It’s
known as many things: the birthplace of Elvis Presley;
Mississippi’s “All American City” and
also “Best Kept Secret”; one of the great
economic success stories of North Mississippi.
All of these descriptions are apt, but don’t quite
do justice to the totally unique atmosphere and spirit
that is Tupelo, Mississippi.
Tom Robinson, President and CEO of the PR/ad agency, Robinson
and Associates puts it this way: “Tupelo has an
excellent business climate and is welcoming people with
new ideas and new ways of doing things. It’s the
type of unique community that doesn’t wait around
for others to do things for it. We make it happen ourselves.”
Organized during the late 1850’s as a result of
the completion of the Mobile and Ohio railroad, the city,
located at the junction of Town Creek and King’s
Creek, was home to only about 75 residents. Today, with
Tupelo being the job hub for NE Mississippi, daytime population
swells to an amazing 102,000 from an evening population
of approximately 36,000!
The unusual name “Tupelo” was suggested by
both a minister and a judge in recognition of a grove
of Tupelo gum trees indigenous to the northeastern part
of the town.
During the Civil War, Tupelo was a storage area for Confederate
arms and supplies. General Nathan Bedford Forrest made
his headquarters in the area, at which time he achieved
his decisive and militarily brilliant victory in the Battle
of Brice’s Crossroads.
Today, the city has become a Mecca of sorts for jobs in
health care, manufacturing, retail and tourism. David
Rumbarger, CEO of the Community Development Foundation,
reports that “We are the largest, most dense manufacturing
county in the state, with a little over 17,000 people
employed in manufacturing in Lee County, which accounts
for 30% of our total jobs.”
The furniture industry has been Tupelo’s “calling
card” for a number of years and is still strong
and viable, as evidenced by the over 35,000 visitors to
the recent Tupelo Furniture Market held in August. Yet
there is more—much more—to the city which,
in 1933, was the first to purchase power from the newly-created
Tennessee Valley Authority.
North Mississippi Medical Center, part of the North Mississippi
Health Services, is the largest rural, non-metropolitan
in the United States. Gerald Wages, Chief Operating Officer
and Interim CEO of the hospital, reports that growth is
a given at the medical facility.
“We need to recruit about 50 physicians a year to
keep up with the demand,” Wages says. “Because
of the type of community Tupelo is, we’ve never
really had major recruitment problems either. Physicians
are attracted to the dual draw of practiced sophisticated
medicine on the one hand, and then hunting and fishing
on the weekends,” he laughs.
Tupelo’s North Mississippi Medical Center is licensed
for 650 beds, Wages reports, while over 1000 beds are
licensed throughout the Health Service’s system.
“We have a totally and truly enormous health system
in place here,” Wages says. “This hospital’s
service area has a radius of about 80 miles, while the
total system serves a 25-county area in northeast Mississippi
and western Alabama.”
On top of the aforementioned strengths, Tupelo will also
soon be home to a new multi-storied hotel and a high-rise
hotel, both near the city’s focal point, the 10,000-seat
BancorpSouth Center. Tourism officials are thrilled because
they believe, due to the city’s major attractions,
such new hotel space is needed to accommodate visitors.
Linda Butler, Executive Director of the Tupelo Convention
and Visitors Bureau, names some of the city’s more
popular draws.
“Last year we opened the fantastic Tupelo Automobile
Museum, which will soon become the Mississippi Automobile
Museum, thanks to state legislation that was recently
passed. Over 120 cars are in this outstanding collection
and it has been a major attraction for us,” Butler
says.
“We have also developed 10 new Elvis Presley monuments
throughout the city as part of a tour,” Butler continues.
“Each marker tells the particular life story of
Elvis at the location, such as his church, boyhood home,
his school, and so forth.
“And our Buffalo Park has been an enormous success
with tourists from all over the country,”Butler
adds, making reference to the 200-acre park which is home
to more than 250 buffaloes, the largest such collection
of the species east of the Mississippi River. The Tupelo
Buffalo Park also houses many other exotic animals and
has become an immensely popular site for parties, tours
and children’s events, Butler says.
Butler, who oversees between a 2.5 and 3.5 million dollar
annual budget, says that the CVB is “always looking
at creating new activities, not only to attract visitors,
but also for the enjoyment of our community.” That
statement speaks volumes as to how Tupelo natives take
care of their own.
“We do have a sense of self-sufficiency in this
community,” says Mayor Larry Otis. “There
is a very tangible attitude here that consists of us finding
our own way to do things and making things better for
our community, which simultaneously makes things better
for our partnering surrounding communities and our visitors.
Tupelo citizens don’t just react to events; we are
proactive and creative toward whatever issues confront
us,” Otis says.
“We, as a city government, only take in about 17.8
mils of tax revenue,” Otis continues. “We
try to stay out of the way of the private sector. City
government should strive to be as transparent as possible
while providing the necessary zoning and planning support
that businesses have to have. We certainly never want
to impede economic growth through restrictive burdens
or regulations.”
Mayor Otis says Tupelo embodies the spirit of total community
development. “It’s not all just economic growth,
though that is extremely important,” he says. “You
also have to maintain, encourage and support quality of
life issues, such as education, health care, the arts
and a safe environment conducive to family life.
