The city council recently approved a deal that will allow Financial Concepts to acquire the old Gilmer Inn property on Main Street for a sum of $270,000. FC’s CEO Scott Ferguson remarked that, “As we’ve grown, we realized that we needed a bigger space. We wanted to stay in that downtown area and we looked. We think we’ve got an exciting project to not only move our office and build a new space but also have some other elements to it as well.” He also referred to the property, which used to hold the Inn until its demolition in 2015, as “a fantastic property right in the heart of downtown.”
Ferguson says that they plan to break ground later this year, and anticipate new construction to finish up in about 12 to 15 months.
Please click here for the original article: https://cdispatch.com/news/2021-06-16/city-sells-gilmer-inn-property-to-private-developer/
MSU, in cooperation with the Jackson MAA, has now performed the first-ever unmanned aircraft take off from an airport. The Tigershark is a remote-controlled survey aircraft designed to perform environmental analyses, to help explore disaster areas in order to get help to those who need it more quickly, help to more quickly make decisions on evacuation needs and routes, and more. It has even performed such roles in the past.
“We have been able to fly more rural areas readily with FAA rules and regulations. Right now, one of the things that is very important with our work with the FAA is trying to prove the safety case for trying to fly these type of vehicles out of an urban area,” said Raspet Flight Research Laboratory VP of Research and Economic Development Julie Jordan.
GOLDEN TRIANGLE REGION, MS – Courtesy of the Dispatch
STARKVILLE, MS 101 W. Main St, the old Rex Theater ticket office, is now home to Dolce, a new gelato shop that has opened just in time to help patrons cool off with some nice, tasty treats. Go check them out for a variety of frozen desserts or all kinds! The basis for many of their frozen goodies is Sweet Magnolia gelato, from right here in Mississippi. Tues~Thurs 2~9pm and Fri~Sat 2~10pm.
COLUMBUS, MS Kellogg Hardware and Appliances, 620 Commerce St., has announced that they are closing their doors after three-quarters of a century serving local customers. They are holding a going out of business sale. “As the sale goes on, I marvel at the number of customers that have come by to express their sadness of our closing,” owner Bucky Kellogg said. “I realize how truly blessed we have been to have customers that are truly like a part of our family. Thank you so much.”
WEST POINT, MS Kellogg Hardware and Appliances, 620 Commerce St., has announced that they are closing their doors after three quarters of a century serving local customers. They are holding a going out of business sale. “As the sale goes on, I marvel at the number of customers that have come by to express their sadness of our closing,” owner Bucky Kellogg said. “I realize how truly blessed we have been to have customers that are truly like a part of our family. Thank you so much.” Monday through Saturday 8 a.m.-4 p.m. and Wednesdays 8 a.m.-noon.
Now that Garan Manufacturing has moved from Hwy 12 to its new digs in the Northstar Industrial Park, a preview has been released showing off the new shopping center that is planned for the space.
Image courtesy of Rise Partners
“We’ll be developing that into what’s often called a power center[;] it will be anchored by an international grocery store and then also a large well-known discount, shoes, household goods,” said the owner of Castle Properties Mark Castleberry. “As that population comes they like to buy things they’re using goods and services and that sector hasn’t really been filled in or has grown as quickly as the residential growth so we’ll be keeping a lot of dollars here in Starkville and I think also making Starkville more desirable as a place to live,” he went on to say.
The current plan is to demolish the existing building in late Summer and to have the new structure ready to use by sometime next year.
Having lived up in Portland for a number of years, Jeff Dudley has come back home to the South, and he’s bringing a new kind of food truck with him. Yardbird Bento will specialize in marinated chicken over rice (with your choice of nearly a dozen sauces) as its primary type of dish. He should be ready to roll by the first week of June, and will be serving up some tasty chicken Mondays thru Fridays from 11am~5:30pm: “There are a lot of food carts (in Portland),” Dudley said. “There was one particular one that was there that did this same thing, and they’ve been doing it for 16 years. I frequented the place quite a bit. . .We moved back here and this is what we decided to go with.”
STARKVILLE
Columbus’ Hollydale Health Food Store, first opened in 1976, has expanded into a new location over in Stark Vegas. He found that he had been getting plenty of business from SV residents who drove to Columbus to shop at his store, so expanding was the natural choice. This new, second store can be found at 446 Hwy. 12 Suite B; it is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
GTR AREA
Finally, Chat Phillips, having founded the Inaka Tea Company in 2019, is now bringing his bottled barley teas to the grocery store shelves. Check your local Kroger and give it a shot!
Origis Systems will be bringing a 200MW solar farm to Lowndes County; the go-ahead for the project was recently announced by Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley.
“This project sends a signal to the world that Mississippi is dedicated to smart renewable energy expansion and energy independence. The investment by Origis is an economic development boom for the Golden Triangle and for the development of Mississippi’s resources. With the addition of battery storage, this project will provide new technology, weatherization and harness Mississippi’s solar energy in a way unseen until now,” said Presley.
GOLDEN TRIANGLE AREA, MS – Courtesy of the Dispatch
COLUMBUS
Renasant Bank on Main Street officially closed its doors on April 2nd, per their PR VP Liz McIntyre. Their 18th Ave branch remains open.
