special report: Bolivar County

More than a hip college town
By David Lush
DBJ Contributing Writer

Bolivar County is unique in many ways. Besides the blues, Delta State University, the Mississippi River and verdant fields of cotton, corn, soybeans and rice, Bolivar County has several other distinctions.
It is one of the largest counties in the state with 876.28 square miles. It has more municipalities than any other county with 15. It has more than 1,000 miles of roads and highways. Residents support six public school districts as well as private schools. And it has two county seats and courthouses – Cleveland and Rosedale.
Against this backdrop of agriculture and small town living, Bolivar County and the county’s largest city – Cleveland – have made quite a name for themselves.
“This is a great place to work and live and raise your kids,” says Bolivar County Administrator Mimi Dossett. “Sure, we have our problems, too, but there are a lot more positives to life here.” Dossett handles the administrative duties for the day-to-day operations of the county, while also working with the Board of Supervisors. “We work to help bring along the whole county, not just Cleveland. With the state’s largest number of municipalities, it’s a real challenge to make it all work,” she says.
With the county’s size in mind, Dossett points out the two main transportation corridors that anchor each side of the county. U.S. 61 travels from Coahoma County through Bolivar and into Washington County. The same pattern flows along Mississippi 1 on the riverside with municipalities along the way.
“This gives us two wheels of economic development instead of one,” says Dossett. “The west side is less populated and is in need of economic development, so we keep working to develop both sides of the county along with our other municipalities.”
But a major challenge is the loss of population. According to U.S. Census Bureau figures, Bolivar County had 40,633 residents in 2000. However, in 2006, that figure had dropped to 38,358 for a net loss of 5.6 percent in six years.
In Cleveland, the population stood at 13,841 in 2000, but by 2006 that figure had dropped to 12,671 for a net loss of 8.5 percent in six years. The per capita income in the county in 2005 was $20,570 while the state average was at $25,051.
These are challenges for county and municipal officials who are continuing efforts to bring in more industry to provide jobs, stabilize the workforce and improve the standard of living. “That is a concern,” says Judson Thigpen, executive director of the Cleveland-Bolivar County Chamber of Commerce. “But we are doing what we can to make this a place where people will want to live and work and stay.”
“We realize that Cleveland has lost some population but we’re not much different than many small towns in America,” says Cleveland Mayor David Work. “However, the people who have moved out of Cleveland really haven’t gone far, but have built out in the county. We may have lost some population but we haven’t lost our retail population.”
“In the Delta, we need to shift our thinking from trying to land a Toyota plant or other major projects and look more toward the smaller businesses and entrepreneurial enterprises,” adds Dossett. “These provide jobs and are easier to develop. Now if a Toyota wanted to come here, we certainly wouldn’t turn them down, but those projects just don’t happen very often.”
“The Chamber is always looking for more industry and manufacturing to come to our area and county,” says Thigpen.
Major manufacturing facilities in the county are clustered in Cleveland or close to where the population is in the county. This concentration of business is good for Cleveland but means others around the county have to travel to Cleveland to work or shop, which means Cleveland reaps the benefits of extra sales tax revenue at the expense of the county’s smaller municipalities.
“We do have the major plants in the Cleveland area, but that’s where they wanted to come. We do, however, let prospective industrial prospects know what’s available around the county. The main thing is to get the prospect to come to the county first,” Thigpen says.
Thigpen points to industrial facilities on the riverside at the Port of Rosedale and in the industrial park such as Cives Steel Corp. and Sanders Seed, as well as the Shelby Industrial Park.
In Cleveland, Baxter Healthcare Corporation and French automotive parts manufacturer Faurecia anchor a manufacturing base with the Bolivar Medical Center coming in as another major employer.
Then there’s Delta State University with an annual payroll in the millions of dollars along with an extra 4,000-plus students with many of those taking up residence here during the academic school year.
“These really add to our economic base in Cleveland and the county. We have done what we could to help out these businesses when they needed it so that they would stay and add to our quality of life,” says Dossett.
“We hope we keep moving forward,” says Work, who points to a current stable local economy. “We are holding our own and working with the county to make sure we don’t miss anything. Retail sales have been good. We have new development coming in.”
Work said the city and county worked together to help out both Baxter Healthcare and Faurecia when they needed something extra to continue operating locally. The city put up $1 million in bond money, along with $1 million from the county, which supplemented an additional $6 million-plus from the Mississippi Development Authority for infrastructure improvements and renovations at Baxter. “This was something that was needed to help them out. Now most of that work is completed and things are going well over there,” Work says.
With Faurecia, which had been operating in the red since opening here five years ago, training money from the state was allocated to help with workforce training and to make improvements at the Cleveland facility. “Now they have been able to operate in the black and improve their workforce, which is helping them seek new contracts from Chrysler,” Work says.
