From family-owned businesses to chain restaurants and corporations, the town many of us know and love is expanding. And while the growth of a community illuminates potential, it also breeds destruction.
“If you have growth and you don’t manage it properly, it can have a devastating effect,” physics teacher Mike DeMint said.
Most recently, this destruction for growth has come in the form of the newly constructed Dollar General Market. With the latest business creating more prospective job opportunities and offering more options for locally available groceries, many community members have expressed their excitement regarding the new addition.
With the small size of Stockbridge, there aren’t a lot of readily available jobs to those who are seeking employment, which is what makes the new Dollar General Market and the soon-to-be Tractor Supply Co. so beneficial — they provide more employment opportunities.
“I was happy to learn that there would be more job opportunities,” senior Zane Whitt said.
However, not everyone is ecstatic about the construction of the Dollar General Market, as the location is less than ideal for the environment.
“As I see Stockbridge growing, I am seeing more big corporation buildings and less local businesses,” junior Miley Moser said. “So much land is cleared for them but this land should be natural. Natural land not only protects the wildlife but provides a better scenery and environment for these animals.”
Potter Park Zoo volunteer and conservationist Sue Hinkley recognizes the importance of expanding Stockbridge’s business, however, it shouldn’t be at the expense of wildlife conservation and habitat protection.
“While I agree that the new businesses here in Stockbridge are great for the community, I do think that a lot of the growth is disrupting the natural habitats of wildlife creatures,” Hinkley said. “I mean, that new trail alongside south M-52 has disrupted a family of bufflehead ducks, and the Dollar General grocery store being built in the wetland area where the Canadian geese migrate every spring has forced those birds out of the environment where they hatch and raise their goslings.”
Just a few short years ago, Stockbridge welcomed the miraculous arrival of bald eagles to the community, and each year since, the townspeople wait with bated breath for their return in the spring. Community members gather alongside the road to birdwatch and people like Hinkley often take to social media to post updates on the bald eagles, writing about their nesting habits and the hatching of the eaglets.
However, with the construction currently underway of residential homes and new businesses such as the Dollar General Market and Tractor Supply Co., the community’s natural environment is at risk. Deforestation, pollution and general habitat loss for wildlife are all factors that play a detrimental role in the decline of our environment ‒ all of which come as a direct result of large-scale construction projects.
So how does the community find a balance between growing while also preserving the environment?

“It’s all a coordinated effort. It’s teamwork, and if people work together then we can do great things,” Hinkley said.
Fortunately, there are many ways people can help protect the environment. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration explains there are simple ways people can help every day: conserve water, reduce, reuse, recycle, volunteer for cleanups and bike more to reduce CO2 emissions.
“If I could tell everybody one thing, it would be to help where you can,” Hinkley said. “If everyone could do something really small for the environment and pass that along, the difference would be tremendous.”