Coulmbus #7 according to Site Selection

From NEMS360:

Columbus in U.S.’ top 10 micropolitans
by carlie.kollath

Via Twitter from Dennis:

Columbus (Miss.) tied for seventh as Top U.S. Micropolitan New & Expanded Facilities 2009, via Site Selection Magazine.

Tupelo tied for 12th.

Read the full story on Site Selection Magazine’s site. Excerpts from the press release:

• For metro areas with populations over 1 million, the Top 10 Metros for new and expanded corporate facilities for 2009, in order, were New York-Newark-Edison, N.Y./N.J./Pa.; Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Ill./Ind./Wis.; Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas; Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich.; Houston-Baytown-Sugar Land, Texas; Cincinnati-Middletown, Ohio/Ky./Ind.; Pittsburgh, Pa.; Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pa./N.J./Del.; Memphis, Tenn./Miss./Ark.; and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C./Va. and Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Va. (tied for tenth).

• In the magazine’s ranking of Top Micropolitans — cities of 10,000 to 50,000 people which cover at least one county — Statesville-Mooresville, N.C., claimed the top prize among the nation’s 576 micropolitan areas, followed by Wooster, Ohio, and Pottsville, Pa. (tied for second); Daphne-Fairhope, Ala., and Lincolnton, N.C. (tied for fourth).

• The list:

Top U.S. Micropolitans New andExpanded Facilities in 20091. Statesville-Mooresville, N.C. (20 projects)T2. Wooster, Ohio (13)T2. Pottsville, Pa. (13)T4. Daphne-Fairhope, Ala. (10)T4. Lincolnton, N.C. (10)6. Ashtabula, Ohio (9)T7. Adrian, Mich. (7)T7. Columbus, Miss. (7)T7. Batavia, N.Y. (7)T10. Cullman, Ala. (6)T10. Findlay, Ohio (6)

December Sales Tax Numbers

CITY SALES TAX REVENUES
The City of Starkville, Mississippi
By Month as Collected at the Cash Register
(does not include 2% Restaurant Tax)

Year 2006 2007 2008 2009

MONTH
JANUARY 356,027.54 386,233.16 394,274.00 405,289.88

FEBRUARY 387,430.64 396,509.76 363,017.09 422,317.42

MARCH 416,445.62 422,294.47 482,111.99 427,565.96

APRIL 404,697.54 417,670.67 418,889.42 428,268.92

MAY 408,710.05 392,259.54 409,541.27 387,521.75

JUNE 374,745.39 399,577.97 406,565.45 416,409.09

JULY 384,145.81 388,505.02 443,649.77 413,089.75

AUGUST 426,002.40 480,902.06 447,356.10 458,061.08

SEPTEMBER 424,790.93 409,501.30 446,216.16 442,673.00

OCTOBER 369,322.11 411,188.94 430,809.51 406,301.93

NOVEMBER 387,018.97 418,301.57 403,287.62 445,490.72

DECEMBER 486,249.48 480,023.96 485,515.93 476,767.60

Yearly Totals
$4,825,586.48 $5,002,968.42 $5,131,234.31 $5,129,757.10

Monthly Average for Year
$402,132.21 $416,914.04 $427,602.86 $427,479.76

% Change
06 to 07 07 to 08 08 to 09

JANUARY 8.48% 2.08% 2.79%

FEBRUARY 2.34% -8.45% 16.34%

MARCH 1.40% 14.16% -11.31%

APRIL 3.21% 0.29% 2.24%

MAY -4.02% 4.41% -5.38%

JUNE 6.63% 1.75% 2.42%

JULY 1.13% 14.19% -6.89%

AUGUST 12.89% -6.98% 2.39%

SEPTEMBER -3.60% 8.97% -0.79%

OCTOBER 11.34% 4.77% -5.69%

NOVEMBER 8.08% -3.59% 10.46%

DECEMBER -1.28% 1.14% -1.80%

Good news: $751 million contract for Navistar

From: Dispatch Staff Report
February 17, 2010 4:02:00 PM

In a huge economic shot in the arm for West Point, the city’s near-idle Navistar plant has been awarded a $751.5 million contract to build more than 1,000 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles for the U.S. Marine Corps.

U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., today reported that the firm-fixed-price contract was awarded by the Marine Corps to Illinois-based Navistar Defense LLC for more than 1,000 Category I MRAP vehicles. The contract was competitively procured.

“The MRAP vehicles to be built at West Point will continue to support the strengthened U.S. military surge in Afghanistan,” Cochran, ranking Republican on the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, said in a release. “MRAPs have saved hundreds of our troops from roadside bombs, and I am proud that a significant number of them have been built in Mississippi.”

“I am also pleased that our strong West Point workforce will be part of providing the Marine Corps with these life-saving vehicles,” he said.

Full article here.

New poll question

Should Cadence sell out to another bank?

SDN addresses Cadence resignations

THE SDN covers the resignation of two Cadence directors this AM. It’s a rehash os the SEC filing from a week ago with added comments from Lewis F. Mallory Jr., Cadence’s board chairman and CEO.

It would have been interesting to hear from the two directors who resigned.

Cadence is the only Fortune 500 headquartered in the Golden Triangle and is a Starkville success story.

Their stock (Cadence Financial Corporation) closed down 10.53% at $1.70 yesterday. That puts them at a market value of $20,252,100.

UPDATED: Cadence’s “troubled state”

The Clarion-Ledger has a story today on the resignation of two board members from the cadence board and it’s “troubled state.”

From the story:

Starkville-based Cadence Financial, parent of Cadence Bank, received resignation letters Wednesday from board members James D. Graham and Dan R. Lee, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

Graham’s two-paragraph resignation letter offers a glimpse at the bank’s current state.

