Nov. 1--If you build it, they will come, the saying goes. And if they leave it, others will come. That seems to be the view of a task force trying to find a new tenant for Dell's Winston-Salem plant when it closes in January.

Empty factory buildings dot the landscape of our region, sad symbols of hard times and the competitive pressures of global free trade. The shuttering of factories that once rolled cigarettes, weaved yarn and built furniture was as inevitable as the weeds and rust that envelop them.

But the Dell plant, which opened just four years ago with the backing of millions of dollars in incentives from the city, county and state, seemed to denote that the region was transforming to a higher-tech economy. It is, however, a rapidly changing economy with shifting consumer demands, and the local plant, which assembles desktop computers, has already been left behind. Having the 700,000-square-foot building -- one of the largest, most modern manufacturing buildings in the state -- sit vacant would be an intolerable symbol of failure.

Dell says it will repay the $26.5 million in local incentives. Perhaps a portion of that money could be used for marketing the plant and, yes, even for incentives for a new tenant. It's important for the local economy that the 900 jobs the plant provides be replaced. On that note, the task force may have an edge. Companies are starting to expand again, and they want plant buildings that don't require extensive refitting or renovation.

Although it's unlikely that the city and county will attract a company that equals Dell in size and profile, it might land a large distribution company that could help realize the vision of the Triad as an aerotropolis, a large concentration of businesses with air-transportation enterprises around an airport. The Dell building is in a prime spot in eastern Winston-Salem, just minutes from the FedEx hub at Piedmont Triad International Airport and Interstates 40 and 85.

Adjacent to the plant is 90 acres of open land. The land had been set to be reconveyed to the city. But because Dell has said it will pay the city back $15.6 million in incentives that includes the $7 million cost of purchasing the land, City Attorney Angela Carmon determined that it would be appropriate for Dell to keep the land and market it with its plant, Mayor Allen Joines said last week.

In addition, a Spartanburg company has 100 acres in the immediate area of the plant that it wants to develop for distribution companies. All in all, this is prime commercial property.

The task force formed by Joines includes officials from Dell, the N.C. Department of Commerce, the city and the county.