[Press Release] Leigh Mall Auction to Begin Today

[PRESS RELEASE]
COLUMBUS, MS – Courtesy of the Dispatch

The auction of Leigh Mall began at 11 a.m. today and will run until Thursday.

Ten-X, an online auction site for commercial property, is facilitating the mall sale. The starting bid is set at $1.5 million.

Colony Financial owns Leigh Mall, located off Highway 45 North. The company foreclosed on previous owner Security National Properties after SNP defaulted on a $34.7 million loan for which the mall was one of dozens of properties listed as collateral. Jones Lange LaSalle (JLL) Americas has managed the mall since the foreclosure.

Colliers International’s Atlanta-based retail sales team is the listing agency for the mall sale. Leigh Mall sits on about 30 acres and includes 319,384 square feet of retail space. The mall is 57 percent occupied and has a net operating income of $468,000, according to Ten-X marketing materials.

Opened in 1973, Leigh Mall’s occupancy rate has fallen to about 57 percent, with original anchor stores JCPenney and Sears both vacated. Hobby Lobby, Planet Fitness, Books-a-Million and a few other big-box stores remain.

Lowndes County Tax Assessor/Collector Greg Andrews estimated in 2018 the mall property, including its businesses, is worth between $12 million and $18 million.

Bidders were required to pre-register for the auction with a $25,000 deposit. A 5-percent transaction fee (minimum $40,000) will be applied to the sale, according to the Ten-X site.

https://cdispatch.com/news/article.asp?aid=76680

Veteran EMCC Teacher Wins National Award

COLUMBUS, MS – Courtesy of eastms.edu

EMCC’s Auto Tech/Diesel Mechanics Dept Head Dale Henry was recently named as the Byrl Shoemaker/ASE Industry Education Alliance Instructor of the Year. A 12-year veteran instructor at EMCC, he will formally receive the award at a Nov 13 ASE banquet: “I was almost speechless,” Henry said of his reaction when he was informed of the award.

“Students who graduate from our Automotive Technology program are highly sought after by those in the auto repair industry because of the quality instruction they receive from Dale and his team,” EMCC President Dr. Scott Alsobrooks said. “We couldn’t be more pleased that Dale’s commitment to his students and to his program are being recognized.”

“I have always been heavy on the certification side,” Henry said. “You have to be certified in whatever you are teaching, but I go way above and beyond what is required.”

In January 2018, EMCC was among 12 colleges nationwide selected by Toyota Motor Company to participate in the Toyota Technician Education Program, which allows students to earn college credit while they obtain official certification from the University of Toyota for training modules they complete. This certification was previously given only to Toyota employees.

“Our Automotive Technology program is nationally renowned thanks to Dale’s leadership, dedication and expertise,” EMCC Vice President of Workforce and Community Services Dr. Raj Shaunak said. “He has worked hard to build this program and make it the success it is today.”

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MSU Students Show Their Skills in SEC Business Competition

AUBURN, AL – Courtesy of theSECU.com

A team of Mississippi State University business students took home top honors at the 4th annual SEC Student Pitch Competition, held this year at Auburn University on October 6-7. The competition allows students to promote their ideas for new and innovative business products to a panel of successful entrepreneurs and CEOs; this year’s final contest was a one-minute “elevator pitch.” Also among the winners was an application that the team had had to come up with ideas and promotions for – under pressure – earlier in the competition.

The winning team is comprised of Shelby Baldwin, Brandon Johns, and Calvin Waddy. They pitched Buzzbassador, a software that automates back-end services to help brands create ambassador and influencer programs.

“I’m speechless at the moment. What always strikes me at this competition is just how good the teams are. The top three this year were incredibly impressive, and the fact that they’ve built businesses that are generating revenue and have found real market needs is astounding,” said Eric Hill, Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Outreach in the College of Business at Mississippi State University. “You can’t make up what they’re doing. It doesn’t happen without a lot of work, and it’s humbling to see that recognized. I’m glad that this great team has been successful.”

“I’ve had an amazing experience at the competition,” said Baldwin. “It’s been inspiring to see all of the amazing businesses coming out of the SEC, and it was humbling and incredibly exciting to be voted the winner of the elevator pitch.”

The 2020 SEC Student Pitch Competition will take place next fall at the University of Georgia.

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MSU and ARC Join Forces to Bring Hi-Tech Education to Our Students

Starkville, MS – Courtesy of the Starkville Daily News

The Appalachian Regional Commission and MSU recently announced that they will be granting over $265 thousand to a fund that will be used to buy computer education equipment for Mississippi students that will include support for cybersecurity learning, among other important subjects. The gear will be accessible from long distance, helping students statewide.

MSU Department of Computer Science and Engineering Assistant Department head Sarah Lee gave some more details: “The proposal is a collaborative project with Mississippi State and the coding academy to provide cybersecurity education to K-12 (level) through workforce development,” Lee said. “You know, sandwiched in between the middle and high school and the workforce development is obviously the college age, but also we’re going to partner with some community colleges. . .

“We’re helping people develop the skills that they need to be successful in the digital economy,” Lee said.

She went on to say that, while the grant will initially serve the state’s 24 ARC-served counties, she hoped the program would grow to serve the entire state and surrounding states eventually.

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Geico Donates Vehicle to MSU for Training

[PRESS RELEASE] Courtesy of WCBI – Starkville, MS

Two businesses partnered up to give Mississippi State University a nearly new vehicle for training in the school’s extension service.

