Lowndes County may have narrowly avoided a major roadblock to industrial proliferation, according to economic development boss Joe Higgins.
In an address to the Columbus Rotary Club Tuesday, Higgins, the CEO of the Columbus Lowndes Development Link, explained how pending eminent domain legislation — a ballot initiative is scheduled for the November election — could prevent communities from establishing industrial parks similar to the Golden Triangle Global Industrial Aerospace Park.
“If communities lose the ability (to acquire property via eminent domain), at the end of the day the community that has 6,500 acres available for development that”s already owned by the community, that”s already infrastructured, it will probably put you in the catbird seat when you”re competing with towns that have to put the thing together,” said Higgins.
Although he acknowledged many of the land owners who sold their land for the industrial park did so willingly, Higgins imagined aloud how difficult economic development would be if not for the public use option. However, he said sometimes a piece of land isn”t worth the struggle.
“I”ve always viewed land as just a necessary evil to do what I do for a living. But when I bump against that person that says ”That was my granddaddy”s place,” it”s impossible to deal with. We get to that point and we just back up and say this is probably not going to happen,” he said.
With the foreseeable completion of the industrial park in the near future, Higgins and the Link aren”t relaxing at all. Of the final 2,500 acres to be purchased west of the Golden Triangle Regional Airport, Higgins will ask the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors to purchase 1,200 acres before May.
“That will leave us roughly three land owners and 1,200 acres away from the ultimate goal that we started 10 years ago,” he said. “The acquisition of 7,000 acres bisected by GTRA, fully infrastructured with major roads. All sites environmentally cleared and the due diligence done.
“That will separate us from all but two communities in the Southeast; the new Panama City (Fla.) International Airport and the North Carolina Global Transpark (in Kinston, NC). Those are the only two facilities that come close to matching us tit for tat.”
Higgins placed the impetus for moving to complete the industrial park on the changing population of rural Lowndes County. If the recent census shows a significant boost in population and income, the area”s traditional 75 percent grant eligibility status could be lost.
Fortunately for Lowndes County, the industrial park is already drawing global attention. Higgins said the Link is currently working $2.5 billion worth of industrial projects at the moment, angling to bring several new companies with a total 4,500 jobs to the Lowndes County.
“There”s no guarantee we get even one, but we do have projects we”re traveling out of town to meet with,” he said. “And these are not companies that have no idea where the Golden Triangle is located. These companies have been in our offices on two, three, four occasions. One project worth $550 million has been in our boardroom three times negotiating sites, to incentives, to understanding taxation in Mississippi.”
Corporate interest in the industrial park is so high Higgins left the county just once in the past year on a recruiting trip, to an air show in London.
The Link also remains involved in finalizing details to bring KiOR to Columbus” island. Site preparation should begin soon and bring 400 construction workers to the area for one year. Further construction at Severstal is expected push the number of construction workers in the area to approximately 1,200.
Higgins estimates 120 new jobs will come with the Severstal expansion and the opening of New Process Steel.
Mary Cates Williams, the Link”s vice president of government relations and business development, is also working on a project to extend Artesia Road from Highway 45 South to Starkville. She”s secured $2.5 million for the project.
Williams is featured along with Brenda Lathan, vice president of economic development for the Link, and Melissa Cook, vice president of the Link”s chamber division, in Forbes Magazine”s latest issue.
Jason Browne was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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