TISHOMINGO COUNTY DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION

BOARD OF DIRECTORS:

Alvia BlakneyJackie Bryant

Ferrin Rainey Burress, Vice Chair &

Secretary-TreasurerMichael Busby, President,

Tishomingo CountyBoard of Supervisors

Darrin CaldwellMayor John Castleberry, Iuka

Ken CooleyPeyton Cummings,

Chancery Clerk, Tishomingo County

Dale CurtisEric Daniel, Chair

Neil DavisRalph Farr

Mayor Davy Ginn, GoldenHarold Gist

Robert GrishamDon Hall, First Vice Chair

Beth HudsonMalcolm Kuykendall

Steve McAnallyJena McNatt

Mike MontgomeryMayor David Nixon, Burnsville

Mayor Pam Oswalt, Paden Jimmy Ramsey, Chairman,

Tishomingo County Economic Development

AuthorityMayor James Tennyson,

TishomingoDonald R. Thomas

Fred TruesdaleButler Whitehead, Past Chair

Sid WhitehurstMayor Buddy Wiltshire,

Belmont

Staff:

Gary Matthews, Executive DirectorTheresa Cutshall,

Administrative Assistant

We thank our economic development partners listed here and on the next two pages. None of the projects in this report would be possible without their help.

FY 2020 Annual Report

TISHOMINGO COUNTYBOARD OF SUPERVISORS:

Brandon Grissom, District 1Nicky McRae, District 2

Michael Busby, District 3Jeff Holt, District 4

Greg Collier, District 5Peyton Cummings, Chancery Clerk

Pattie Cook, Board Secretary

TOWN OF BELMONT:Buddy Wiltshire, Mayor

Board of Aldermen:Craig Bell

Mike HarrisSonya Harris

Brandon PharrSteve Ratliff

TOWN OF BURNSVILLE:David Nixon, MayorBoard of Aldermen:

Jason BlakneyNiesha Carpenter

Robert DavisBilly Don Hamm

Doyle Rorie

Town of

GoldenTOWN OF GOLDEN:Davy Ginn, Mayor

Board of Aldermen:Sandra Collum

Linda EppsStan Malone

Rebecca OzbirnSherry Shook

TISHOMINGO COUNTY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY:Charles Emmons, Vice Chair

Harold GistMalcolm Kuykendall

Toney MobleyCharlotte Orick, Secretary-Treasurer

Jimmy Ramsey, ChairJimmie Seago

Butler WhiteheadTommy Williams

TISHOMINGO COUNTY TOURISM COUNCIL:Ellen Ayers, Vice ChairBarbara Blakney, Sec-Treas.Natalie CokerMary Ann Grant, ChairSandra MedlinLee Ann RobertsonBuddy WiltshireTheresa Cutshall, Administrator

TISHOMINGO COUNTY ELECTRIC POWER ASSOCIA- TION BOARD OF DIRECTORS:Gerald Barnes, ChairDarrin CaldwellJohn CastleberryJanie CummingsRichard DavisJeff Holt, Vice ChairJimmy HughesBrett Malone, Treasurer Charles PardueSteve RatliffJohnny Sims, SecretaryHarold W. TurnerDavid WhitfieldTim Wigginton, General Manager

YELLOW CREEK PORT AUTHORITY BOARD OF DIRECTORS:Travis ChildersWendy Hammock, SecretaryBrad HowellMichael Johnson, President David NixonJimmy PearceMike Tucker, Vice President Danny Turner Joe WilburnRobert Dexter, Executive Director Tina Williamson, Assistant Director

CITY OF IUKA:John Castleberry, Mayor

Board of Aldermen:Kenny Carson

James GrishamJoel Robertson

Johnny SouthwardNancy Stripling

VILLAGE OF PADEN:Pam Oswalt, MayorBoard of Aldermen:

Kristy DeatonTony FalknerJean Luttrell

James MurphyCarl Whitehead

TOWN OF TISHOMINGO:James Tennyson, Mayor

Board of Aldermen:Gary Harlan

Barbara OakesHal SouthwardAnthony Stone

Anne Taylor

STATE ELECTED OFFICIALS:Representative Lester Carpenter

Representative Donnie BellSenator Daniel Sparks

FEDERAL ELECTED OFFICIALS:Representative Trent KellySenator Cindy Hyde-Smith

Senator Roger Wicker

Village of Paden

PARTNERS IN PROGRESS: 2020 Members of the Tishomingo County Development Foundation

