The deal to secure the $2.5 billion Aluminum Dynamics development in November gave the Golden Triangle Development LINK and Lowndes County a major victory but also a challenge: What comes next?
LINK Chief Executive Officer Joe Max Higgins made both heavy and light comments regarding the future of economic development in the Golden Triangle at the Columbus-Lowndes Chamber of Commerce annual luncheon Friday at Lion Hills Center. The only certainty? The LINK will need to acquire more land before saddling its horse once again.
“We’ve got several hundred acres available, but in the grand scheme of Lowndes County, that’s not that much,” Higgins said. “We’re out of land. So … very shortly, our teams will be mobilizing and we will be identifying where the next big developable site is. We will start putting our resources to doing that work with LCIDA (Lowndes County Industrial Development Authority) and the county.”
During his speech, Higgins said that aside from the aluminum mill project, future economic developments will require an expansion of emergency and medical response infrastructure near plant sites, the integration of public transportation (via Mississippi State University’s SMART bus system) and a day care facility near the Golden Triangle Industrial Park.
Since Higgins arrived at the LINK in 2003, the industrial development recruiter has landed projects like Steel Dynamics, Paccar, Airbus and others, bringing $9 billion in capital investment and 18,000 jobs, he said.
“We’re probably going to have to up our game on ambulance, fire protection and some of the services out there to support that military-industrial complex that we’ve built over the last two decades,” Higgins said. “So there’s probably some work there that’s got to be done and it’s not negotiable. It’s not if we do it. We have to do it. We have to figure out the plan.”
Higgins also plans to work with MSU to further develop steel and aluminum research to make the area a leader in metal research and development.
“Ever since we started working on this project, we have envisioned and had a dream that we would work with Mississippi State,” Higgins said. “Work with our congressional delegation and (Steel Dynamics) and (Aluminum Dynamics) to figure out a way to make this area a center of excellence for metals research, to build the next generation of steel. We’re not dealing with Vietnam-era metals, we’re dealing with new next-generation metals.”
Chamber award winners
During the annual luncheon ceremony, the Chamber celebrated the addition of 50 new members over the past year, bringing its total membership to 440. It also presented eight awards to chamber members who showed outstanding service in volunteer work, business success and chamber ambassador work.
The Volunteer of The Year awards went to Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science teacher Julie Heintz and First Bank Columbus Market President Russell Young.
The Commercial Dispatch Advertising Director Beth Proffitt earned Ambassador of the Year honors, while The Charleigh Ford Legacy Award was given to Glen Lautzenhiser.
Betty Harris, owner of the Golden Triangle Driving Academy, was named New Member of the Year; Gabriel Smith, owner of Kidz-n-Play, won Small Business of the Year; The Dutch Group earned Medium Business of the Year honors; and Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle won Large Business of the Year.
CLCC Director Cathryn Borer said she was proud of the progress made by the chamber and all its members’ achievements in the past year.
“It is truly a blessing that we have such dedicated volunteers that make everything we do at the Chamber possible,” Borer said. “We can see the fruits of your labor and everything the community has improved upon in the past year.”
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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 33 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
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