GOLDEN TRIANGLE – Courtesy of WCBI
Part of the Pilgrimage once again, restoration on Clay County’s Waverly Mansion have been moving forward at full tilt. Hundreds of visitors come
WCBI has more: Please click here for their video.
The Columbus Pilgrimage – This Thursday, March 28 through Saturday., April 6. Come and take a gander at our beautiful houses as you relax on a guided tour.
https://www.facebook.com/events/239028697037666/
Aberdeen will be holding its own Pilgrimage on April 5th and 6th.
https://www.facebook.com/events/323758051686883/
Catfish in the Alley – This Saturday, March 30th in Columbus’ own Catfish Alley just South of Main Street. Great food, great music, and lots of friends hanging around and having a great time! The shindig starts at 7:30 AM and lasts until 3:30 PM.
The 11th annual Catfish in the Alley Celebration will take place right outside of Jones Restaurant.
This year’s musical line up includes:
10 AM-11 AM | Big Joe Shelton & The Black Prairie Blues Ambassadors
11:15 AM – 12:15 PM | Terry “Harmonica” Bean
12:30 PM – 1:30 PM | Grady Champion
1:45 PM – 2:45 PM | Keith “The Prince of the Delta Blues” Johnson Keith Johnson & The Big Muddy Band
https://www.facebook.com/events/1892673337521777/
Mississippi Bass Tournament – This Saturday, March 30th. Pickwick Landing State Park. Bass tournament benefitting Sheltering Tree Ranch. $100 entry fee with optional $10 lunker pot. 75% payback, 25% to the ranch. 15″ size limit; 5 fish. Safe light
In SEC baseball:
The MSU Bulldogs have three games against LSU in the next few days. The games will be played in Starkville at Dudy Noble Field: This Thursday and Friday at 6 PM, and this Saturday at 2 PM Come on out and support your local team!
In music:
The Blues for Willie tribute concert, originally scheduled for this month, has been pushed back to April 26th. More info at the link below.
STARKVILLE, MS – Courtesy of WCBI
While smaller businesses often have to work that much harder in order to compete with large corporations, many have found that catering to game day crowds is a formula for success. Some have even changed their operating hours to account for the games, to their benefit. Tourists come in droves to support their college teams and local shops, and THAT’S Good for Business!
Have bad credit in need of repair because of erroneous information on it that you’ve not been able to get corrected? Swing on by and see what these fine folks can do for you.
PRESS RELEASE – Courtesy of the Columbus-Lowndes Chamber of Commerce – COLUMBUS, MS
Congratulations Generational Credit on your Ribbon Cutting and Grand Opening! Welcome to the Chamber of Commerce! Corey Lockett and Cary Black can help you improve your credit and prepare you & your family for financial success.
They are located at 118 South McCrary Road, Suite 102 in the Fairlane Office Center in Columbus, MS, just East of Fairview Elementary School.
https://www.facebook.com/ColumbusLowndesChamber/posts/2144270735627915
COLUMBUS, MS – Courtesy of The Dispatch
Columbus councilmen will be in session this evening, where they will hear a progress report from the firm “The Retail Coach” (TRC) on their efforts to recruit new businesses to the city (in Leigh Mall, in particular). The city contracted out to the firm on a temporary basis a year ago to take over the role previously performed by the Golden Triangle LINK.
“The first phase of any retail recruitment project that we do is to come in and analyze the market and pull some figures,” Caroline Hearnsberger of TRC said.
The firm is also looking to fill spaces previously (or currently) occupied by nationwide chains: “Even as late as Friday evening, I was on the phone with a retailer that is, and remains, very interested in the Office Depot space,” she said. “There is so much interest in that space, and in the Kmart and JCPenney spaces as well.”
“I know it’s frustrating when you hear about businesses closing but … I think this is an exciting time for retail in Columbus,” she went on to say. “
Columbus COO David Armstrong commented: “We’re looking forward to hearing from (Hearnsberger) at the meeting,” he said. “We have high hopes that the work (The Retail Coach) is doing will have a significant impact.”
GOLDEN TRIANGLE AREA, MS – Courtesy of Progress/The Dispatch
Developer Saunders Ramsey is bringing a touch of the good ol’ days to Starkville with Creole, Acadian, and French Colonial houses in the new Adelaide subdivision. The houses are designed to encourage folks to sit on the generous front porches – perhaps with a glass of iced tea or a Mint Julep in hand – and wile away the hot summer hours chatting with their neighbors: “It’s where new meets the old,” Ramsey said. “We are going way back to before conventional subdivisions. We’re using the ability to influence behavior through design.”