Robert Poehler, Faurecia plant manager, is pleased with the turn around the Cleveland plant has taken over the past two years since employment has stabilized and product lines have solidified. The assistance of the city and the county to help address some of the training needs at the plant has helped with workforce training and development, especially as the company goes after new contracts with automotive makers, said Poehler.
Baxter Healthcare Corporation has completed a series of renovations and enhancements to the Cleveland facility over the past year with financing from city, county, and state, which has helped the company stay in Cleveland manufacturing their line of specialty medical products.
Baxter Plant Manager Ernest Shepard is pleased with the cooperation his company has received from the city and county in helping the company with needed renovations to better position the Cleveland operation for more potential product lines.
Baxter is a medical supplies and products facility employing over 800 people. The company has now completed an $75 million construction and renovation project, which marshaled the forces of the city, county and the state working in concert toward solidifying Baxter’s place in the Cleveland community.
“They were a huge help for us and really benefited the operation here. Installing a new complex and equipment through this project makes us more cost competitive, efficient and a better efficiency line,” says Shepard.
Thanks to the new enhancements at the Cleveland facility, the company has been able to secure from one of its sister operations a bio-science division, which will mean more jobs at the plant.
“We’re excited about this. This is a long-term project but we’re pleased it will be coming to Cleveland,” he adds.
One of the county’s largest employers, Bolivar Medical Center, which is owned by Lifepoint Hospital, Inc. of Brentwood, Tenn., is looking forward to a busy year especially when it comes to improving the infrastructure of the Cleveland hospital.
“We will be starting a major project next month where we will be replacing all the windows in the building. We will also be adding a stucco coating over the brick. All the brick will be covered,” says Steve Nichols, CEO of Bolivar Medical Center.
Along with the construction activity, will be the replacement of all the radiology equipment, which will be the latest in technology. The new equipment won’t use film anymore but will be all digital,” Nichols says.
And not formally announced yet, Bolivar Medial Center “will be looking to install a new CAT scanner, which will be a major investment,” he says. That project could cost upwards of $1.4 million.
In all, the hospital pans to invest around $6.5 million in 2008 to keep the hospital on the cutting edge, says Nichols, which will also include continuing efforts at nursing and physician recruitment,
On the dark side for the hospital is the vexing issue of Medicaid reimbursements and uncompensated medical care costs borne by hospitals across the state. “We paid out over $15 million last year in uncompensated care costs, which is very expensive for a hospital our size. We hope this issue is fully addressed by the state legislature,” Nichols says.
Once I-69 becomes a reality, it will have a significant impact on Cleveland’s economy,” says Gary Gainspoletti, a member of the Board of Aldermen and founder of the yearly Italian Festival in Cleveland, one of the town’s largest events. “Cleveland will have a new source of transportation when I-69 is built and it will provide an abundance of opportunities for Cleveland and Bolivar County.”
“We are somewhat different from the other towns in the Delta in that Delta State is located here and this is a tremendous factor in everything that takes place here,” says Gainspoletti. Gainspoletti adds that although Delta State creates a large part of Cleveland’s economy, the recent cutbacks announced by IHL at DSU and some other universities in the state, trouble him. “Of great concern for Cleveland is the recent notification from the college board of the upcoming funding cuts that Delta State will undergo,” says Gainspoletti. “I think that the citizens of this community need to wake up and take a stand for Delta State on this matter and see if we can’t get some of this reversed.”
Gainspoletti says that the Mississippi River, 20 miles west of Cleveland, also affords opportunities for Bolivar County. “The Rosedale-Bolivar County Port has been such a tremendous asset to this county,” says Gainspoletti. “This asset will only increase its worth to the county as we move into the future, especially with today’s fuel prices being the way they are. I think we’ll see more heavy loads move off of the highway and onto the river in order to be transported. The waterways have been an effective means of transportation for hundreds of years and with these high fuel prices people are going to probably increase their shipping in bulk and in our area and the river will be a logical means in which to do this.”
“I know every community in the Delta says this, however, Cleveland is such a nice place in which to live, raise a family, find a good job, or start a business,” says Gainspoletti, who moved to the town in 1981 from Clarksdale. “Our proximity in the Delta, our people, and our volunteerism are just a few of the many things we have to offer here. There is so much more.”
Delta State University is holding its own when it comes to the community, and continues with its various efforts at community and regional outreach. Dr. John Hilpert, president of Delta State University, is optimistic about the future of the university when it comes to enrollment, student and faculty recruitment and funding. And successful athletic teams don’t hurt either.
