This is what we were told to justify the $107,000,000 investment by the City, the Parish and the State:
“We’re definitely on the fast track here,” said David Rockett, executive director of the Greater Bossier Economic Development Foundation.
"What that means is 10,000 potential new employees with families that will need to find housing, enroll children in the school system, drive on city streets and shop in local stores.”
"In my opinion, it's a done deal," Bossier City Mayor Lo Walker, a retired Air Force colonel, said of Cyber Command coming to Barksdale.
CIC Director Craig Spohn was quoted as saying "Cyberspace is where the next big threat to industry, individuals and national security is."
"Artillery and nuclear missiles will not be the weapons of the future.”
After it was announced that there would be no separate Cyber Command, and that what was left of it was to be in San Antonio, Mr. Spohn changed his tune.
"We were never intending to be a one trick-pony with respect to the Air Force. The Air Force provided us a good catalyst and still does because of the things at Barksdale Air Force Base and it's not scheduled to go away.
"There are new businesses coming to town," Spohn insisted. "There are actually millions of dollars worth of research in the cyber field today that weren't here a year ago."
Perhaps Mr. Spohn could share the names of the businesses that have been lured here by the CIC, and give us examples of these millions of dollars of research that CIC has helped create. We could feel much more comfortable about the $107,000,000 if we had some specifics.
Meanwhile, some people have a different take on CIC.
That video says it all GREAT JOB!!!
ReplyDeleteOh wow! Soooo great.
ReplyDelete;)
You know who.
I don't whether to laugh or cry over the stupidity of our civic leaders who consider themselves as the smartest among us.
ReplyDeleteI remember when the Air Force first announced the establishment of Cyber Command and named Barksdale AFB as the "provisional" headquarters for the command. A year of so later (September 2007 to be exact) Secretary of the Air Force Michael Wynne came to Bossier City and told those who are smarter than anyone else that Barksdale was going to be the "provisional headquarters for Cyber Command".
Secretary Wynne wasn't saying anything that wasn't already known, but the smartest among us thought for sure we were going to get Cyber Command.
I remember how stupid Lo Walker looked by saying that was just "Air Force talk meaning it was coming."
With analysis like that, no wonder Bossier City is in the trouble its in.