For the Golden Triangle to attract new businesses, Starkville, Columbus and West Point must work together instead of viewing each other as “the competition” when it comes to economic development, Starkville Mayor Parker Wiseman told the Columbus Rotary Club Tuesday afternoon.
Prospective businesses often look at the quality of life in an entire region before locating there, Wiseman said, not just individual cities.
Starkville leaders should promote the city”s Parks and Recreation Department, but also should tout the River Walk and Burns Bottom in Columbus, Wiseman said. With events like the Cotton District Arts Festival, Bulldog Bash and countless Southeastern Conference sporting events in Starkville, coupled with Columbus” Market Street Festival and Wings Over Columbus Air Show, local business leaders, tourism officials and others should try to “sell” the region as a whole to prospective businesses, Wiseman said.
“Then we”re selling somebody on a lifestyle and an experience that nobody can do on their own,” Wiseman said.
The three cities of the Golden Triangle are growing closer all the time, though not in a literal sense, Wiseman said. Communication and transportation have improved over the years, he said, and businesses like Golden Triangle Regional Airport, located roughly equidistant to Starkville, Columbus and West Point, have attracted workers from all three cities.
As GTRA expands and a planned aerospace megasite is constructed just west of the airport, more businesses, residences and infrastructure will appear in the vicinity, Wiseman said, which will link the three cities even more. Part of the aerospace project includes an extension of Artesia Road through Oktibbeha County to Highway 25.
The Columbus Lowndes Development Link and Greater Starkville Development Partnership are marketing the megasite to attract additional companies.
“We can do a lot more together than we can by ourselves,” Wiseman said.
Overall, Wiseman touted a message of cooperation to the roughly 50 Rotary members in attendance. And it”s easier to market an area to prospective residents if plenty of jobs are available in the region, he said.
Wiseman cited the job search he and wife Lindsay went through when the couple moved back to Starkville after law school. Both were attorneys looking for work.
While Parker was elected mayor of Starkville, Lindsay found a job at Brunini Law Firm in Columbus.
“In any one community, that would have been a very difficult endeavor,” Wiseman said of the job search. “It”s much more manageable when you look at the region as a whole.”
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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 42 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
