Author Archives: Colin Krieger

Market Street Starts Tomorrow Night! Mardi Gras Comes to Columbus!

By Business, Columbus, Foodservice, Recreation

market street 2016Just a reminder, everyone! Columbus’ 21st Market Street Festival kicks off tomorrow night with a bang and a party! This year’s theme is Mardi Gras, so wear your best purple, gree, and gold outfit and Laissez les Bon Temps Roulez!

The kid-friendly party will get rolling at around 7 PM with music from New Orleans band, The Big Fun Brass Band! A couple hours later, zydeco legends Rockin Dopsie will take the stage! Food will be available Friday evening and all through the Friday~Saturday festival. The concert is free — Bring your folding chairs, but please leave your coolers and pets at home. More wonderful music, arts & crafts, and foods will be sold throughout the Main Street area during Market Street.

You can find a complete music and events lineup at www.marketstreetfestival.com. 

You can also give Market Street a call at 662-328-6305 for more info.

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State Wants to Expand CompSci Learning in Schools

By Education

 

Mississippi is taking one more step towards making sure that our children will be ready to compete in the brutal job markets once they graduate. Our state has lagged behind for years in this area, but now it’s high time we do something about it – And that’s Good for Business!cs4ms logo

Courtesy Jeff Amy/The Associated Press

JACKSON — Greene County School Superintendent Charles Breland wants to see more MS residents computer-trained by the time they graduate high school. Thanks to a new push from the State, that dream is rapidly coming closer to being a reality. A total of 34 districts will send 167 elementary school and 68 high school teachers for training this summer, in the first phase of a plan to increase learning about computers in all grades.

“We see the need for so many tech-related jobs out there that aren’t filled,” said Breland. “I look at it as future economic development for not only Greene County but the state of Mississippi.”

The state has set aside $200,000 for training students, but this is just the first step. The idea is that new grade levels will be added yearly, with all of K through 12 to be covered by the mid-2020’s.More info about the program can be found Online: www.cs4ms.org

Read the full AP article: here, courtesy of the Dispatch: http://www.cdispatch.com/news/article.asp?aid=49909

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EMCC Job Fair – Today!

By Airbus, Business, EMCC, Golden Triangle, Military, PACCAR, Yokohama

A job fair is happening today at EMCC’s Golden Triangle Campus! Polish up your resume, put on your Sunday best, and come on by! All are welcome!

EMCC Office of Public Affairs – PRESS RELEASE:

Employers on hand will include manufacturers like Yokohama Tire Manufacturing Mississippi, Airbus Helicopters Inc. and PACCAR Engine Company, along with representatives from other businesses seeking everything from health care workers to diesel technicians and fast food workers. Some employers will fill immediate openings while others will offer training that could lead to a job.The job fair is open, and free of charge, to all college students and area residents. The list of employers signed up to participate in the job fair is available on EMCC’s website, eastms.edu. Look for the East Mississippi Job Fair link on the home page.

For more information, contact Melanie Sanders at (662) 243-1904 or msanders@eastms.edu.

Click here for the full article: http://www.cdispatch.com/news/article.asp?aid=49759

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SENATE ACCEPTS COCHRAN AMENDMENT – Kudos to MSU!!

By Golden Triangle, Military, MSU

Mississippi Senator Cochran has co-sponsored an amendment that will help  to strengthen the FAA, improve and clarify laws regarding drones and consumer privacy regarding the devices, and help to improve safety at airports nationwide.

FAA Reauthorization Bill Important to FAA Center of Excellence Led by Mississippi State University

WASHINGTON, D.C. (courtesy of Senator Cochran) –

The U.S. Senate has approved an amendment authored by U.S. Senator Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) to ensure greater public and private sector coordination of research and policy development for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), the mission of the center of excellence headed by Mississippi State University. The amendment would prevent duplicative research efforts and strengthen existing UAS research programs at the FAA, including the FAA Center of Excellence on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (COE) and existing tests sites.

“The nation most needs a strategic, coordinated research effort to explore important questions safely integrating about unmanned aircraft systems into our airspace and economy.  My amendment would allow that to occur by keeping the focus on the FAA Center of Excellence established last year instead of establishing duplicative programs,” Cochran said.ms state

The underlying Senate bill would reauthorize the FAA and specified programs through the end of FY2017.  Related to unmanned aircraft use, the bill includes provisions that would:
•    Require the Government Accountability Office to review privacy issues and concerns associated with the operation of unmanned aircraft in the national airspace system;
•    Require the Department of Transportation to issue guidance for the operation of public drones;
•    Require the FAA to carry out a pilot program for airspace hazard mitigation at airports and other critical infrastructure;
•    Require the FAA to have a Senior Advisor for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration.

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EMCC Honors PACCAR, Yokohama, Baptist at Industry Luncheon

By EMCC, Golden Triangle, Health & Medicine, PACCAR, Yokohama
emcc-logoEast Mississippi Community College held its Industry Appreciation Luncheon on Wednesday at the Golden Triangle campus. They chose to honor businesses that have invested countless hours – and dollars – to help improve the Golden Triangle and make it a force to be reckoned with on a national scale.

MAYHEW, Miss. (PRESS RELEASE) –

PACCAR and Yokohama both received the Director’s Award, the event’s highest honor.

