As Tony Normand, the man who has taken COMtech from an idea to perhaps the shiniest spoke in Robeson County’s economic wheel, prepares to walk away, his successes are plain to see. There has been more than $100 million of new investment at the 800-acre park, which has created about 1,200 to 1,300 new jobs.

But Normand failed in one respect: He has never been able to sell the notion that COMtech belongs to all of Robeson County, and not just to Pembroke. The blame for that lies not with Normand, but with those of us who hold grudges from battles lost long ago.

A decade ago when the idea of an industrial and high-tech park was first floated, Lumberton seemed the logical selection site. The county seat was nearer major highways and a regional airport, had a larger available workforce, and land could be found where infrastructure such as water, sewer and electricity already existed.

But the pull toward Pembroke was too strong, and the tension that has always existed between that town and Lumberton was stretched again. Although Normand insists today that COMtech is situated in the county’s bulls-eye, it is also true that it sits just outside of Pembroke. Those who criticized the selection site then, when confronted with COMtech’s success today, can easily argue that it would be bigger and better if it had been stitched to Interstate 95.

We will never know.

But we do know that COMtech, while not the high-tech industrial park originally envisioned, has been able to swim upstream, steadily growing while the rest of Robeson County’s economy has recessed.

Normand admits now that he was unprepared for Robeson County “politics,” but when challenged, he plowed ahead — sometimes literally. A military man, Normand had faced much bigger challenges, including surviving life-threatening wounds suffered while in combat.

Normand succeeded because failure was not an option. He built strong relationships with The University of North Carolina at Pembroke, Robeson Community College, and the Public Schools of Robeson County. He was able to assemble a board of directors that represents all of Robeson County, so he had allies in all its corners. He convinced new businesses and industries of the advantages that COMtech offered.

According to Normand, there are now 52 owned/leased units within the park. They include medical offices, a high-end restaurant, a construction company, educational facilities, and the headquarters of the Lumber River Council of Governments. The Veterans Affairs clinic is coming to COMtech, and Normand says an announcement of a new $8.5 million investment will begin the new year.

So Normand has done the hard part, birthing COMtech, getting it upright, and taking it by the hand and rolling it forward. Now we will see if COMtech can shed its training wheels.

Robeson County — and not just Pembroke — is vested in COMtech’s continued success. If you still have doubt, ask those who work there.