Delta State is a major player in the Cleveland and Bolivar County community. Students, faculty and visitors to the university provide a source of funding, talent, resources and experiences, which enrich both the university and community.
“We have a rich heritage here at Delta State and are an integral part of Cleveland, Bolivar County and the greater Delta,” says Hilpert, who has been at the helm for five years.
With a student enrollment of around 4,100 students this academic year, Hilpert says, “enrollment will continue to be a priority for the university. Applications for this fall are in good shape. We have continued to increase enrollment over the last few years.”
In the area of construction activity, not much will be happening, although the university will be deciding how best to spend a $2.5 million state allocation, which could go toward renovations and enhancements at the Caylor-White-Walters Science Building or several needed roofing projects.
Hilpert says the university also has $1.5 million in federal money directed toward the area of the athletic complex. And the long-awaited renovations at the Whitfield Gym for the Delta Music Institute should be completed this summer.
There’s also the state appropriations funding issue affecting all the state’s eight colleges and universities. Based on the current allocations formula in place by the Institutions of Higher Learning, state appropriations for the member institutions will change with five schools receiving less state appropriation money over a six-year period while three others will receive more.
Delta State will receive $175,000 less for the 2008-2009 academic year based on a formula, which is tied to student enrollment and new monies received by the state.
“This reduction comes out to less than one half of one percent of our educational and general education budget. But if the formula stays the same over the next six years, then that would reflect about 12.5 percent of our current budget,” says Hilpert.
The university currently receives around $23 million is state appropriations and if the formulas stayed the same over the next six years, that figure would drop to around $17 million.
However, the formula is looked at each year by the IHL based on enrollment figures and new state monies so the potential decrease in funding is relative to those factors.
“Enrollment shifts and new monies will change the formula so we would know each year what we are looking at a realistic sense,” says Hilpert. “We appreciate the six-year approach, which provides us with opportunities to create new solutions.”
Even with Delta State University, Bolivar County’s major industry is still agriculture with thousands of acres given over each year to cotton, rice, soybeans and corn.
Lamar Andrews, president of the Bolivar County Chapter of the Mississippi Farm Bureau, sees a double-sided sword this year when it comes to agriculture. “Bolivar County is not much different than other counties when it comes to agriculture,” says Andrews. “For farmers, commodity prices are the highest they’ve been in years but so are the costs of producing those crops.”
“The price of gas and fuel and fertilizers could take away from the gains made in commodity prices. These costs have skyrocketed. We are a part of the world economy, and we compete with other foreign competing interests for fertilizer and fuel from countries like Russia and India,” says Andrews. “Farmers are really getting hurt,” he adds. “Commodity prices are high, but farmers aren’t going to make any money if the costs remain high, too.”
Bean, corn and rice prices are up but so are the costs to produce those grains. However, “farmers are always optimistic. As long as these commodity prices remain high, and with some cost cutting in the ways to produce these crops, then maybe things will look good for the year,” Andrews adds.
In the area of constriction, Roy Collins, CEO of Roy Collins Construction Inc. in Cleveland says, “The local economy is real slow right now. There just haven’t been many state contracts for new construction and I don’t see that changing any time soon.”
Collins focuses on commercial and industrial construction particularly when it comes to educational facilities. “The state’s economy has been slowing so there just hasn’t been as much out there to bid on. That could change if state revenues pick up, but for now, it’s slow,” he adds.
However, Collins could have “a big project looming but nothing I could talk about right now.”
On the other side is Raymond Huerta, president of Huerta Construction Co., Inc. in Cleveland. Huerta’s company has been involved in a number of commercial construction and renovation projects on both sides of the county over the past year.
River Resort in Rosedale, formerly known as the Rosedale Country Club, has been renovated and opened to the public, along with two other commercial properties in town.
The former Grover Hotel in downtown Cleveland is another Huerta property along with the building at the corner of Pearman and Court Streets in Cleveland. “There’s a lot of opportunity out there,” says Huerta, who also specializes in historic renovations and preserving old structures. “I like to make a difference and create opportunities in the business area. We are involved in a number of other commercial ventures that will help out some other towns.”
James Tims, president of Quality Steel Inc. in Cleveland, has manufactured propane tanks for residential and commercial uses since 1957. “Last year was not as good as we had hoped for,” says Tims. “Energy prices are affecting the price of our product. This year we are facing a dramatic increase in steel costs and the price of petroleum. With the more expensive fuel costs this puts our customers in money pinch. Right now we are on budget but are very skeptical about what will happen the rest of the year,” he notes.
Another major effort in the county is in the area of tourism. Taking a regional approach, not only within the county but the Delta as a whole in promoting tourism, is paying off, according to Cheryl Line, tourism director for the Cleveland-Bolivar County Chamber of Commerce. “There’s so much going on now. It’s exciting to see the potential and see people coming here and enjoying what they see and do,” says Line.