Also honored was Baptist Memorial Hospital – Golden Triangle, which was granted the Best Practices Award, and Special Recognition Awards for developer Mark Castleberry and Lt. Col. Richard T. “Sonic” Johnson (retired).

EMCC President Dr. Thomas Huebner Jr. proudly told the assembled that “We are proud to serve the people of this region. When your people, our people, take what they have learned in these four walls and they make a better product, provide a better service, earn a higher wage, send the next generation to college, change the trajectory of their families, we are all better.”

PACCAR received the Director’s Award for “the highest level of recognition through workforce training, demonstrating management excellence with superior outcomes, continuing to improve and build upon outstanding results and excellent systems and deploying world-class processes.”

Yokohama Tire Manufacturing Mississippi, which took the Director’s Award last year, accomplished a repeat performance this year for “the highest level of recognition through workforce training, demonstrating management excellence with superior outcomes, continuing to improve and build upon outstanding results and excellent systems and deploying world-class processes.”

Baptist Memorial Hospital – Golden Triangle earned the Best Practices Award for “providing outstanding examples of workforce training, quality management and business practices that serve as models for others.”

More information may be found at the link below, courtesy of WCBI:

http://www.wcbi.com/local-news/emcc-holds-industry-appreciation-luncheon/

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LINK Industrial Park Report Coming Up Soon

By GTR LINK, Starkville, Starkville Board of Aldermen

gtr linkThe GTR LINK, which has been a large part of making our Golden Triangle community better for many, many years, is reportedly preparing to discuss plans for new industrial park options in the area.

The GTR LINK is expected to meet with Oktibbeha County supervisors and Starkville aldermen with regards to any potential projects. The exact area which will be focussed on has yet to be determined, but is likely to be selected from one or more of the following: land north of the Highway 82-Highway 25 juncture; 16th section land south of George M. Bryan Airport; and Cornerstone Park.

Ward 4 Alderman Jason Walker, who also serves on the steering committee, said each plan offers different benefits and problems: “One thing that the committee members do agree on is that no matter which option we choose, [the Cornerstone improvements are] something we have to definitely look at,” Walker said. “Part of my hesitation is money. [Another] is looked at as a game-changing effort, but they said the same thing about Cornerstone years ago. The good parts of [the 16th section and Cornerstone options] are that they tie in with the structure of town, build on what we have and affirm that we’re not abandoning what we’ve already invested in.”

For the full article, please click this link below (from the Commercial Dispatch):

http://cdispatch.com/news/article.asp?aid=49594#

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Grand Opening Held For Entrepreneurship And Outreach Center

By Business, Golden Triangle, Starkville

ms stateMS State has done it again! In their ongoing efforts to give students new opportunities to learn about how business works out in the real world, a new facility has been built to help house and support offices and support local startups!

Starkville, Miss. (Courtesy of WCBI) –

MS State’s College of Business recently held a ribbon cutting to celebrate the grand opening of its new Center for Entrepreneurship and Outreach. The facility, which was made possible by $750 thousand in private donations, has meeting areas, offices, and workstations that will support up to sixteen local staff or faculty startups.

College of Business Dean, Dr. Sharon Oswald said, “We have designed our Entrepreneurship Center to look very much like what they have at M.I.T. and Berkeley, and some of the places like that. The students are already occupying it, and in there all of the time.”

Please click the video link below for more info:

http://www.wcbi.com/local-news/grand-opening-held-for-entrepreneurship-and-outreach-center/

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The young people of Columbus are out there, serving our community – literally!

By Columbus, Foodservice, The W
loaves n fishesCOLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) —
 
Students from the W and from West Lowndes HS served folks in need at Loaves and Fishes this past Wednesday, as part of Global Youth Service Day.
 
“When I was first contacted about this, I thought it was about teaching teenagers how to cook something simple, something healthy, to get them away from snack foods and fast food restaurants, but then it turned into a community event,” said Wilson Beck, a chef at Zachary’s.
 
See more at the link below:
http://www.wcbi.com/local-news/video-columbus-students-volunteer-at-food-bank/
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Downtown Columbus YCMA Renovations are in the Works

By Recreation, YMCA

ymca_blu_rgb_rCynthia Mutch, Membership and Marketing director at the YMCA in Downtown Columbus, says that the facility is in the process of undergoing extensive renovation, including getting new, modern workout equipment in order to better sere the local community.

One of the gyms will be outfitted with new lights, ceiling and floors as part of its transformation into a “Healthy Living Center.” It will also be receiving the bulk of the new equipment, which is being provided by fitness equipment company Cybex. Existing equipment will be retained wherever possible, resulting in a greater variety of workout options for the people of Columbus.

Renovations are expected to be completed by the end of May, after which time the new lobby and main entrance will be positioned on 2nd Avenue, rather than near the side entrance, where it is now: “We’re planning a nice lobby entrance and a welcome desk and all of that similar … to how it was in 1930 when the building was built, more similar in location,” Mutch said.

Future improvements include separate rooms for group fitness classes, a new roof for the indoor pool, and a repaved parking lot – these changes are scheduled for completion by the end of September this year.

For more information, Read more: http://www.cdispatch.com/news/article.asp?aid=49442#ixzz45X8WYk4b

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