Aqua Yacht Harbor & ResortB & G Equipment of IukaBancorpSouthBelmont MunicipalityBelmont Parts SupplyBelmont Pharmacy LLCBestway, Inc.BMSIEddie Bobo GunsmithingBrooks GroceryJackie & Burnette BryantBurnsville MunicipalityBurnsville TireClark Law FirmCommunity Spirit BankCook Coggin EngineersKen & Sheila CooleyCooper Marine & TimberlandsCornerstone Insurance & FinancialCountry Squire RestaurantCross Industries Peyton CummingsCutshall Funeral HomeCutshall & Sons LoggingNeil DavisDeaton Funeral HomeLeroy DeanDHP, LLCEastport Marina & ResortFairless HardwareRalph & Dorothy FarrFast Pace Urgent CareFellowship Christian Retreat at Crows NeckFirst American Insurance ServicesFirst American National BankFirst Franklin FinancialFite Building CompanyForest Resource AdvisorsBoyce Hollingsworth State FarmG & G Steel Mississippi Works

Gatlin’s PharmacyHarold GistGolden Forest ManagersGolden MunicipalityGrace Long AppraisalJames GrishamRobert GrishamHamilton-RykerHampton Inn CorinthHarbin Heating & Air, Inc.High Point Timber ManagementHometown Pizza BelmontIndustrial Electronic RepairIuka Animal ClinicIuka Discount DrugsIuka Family DentalIuka Medical ClinicIuka MunicipalityJohn’s Garage, Inc.Johnson NutritionJourdan Lumber CompanyDr. Ben KitchensLambert Hardware & Building SupplyLippert ComponentsLittrell Lumber MillHarold LomenickSteve McAnallyMcDonald’s of IukaMike & Dennie McReeToney MobleyMike MontgomeryMississippi SiliconMom & Me StudioMoore’s JewelryMike Nelson ConstructionNorth Mississippi Medical Center--IukaNorthrop GrummanNUCOR Skyline SteelScott NunleyOffice ProCharlotte Orick

Paden MunicipalityPeden’s Prop ShopPiggly Wiggly of BelmontPiggly Wiggly of IukaPlant Process SupportPray PotteryJimmy RamseyRedmont Heating & CoolingRenasant BankReynolds Auto RepairJimmie SeagoSegar’s ClinicMark SegarsMartha SegarsSnap MartCharlotte OrickSamuel Roll Form GroupSeigers PhotographySid’s Trading CompanySilver Dollar SalesSonic Drive In IukaSparks CPA Firm, P. C.Subway Sandwiches of IukaSun-air ProductsT. J.’s Boat Repair & StorageJimmy RamseyTempur+SealyTennessee Valley AuthorityTishomingo County Board of SupervisorsTishomingo County Electric Power AssociationTishomingo Health ServicesTishomingo MunicipalityTP BoutiqueTri-State Educational FoundationFred TruesdaleVanleigh RVQuaye YarberYellow Creek Coating ServiceDan & Betty Young

LIPPERT COMPONENTS. A ribbon cutting was held for Lippert Components, Tishomingo County’s newest industry, on January 15. Storm Miller, Regional Operations Manager for Lippert, reported that “Lippert Components is a global sup-plier of component parts for recreational vehicles, buses, trucks, and homes. The company has over 9,000 employees in 65 facilities in the USA, Canada, Ireland, Italy, and England. The Burnsville facility will produce the chassis for Vanleigh RV towables.”

Learn more about Lippert Components at www.lci1.com.

CROSS INDUSTRIES. A ribbon cutting was held for Cross Industries. Cross Industries is a recycler of post-industrial plas-tic, metal, and paper that is generated by automotive manufacturers and their suppliers. The company has moved into a 96,000 SF industrial building in Tishomingo County to expand their business to meet the growing demand for recycling and to partner with companies to help them achieve their goals to “go green”. The company serves manufacturers such as General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, BMW, Tesla, and Mercedes.

Learn more about Cross Industries at www.cross-industries.com.

B & G EQUIPMENT. A ribbon cutting was held for B&G Equipment. With locations in Philadelphia, Hattiesburg, Magno-lia, and Iuka, Mississippi, and Moundville, Alabama, B&G Equipment is is well known throughout the region. Company president Debbie Webb reported that “our new facility is designed to better serve the logging community of the Tri-State region with the best in equipment and service. We strive to be a good community partner and we appreciate the local leadership joining us today for our ribbon cutting and open house.”