Family Dollar at 60 Mike Parra Rd near the airbase is getting ready for its Grand Opening this Sunday. They will be open 7 days a week.
Nearby, Friendly City Mini-Warehouse is preparing a site for their location at Hwy 45 and Gatlin Road. They anticipate opening for business in about eight months from now; they will have both regular and climate-controlled units, as well as RV and boat parking. They will also have 24/7 checkin and leasing via a convenient computerized kiosk. https://www.friendlycitymini.com. In Brickerton Plaza, Beans and Cream has changed its name to Southbound Coffee Co., as we recently reported here on GFB. It has the same owners, same menu, same coffee and same baristas (just with a new name). Mon thru Sat 6-6.
STARKVILLE
Uno Mas has opened up in the Cotton District at the former location of the STAGgerIn Sports Bar at 106 Maxwell St. They will offer Tex-Mex food, margaritas, and more. Mon~Thurs 11-11, Fri~Sat 11-midnight, and Sundays 11-10. This is their third location, joining their shops in Madison and in Oxford.
The Power of the Almond held a ribbon-cutting this morning. They’re a new keto/celiac/diabetic-friendly restaurant in the research park near MSU. They offer all sorts of baked goodies, flatbreads, soups, casseroles, and coffee drinks. 60 Technology Blvd (first suite on the right), Lunch is available from 11AM~2PM weekdays and the in-house bakery is open until 5:30PM. — Keep an eye on our page right here in the next day or two for more info about them soon (and pictures!), as we swung by for a visit and a bite (hint: Their food is tasty!) — You can find them on FaceBook at Power of the Almond
Montgomery’s Jewelry is marking its diamond anniversary, having been in business for 75 years! Store Manager Michelle Sharp remarked that they “have weathered all of the fluctuations in this business, including the increase of metal costs . . . You have to move with the times. . . You can’t stay in the past and you can’t go too far into the future.” 218 E. Main St. They offer many types of jewelry, including custom pieces, as well as watch and jewelry repairs. Weekdays 9AM~5PM and Saturdays 9AM~2PM. FB: Montgomery’s Jewelry
Looking to host an event to celebrate a special occasion? Takoya Sherman’s Just For You Events and Visions is now in business and ready to take your calls. They offer planning for events of all kinds, and they also make custom items such as jewelry, car tags, and t-shirts to go along with them. Contact them at justforyoueventsandvision.com or on FB at Just For You Events and Visions
The Starkville Smoothie King has begun work on their new location at 308 Hwy. 12; they anticipate opening in mid-June.
Things are going well in the ‘Ville, and THAT’S Good for Business! Please click here for more business openings and the original article:
Burgeoning Starkville-based Rocketing Systems, maker of marketing/CRM software “Buzzbassador,” recently received a $100K investment from tech-promoting nonprofit firm Innovate Mississippi. Shelby Baldwin, Rocketing Systems’ Chief Marketing Officer and one of their founders, says that they “discovered that small to medium-sized businesses that use influencer marketing can find it hard to manage this particular kind of marketing. . . You’re managing so many people, trying to keep track of what sales are generating and how campaigns are performing and recruiting the right type of influencers while managing communication with them. It’s like this whole other business inside of your business.”
Innovate Mississippi Investment Manager Lindsey Benefield spoke of their relationship with Rocketing: “They are fantastic to work with. . . I think Buzzbassadors is an inspiration to all young adults looking to start their own businesses. They came together as three [MSU] college students with one idea and then pivoted to a completely different direction, and now they are having huge success and getting investor attention.”
These local folks are working hard to help other companies spread the word about their products and services to the benefit of all – and THAT’S Good for Business!
Mike Spears, manager of Airbus Columbus, is passing the torch to another Airbus veteran, German-born Johannes Dienemann. “Now I get the opportunity to spend my time in Columbus and I’m excited about that,” Dienemann said. “It’s exciting what’s happening here and to be a part of it.” He went on to speak of their mission here and of the great workforce from the local community: “We have an almost endless spectrum of work . . . We build some helicopters from scratch, some from parts and pieces, some fully assembled that we do completion work on and maintenance, so it’s a very diverse type of work. We have people in our shops that make wire harnesses, assemble engines, assemble gear boxes, paint on all those different aircraft. We have 60 to 70 aircraft come through here every year. So we have to make sure we cross-train our people for our production lines and completion center. That’s a tribute to the skill and talent of our workforce.”
Outgoing Airbus Columbus manager Mike Spears and his successor, Johannes Dienemann – photo by Slim Smith – The Dispatch
Spears was part of a big push that has borne fruit over the last few years to revitalize production of the Lakota helicopters for the military, which has gone on to become a great success for the facility, and which makes up a large chunk of what they do there: “When I first got here eight years ago, the Army was talking about winding the Lakota down, so we realized we had to do something to stabilize what we were doing . . . While we had always done some maintenance work on the Lakotas for the Army, we’ve doubled, maybe tripled our maintenance work. So now we have two assembly lines, the completion center and maintenance going on.”
Airbus employs 270 people at their local facility, where they work on a good half a dozen different types of the company’s 15 unique aircraft.
