Biggest economic development project in MS history coming to Golden Triangle.... (Jackson: crime rate, hotels)

[Mississippi Alabama Line]

https://twitter.com/tatereeves/statu...2SvgQ8j9WDQSnQ

Big time news for a growing area.

[NJ Brazen_3133]

What is so special about this area, that someone somewhere decides to throw $2.5 bill of our fiat from thin air currency into this place just some businesses will want to move in? And perhaps maybe a slight chance they will hire people in the area.

If someone has $2.5 bill of imaginary fiat currency to throw here, why not just take all the poor in those areas, and move them away? You can just spread them out to places that want more labor instead of using illegals. Some of that money can be used to help these people settle into their new lives.

[Suesbal]

Originally Posted by NJ Brazen_3133

What is so special about this area, that someone somewhere decides to throw $2.5 bill of our fiat from thin air currency into this place just some businesses will want to move in? And perhaps maybe a slight chance they will hire people in the area.

If someone has $2.5 bill of imaginary fiat currency to throw here, why not just take all the poor in those areas, and move them away? You can just spread them out to places that want more labor instead of using illegals. Some of that money can be used to help these people settle into their new lives.

Just another scheme to fatten the wallets of a few well-connected people. All legal, of course.

[brock2010]

Originally Posted by Mississippi Alabama Line

https://twitter.com/tatereeves/statu...2SvgQ8j9WDQSnQ

Big time news for a growing area.

Some good paying jobs too!

[Nemean]

Originally Posted by NJ Brazen_3133

What is so special about this area, that someone somewhere decides to throw $2.5 bill of our fiat from thin air currency into this place just some businesses will want to move in? And perhaps maybe a slight chance they will hire people in the area.

If someone has $2.5 bill of imaginary fiat currency to throw here, why not just take all the poor in those areas, and move them away? You can just spread them out to places that want more labor instead of using illegals. Some of that money can be used to help these people settle into their new lives.

I'd guess easy shipping to other manufacturing projects eastward could've been part of the advertising. Columbus is a little bit closer to Tuscaloosa than Meridian is, or Tupelo is to Jasper. While Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana aren't exactly bad at landing big manufacturing, it's not to the same degree Georgia, Tennessee, the Carolinas, and Alabama are.

[NJ Brazen_3133]

Originally Posted by Nemean

I'd guess easy shipping to other manufacturing projects eastward could've been part of the advertising. Columbus is a little bit closer to Tuscaloosa than Meridian is, or Tupelo is to Jasper. While Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana aren't exactly bad at landing big manufacturing, it's not to the same degree Georgia, Tennessee, the Carolinas, and Alabama are.

But then why not southward, northward or westward? Or even a little further eastward?

[Nemean]

Originally Posted by NJ Brazen_3133

But then why not southward, northward or westward? Or even a little further eastward?

Eastwards just in Alabama, then, right? Why would Mississippi aim to pull development into another state when it could aim it towards itself?

Honestly, Tupelo would've been my first guess, with Meridian notably behind. Tupelo has good interstate, freight rail and river access to the east, and Meridian has interstate and rail. However, Columbus is definitely the closest, and also has direct road and river access. One far reaching PR stunt that could be going on is that Alabama's finally getting recognized as part of the growth chamber of the "Piedmont Atlantic Megaregion." The Golden Triangle area is the only Mississippi statistical spot that touches the contiguous PAM metros. Pushing industry into the Triangle can make a claim like "The high growth PAM corridor is now pushing into Mississippi" which could make it easier to advertise Mississippi for business.

[brickpatio2018]

The head of economic development for the Golden Triangle explained the keys to attracting these industries, He was featured on 60 Minutes, as an example of rural America successfully attracting high tech industry.

