O’Neal Manufacturing Services is planning a steel fabrication facility in Fayette, Ala (O’Neal)
Alabama Commerce Secretary Greg Canfield has announced that O’Neal Manufacturing Services has plans to build a is planning a $5.5 million, 130,000-square-foot steel fabrication plant in Fayette. They expect to create seventy new jobs within three years of the plant’s opening. “This is a positive development for the community not only in terms of job creation but also for growth potential in the future,” he said.
COLUMBUS, MS – Courtesy of The Dispatch and Brian Jones
Columbus Arts Council Operating Director Salem Gibson, left, and Princess Theater owner William “Bart” Lawrence in front of the theater – Brian Jones – Dispatch Staff
Princess theater owner William “Bart” Lawrence recently reopened the bar there and has announced that he will soon partner with the CAC to bring new life to the place. The Princess has had a number of functions during its lifetime, and Lawrence hopes to improve it even further: “We’re looking at film, at live music, at stage performances,” Lawrence said. “The great thing about that room is with the right setup the sky’s the limit.”
CAC Operating Director Salem Gibson remarked that “We want to help make sure there is live music, there are poetry readings, there are activities going on, and we’ve got to get out to do that. . . (Lawrence) was coming to a lot of our events, and I think he saw what the CAC is doing and our direction, and our goals kind of lined up with where he wanted to be.”
The venue has room to support 350 seats at the floor level and another 200 in the balcony.
Pinpoint Commercial Real Estate just announced that they have closed a deal to bring the Slim Chickens franchise to Columbus. They make cooked-to-order chicken tenders, wraps, and more. The location will be north of Walmart on Hwy 45. Sam Cox of Pinpoint had this to say: “We were able to secure this wonderful site for our client in the great town of Columbus. The Sellers were local members of the community and were great to work with. We are grateful to help be a part of this transaction helping provide another quality eatery in the city of Columbus.”
Word around town is that the location might be 1923 Hwy 45 North in the old Menotti Honda location. Thanks to Ray Toney from Q107.5 for the tip!
Please click here for the original press release: https://pinpointcres.com/2022/05/16/slim-chickens-site-selected-in-columbus-mississippi/announced
COLUMBUS, MS – Courtesy of the Dispatch & Grant McLaughlin
Co-owner Edgar Alvarez has announced that La Campana, a Mexican restaurant, will soon open in the old Front Door Back Door/Old 82 building at 400 Main St.: “If we need to start off doing curbside or something like that before we can get fully staffed, that may be the route that we go for right now,” he said. The plan is to be open by August 15th.
pOpshelf, an “Almost everything $5 or less”-style store, is about to open a location here in Columbus at 1800 Hwy 45 N this Fall. “We are thrilled to expand the pOpshelf offerings into the Magnolia State and look forward to having customers pop by our new stores in Columbus and Clinton later this year,” pOpshelf senior director of store operations Matt Frame said in a press release. They hope to bring fifteen new jobs locally; they will also be opening a store in Clinton.
STARKVILLE
Dolce, providers of ice-cold gelato, recently opened its doors at its new location at 509 University Drive. Co-owner Robbie Coblentz reports that their customers have been coming back in droves: “It was incredible Saturday night, we had 350 to 400 people through in about a three and a half hour window,” Coblentz said. “It was great to get that amount of support. Folks wanted to come by to get the gelato that they’ve been missing for a little bit and see the new location.”
COLUMBUS, MS – Courtesy of the Dispatch & Grant McLaughlin
Virgin Mothership Eve releases spaceship Two Unity for glide flight at Spaceport America Launch Complex in New Mexico – photo by Virgin Galactic Press Assets
Aurora Flight Services, a subsidiary of Boeing, will soon begin aiding in the design and manufacture of a new aircraft for Virgin Galactic in its Columbus location near the GTR Airport. The craft will be used as a launch vehicle to assist with getting passenger spacecraft into orbit; Patrons will pay $450 thousand a pop for the experience. VG CEO Michael Colglazier said that, “Our next generation motherships are integral to scaling our operations . . . They will be faster to produce, easier to maintain and will allow us to fly substantially more missions each year” via a press release.
Their ultimate goal is to offer 400 such flights per year. The anticipated launch window for the flights using these “mothership” aircraft is in 2025. “This partnership between Aurora and Virgin Galactic brings together teams that share a passion for aerospace, innovation, and exploration,” Aurora president and CEO Per Beith said.
Altex Tube, LLC, is preparing to build a manufacturing plant on the Steel Dynamics, Inc campus in Columbus. This will include an investment to the tune of around $110 million, and is anticipated to create nearly 5 dozen new jobs in the area. Joe Max Higgins, CEO of the GT LINK, said that “The partnership between SDI and Altex Tube solidifies that the Golden Triangle is the preferred location for steel products in the Southeast. We are excited to work with Altex Tube as they grow their business in this region.”
A groundbreaking will take place this Thursday. MS Governor Tate Reeves said, “We are excited to welcome Altex Tube to the Golden Triangle and thank the company for the strong commitment to our state and local communities. Bringing good-paying jobs and solid corporate neighbors to Mississippi is a top priority of our administration.”