Learn more about B&G Equipment at https://bandgequip.com.

VANLEIGH RV. Vanleigh RV expanded during the year with the construction of two new buildings, installation of new equipment, and additional hiring, its fifth expansion in five years. Vanleigh RV produces three fifth wheel models, the Beacon, the Vilano, and the Pinecrest. Success of the company is based upon dedication to craft, the relentless pursuit of customer satisfaction, and the sense of commu-nity between the founders and the customers.

Vanleigh RV is the largest manufacturing employer in Tishomingo County. In addition, Vanleigh RV has several suppliers in Tishomingo County such as Lippert Compo-nents, Tri-State Profile, and others.

Vanleigh RV is a division of Tiffin Motorhomes which has a facility in Belmont that employs 250 with suppliers in Tishomingo County such as Southeast CNC, Sun-air Prod-ucts, Tishomingo RV, Villa International, and Waterway, Inc.

Learn more about Vanleigh RV at vanleighrv.com and Tiffin Motorhomes at tiffinmotorhomes.com.

ROLL FORM GROUP. Governor Tate Reeves, Representa-tive Lester Carpenter, and Senator Daniel Sparks joined Samuel Roll Form Group management for the ribbon cut-ting for the company’s expanded manufacturing facility in Tishomingo County. The 68,000 square foot expansion began in February and was completed in December. Thirty new highly skilled, full-time positions are expected to be added because of this expansion. In total the facility is now more than 300,000 square feet.

Samuel Roll Form Group is a leading supplier of heavy roll formed products to several industries, including rail, heavy construction and custom forming markets. The company offers a range of services, including roll forming, in-line notching, piercing, and punching. Separate fabricating bays also include shearing, brake forming, MIG and TIG welding, plasma cutting, precision drilling and assembly. The company operates from locations throughout North America and has been a proud member of the Iuka and Tishomingo County business community since 2007.

For more information visit www.samuel.com.

NADO AWARD. In August of 2020, the National Association of De-velopment Organizations awarded the Aliceann Wohlbruck Impact Award to the Northrop Grumman infrastructure project in Tishom-ingo County.

Submitted by Wanda Christian of Northeast Mississippi Planning and Development District, NADO recognized five award winners in Missis-sippi. The Impact Awards program honors NADO members for their creative approaches to advancing regional economic development and improved quality of life.

For more information, visit the web site at https://www.nado.org/congratulations-to-the-2020-nado-impact-award-recipients.

NORTHROP GRUMMAN. Aerospace and defense leader Northrop Grumman completed its expansion in Iuka in 2020, investing $15 million and creating 50 jobs. In late 2019, the company committed to an-other expansion that created another 40 jobs and a private investment of $8 million.

“This expansion signifies the commitment Northrup Grumman has to the employees, community and state of Mississippi to continue bringing high quality manufacturing work into the area,” said John Kain, Northrup Grumman’s Aerospace Structures Division’s director of operations - Iuka. “We value our part-nership with the state, city and county officials and thank them for their continued support of our facility in Iuka.”

Northrup Grumman is one of the world’s largest de-fense contractors with over 60,000 employees.

Northrup Grumman manufactures large composite aerospace structures for Antares, Pegasus and Mino-taur launch vehicles and has implemented a large na-tional aerospace and defense program at its 320,000-square-foot Iuka facility.

Learn more at www.northropgrumman.com/Abou-tUs/BusinessSectors/InnovationSystems/Pages/de-fault.aspx.

FIRST-RATE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AGENCIES IN THE SOUTH. Southern Business & Development (SB&D), the recognized authority on economic development in the 15 state southern USA, has rated the best economic development agencies in each state based on deal ac-tivity, deal quality, and the organization’s reputation among those in economic development.

In Mississippi, Southern Business & Development se-lected seven economic development agencies that in-clude:

Mississippi Development Authority; •

Mississippi Power (Gulf Coast and Southeast Mis-• sissippi);

Golden Triangle Development Link (Columbus-• Starkville-West Point);

Community Development Foundation (Lee-Ponto-• toc-Union);

Cooperative Energy (11 member electric coopera-• tives in 55 counties);

Tishomingo County Development Foundation; and •

DeSoto County Economic Development Council.•

Tishomingo County’s selection is a testament to the lo-cal leadership’s vision and aggressiveness in creating new jobs and private investment.

