STARKVILLE — Expansion plans by the Tennessee Valley Authority will give Starkville a new tool to recruit businesses.
TVA will build a 14-mile stretch of transmission lines that will cut through Clayton Village on Highway 182 past the Thad Cochran Research Park. The transmission lines will be completed by spring 2013.
The lines will provide additional power near the Research Park, currently home to high-tech companies Camgian Microsystems, II-VI Incorporated and SemiSouth Laboratories.
Jon Maynard, president of the Greater Starkville Development Partnership, said the new lines will help him recruit businesses that require additional power, like data centers, which house servers to store and re-route large quantities of information.
“We haven’t been able to recruit these types of businesses before,” Maynard said. “These companies invest a lot in the latest technology. It becomes a good investment in the community because these companies are constantly upgrading technology. The job counts are fairly low, but those jobs are very high paying. A data center will typically have 10-12 people, but [employees] make a sizable amount of money.”
Maynard is hesitant to put a timetable for when new companies that need the additional power will land in Starkville because he wants to temper expectations. Additionally, the lines, which Maynard said will require additional substation investments from Starkville Electric Department and 4-County Electric, will add another feather to the city’s cap.
“This changes the game completely,” Maynard said.
The new lines will cover about 170 acres, according to a TVA environmental assessment released in 2010. The 161-kV line will provide electrical connections from TVA’s SeverCorr 161-kV Switching Station to TVA’s Starkville 161-kV switching station through the new Clayton Village 161-kV Switching Station.
Maynard said TVA’s construction, which began two months ago, gives companies looking to set up shop in Starkville greater assurance that they’ll have the power.
“It’s like the chicken and the egg thing — the customer has to know there’s power,” Maynard said. “Then, companies factor in your workforce, your community and infrastructure. It’s no easy process, but we get a little closer when we broaden our capacity for that match.
“Power is on the first things that eliminates you.”
Mississippi State, which owns the research park, is currently in the second phase of an expansion project that will create an entrance on the east end of the park. Maynard said development is targeted for the east end once the road is complete.
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