A widely accepted variation of something novelist Ian Fleming once wrote goes, “Once is chance, twice is coincidence, three times is a pattern.”
On Wednesday, PACCAR celebrated a milestone not just for its Columbus facility but for the entire company. Ten years ago in Columbus, the truck manufacturing giant first began producing engines to equip its well-established line of heavy-duty trucks.
Starting with just 75 employees with operations beginning a year later than planned because of the Great Recession of 2008, Columbus PACCAR has since become one of the key pillars of Lowndes County’s economic powerhouse, which now includes a wide range of manufacturing — everything from wood products to steel to aerospace, pumping millions of dollars into the local economy through taxes and, of course job. With about 550 employees, PACCAR is one of our largest industries.
It’s easy enough to consider PACCAR on its merits alone until we consider what the arrival PACCAR would ultimately mean to our larger industrial base.
American Eurocopter (now Airbus) was the “one” in the equation, opening in 2003, and could have been seen as something of an outlier in the largely undeveloped area of west Lowndes County. When the late John Correnti opened steel manufacturer Severstal (now Steel Dynamics) in 2005, it was the “twice,” and could have been dismissed as a coincidence.
But then, in 2007, PACCAR announced its plans to build a $400-million facility in Lowndes County. That’s the “three” in the equation, establishing a pattern that could be used to recruit other industries to what was suddenly perceived as a booming area for industry. That’s three major industries in four years. The boom was on.
Other industries soon followed and the industrial footprint has expanded to West Point (Yokohama Tire) and Oktibbeha County and its new industrial park.
In many respects, the arrival of PACCAR established the pattern that would be used to promote the industrial growth we see today.
It’s significance is certainly not lost on those who work in economic development in the area.
“The plant is an ‘anchor facility’ that means more to the region than just an economic driver, said Macaulay Whitaker, chief operating officer for the Golden Triangle Development LINK.
“I think we’d have a really hard time thinking of the Golden Triangle without PACCAR in the future,” she said. “To say that it’s become a part of who we are would be an understatement.”
Technically, for the last 10 years, PACCAR has been building engines in Lowndes County.
Historically, it has helped build far more than that.
It has become an icon for industrial development in our region.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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