Despite some industry departures in recent years, Greenville–and
Washington County–is seeing signs of real economic
growth, much of it centered away from industry.
Clyde McGee, of The Sportsman, Inc., sees three areas
where positive changes are evident. “First,”
says McGee, “Greenville is becoming a regional retail
center. A lot of people from outlying areas come here
to shop who probably used to go to Memphis or Jackson.
Second, I think our medical community is getting a reputation
of providing excellent medical services. People who in
the past may have gone to Memphis or Jackson are starting
to come to Greenville for medical services because we
offer more services and medical facilities than ever before.
Third, I think we’re starting to be recognized as
a hunting and fishing destination. We have great fresh
water fishing that draws people from all over the South
to enjoy our fishing facilities here in the Delta. In
the wintertime our waterfowl hunting is growing. We get
a lot of people from Georgia and the Carolinas who enjoy
our waterfowl hunting. These three elements together speak
to positive growth for Greenville.”
Clear
signs of growth
Bill Raymond, director of Main Street Greenville, agrees
that growth is evident. “Since August of last year
we have had eight new businesses open in our downtown,”
says Raymond.
And with recent efforts to improve downtown, businesses
will have more reason than ever to choose to locate downtown.
“The city’s redoing every street in our downtown,”
says Raymond. “Washington Avenue will be totally
rebuilt. Right now we have a serpentine that was put in
in the 70’s which is going to come out and the street
is going to go back to its original state with parking
on each side of the street. In addition to that, we’ve
got one main artery being totally rebuilt and should be
finished by the end of the summer. Every other street
will be getting an overlay.”
Drawing crowds
Sprucing up is an important element of a plan to draw
residents and visitors to downtown. Part of this plan
is to create space to attract meetings. “We’re
working with the city on a downtown meeting facility,”
says Raymond. “We’ve already purchased the
property and have committed funding to the project. Hopefully
we’ll get that online in the next year.”
The meeting facility will provide an estimated $19 million
impact on the city and create over 600 jobs. “There
are a lot of statewide organizations and regional organizations
who are potential users of the facility,” says Raymond.
“Many state and regional organizations meet on a
regular basis and like to move the meetings around the
state. Unfortunately Greenville has never been on the
map for these people because we’ve never had a facility
for them to meet in.” The new meeting facility will
encompass approximately 25,000 square feet and have four
breakout rooms, a large exhibition space and a catering
kitchen. Making the space even more attractive is the
number of hotel rooms available-both in the immediate
vicinity and out on the highway.
Changing
economic climate
Andy Dixon is Senior Vice President at Guaranty Bank &
Trust and the 2003 President of Greenville’s Chamber
of Commerce. He’s seen a number of changes in the
county, as well as some positive signs for the future.
“I moved into the area as the towboat industry was
declining or maybe as it was ending its decline,”
says Dixon. “In the last five years I’ve seen
some indication that we’ve had substantial job loss
due to plant closings. Still, I think that our future
is good. I believe we can attract and serve industry.”
Dixon’s optimism is based upon pairing industry
with retail efforts. “I think that maybe not enough
focus has been put on retail aspects,” says Dixon.
“I think that we have an opportunity to grow retail
and industry hand in hand. It’s going to take a
lot of work on the part of a lot of people to grow industry.
It’s going to take work with the Washington County
Industrial Foundation; it’s going to take the chamber,
the county, the city and the other municipalities in Washington
County such as Leland and Hollandale. It will take everyone
working together to make things happen.”
Sales
tax revenue
Like much of the economy in the United States, Greenville
and Washington County’s economy depends heavily
on retail sales. Consumer spending has been a tremendous
force in propelling the economy. Greenville is no exception.
“We’ve got great retail opportunities here
now with our mall, with the tremendous array of home-owned
businesses in our area, couple that with Super Wal-Mart,
Lowe’s, Office Depot, Steinmart, etc.,” says
Dixon. “We have a tremendous wealth of business
here and we can play off of that. We’re attracting
people who may not have shopped here before. We need to
attract additional retail outlets into our area that will
enhance and strengthen that part of our economy.”
When retail outlets are successful, city and county coffers
grow with sales tax revenue. According to Greenville Mayor
Paul Artman, sales tax collections have been robust. “Overall,
in a quarter that ended a year ago, we actually led the
state of Mississippi in sales tax growth,” says
Artman. “And with the exception of one month at
the beginning of the year, we’ve had increases every
month.”
