The first meeting of a proposed approach to regional government included ideas on pooling resources to benefit the three counties and county seats in the Golden Triangle.
About 50 people gathered Thursday night at the Trotter Convention Center at the invitation of Columbus Mayor Robert Smith, Starkville Mayor Parker Wiseman and West Point Mayor Scott Ross.
“We can all do better together than we can separately,” Ross told the group.
Those gathered heard about cooperative procurement from Taylor Adams, purchasing manager for Mississippi State University’s Office of Procurement and Contracts.
Cooperative procurement is volume buying in supplies and services through state contracts, he said. Examples include auto parts, cleaning supplies, industrial supplies, ammunition, firefighting equipment, vehicles, furniture and maintenance equipment.
Governing agencies that buy these supplies by combining orders can save 30 to 50 percent immediately, Adams said.
Cooperative services can include printing and maintenance.
Lowndes County District 1 Supervisor and Board President Harry Sanders said volume buying is a bigger advantage for cities than counties. Lowndes already uses state contractors and a six-month bidding process to keep down costs.
A regional government concept has merit, he said. The GTR Global Industrial Aerospace Park is an example of regional government. It includes Lowndes, Oktibbeha and Clay counties plus their county seats and Pickens, Fayette and Lamar counties in Alabama.
In 2009, the Lowndes County Industrial Park was renamed the Golden Triangle Regional Aerospace Industrial Park to capitalize on aerospace businesses that already have landed in the 3,500 acres adjoining GTRA.
The Link plans to use the site’s existing resources — access to GTRA, railways, highways and the Tombigbee River — to attract more companies in the expanding aerospace industry. American Eurocopter, Stark Aerospace and Aurora Flight Sciences already occupy some of the state’s publicly owned acres and employ more than 600 workers.
The site also boasts more than just aerospace-related industries; it also houses a Paccar Inc. engine plant and a Severstal steel mill.
The more cooperation, the more political clout the region will have, Sanders said.
Smith echoed that statement. The mayors decided to launch the regional-government proposal at their Nov. 14, 2011, meeting. The mayors meet once a quarter, he said.
He and Ross said they were pleased with the turnout that included representatives from city and county governments and their appointed agencies and boards.
The next meeting will be in West Point in the next three months, Smith said. “We are not going to let this regional development idea die.”
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