There will be opportunities for Columbus Light & Water to pick up some of what it lost when industrial customers such as Omnova closed their facilities. It’s just going to take time.
That was Golden Triangle Development Link CEO Joe Max Higgins’ message to the utility provider’s board of directors last Thursday. CL&W general manager Todd Gale had prior discussions with Higgins about speaking to the board and updating it on the potential for projects that could provide the utility company with new industry that requires high volumes of power to operate.
The Dispatch previously reported that Stuart Millner, president and CEO of Stuart B. Millner and Associates, bought the 700,000-square-foot facility on Highway 69 and Yorkville Road that formerly housed Omnova and renamed it the Columbus Business Center.
Higgins said he has been in discussions with Millner, who is still in the process of clearing out and selling old equipment from the building and intends to subdivide it and lease it to smaller companies.
“I told (Millner), ‘If you can start giving me some pricing of what you’re going to rent this space for, then we’ve got something,'” Higgins said. “Right now, he’s saying, ‘Bring me prospects.’ Our position is ‘You tell us what your pricing is and we can bring prospects.'”
Higgins told members that Paccar, which already operates a large-scale truck manufacturing plant in Lowndes County, had a third party logistics company that may be a good fit for the location.
“One of those buildings, it’s on the back of the property on the right. It has racking and rail,” he said. “That’s a pretty good deal, especially if you’re going to be shipping off shore.”
Managing expectations will be key, he said, in bringing industry to that location as well as The Island.
“That concept I think will probably work as long as everybody understands that it’s not the optimum location for transportation. Yes, it’s got rail. Yes, it’s got airport, but the roads, it’s hard to get in and out with trucks from there,” Higgins said. “You go up to the stop light on old (Highway 182) and it’s not a good way to get out from there. That’s probably the worst thing you can say about the property and the adjacent property. Yokohama is not going to pick that site. Severstal is not going to pick that site. It’s going to be more the mid-size companies. There’s quite a few of those out there. There’s automotive component plants that are looking.”
Higgins also mentioned the Lowndes County Port Authority was considering logistical options of an additional port on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, although there was no timeline on when a decision might come down.
“There might be a possibility for some warehousing in there as it relates to the new port when the port gets developed,” he said. “We’re still in environmental testing and I expect it to be done in the next month to two months and then I think we’ve got to sit down and really talk turkey with those guys about that.”
Redevelopment of areas that once housed manufacturers requiring a heavy electrical load will be critical for CL&W as it proceeds with capital improvements and improving service to residential and business customers, Gale said.
Nathan Gregory covers city and county government for The Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 44 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
