BY MARK BIRD
DBJ Contributing Writer

Indianola, at the center of some of the area’s richest farmlands (and fortunate now to be at the center of major transportation routes), exhibits all the charm of a classic Delta town. Beyond that, however, and perhaps more vital to its future growth, Indianola is filled with a genuine community spirit, a common appreciation of the town’s strengths, and a joint understanding of its potential and what is needed to maximize that potential.
In talking with local business owners and civic leaders, it becomes clear that they are working together to make their town one of the Delta’s most attractive, in both the aesthetic and economic senses of the word.
The Indianola Chamber of Commerce has been at work on numerous projects, says director Beth Lyon. These include the recent Fall Beautification Week and annual Fall Festival, as well as the Community Fund Drive.
“We recently held our first Chamber breakfast,” Lyon adds, “which featured a speaker discussing tourism opportunities. We plan to follow this up with an ongoing series of seminars on topics of interest to business owners, such as customer service.”
A committee is presently at work to establish a B.B. King museum, she reports, and King himself has committed to working with them to create a first-class tourist attraction.
“Like many Delta towns, we’ve lost some businesses,” Lyon comments. “But others have opened up. We’re better off than many towns in the area-many of our local businesses are doing very well, our workforce development center is a real positive, and the new shopping center on Highway 82 has brought a number of well-known national chains to Indianola.”
Perhaps some of the most encouraging economic news has come from the area’s largest employer, Delta Pride Catfish. Although the catfish industry continues to feel price pressures, Delta Pride has strengthened its commitment to Indianola with the completion of an $8 million plant renovation.
“The renovation will help lower processing costs, improve product quality, and provide a better, safer working environment,” states Bill Allen.
The historically low pond bank prices of recent years continue to trouble the industry, he says. “Farmers really need higher average prices. Many of them have been through really tough times, and some have not been able to feed their fish as well as they should, resulting in a poorer-yielding fish at processing plants.
“But cycles end, and I see some positive indicators,” he adds. “Processing has increased, the oversupply situation seems to be lessening, and the American catfish industry has made some strides against the imports which had been taking away our market share.”
Addressing the company’s commitment to the area, Allen says, “We decided to focus on our Indianola plant and chose to do this major renovation here. Our 500 to 600 jobs here are stable. Delta Pride will not be another industrial casualty for the area.”
At Gresham Petroleum/Double Quick, the Delta’s largest operator of convenience stores and gas stations, Tom Gresham reports a major focus on training. “We’ve made extensive use of the Kapp Technology Center, our area workforce training center,” he explains. “We strongly believe that a good training program is the way to go to improve customer service, and we’re seeing our employee retention rates going up.
“The Kapp Center is one of our area’s great resources, and it’s right here in Indianola,” Gresham continues. “Many Delta businesses could take advantage of their excellent facilities and staff.”
Asked about current business, Gresham acknowledges that the threat of war with Iraq has affected gas prices. “However, local retailers are actually making less,” he comments. “People also don’t realize the impact of the recent hurricanes, which closed down the Gulf refineries and the offshore crude port.”
Gresham predicts a bright future for Indianola, believing that the town will benefit from its location. “We’re centrally located between Greenville, Cleveland, and Greenwood, and soon we’ll be at the intersection of two 4-lane highways,” he points out.
A major development at the Indywood assisting living facility is the addition of a six-bed special care unit, says Eleta Grimmett. “This allows those needing higher levels of care to stay right at home in Indianola now, without having to go to Cleveland or Greenwood,” she says.
“The special care unit is a small, controlled unit. It’s a safe environment, keypad-secured. The patients can move about freely, even go outside, but in a safe, fenced area,” she continues. There’s a good staff ratio-one to six. The main advantage, though, is that it’s small and controlled, without the noise and distractions of the main facility.”
Grimmett recently attended a health care meeting at which the governor’s reform plan was presented, and says she came away encouraged. “I liked the sound of the plan,” she comments. “It would certainly provide a great relief to the entire health care industry. I think we could all rest a little easier and get back to our day-to-day business.”
Randy Randall, president of the Indianola office of Planters Bank, feels that one of Indianola’s strengths is its citizens’ love for their community. “I find that people are very committed to the town,” he says, “and are basically in the mode of ‘we’ll find a way to endure and remain a strong community’.
“Like a lot of agri-business communities outside the major metropolitan areas, Indianola has seen some adversity,” Randall adds, “with the closing of plants like Modern Line and the downsizing by some other employers. But Indianola has so many good tangibles-Dollar General, which was a big shot in the arm, good public and private schools, renowned businesses like Pecan House and the Crown, even a strong community theater.
“And then there are the intangibles, such as quality of life. I’ve seen a lot of people move here from elsewhere and find that the quality of life makes a big difference.”
Indianola Pecan House is well known far beyond the Delta for the pecan products it markets through retail outlets, online and telephone sales, and mail orders. The company has recently completed a remodeling of their local retail store and opened a new outlet in Flowood, reports Tim Timbs.
“Things are going well, and we’re excited to be in Indianola,” he states. “It’s a great place for business with good community support. People are working hard together to not only bring in new manufacturing to replace lost jobs, but also to make Indianola attractive to other businesses.”
A spirit of cooperation among area business leaders is also mentioned by Evelyn Roughton of the popular Crown Restaurant. “Our merchants band together to do things for the good of the town,” she says. “Downtown Indianola is very alive-we’ve had a couple of businesses close, but other have moved in. And we’ve got a lot of new businesses out on the highway, such as the Pickled Okra restaurant.
“One positive indicator to me is when people leave the Crown after having lunch and you still see them in the area 45 minutes later, going in and out of the other downtown shops,” she continues. “It means to me that the downtown area is viable.”
The Crown celebrated its 30th anniversary this year, and Roughton says this has been a good year for the business. “We doubled our physical size by taking in another building,” she reports, “and can serve more people now. We’ve also got a special room where area bridge clubs come in, have lunch, and spend the afternoon.”
The Crown’s direct-selling operation, a line of specialty items called Taste of Gourmet, is expanding around the country, according to Roughton. “We’re putting together our new catalog right now,” she says. “It includes a lot of new items, such as Mama’s meat loaf mix. And there’s our Toffee Crunch Cheesecake ball-you can eat just a little on a cracker as a snack, or combine it with other foods for a complete dessert.”
Real estate is one market which is still somewhat depressed, according to Bobby Kirk of Kirk Land and Realty. Still, even in his industry, he says there are some encouraging signs.
“We deal primarily in farmland,” Kirk explains, “and there is a good deal of interest in it now, stimulated somewhat by the new farm bill. Investors are looking for safer returns than they’ve been getting in the volatile stock market, and farmland is a good alternative.
“The catfish industry continues to have some tough times,” he adds, “but some of the best investments right now are in catfish ponds, because of the current price levels.”
While describing the housing market as flat, still feeling the effects of factory closings and resulting loss of jobs, Kirk believes the overall outlook is positive. “Things are getting better in Indianola,” he comments. “I think we’re through the worst. People realize there’s a need for growth, and they’re working together, and working with the Economic Development and Chamber of Commerce people, to achieve that growth.”
Small town charm, good location, expanding businesses...all these serve Indianola well. Still, perhaps its greatest asset is its people, who with their upbeat spirit and shared goals will help drive the town’s future growth in the most positive way. DBJ

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