Columbus and Lowndes County are poised for their best year since 2008 in terms of economic development, Columbus-Lowndes Development Link CEO Joe Higgins said Wednesday.
Higgins, speaking at the Link”s first-quarter review luncheon at New Hope Middle School, pointed to newly created jobs at Paccar, Severstal and Aurora Flight Sciences, among others, as proof that the economy is improving.
Altogether, the companies are looking to hire more than 200 people now, Higgins said.
“When you stop and think about how those companies are hiring in this economy, I think that”s a pretty good indication,” he said.
Not only are companies in the area hiring, but about 15 manufacturing companies are seriously looking to move into Lowndes County now, Higgins said.
The Link is working on bringing in $2 billion worth of projects to the area this year, he said.
Three of those are eying the 7,000-acre GTR Global Industrial Aerospace Park, which will be ready for new tenants by fall, he said.
“The dip that we saw in 2008 and 2009, we”re coming out of that,” Higgins added.
Higgins said Link representatives are meeting with contractors Monday for a pre-construction conference about running water lines to the park. That work and the erection of a 20-foot-tall welcome sign should be finished in about 30 days.
The county Board of Supervisors is also expected to approve a land acquisition plan that will add several more acres to the park by the end of the year, Higgins said.
The luncheon at New Hope was the first of four this year to showcase education in the area. Other luncheons will be held at the Mississippi University for Women, the East Mississippi Community College and a Columbus school.
At the lunch, county schools Superintendent Mike Halford also said there are “good things to come,” especially for education in Mississippi.
Although the Lowndes County school system, the third largest employer in the county, is not where it needs to be, it is one of three counties in the state that met federal standards, he said.
“We”re making progress,” he added.
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