Cleveland and Bolivar County is part of the Mississippi Delta Tourism Association, which focuses on a regional approach to promoting tourism throughout the Delta.
Figures from the Mississippi Tourism Economic Impact Report presented by the Tourism Division of the Mississippi Development Authority, shows that Bolivar County reaped $24,866,555 in 2006 from tourists visiting the county while that figure jumped to $26,866,888 in 2007. These figures do not include gas or diesel fuel sales.
“That’s incredible,” says Line. “We have so much to offer in Bolivar County for tourists but we want people to visit the Delta, too, and see what other cities and counties have to offer.”
In the area of transportation, Bolivar County is positioned for some future projects, which, when completed, could provide an enviable transportation network that would be enticing for economic development. Work points out the Cleveland Municipal Airport is moving forward with construction of an extended runway along with a new mosquito control hangar and six new commercial hangars to enhance corporate jet service and facilities for the area.
“It’s about $2.4 million in all that we’ll be spending at the airport, which will add nicely to what we already have there. And the Delta State facilities and program there gives us a great corporate airline presence,” Work says.
Efforts are also under way to create a Delta Regional Railroad Authority with the purpose of creating targeted railroad service in the Delta, said Pete Roncali, District 5 supervisor and vice president of the Bolivar County Board of Supervisors.
“More specifically, what we’re looking at is revitalizing the C&G and putting a rail line from Rosedale to Memphis,” Roncali said. “With the cost of fuel what it is now, rail transportation is more attractive. You can move three and a half truckloads of product on one rail car,” he says.
And waiting in the wings is expected finalization of the long awaited I-69 international interstate project from Canada to Mexico, which is expected to run through Bolivar County, and then cross the Mississippi River at Eutaw Landing over the Great River Bridge.
“People are still very interested in I-69 but we’re having trouble getting money for construction,” says Ancil Cox, Cleveland attorney and Co-Chairman of the I-69 Commission. “All we can do is keep pushing until the time comes. So far as I know the Great River Bridge is still in the plans because I-69 still has to cross the Mississippi River.”
“A Record of Decision has already been issued designating the Great River Bridge as the Mississippi River crossing for I-69. So we just have to wait until the money becomes available,” Cox adds. “But we’re waiting for the I-69 Commission to tie the two together. The whole project is more or less one entity as far as financing.”
Rosedale Mayor Carey Estes is pleased with what 2008 may have in store for this riverside community. “We have some exciting plans to help out the community,” says Estes.
The most notable, at this point, is an expected 500 to 1,000 bed detention center for illegal immigrants waiting for detention hearings to be constructed by a private company within the city limits.
“This will be a major boom to our city. This project could mean an additional 150 to 200 employees, and if it goes to 1,000 beds, then we could see maybe 400 to 500 people employed,” Estes says.
Also in the offing are several other projects being touted for the city, which includes a motel at the corner of Mississippi 1 and Highway 8 to take advantage of the proximity of the Great River Road State Park. A possible alternative fuel operation is being discussed as well as another grain operation at the Port of Rosedale.
“This could be good for Rosedale and the port,” says David Work who is also the director of the Port of Rosedale. “We’re always looking for new businesses to come to the port where we have a lot of space and services to accommodate businesses who need a port location.”
Shaw Mayor Dameon Shaw is pleased that the new year has brought a new city hall replacing one that had been burned. This new building, along with some infrastructure improvement projects will help Shaw be more inviting to potential economic development.
“We don’t have anything major at this time, but we have plenty of things going on for small business development,” says Shaw. “We will be undertaking a sewer and water improvement project and we have some new housing being built. That’s good news for us.” Shaw mentions that two new apparel and cosmetic businesses have started in town, “which is good for us. But we’re a small town struggling along as best we can.”
Other Bolivar County municipalities on the go include:
• Mound Bayou has announced plans for a new multi-unit retail mall and housing development for the city which will provide more shopping opportunities for local residents as well as housing for residents who need medium priced housing units.
• Pace, closest to the Bolivar County Regional Correctional Facility, will soon have a new 300 women state detention facility addition on site, which will mean more jobs for the county.
• Merigold still sports a successful retail and dining section with Crawdads Restaurant, McCartys Pottery and The Gallery Restaurant.
• Boyle has Needle Specialty, which has been improving its products and providing a job source for the community.
“We are proud of what’s going on in the county and there’s so much potential,” says Dossett. “We are at a crossroads here, what with the global economy causing such issues on the local level, says Thigpen. “But we all work together to make things happen for both sides of the county. It’s a great place to live and work.” DBJ

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