The most obvious keys, as a starting point, are:

- Land ready to be approved (local zoning, etc) quickly by local government, in large acreage in the right locations
- Transportation in place (water, rail, highways, airport) for distributing manufactured products at a low cost
- Energy/ power readily available and directly accessible for a given site
- Water for the plant itself ready available and accessible
- Buildings already built in some cases
- Non-union work force because they are flexible and thus more efficient
- Low cost of land and workers, although these days manufacturing is heavily robotic and the jobs tend to require higher skills

The special sauce in Columbus over and above these basic requirements:

- One-stop shopping for helping a business rapidly overcome all regulations (federal, state, local) and deal with these regulatory bodies through one efficient local shop with expertise in all these regulations and connections to regulatory bodies
- Support from the community for training workers in skill sets specific to a given industry, both for potential workers who are applying for jobs and existing workers already with the company
- The economic development team remaining engaged with businesses at all times to help overcome barriers asap, whether through navigating government regulations, addressing infrastucture needs (roads, water, power, rail, etc) or quickly adapting training resources at local community colleges to prepare the work force for a given industry

From what I understand, overcoming government regulations and having workers trained in the specific skills needed by a particular industry are the two biggest needs typically that are not met very well by most local governments, but are something that Columbus has done perfectly, hence their stellar track record in the past ten years or so at attracting high tech industries.

[brickpatio2018]

With Mississippi's $2.5 billion economic victory this week in the Golden Triangle, I am struck by the collection of thriving and rising cities building across the state.

Desoto County - Booming and beautiful, with top schools, roads, safety, and industry, the future is very bright

Oxford - Booming and beautiful, chosen as the nation's best college town, the future is bright here also.

Tupelo - With Toyota and a host of other nice industries, great schools, safety, and a nice downtown, this is a great area. Included in that are neighboring towns such as New Albany which is extremely nice in its own right.

Golden Triangle - I don't think anyone saw this coming with Columbus' meteoric rise in the high-tech heavy industry field, but clearly it's here. Meanwhile Starkville is thriving and getting nicer by the day. And West Point has become a place to live for wealthy golfers. The future is arriving.

Madison County, Brandon/Reservoir, Clinton - All very nice and getting nicer. Also Florence is sure to rise with the brand-new highway 49, pretty countryside, safety, and top 10 schools (Florence Elementary is ranked 9th in the state in average test scores). Jackson is a big point of frustration; however the bones are there (Fondren, Belhaven, Eastover, Downtown) with the right leadership. I'm curious to see how the new state police protecting these nicer areas is going to impact the crime rate once they get fully up and rolling, because once that's under control the development will be rolling into these areas.

Hattiesburg/Laurel - Hattiesburg's success is nothing new and impressive, but the rise of Laurel, with their HGTV show and booming downtown and historic district, is remarkable. One can make a case that this region is the most appealing area of the state in terms of location and attractiveness of the cities and landscape.

Coast - The Coast seems to have everything in place. They are unique in having few high-crime areas and having good schools throughout. Both Gulfport and Biloxi have highly regarded schools, in addition to suburban schools like Ocean Springs, Pass Christian, Long Beach, Bay St. Louis, and a number of county schools. Culturally speaking, Ocean Springs and Bay St. Louis are booming, recently selected America's two best coastal towns. Also downtown Biloxi is getting cuter by the day and seems to be a great location for festivals such as the car show, and downtown Gulfport is cool with it's historic buildings and aquarium. The Coast seems set for the future.

Meridian - Meridian seems to have been dying for the last few decades, but suddenly they have discovered their huge historic downtown, perfectly in tact and well on its way towards renovation. With Meridian's large size, I suspect that their success in unifying the community to bring back their downtown, adding all those museums, colleges, and hotels etc, is ultimately going to attract industries like Columbus has, who sense that if the community can band together to bring back their downtown so effectively, they can band together to support new industries coming in. We shall see, but my gut tells me that 25 years from now Meridian will be on a roll like Columbus is today.

I know there are other very nice towns doing well such as Brookhaven and Corinth. And Grenada with its huge new Milwaukee Tools plant underway is a surprise. Natchez has a great mayor and heading in the right direction. I don't hear about Vicksburg but the potential is definitely there with the Corps of Engineers located there and proximity to booming Clinton. I have a soft spot for Greenwood and it's beautiful architecture and urban layout; they should benefit from Grenada's growth being just 30 minutes away.

Maybe I'm crazy but I'm pretty excited how can all these places are either coming together or you can clearly see that they have everything in place to thrive with just a bit more time to develop.

[Jardine8]

I was born and raised in that area of MS, so I'm curious to hear more about this development and where it will be located. My assumption is that it will be located just outside of Columbus. Regardless of where in the Golden Triangle it will be, it would be a boost to the 3 biggest towns there: Columbus, Starkville & West Point.