“That’s why Tupelo has a ballet, a symphony
orchestra, a community college—residents expect
and deserve these,” Otis says, “and such is
unusual for a town this size. Our community, though, is
indeed a well-rounded one, with equal emphasis on business
and economic development along with culture and the arts.”
Joey Hutto, vice president of Ross & Yerger, one of
Mississippi’s--and the South’s—top insurance
companies says that everyone in Tupelo is on the same
page.
“We have a strong sense of volunteerism here,”
Hutto observes. “It’s a given that people
here are going to come together for whatever reason. Whether
it’s a school bond vote, raising money for a community
project, volunteering for our symphony or theatre...people
just naturally get involved here.”
Chuck Frost, a vice president with Stewart, Sneed and
Hewes, another prominent Southeast insurance provider,
concurs with Hutto.
“Tupelo is one of Mississippi’s best kept
secrets, though the word is getting out,” Frost
chuckles. “We are truly the definition of a traditional,
small Southern town with a wonderful quality of life and
the services that a bigger market would provide.”
“The really special thing about Tupelo is that a
perfect medium, or balance, exists,” says Robin
McGraw, President and CEO of People’s Bank, a town
staple since 1904. He makes Frost’s point in a different
way.
“We get a lot of people here who transfer to Tupelo
for job purposes and they end up staying, or coming back
to retire,” McGraw says. “That’s not
typical.
“In addition, the spirit of camaraderie here, even
among business competitors, is amazing,” McGraw
says. “For example, we at People’s Bank can
compete with BancorpSouth, but then get together in unison
when it has to do with the betterment of the community.
And, really, that’s the way it’s always been.”
David Rumbarger says Tupelo is “self-determined.
We define our own priorities instead of having them defined
for us. Our goals are high and we usually achieve whatever
we put before us as a community.”
The three-tiered Community Development Foundation which
Rumbarger heads certainly is a major catalyst for Tupelo’s
success. The organization, which was 55 years old in September,
operates as a Chamber of Commerce, an Economic Development/Industrial
Recruitment arm, and the Lee County Council of Governments
which “is our eight municipalities coming together
on a monthly basis to discuss community issues that run
the gamut,” Rumbarger says.
The Community Development Foundation publishes a bi-monthly
business journal, a magazine, and organizes speaker’s
series and networking groups for Tupelo and Lee County.
Rumbarger sees the automotive sector as a huge economic
growth potential for Lee and surrounding counties. This
potential was underscored by the commitment of the Musgrove
administration to $250,000 for estimating costs of a 1,000-acre
industrial site at the junction of Ponotoc, Lee and Union
Counties. The funding of the costs came from the Rural
Economic Impact Authority created by the legislature this
year to take the red tape out of funding job-generating
projects in Mississippi.
James Threadgill, vice chairman of BancorpSouth, notes
the fact that Tupelo’s forefathers and their vision
had a great deal to do with the community’s current
success.
“People like Jack Reed, Sr., Harry Martin, Sam Marshall
and others really set the groundwork for Tupelo as it
is today,” Threadgill says, making a common point
of others surveyed. “These men knew that what was
good for Northeast Mississippi was good for Tupelo, as
well. The results of their foresight is all around us
today.”
Guy Mitchell, III, an attorney and community leader in
Tupelo, puts it this way: “Tupelo is really a blue-collar
town. We had no ‘old money’ here and everything
had to be done by old fashioned hard work and sweat. The
furniture industry took off about 20 years ago, thanks
to the vision of our city’s forefathers who set
the stage for that industry to thrive, as well as evolved
from an agricultural base to an industrial base.”
Mitchell’s firm, Mitchell, McNutt & Sams, PA,
has been a fixture in Tupelo in one incarnation or another
since 1904.
“My grandfather started the firm as just a country
lawyer and now we have expanded, in size and scope, as
a major, regional law firm. Our growth paralleled that
of Tupelo,” Mitchell says.
Mitchell’s comment about hard work still is a factor
today, according to Tom Robinson.
“This is indeed a working community,” he says.
“Everybody here is literally always working and
moving, on their way to do something important and meaningful.
People just don’t stand around here on the street
corner,” Robinson laughs. “They’re busy.”
Clarke Thomas, president of EarthCon, an environmental
engineering firm with offices throughout the state, would
also add to Robinson’s assessment that Tupelo is
inviting to new businesses.
“We opened a branch here in 2001 and were really
welcomed heartily,” Thomas says. “Business
has been very strong in this location, where we serve
north Mississippi clients with industrial compliance and
permitting issues. We’re also confident that Tupelo
will see even more growth and EarthCon is pleased to be
a part of that.”
Richard McCarty, CEO of the 20-year old, full-service
architectural, construction, engineering and interior
design firm, The McCarty Company, says, “Tupelo
is always trying to improve. I’m very proud to live
here. Our business has thrived in NE Mississippi and much
of that has to do with an on-going commitment by the community
to expand and enhance its horizons.”
“Our city has really created its own opportunities,”
Joey Hutto summarizes. “Not many places can make
that claim truthfully. Tupelo can.” DBJ