Retail trade is even more important considering that the
economy is stagnant now in many sectors. “Many municipalities
in the state find sales tax revenue either stagnant or
going down so we’re very pleased to continue to
move upward,” adds Artman.
The most important element in promoting retail sales is
simply having the businesses in the first place. “You’ve
really got to have a shopping venue,” explains Artman.
“So we’ve been aggressive in attempting to
build retail in the community over the last four or five
years and I think that’s paying off for us.”
Buying
locally
Along with expanding the retail segment of the local economy,
most agree that encouraging Greenvillians to buy locally
is important. Chuck Hobart, of Taylor Rental, is a strong
backer of the buy local principle. “Continued repetition
of the buy local message is important because it’s
the small businesses that turn over the money in the town,”
says Hobart. “It’s the small businesses that
sponsor the little league baseball teams, the soccer teams.
These businesses create the bulk of the community good
will.”
Promoting
Greenville to Greenville:
You’ve got to believe
Increased buying locally by Greenville residents may be
one desired side effect of the Chamber of Commerce’s
new publicity campaign. “We just started our ‘I
believe in Greenville’ campaign,” says Betty
Lynn Cameron, of the Chamber. “It will be a full
media campaign for the next year, sponsored by the Chamber
and funded by private donations from business community
and individuals.”
The campaign will generate positive attention for Greenville,
Cameron says. “It will feature average citizens
who live in Greenville, stating why they live here and
work here, and what they like about our city.”
“The purpose of this campaign is to get the people
in our area to stop and think about the positive aspects
of our community,” says Dixon. “Many times
in the past we’ve had people making negative comments
about our area-people who live here. We want people to
stop and think about the positive aspects of our community.
Most important of which is the quality of the people themselves.”
Reason
to believe
While the ad campaign may be an important element of promoting
civic pride in Greenville, James Ceranti, of Ceranti Motors,
insists that for the campaign to work, people have to
ultimately be given a reason for their belief in a business.
“We as business owners have to give the residents
of Greenville a reason to want to buy in Greenville,”
says Ceranti. “At least, that’s always been
our philosophy. People can buy vehicles anywhere they
want to. Price is not always the most important factor
to people. It’s the service after the sale, the
reputation of the dealership that they’re doing
business with and the reputation of the people that they’re
doing business with. A business is no better than the
people who work there. And if you don’t have good
quality people then the reputation of your business is
not going to be any better than that of the people working
there or the owners of the business.”
Darrell Forman, Mid Delta Regional Airport director, reports
that, after having been on the job almost a year, things
are looking very positive for the Delta's major airport.
"The new addition to the terminal building with the
passenger holding facility, our new jet bridge and the
addition of the Greenville Air Force Museum which commemorates
those who have served here," Forman says, listing
some major accomplishments. "The list goes on and
on. The Museum is especially a huge hit for this area.
We've had folks visit from all over the area.
"We also hit our goal of 2,000 enplanements,"
Forman goes on. "We're seeing an upswing in our general
aviation traffic which is good news, meaning more people
are stopping over on their way across the country."
Forman adds that Mid-Delta Regional Airport signed additional
letters of agreement with the National Guard for military
flight. "You can also contact Continental Airlines
and fly anywhere they fly our of Greenville, as well,"
he says. "And, as of May 1, the same can be done
with Delta Airlines."
Delta Regional Medical Center, the Delta’s largest
hospital and Greenville’s largest single site employer,
recently announced plans to acquire 182 acres of land
located in South Greenville to be used for the future
expansion of medical center facilities.
"The acquisition of this land is the first step in
a comprehensive, long-range plan developed by Delta Regional
Medical Center to expand the delivery of health care in
the region, states Humphreys. This plan allows us to focus
on the improvement of quality and range of services, to
enhance our state-of-the-art facilities and technology,
and to increase professional personnel and physicians.
The result is the development of a health care system
for the tri-state Delta that meets the needs of all its
residents," Humphreys continues.
The establishment of Delta Regional’s South Campus
will allow the medical center to expand its programs significantly,
particularly outpatient services, while maintaining and
continuing to improve the existing facilities. The North
Campus will continue to be utilized by Delta Regional
to provide essential health care services to the residents
of the community and the surrounding service area.
"In order for Delta Regional Medical Center to achieve
its mission of serving the people of the entire Mississippi,
Arkansas, and Louisiana Delta regions, we must pursue
all opportunities available to enhance our existing hospital
campus and pave the way for the development of new facilities
and services," concludes Humphreys.
