Residents watch as dignitaries christen 'Silicon Heartland'

This article was originally published on The Reporting Project at Denison University, a nonprofit news source covering Licking County, Ohio, and neighboring regions that publishes work by students, faculty, and community members. An excerpt is below. The full article can be found on the Reporting Project and the Newark Advocate 

They weren’t invited to the party across Green Chapel Road on Friday. No calls, no mailers, no knocks on the door of Danny and Barbara Vanhoose about the big event hosted by their new neighbor.

Intel is moving in, and everything along Monroe Township Road 63, a mile south of Johnstown, has changed in a matter of weeks. Heck, the president of the United States was across the road on Friday. That has never happened before.

President Joe Biden was maybe 500 yards from Danny’s and Barbara’s front porch for the official Intel groundbreaking. Never mind that earthmovers have been digging almost nonstop over there since at least June.

Barbara and Danny, who are both 74 and have lived here for 50 years, watched on television as Biden, Gov. Mike DeWine and a host of other dignitaries spoke about the importance of Intel’s investment in Ohio and the work it will do to advance computer-chip manufacturing in the U.S.

The $20 billion complex promises to be one of the largest of its kind in the world, one that will return a larger share of microchip manufacturing to the U.S. from overseas.

DeWine and Biden both said it was a great day for Ohio and America. Biden called it a “field of dreams.”

Barbara sighed.

“My dream was to just grow old in my own home,” and live out her days here on a quiet country road.

“We almost made it,” Danny replied.