Economic development officials in Columbus and Franklin and Licking counties can be forgiven if they find themselves humming the tune to an early 1980s hit while they wonder when the next bad news will come from Intel Corp.

After all, the company had nothing but “promises, promises” in the beginning. But Friday, the chipmaker announced it is once again pushing back the planned opening of the semiconductor plant that was going to revolutionize the employment landscape in central Ohio.

Now Intel says construction on the first of two planned factories in New Albany is expected to be completed in 2030, with operations beginning in 2031. The second planned factory is now not expected to begin operations until 2032.

That’s a full decade after the January 2022 announcement that Intel made after it had received a bundle of state and federal incentives and funding. Back then, the company said it was going to be starting operations at the site in 2025. Had they been correct, there would be thousands of people heading to work at the facility this year.

In fact, the project was going to create 7,000 construction jobs and at least 3,000 long-term manufacturing and engineering jobs. Remember when communities in the region were worried about providing enough housing and the right education for those who might be filling those jobs — and their families?

Dan Tierney, spokesperson for Gov. Mike DeWine, said last week’s news from Intel was a “disappointment.”

That’s an understatement.

A Cato policy analysis shows Intel received $1.941 billion in subsidies from Ohio. That report called it the largest incentive package in Ohio’s history, representing nearly 7 percent of the general fund revenue in 2022-23. Intel has also already received $2.2 billion of the $7.8 billion in federal CHIPS Incentives Program funding it was awarded.

Even if Intel’s new timeline proves accurate, students in middle school now will be of the age to be considered for some of the jobs there, in 2031. That’s a far cry from what workers, families and communities had hoped for when they were told those paychecks would start coming this year.

Given changes in technology and markets, there’s good reason to expect Intel’s timeline could eventually stretch even further — or be cut off completely.

That must be a lesson for economic development and other state officials going forward.

Though Tierney may publicly say the governor’s office remains confident in the project, surely DeWine and many others in Columbus are beginning to think about how to claw back some of the money that was tossed at Intel, without much more delay.