Meanwhile, in Columbus, Guy Mackey has renovated two existing apartment complexes (College Manor on College St and Park Manor in Lee Park), giving them new life: “Nothing had been done to them in 30 or 40 years,” he said. “We didn’t anticipate going to the extent that we did, but it made sense to focus on getting it done right. And that’s a great thing for the community.”
It just really dated back to the 70s,” Mackey said. “We gave it a nice facelift though.”
Developer Scott Berry is moving forward on his project to turn the old abandoned Lee school building into loft apartments, though he is keeping some of the school’s old touches, such as an intercom in one corner, the original school doors, and rows of lockers that were once used by students of all stripes: “If you’re familiar with the school, once you get into the old apartments, there’s no doubt you’ll know where you are,” Berry said.
GOLDEN TRIANGLE – Courtesy of Progress/The Commercial Dispatch
Developer Mark Castleberry has had a twenty-year history as one of the GTR’s most prolific developers, and who’s vision and ambition have made a huge impact in the Golden Triangle. He moved to West Point from Long Beach, California in 199, and he completed his first project in 1998 – The Tower Center in West Point. Since then, he has spent that time well, bringing eighteen projects to life (so far!), including hotels, restaurants, and many other venues, such as The Mill at MSU in Starkville and the hotels-and-more section of 18th Avenue in Columbus.
Castleberry remains humble about his works, seeing them as simply something that could help improve the area: “People think I’m some kind of financial genius, but I’m alarmingly ignorant about those things,” he said. “More than anything, [The Mill] was a gut feeling. I saw it and said, ‘Now, there’s an very interesting project. I don’t know what it is yet, but yeah, we can do it.’ It wasn’t a lot more sophisticated than that.”
He also makes it a point to stat apprised of how the areas he does work in are perceived, how his projects may have changed those perceptions: “We have over $100 million invested in the Golden Triangle, so I wouldn’t be very smart if I didn’t want to be knowledgeable about its health,” he said. “I don’t see that as a negative. I’m proud of the work the CVB has done in portraying Columbus in a positive light. Being on the CRA board, meant I couldn’t participate directly in any of the development, but I’m proud of the CRA’s role in getting the Lee High property back on the tax rolls.”
Courtesy of the Greater Starkville Development Partnership
Does your youngster long to learn more about running or even starting their own business? Do they have some time to spare and the drive to make a pitch for the perfect shop? Then swing on by the GSDP’s page and see about singing them up for this year’s Innovation Challenge.
The competition is open to all Oktibbeha students from 6th thru 12th grades; a parental permission form is required (see the link below). Over $2,000 worth of prizes will be available to the winners. It involves a teacher-led program to help develop ideas that might some day see the light of day. The kickoff was last night (March 5th), so give them a call ASAP if you’re interested!
Who knows, maybe your teenager has some fantastic ideas that could make for a good business model? There’s one way to find out…Here’s what the GDSP has to say about the competition:
Explore entrepreneurship like a boss and turn your idea into a reality with the International Paper Innovation Challenge: Ideas 2 Enterprise. And with $2000 of prize money on the line, it’s time to prepare to make your pitch.
The Partnership and MSU eCenter have teamed up with International Paper for the second annual Innovation Challenge, a hands-on opportunity for innovative Oktibbeha County middle & high school students to experience a real-world entrepreneurial process.
During the 4-week, teacher-led program, participating individuals and teams will:
Develop and pitch their own business ideas
Spend a day at the MSU eCenter learning and exploring business development
Work one-on-one with MSU student and staff mentors
Learn how to develop a business plan
Pitch ideas at the eCenter roundtable
Compete for a $500 grand prize and scholarships to the MSU ICreate Entrepreneurship Summer Camp
For further information regarding the challenge, contact Jeffrey Rupp at (662)-364-7021 or by email at [email protected].
Murica!
There’s nothing quite as American as bald eagles and homemade chocolate chess pie!!
My good friends over at Proffitt’s Porch are back in business after the flood waters receded this week. With all the issues with the tornado, we can’t forget all the good people that got hit by the near-record floods.
Legend has it Mr. Campbell waded through nearly a mile of flood waters to do his payroll this week- that’s a man that loves his team and deserves our support!
I got a snap of Campbell and Teresa Proffitt with their amazing crew today…then I got myself a legendary roast beef po-boy. Best in the business! Teresa is also making fresh pies all week! And, with all of the fish sitting in puddles from the floods, there are bald eagles hanging out nearby.
So, get up, grab a friend, and get yourself over to The Porch!
“We’ll make it happen”
Brad Perkerson says Military Hardware doesn’t have power, but they’ll still be open as long as it takes. Located right on the edge of the damaged community, Brad says he’ll do what he can to help.
They can take credit cards, cash, or you can put it on account. “I’ll write your name down on a napkin if that’s what it takes”