Yesterday’s Winston-Salem Journal marked the one-year anniversary of production at the Dell plant.

So what have citizens gained in return for $305 million in state and local tax incentives? It’s still to early to say.

Secretary of Commerce Jim Fain:

“In virtually every aspect of economic development, the Dell project has either met or exceeded our expectations in its first year of operation. Dell’s decision to assemble computers in Winston-Salem and North Carolina clearly has brought attention and credibility to those areas as standout places to do globally competitive business.”

(What did we think he’d say?)

Dell supervisor Paige Thompson:

“I cried when I found out that Dell wanted me. In a time when so many companies are letting people go, Dell keeps hiring.There’s comfort in knowing you’re working for a company that’s not going away.”

But what hasn’t quite panned is the projected economic development surrounding the plant, which was a major argument put forth by supporters of the FedEx hub at PTI.

The real estate market hasn’t exactly taken off:

…..because most of its workers live in the Triad, the local real-estate market has not experienced a significant residential boost from having Dell as a neighbor.

There was an initial run-up in prices in undeveloped land around the plant, said Clarence Lambe Jr., a real-estate developer in Kernersville and a member of the City-County Planning Board.

“The value went up 100 percent in some places,” Lambe said. ‘But since then, the rate of appreciation has decreased the past six months.

“It’s hard to figure out after just one year whether we’re getting a good bang from the plant. It’ll be even more difficult once the FedEx (cargo hub) ripple spreads from around Piedmont Triad International Airport.”

Nor has the number of support industries:

Projections from two economic studies of up to 6,500 indirect jobs – at restaurants, hotels, stores, construction companies and service providers – were a convincing selling point for state legislators in particular, given the hemorrhaging of tens of thousands of traditional-manufacturing jobs in recent years.

“Whenever you have the opportunity to create jobs for as many as 8,000 people who are unemployed, you don’t miss it,” Gov. Mike Easley said on the day that Dell committed to a Triad site.

Yet, there have been just six Dell suppliers that have opened or expanded operations in the Triad, creating about 300 jobs in all. The plant site at 3200 Temple School Road remains surrounded by farmland.

Things for public officials to take into consideration when large incentives deals are brought before them.