and I may be the oldest on this site (I was born  in Jan 1975) and I know Hike is "more seasoned" than me!  LOL!  

Honestly, I didn't even know this happened.  I was just a mere embryo when this occurred! 

Wellllll... I'd say then that you & @HikeAREN'T the oldest on this site. Because while there MAY WELL be someone older than me, I've got you, my good friend, by 12 years & 3 months! (October 1962) 

MANNNN... y'all prolly also don't remember (or never heard of) the HUGE fire at the Little Oil Company in Manchester either! 

[eandslee]

17 minutes ago, I miss RVA said:

Wellllll... I'd say then that you & @HikeAREN'T the oldest on this site. Because while there MAY WELL be someone older than me, I've got you, my good friend, by 12 years & 3 months! (October 1962) 

MANNNN... y'all prolly also don't remember (or never heard of) the HUGE fire at the Little Oil Company in Manchester either! 

Oh, I knew you were older than Hike and I, but other than you, I think Hike and I are the oldest.  Sorry, I miscommunicated what I knew to be true.   Thanks for trailblazing life for us my "seasoned" friend.  LOL!

[Hike]

32 minutes ago, eandslee said:

Oh, I knew you were older than Hike and I, but other than you, I think Hike and I are the oldest.  Sorry, I miscommunicated what I knew to be true.   Thanks for trailblazing life for us my "seasoned" friend.  LOL!

This song and the dodge are my year. As for kepone in the James, that’s all I heard about Hopewell.  I moved here in the 80’s, so, before my time, but the fear of the area has stuck with me. I’ve actually barely been there, I know I have, but can’t remember it, sorry Hopewell. 

https://youtu.be/gSHNHZtZLHs

 

[I miss RVA]

52 minutes ago, Hike said:

This song and the dodge are my year. As for kepone in the James, that’s all I heard about Hopewell.  I moved here in the 80’s, so, before my time, but the fear of the area has stuck with me. I’ve actually barely been there, I know I have, but can’t remember it, sorry Hopewell. 

https://youtu.be/gSHNHZtZLHs

 

Nice!! So we're close in age then. Very cool!

Damn - I'm starting to wonder if by default I might be the "elder statesman" of our fine community? 

[I miss RVA]

Hopewell was really hurt by the whole Kepone disaster. Folks stayed away from there as if one might catch the plague just by driving through. Of course, it was on the news EVERY... SINGLE... NIGHT...  You literally couldn't escape hearing about it.

Edited April 14, 2023 by I miss RVA

[I miss RVA]

2 hours ago, eandslee said:

Thanks for trailblazing life for us my "seasoned" friend.  LOL!

My pleasure!

So if I am indeed "seasoned", then perhaps you can see why I sometimes get "salty" about some of RVA's missteps and occasionally "pepper" my posts with rather "spicy" language. No doubt it adds "flavor" to the conversation, no? 

 

[Shakman]

16 hours ago, eandslee said:

[The sound of crickets]  Dude!  We're all younger than you!    @Hike and I may be the oldest on this site (I was born  in Jan 1975) and I know Hike is "more seasoned" than me!  LOL!  

Honestly, I didn't even know this happened.  I was just a mere embryo when this occurred! 

May I join your elite club?   (Dec. 1974)

Edited April 14, 2023 by Shakman

[I miss RVA]

1 hour ago, Shakman said:

May I join your elite club?   (Dec. 1974)

Absolutely! You're already a member, brother! 

Damn... I should start referring to all y'all youngsters as "kid". 

[eandslee]

3 hours ago, Shakman said:

May I join your elite club?   (Dec. 1974)

You’ve got me by a little less than a month!  Welcome to the club, brother!

[plain]

On 4/13/2023 at 6:24 PM, I miss RVA said:

How many among us are 1.) old enough and are native Richmonders or -2.) are old enough and have been in Richmond long enough to remember the disaster that was Allied Chemical Corp. dumping Kepone into the James? I recall it being on the news just about EVERY night -- and in the Times-Dispatch and News-Leader EVERY DAY for quite while in the mid '70s (I looked it up and everything came to a head in 1975). It was a HUGE stain on Hopewell and the Tri-Cities and obviously Allied was on the hook for a huge settlement -- about $200 million. Allied later became AlliedSignal and then merged with and took the name Honeywell in 1985.

This disaster also ultimately impacted the Port Of Richmond. The ACOE haven't done a deep dredge of the impacted portion of the river ever since, leading to the last two major companies making calls at the port to go elsewhere (the last one in 2011).

[eandslee]

53 minutes ago, plain said:

This disaster also ultimately impacted the Port Of Richmond. The ACOE haven't done a deep dredge of the impacted portion of the river ever since, leading to the last two major companies making calls at the port to go elsewhere (the last one in 2011).

What companies do you speak of?  Is it because it’s not deep enough since they haven’t dredged in that area?  The deepest parts of the James River between Richmond and Norfolk averages at only about 20-30’ deep in the shipping channel (not very deep for a shipping channel).  It can get very shallow everywhere else.  

[plain]

On 4/15/2023 at 11:58 AM, eandslee said:

What companies do you speak of?  Is it because it’s not deep enough since they haven’t dredged in that area?  The deepest parts of the James River between Richmond and Norfolk averages at only about 20-30’ deep in the shipping channel (not very deep for a shipping channel).  It can get very shallow everywhere else.  

Eimskip was the last one, and in a nutshell, yes. 30 feet is deep enough for most small to mid size container ships, but combined with the narrow winding course of the river NW of Hopewell, it's not exactly ideal. I did read somewhere that officials have a plan to bring ships back to the port, I have to go back and find that article.

