LICKING COUNTY, Ohio — For all of his adult life, Jerod Knight’s neighborhood had consisted of a few homes and cornfields.
On Friday that changed forever when Intel formally announced it’s literally taking over the neighborhood.
“it's sad, it's very sad,” he says.
Knight says a realtor working for the company offered a really good deal for his home and the plan is to close on the house his grandfather gave him by the end of next month.
“It had to happen I suppose. I've been here since I was a kid basically,” he said.
Knight lives near the corner of Miller and Clover Valley Road.
It’s just feet away from acres of farmland that Intel plans to turn into one of the largest semiconductor chip plants in the world. It’s the largest single investment in Ohio history, with a price tag of $20 billion.
The plant says it will hire 3,000 people over the next 10-years with jobs paying $135,000 a year.
For Jerod Knight, he says while he’s sad to go, he knows sometimes you can’t stop progress.
“Hopefully it does good for the community you know,” he said.
Gov. Mike DeWine said on Friday that the project is expected to add $2.8 billion to Ohio's annual gross state product.