They plan to be up and running by Summer of next year.
Columbia Industries is relocating operations to Starkville – Stephen Pimpo, WCBI
The MS Dev Authority has announced that Oregon oilfield & solid waste equipment manufacturer Columbia Industries is preparing to move from their original home to Starkville, and that they have dedicated over $9.5 million to the effort. They hope to create more than sixty local and regional jobs in the process, including both internal and external ones that will be needed to support the company. The plan is to have them all filed by next year: “Columbia Industries contacted us in a sense because they really wanted to locate in the southeast,” says GT LINK COO Meryl Fisackerly. “Given just the proximity to some of their customers, quality of life. They also were having a really hard time where they (were) with taxes.” She went on to say that “This project is located in Oktibbeha County but it’s going to provide jobs for people in numerous counties throughout the region and then even beyond the counties that we work.”
Mayor Lynn Spruill stated that “Obviously, we want to be a place where people want to be (and travel) from all over the country,” she says. “If they can do business here and feel as though they’re going to be successful, then that’s exactly what we want.”
The local construction and rehabilitation process is expected to start sometime around August of this year.
Scaffolding at the old masonic temple at Catfish Alley and Main – Deanna Robinson, Dispatch Staff
The old Masonic Temple on Main Street at the corner of Catfish Alley has been getting some refurbishment and renovation work done due to damage caused by a 2021 winter storm. Owner David Gooch says that he hopes to have a tenant in there once work is complete; the original plan was to have a neighborhood market/grocery move in, but then the storm hit. The plan is to have it ready for occupancy by this Fall.
Just around the corner from there, Josh Read and his team at Edward Jones Financial have moved into the former Fashion Barn building. They plan to renovate the unused space and lease it out to other area businesses. “I’d love to have your startup or small business existing that wants more room,” Read said.
International Paper’s Columbus mill was the featured business on an episode of Mike Rowe’s “How America Works,” which airs on Fox Business and showcases infrastructure businesses.
Rapid Auto Service, at 1121 Gardner Blvd. in Columbus has seen a huge jump in business over the past couple of months: “Probably from the first month to the second month we’ve at least doubled if not tripled,” said Terry McCool, co-owner.
AT&T is working with telecom company Intrado, to improve 9-1-1 service in our area. Under the prior system, calls could be roughly located within a range of about ten miles of the nearest cell phone tower; now, the improved tech has made it possible to narrow down calls to within 50 meters (~54.6 yards) of their location. This should help speed up response times, particularly on calls where the person who needs help isn’t 100% certain of their exact location.
STARKVILLE, MS
Arepas, a Venezuelan eatery, is moving from East Main St. to its new location at 102 Rue Du Grande Fromage, the old Commodore Bob’s location. The hope is to be open for business again by early August.
The Pita Pit on 104 W. Main St. is closed temporarily, as it is under new ownership. They are going to re-open in a few weeks, and are looking to hire new workers.
The former Woody’s on the Water stands next to Columbus Lake at Columbus Marina – Brian Jones – Dispatch Staff
The process of selling the former Woody’s on the Water building to an entrepreneur who means to open a seafood restaurant there has met with myriad delays, but light can be seen at the end of the tunnel. The City voted to sell the property for $300K back in January to developer Thomas Genin, but red tape, due diligence, and other factors have bogged down the actual closing of the sale; it looks like it could be finalized as soon as June 15th. The site is next to the Columbus Marina.
Genin has stated that he plans to renovate the restaurant itself and the boat docks, as well as adding a seafood market to the building and a beach to the property nearby.
Main Street Columbus Director Barabara Bigelow recently spoke to the Columbus Rotary Club about the rapidly-filling vacancies – both residential and commercial – in downtown. Among the properties discussed were: – The former Stone Hotel has been converted into 18 new apartments (almost all filled as of Wednesday) and an open space for use by local businesses and individual workers. Local entrepreneur Chris Chain has been the man behind this project. – The 322 building on 5th St has been fully-renovated by TGV Properties, LLC, bringing in 3 new apartments and even more space for business to be conducted. – The Princess Theater has been leased out; once it’s ready, it will serve as a cafe and venue space. – The Hive, a beauty shop, has a July opening planned. It is located at 422 Main Street. – Zachary’s Tavern on Fifth Street is under renovation, with the intention to convert it into a fine-dining destination.
Main Street Columbus Director Barbara Bigelow, left, speaks with Lauren Barker after the Columbus Rotary Club meeting – Caroline Beach – Dispatch Staff
“Apartments downtown draw traffic,” Bigelow said. She went on to say that past development has proven that “if people are living on the second floors, it will draw traffic and business downtown and there will be foot traffic and car traffic.”
She went on to say that Market Street has seen renewed interest and success this past year, and that they plan to continue supporting the festival, making it bigger and better: “We had more visitors, arts and crafts vendors and food vendors than we’ve had in the past,” Bigelow said. “It is a great festival. It is enjoyed by many people and we are just so fortunate to have the support of everyone in Lowndes County,” Bigelow said.
