Greenwood rated as top 100 small town destinations

Designation is a great achievement for Delta town

by Chip Mabry
DBJContributing Writer

Greenwood was selected as one of the hundred best small town destinations for new and expanding corporate facilities.

The poll, conducted by Site Selection (www.siteselection. com), targeted communities that “think and act much larger than its size would suggest.” The goal of the study was to highlight communities that “embrace change” and offer a climate that “fosters entrepreneurs.”

In many ways the selection is symbolic: Greenwood is bucking the trend. Site Selection figures show that more than half of the 15,800 small towns in America have decreased in population over the last decade. Industry cutbacks have devastated small communities across the country and Site Selection intensely scrutinized a community’s ability to deliver corporate jobs.

“Greenwood’s corporate community is thriving,” said Robert Ingram, Executive Director of the Greenwood - Leflore Industrial Board.

For Ingram, being named a top one-hundred destination for expanding businesses was particularly rewarding. “An award like this is not a definitive measure of success,” he said, “but it is useful in reviewing economic development efforts over the past year.” Greenwood now boasts an impressive litany of corporate residents: Viking Range, StaplCotn, John Richard Manufacturing, Heartland Catfish and Milwaukee Electric. “More importantly,” said Ingram, “these companies are excellent corporate partners and community leaders.” Viking Range recently invigorated downtown Greenwood with the Alluvian Hotel, an upscale hotel with an adjoining restaurant that caters to out of town guests as well as provides a perfect place to entertain guests and clients during their stay in Mississippi. “The excellent collaboration between the business community and city leadership is the key to Greenwood’s success in attracting new business,” said Ingram.

He also noted how carefully prospective businesses monitor the ongoing public-private partnership that exists in small communities. “There is no jealousy here; no one fights for credit. Our one goal is to improve this community.” It’s exactly this kind of thinking that has Greenwood keeping businesses and attracting new commerce to the area. Many small towns have not been able to embrace change while maintaining focus on creating their own image and brand. According to Ingram, it’s “a concept that often prompts quizzical looks, yet one that successful small towns have embraced.”

In Boomtown USA: The Seven-an-a-Half Keys to Big Success in Small Towns, author Jack Schultz addresses the fundamental factors that progressive small towns have taken to distance themselves from the pack. Schultz writes: “Operating expenses for corporations are lower in small town settings. Small communities typify the rural work ethic and provide a ready and willing labor force.

The charms of living in a vibrant small town are more affordable housing, less crime, a better environment and a shortened commute to work.” Schultz also warns that prosperity in a small town “doesn’t happen on its own. It happens through solid and visionary leadership, having a 'can do’ attitude and exhibiting a willingness to take risks. It happens through knowing what your town’s strengths and resources are and how to leverage those strengths and resources.” Schultz’s approach to success in small towns keys on several factors, most of which are familiar to businesses and the economic development leaders in Greenwood.

Schultz cites these factors: Civic leaders adopt a can-do attitude that promotes change; political leaders adopt and clearly articulate a vision for growth; infrastructure resources of the community are leveraged to encourage new and expanding industries; strong leaders are grown from within; leadership encourages an entrepreneurial approach to growth development; planners retain local control over industrial growth policies; and marketers build and leverage the community’s brand identity. Ingram points out that Greenwood has further economic development in the offing. “Hamlin Sheet Metal, a manufacturer of heat and air conditioning duct work is opening a facility,” said Ingram. “And in the next sixteen months a Tier 1 and a Tier 2 Nissan Automotive supplier will come to Greenwood.” Ingram also hinted that other projects might be underway, and he predicted that this will not be the last time Greenwood makes an appearance on this list. And that next time, predicted Ingram, Greenwood will move closer to number one. DBJ