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We asked some of our Columbus residents what Downtown means to them. Come Downtown to see these responses in some of the windows in Downtown Columbus! Let us know what Columbus means to you!
Posted by Main Street Columbus, Inc. on Friday, April 22, 2016
East 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/
The 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):
MS 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/
COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) — 
Cynthia 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
Aurora Flight Services recently announced that they have beat out several high-end competitors – including Boeing – for am $89 million Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) contract. They will be designing and constructing a VTOL drone, which could also be modified to accommodate a pilot, for future use in the military.
Aurora reports that they have been working on a design for such a craft for about two years now, and that they will be able to go ahead and create the actual “LightningStrike” plane, as it has been dubbed, in anticipation of a 2018 test flight series. It is hoped that the whole process will help to bring a number of additional jobs to this area. Aurora has roughly twenty years of experience creating VTOL aircraft, so the project is in good hands.
“Aurora is proud to support DARPA on what we all hope to be a truly historic breakthrough in aviation technology,” Aurora chairman and CEO John Langford said in a statement. “If successful, the VTOL X-Plane’s radically improved flight capabilities could lead to revolutionary advancement of the U.S. military’s future missions capabilities.”
For more info, and a video, check the link here: http://www.cdispatch.com/news/article.asp?aid=49332
Tornado debris in New Hope. Image courtesy of the Commercial Dispatch
The Mayor’s Eighth Annual Unity Picnic will be held Saturday at Columbus Riverwalk Park, after Catfish in the Alley, from 4 to 8 p.m. The family-friendly event is free and open to the public. There will be hot dogs and catfish, as well as a live band, a DJ and jump castles for children. All food and events have been donated by local businesses, organizations, and individuals. There will also be a half-marathon beginning at 7 a.m., which takes runners alongside the Tombigbee River bed. A 5K begins at 8 a.m. and goes through Columbus’s historic neighborhoods. Catfish in the Alley begins at 10 a.m. on Fourth Street, where families can enjoy food and live music.
The Mayor’s Unity Picnic is sponsored by Mayor Robert Smith, the Columbus-Lowndes Recreation Authority and the Columbus Visitors’ Bureau.