Chinese company wants to build 10,000- to 30,000-acre technology zone in Boise

[IDemo]

BY ROCKY BARKER
Published: 12/31/10

A Chinese national company is interested in developing a 10,000- to 30,000-acre technology zone for industry, retail centers and homes south of the Boise Airport.

<> “One thing these Chinese see is we have a governor here who has a great big open-door policy, and I think that’s making a difference in this Sinomach project,” he said.

AN UNUSUAL IDEA THAT MAY BECOME COMMON

Sinomach is not looking only at Idaho.

The company sent delegations to Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania this year to talk about setting up research and development bases and industrial parks. It has an interest in electric transmission projects and alternative energy as well.

More -- http://www.idahostatesman.com/2010/12/31/1472023/chinese-company-eyes-boise.html

So is this the wave of the future?

[jody]

1. "So is this the wave of the future?" Yes! n/t

[HereSince1628]

2. Maybe a wave, a similar thing was reported last year for NW Milwaukee

I don't know if it happened, but I remember the announcement.

[lib2DaBone]

3. So we are going to end up working for the Chinese... wonderful...

While the U.S. is busy pissing away Billions of Dollars on the WOT.. the Chinese are building high tech supercomputers.. R&D.... high speed rail and state of the art electric grid.

[Angry Dragon]

4. No

They will just bring over their own workers .......:)

[old mark]

5. Hyundai makes some of their cars in Alabama, and many other car makers

have plants here. We need new, good jobs, and the US companies are not going to do it any time soon...I don't care if it it the Chinese or anyone else...so long as they hire American workers and pay them well, we will be better off for it.

K&R

mark

[MattBaggins]

7. Hyundia.. South Korean not Chinese

insert quip about looking alike here

[old mark]

8. I know-I own my second one...Just saying there are plenty of foreign owned

companies here, and they seem to be providing jobs while US companies don't want to...I also stated "I don't care where they are from..."

The jobs are the important thing right now, IMO.

mark

[MattBaggins]

9. I know... that was tongue in cheek

I just couldn't resist.

[old mark]

11. Sorry - I haven't been awake all day...actually all year!....nt

[Statistical]

6. Many other countries have companies which employ Americans in America

Why would China be any different?

With 10% unemployment, no real organization of labor, minimal shipping costs, and very highly skilled workforce why wouldn't they want to hire Americans.

Chinese businessmen are Capitalists. They are millionaires and billionaires. They have more in common with the top 1% of Americans than anyone else.

[IDemo]

12. This isn't about them building one chip fab or a car plant

Ten to thirty thousand acres is a huge amount of land, far more than any ordinary industrial park. With that kind of footprint, they are establishing what will become a significant influence on state and local politics; taxes, specifically.

Just a note on the hiring of Americans. I'm employed at a high tech plant here, and roughly a third to half of new engineering jobs have gone to contractors or H1B visa persons from India and China. I'm not sure that any Asian company would buck the trend of spending the least amount necessary on wages.

This proposal will likely go nowhere anyway. As one of the (sane) commenters said at the story link, this area is already stretched pretty tightly for water supplies. I don't see the project happening, or at least anywhere close to that scale.

[Hannah Bell]

13. i see, it's cost-effective for chinese corps to manufacture in the us, but not us corps.

for us corps, it's cost-effective to manufacture in china.

[CC]

10. Smart move on their part.

Buy up the land now while prices are down, build on it and have a foot print in the US. Then when (if) politicians are elected that want to do something about the uneven trade deficit China can point out that they are building in the US, therefore they are working on it and any tariffs, equal trade laws would be detrimental to us.