GEICO donated the truck through its “Recycled Rides” program. Bob’s Paint and Body in Columbus volunteered time and labor to refurbish it to “like-new” condition.

Representatives from the MSU Foundation accepted the gift Tuesday morning.

Geico reps said this is just an extension of the good working relationship they have with the university.

“We do a lot of career fairs and recruitment from Mississippi State, so it’s a really good pipeline for us. And we saw some of the budget concerns there, and so hopefully this truck will be a good addition to help let them use that money for other things,” said GEICO claims supervisor Cole Phelps.

Mississippi State will use the truck to assist rural farmers with training and development for the future of their locally owned and operated farms.

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MSU’s Park Cafe Open and Ready to Serve (and Caffeinate) Hungry Students

STARKVILLE, MS – Courtesy of the Dispatch

The Park Cafe, located on Technology Boulevard in Thad Cochran Research, Technology and Economic Development Park at MSU, has had its soft opening and ribbon cutting, and they’re now open to the public for 3 hours a day on weekdays.

Their offerings will include catfish, sandwiches, salads and other lunches, and coffee. The cafe is open from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekdays and closed on weekends.

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City resolves the Missing LINK

COLUMBUS, MS – Courtesy of the Dispatch

The City of Columbus has announced that they will be reestablishing their partnership with the GTR LINK, albeit under different conditions than their prior agreement. The two had parted ways about a year ago, when the city chose to give Tupelo’s The Retail Coach a try; TRC’s contract will end on October 15.

“We are pleased to see the city and county working together on economic development,” said LINK CEO Joe Max Higgins in a statement. “We will not be replacing the retail services of their previous provider. We will continue (to) provide technical support for retail projects as well as workforce development, existing business expansion and retention, new business attraction and development, and research and planning services as outlined in our services contract with Lowndes County.”

However, this will leave the city without a company responsible for retail recruitment. The LINK had once covered that role, but “Now that we represent three counties and our staff is changing, we do not have the manpower to address retail that way,” LINK Chief Operations Officer Macaulay Whitaker said.

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Superior Catfish Begins Work on New Expansion Plant in Macon

MACON, MS – Courtesy of the Dispatch

Groundbreaking has taken place at the Noxubee County site which will one day host a new catfish processing plant, bringing a number of new jobs to the county. The new, larger plant will replace the old one, which will become dry storage space. The estimated cost is $17 million, and it is expected to bring in 25 local jobs for the plant as well as 50-60 construction jobs. They expect to be ready for business in January 2021. The expectation is that it will bring with it a 20-25% production capacity increase for local farmers.

“I get a bigger satisfaction out of an announcement like this in rural Mississippi than I do with the bigger announcements,” said Mickey Milligan, chief economic development officer for the Mississippi Development Authority. “This is very meaningful to Macon and Noxubee County.”

“My heart is overwhelmed today because of this project,” Noxubee County District 1 Supervisor Larry Tat said. “Anytime you can sustain jobs and make an addition to what you’ve already got, that’s a plus. You don’t see that happening around the state of Mississippi, (but) it’s happening right here in Noxubee County today.”

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MS Supreme Court Paves the Way for Industrial Park

STARKVILLE, MS – Courtesy of the Dispatch

After more than two and a half years’ worth of legal challenges, The MS Supreme Court ruled to allow a section of land near the intersection of Hwy 389 & Hwy 82 to be rezoned as Manufacturing (originally Commercial) by upholding a lower court’s ruling on the matter.

LINK CEO Joe Max Higgins expressed his delight with the decision: “We are very pleased, although not surprised, by the Mississippi Supreme Court’s decision today,” Higgins said. “Now, we can move quickly to complete the remaining park improvements and work to start seeing the rewards of the investment this community made two years ago.”

Mayor Lynn Spruill felt relief at the case finally being decided: “It is exactly the outcome that I expected, and I think the dilatory tactics employed by those who pursued it were just not in the city’s best interest,” Spruill said. “I’m delighted that it is over and done with, and we can aggressively market this industrial park in a way that we have not been able to heretofore.”

“It is sad that we have lost valued time and new industry opportunities,” Higgins said “Key parts of the necessary infrastructure improvements were also delayed while this zoning appeal dragged on.”

The city and Oktibbeha County issued a combined $14 million in bonds in July 2017 in order to fund construction of the business park.

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Siblings Found Success at Their Farmers’ Market Lemonade Stand

COLUMBUS, MS – Courtesy of the Dispatch

Armando and Julia Dunand created their first lemonade stand back in June as part of Golden Triangle Lemonade Day, but they went a little bit overboard on the lemons themselves, starting out with a crate containing 75 lemons. Unfortunately, this proved to be a bit too much stock to sell through in one day, but they found a solution: Open the stand at the local Farmers’ Market and sell their fresh lemonade there instead. LemonHeadz Lemonade Stand proved popular with vendors and customers alike all season long; they even used all of those lemons, plus two bags more. In the end, they turned a net profit, and even donated most of it to Annunciation Catholic School, where the kids (Armando, 11, and Julia, 8) attend.

“We figured out how to work it out, and people loved it,” Julia said.

Her brother added, “We had a whole lot of fun.”

They succeeded not only because of this summer’s oppressive heat, but due to their own hard work and foresight. Once they had the stand going, they added blackberries, blueberries, pears, and even lemon tree saplings to their product lineup. They hope to add yet more items for next year: “Sometimes you just wanted to leave because it was so hot,” Armando said. “Sometimes you just didn’t want to go out there because you had to get up so early. But we kept doing it.”