“The only strategic option recently explored that I thought would be good for the stockholders was to sell the bank,” Graham wrote in the letter attached to the filing. “Now that we know a sale is not going to happen anytime soon, I believe it right and appropriate that I vacate my seat.”

UPDATED: Here is the link to Graham’s resignation letter.

What was your top story?

Both the SDN and Dispatch have their top stories of 2009 up.

I think the biggest is the most tragic and it isn’t even close- the Academy Crossing fire. Nine people dying is horrible enough. Six of them being kids breaks the heart. This story has gotten the nation’s attention.

Politics changed in Starkville in 2009. I believe we saw the death of the conservative local Democrat with the defeats of Matt Cox and Scott Maynard in their election bids. Parker Wiseman brought one of the best election machines to town and rewrote the playbook on mayoral elections.

The new Board of Aldermen acted quickly to differentiate themselves from their predecessors. Sunday Sales came out of the gate quickly, just in time for football.

Economic development continued- albeit at a slower pace. CottonMills has almost descnded into a soap opera of “he said, he said” as the developer and MSU have struggled to reach an agreement. The Central Station project (former Borden plant) and Studios on North Jackson (former Black Eyed Pea restaurant) injected new life into underutilized buildings.

MSU reacted to budget problems by cutting back part time instructor positions in some departments. Even though local sales tax collections have slowed, this brought the recession home.

Your thoughts on the biggest stories of 2009?

StarkvilleNow top 5 stories of 2009

1. Academy Crossing fire- A tragedy that has been reported on across the nation.

2. The election of Parker Wiseman as Starkville Mayor- Big city politics came to town as one of the best ground games played out this summer.

3. Sunday sales- Where is the Buffalo Wild Wings and Outback? They’ve had 3 months already.

4. The non development of CottonMills- Will it happen or not?

5. Budget problems affecting MSU- The recession finally came to Starkville.

Columbus-based Severstal pays up early

The Ledger is reporting that the Sverstal minimill located at GTR has repaid its loan of $10 million from the state 4 years early. The money was used for infrastructure at the plant.

Dispatch expands on CottonMills

The Dispatch contacts some of the principals about CottonMills. The spin is that nothing has changed for CottonMills. If it was as close to reality as is portrayed, then why would anyone sell out?

From the article:

The layout of the proposed development, although still conceptual, also has changed, Nicholas said. He said he would provide updated site plans to The Dispatch, but those had not been received as of Saturday.

Still, Nicholas said the project is “very large.”

“It has not been scaled down,” Nicholas said. “It’s still very large. Construction costs have come down, which has really helped us.”

Greater Starkville Development Partnership President Jon Maynard had heard about the change in ownership when contacted Friday night, but hadn’t heard all of the specifics.

“Honestly, I don’t know how to see it,” Maynard said. “I haven’t talked to them enough to find out more.”

Maynard said he has a meeting Monday with Nicholas to “talk about it more directly,” but he doesn’t think the change in ownership will doom the project.

“I know they still plan to move forward,” Maynard said. “I don’t think this is a bad thing at all. (Nicholas) is the local connection and I think he can push this project forward a little more diligently.”

Nicholas attended Mississippi State University and two of his sons have graduated from MSU. A third son is enrolled there now.

“I have a lot of maroon blood in me,” Nicholas said. “That’s one of the reasons I pushed this project so hard, because I love Mississippi State and I love Starkville.”

NEMS360: No Oby’s for Tupelo

I think this highlights just how difficult it is to take a local restaurant that is an institution and try to extend it as a franchise. With the closure of the Jackson branch and the no go for Tupelo, Oby’s is down to the Oxford and Starkville locations.

From NEMS360.com:

Oby’s restaurant a no-go for Fairpark; TRA to buy back land
by Carlie Kollath/NEMS Daily Journal

TUPELO - The Oby’s restaurant project is no longer in the works for Fairpark.

The Tupelo Redevelopment Agency, the group that oversees the development of the district, started the process last week of buying back the Oby’s land on East Main Street after the restaurant owners opted not to sign a contract extension.

John Oxford, chairman of TRA, said the board wrote Oby’s a check last week for $265,846 - the amount the owners of Oby’s paid in 2006 for 18,989 square feet next to the Renasant Center for IDEAs.

As part of commercial land contracts in Fairpark, buyers must start developing the land within two years of the purchase date. If not, the clause allows TRA to buy back the land within 12 months for the original price if it so chooses.

The clause was included at the beginning of the district’s creation to encourage immediate development and to discourage speculators from sitting on property and selling it later for a large profit.

Oby’s buyback clause expired Friday. At its November meeting, the TRA board voted to extend the contract for another year, giving the restaurant more time to wait for the economy to turn around, the members said.

The contract said that if Oby’s didn’t agree to the extension, TRA would buy back the land instead of letting the option lapse.

Oxford said the goal is to “protect the integrity of Fairpark” and allow TRA to market “this prime real estate.”

David Calhoun, a co-owner of the Oxford restaurant and one of the partners in the Tupelo franchise, said the contract extension because it “wasn’t in our best interest at the time.”

“The deal to extend the contract was not in place to help us as much as it was to help the group, TRA,” he said Monday.

When Oby’s was originally being wooed to Fairpark, Calhoun said, the area was portrayed as one that would quickly develop to a walking area like Oxford’s Square with a day crowd and a thriving nightlife.

“It may come to that eventually, but it’s not there right now,” he said. “It’s a lot of investment for just lunch business.”

He also cited several restaurants that have closed or intend to close this year.

“We’re interested to come to Tupelo,” he said. “We weren’t looking to sell (the property). We’re not in the business of buying land and trying to speculate. We’re in the restaurant business.”

He said he will be looking to build in Tupelo when the economy is on the upswing. But next time, he said, he will be looking all over Tupelo for a site.

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