"I think the most exciting recent news is the announcement
of the Ethanol plant in the area,” says Industrial
Foundation of Washington County Director, Tommy Hart.
“It’s the brightest spot we've seen in the
Delta for many, many years. This development and its associated
impact on Delta agriculture and the economy, especially
that of this community, is enormous,” Hart says.
“We hope to see other such entities locate in the
area as well."
In other Washington County economic developments, Hart
says, "Right now we have a very high level of inquiries
looking at the county and our available facilities. We
have committees from two additional companies that we
will be announcing in the next 30 to 40 days. In addition,
all of our companies at present seem to be very stable
and hopefully with the changing and improving economy
we will begin to see more business, and as a result, move
back up to some of their higher levels of employment.
"If the national economy bounces back, we have companies
that have cut back on their employment levels within shifts
which is nothing more than a reflection, matching the
market demand that is there,” Hart adds. "Our
biggest opportunity lies in an improving economy at present."
"We are focusing on a variety of new programs to
try and create additional inquiry in the county and hopefully
as a result locate additional firms,” Hart concludes.
Heather Haik, Manager of the Greenville Mall, reports,”
In general, things are looking good at the Mall. Sales
are fine, we have a couple of stores that are hitting
phenomenal numbers and we have two stores in the Mall
that are number one in their respective companies."
While being challenged by new retail outlets in the Queen
City, Haik is nonplussed. "Competition is good for
the Greenville Mall,” she says. “It makes
everyone try just a little bit harder. At the end of last
year, we saw the same downtown all businesses experienced,
but this year business has been good."
Haik has some words for those who think they must drive
to Memphis or Jackson to do their shopping."We would
also like to encourage Greenville residents to shop in
Greenville,” she says. “Every dollar we spend
in Washington County goes to Washington County and helps
the whole community."
Importance
of infrastructure
Attracting people to Washington County starts with access.
“The new Highway 82 bridge is on track,” says
Dixon. “The bridge itself has been funded and is
being constructed on time and within budget.”
There is some additional work to be completed in order
to take full advantage of this project. “The Chamber,
along with city and county officials recently made a trip
to D.C. to urge our congressional delegation to help get
us the necessary funding to complete the approaches to
the bridge on the Mississippi and Arkansas sides,”
says Dixon. “That’s a very high priority for
our community because we feel that the four lane bridge
across the river will be another opportunity to increase
retail commerce in Greenville because it’ll be easier
to get in and out of town.” The bridge is to be
completed in 2005. “Our goal had been to obtain
funding to allow the approaches and the bypass to be completed
simultaneously with the bridge. We just don’t know
if the timing will work out to have the funding in place
to allow for simultaneous opening.”
Cameron was among the delegation to visit Washington,
D.C. “We met with all of our Mississippi congressmen
in relation to the continued funding of the Greenville
Highway 82 bridge and also touched base on the I-59 corridor.
We have commitment from MDOT and for a connector loop.
Interstate 59 will be crossing the Mississippi River at
the Washington County/Bolivar County line. Then we’re
hoping a connector loop will connect Greenville to our
bypass on I-59.” While projects like this may seem
years away from completion, it is through efforts such
as these that projects find the national support required
to make them a reality.
Richest
resources in people
According to Dixon, when surveyed as to why they like
Greenville or what they like most about Greenville, the
response has been overwhelmingly “the quality of
the people.”
“I think Washington County is going in the right
direction with the growth of the business community,”
says Kim Coughlin, Director of Community Relations at
King’s Daughter’s Hospital. “But perhaps
even more important is the wealth of human resources we
have here. I know that the people here really have a lot
to offer and I think we need to tap into ourselves to
show what we have to offer. This area has such a rich
history and a tradition of volunteerism and organizations
willing to help one another.”
“People care about each other,” says Dixon.
“That’s one of the things that you find in
a small community. That’s a good Southern trait.
In a community of 40,000 people there’s not going
to be many opportunities for you not to know a majority
of the people. Especially if you’ve got school-aged
children in soccer, baseball, basketball. Chances are
you’re going to have opportunities to meet a lot
of people.”
Greenville has a close-knit community with a rapidly diversifying
economy, enhanced by continual improvements in infrastructure
and public facilities-with a mix like this, who wouldn’t
believe? DBJ