[eandslee]

Wow!  I didn’t know that the pharmaceutical manufacturing business in the tri-cities area could have such effect.  This really could be game-changing for the area!  Just need to win the additional funding!!  Application submission by end of February and we should know by end of year!  Fingers are crossed!  Read all about it here:
 

https://richmondmagazine.com/life-style/health/pharmaceutical-manufacturing-hub/?utm_content=280157053&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&hss_channel=fbp-350808887428

[I miss RVA]

3 hours ago, eandslee said:

Wow!  I didn’t know that the pharmaceutical manufacturing business in the tri-cities area could have such effect.  This really could be game-changing for the area!  Just need to win the additional funding!!  Application submission by end of February and we should know by end of year!  Fingers are crossed!  Read all about it here:
 

https://richmondmagazine.com/life-style/health/pharmaceutical-manufacturing-hub/?utm_content=280157053&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&hss_channel=fbp-350808887428

This has the potential to be HUGE. This kind of thing is exactly in line with something "big fish" that we've often discussed here that metro RVA needs to seriously jumpstart growth here, all of which has tremendous downstream benefits (consider how this could positively impact the airport, for example). And this kind of "big fish" -- unlike specific corporate relos, HQ2s, factories, etc., that would each be one-off (and believe me, we want and need those as well!)  but this one could be the kind of "gift and keeps on giving" -- which would mean years - decades - of growth. 

Praying we win the funding and can get to work making this a reality.

[eandslee]

5 minutes ago, I miss RVA said:

This has the potential to be HUGE. This kind of thing is exactly in line with something "big fish" that we've often discussed here that metro RVA needs to seriously jumpstart growth here, all of which has tremendous downstream benefits (consider how this could positively impact the airport, for example). And this kind of "big fish" -- unlike specific corporate relos, HQ2s, factories, etc., that would each be one-off (and believe me, we want and need those as well!)  but this one could be the kind of "gift and keeps on giving" -- which would mean years - decades - of growth. 

Praying we win the funding and can get to work making this a reality.

Yeah, the potential for 5,500 higher-paying jobs is what this could bring over the next 10 years...in the tri-cities area!  That's not small peanuts.  While not a "big fish," it is big fish-ish!  Either way, this would be a HUGE win.  Yep, the airport is where my mind first went when I read this, so you were reading my mind!

[I miss RVA]

12 minutes ago, eandslee said:

Yeah, the potential for 5,500 higher-paying jobs is what this could bring over the next 10 years...in the tri-cities area!  That's not small peanuts.  While not a "big fish," it is big fish-ish!  Either way, this would be a HUGE win.  Yep, the airport is where my mind first went when I read this, so you were reading my mind!

Hey great minds think alike.  

Something else to consider - this "big fish-ish" WIN for RVA, if, please God, it comes to pass, very likely doesn't merely generate those 5,500 good-paying positions. It lays the groundwork for potentially THOUSANDS of additional jobs from not just start-ups but from possible relocations of research groups, drug manufacturers - who knows!! That hit of 5,500 jobs over the course of a decade could exponentially grow over the course of the decade to follow. Imagine if between now and the early 2030s, we get those 5,500 new jobs - and over the next 8 or 10 years, another 20,000 jobs come pouring in as a result.

Honestly, if this really takes off like I'd tend to think it has the potential to do, it's not unreasonable to suggest that even the 5,500 figure could be on the conservative side. Who knows? Hopefully, the sky's the limit on this. Unquestionably, it could fuel tremendous growth in the Tri-Cities, be a BIG boost to Petersburg, and further fan the flames of Chesterfield's boom. Richmond could well see growth from this as well. 

This is legitimately a potentially significant game-changer for this metro region.

Edited January 30 by I miss RVA

[eandslee]

2 minutes ago, I miss RVA said:

Hey great minds think alike.  

Something else to consider - this "big fish-ish" WIN for RVA, if, please God, it comes to pass, very likely doesn't merely generate those 5,500 good-paying positions. It lays the groundwork for potentially THOUSANDS of additional jobs from not just start-ups but relocations of research groups, drug manufacturers - who knows!! That hit of 5,500 jobs over the course of a decade could exponentially grow over the course of the decade to follow. Imagine if between now and the early 2030s, we get those 5,500 new jobs - and over the next 8 or 10 years, another 20,000 jobs come pouring in as a result.

Honestly, if this really takes off like I'd tend to think it has the potential to do, it's not unreasonable to suggest that even the 5,500 figure could be on the conservative side. Who knows? Hopefully, the sky's the limit on this. Unquestionably, it could fuel tremendous growth in the Tri-Cities, be a BIG boost to Petersburg, and further fan the flames of Chesterfield's boom. Richmond could well see growth from this as well. 

This is legitimately a potentially significant game-changer for this metro region.

That's right!  I forgot about all the support businesses and jobs this would generate!  The second and third order of effects could be massive.  Oh man, we have to win this thing!  

[Child2021]

Peterburg needs this, and I'm glad the article has pointed that out though it should have went further in depth. Ever since Brown & Williamson tobacco plant closed in 1985 (came to Petersburg in 1785), coupled of course the 1996 tornado the are has been in freefall in both economical and population terms. This plant will restore a key "base" needed to get Petersburg back to where it once was. Reminder that Brown and Williamson only had about 4,000 workers at it's peak, and it helped blossomed it's population to almost 50,000 people.

 

1730 – 1985 Petersburg’s Tobacco Industry (historicpetersburg.org)