Congratulations to the local public and private leader-ship for this prestigious rating.

You can read the full article at the Southern Business & Development web site at https://sb-d.com.

PERCENT JOB GROWTH AMONG THE HIGHEST IN THE USA. In January 2020, Tennessee Valley Authority Research Ser-vices issued its economic assessment of TVA valley counties.

Jobs in Tishomingo County during the last five years grew by 956 and are projected to grow by 591 over the next five years. The local job growth rate is more than double the job growth rate for the nation (15.4% for Tishomingo County and 6.9% for the USA).

Manufacturing is the largest employer in Tishomingo County, five times the nation-al average. Average earnings per manu-facturing worker in 2019 were $48,524.

RETAIL MARKETPLACE PRO-FILE. ESRI is the source of de-cision data for government, business, and industry.

The 2019 numbers released by ESRI in February 2020 re-veal that Tishomingo County had $183,008,650 in retail sales.

Potential 2019 retail sales were $223,081,232 (this num-ber does not include service or professional services and construction).

These numbers show a sig-nificant improvement in local sales over the past five years.

The greatest retail gaps were in the following:

Gasoline stations; • Building materials and • supplies dealers; Food & beverage stores; • Restaurants; • Clothing stores; • Miscellaneous retailers; • Furniture and home •

furnishings stores; Health and personal care • stores; and Others.•

A copy of the one page ESRI Retail Marketplace Profile is available by contacting Tishomingo County Develop-ment Foundation at 662-423-9933 or gary@tishomingo.org.

SAFE HAVEN. A ribbon cutting was held for Safe Haven, a community service proj-ect of the Tishomingo County Community Coalition, on January 31.

Coalition Director Kathy Best reported that “the community has come together to meet the needs of people in transition in their lives. We provide housing and food for men and women as well as help prepare them for work and to find a job. Safe Haven is a labor of love that depends solely on volunteers and donations from Unit-ed Way, local churches, businesses, social organizations, and individuals. We do not accept government assistance to run the shelter.”

The coalition so far has housed 42 individuals with over 70% being from Tishom-ingo County. As of November 30, 2020, Safe Haven has provided 1,305 nights of shelter.

To learn more about the coalition, visit www.tc3coalition.org.

NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT. The U. S. Economic Development Adminis-tration has awarded $3.9 million in CARES Act Recovery Assistance to Northeast Mississippi Planning and Development District. The Revolv-ing Loan Fund will be used to provide gap financing to small businesses and entrepreneurs impacted by the pan-demic in the six county district which includes Tishomingo County.

More information can be found at https://www.nempdd.com or call 662-728-6248.

TISHOMINGO COUNTY UNEMPLOYMENT RATE. In Octo-ber the Mississippi Department of Employment Security issued unemployment rates for all 82 counties.

Tishomingo County’s unemployment rate of 5.0% is the third lowest rate in the state matching Lamar County’s 5.0% unemployment rate. Counties with lower unemployment rates include Lafayette at 4.8% and Rankin at 4.2%.

The state unemployment rate for September 2020 is 6.8% and the national unemployment rate is 7.7%

Manufacturers and construction trades nationwide com-plain of a lack of qualified or trainable labor. However, in Tishomingo County the labor shortage is a crisis. Most of our new and expanded industries cannot find enough qualified workers to meet the demands of their custom-ers. This means that some of our industries must auto-mate or expand or relocate to areas with sufficient labor such as Mexico.

We must take action to save our industry jobs. Actions needed include the following:

Construction of affordable housing, especially apart-• ment units;

Accept and welcome newcomers as new taxpayers • and customers;

Make sure that parents, teachers, and students under-• stand that trade and industry jobs often pay more than jobs that require a college degree; and

Do more to promote tourism and retiree attraction. •

The greatest development demands in Tishomingo County are for affordable rental housing and short term lodging, i. e., hotels.

A feasibility study for hotels is available at www.tishom-ingo.org/PDFs/Hotel%20Study.pdf.

Feasibility studies for housing are available at www.tishom-ingo.org/PDFs/2018%20Iuka%20Housing%20Study.pdf and www.tishomingo.org/PDFs/2018%20Belmont%20Housing%20Study.pdf.

BUSINESS DIRECTORY. Tishomingo County Develop-ment Foundation has updated the Tishomingo County Business Directory.

The 2020 edition is online at http://www.tishomingo.org/PDFs/Business%20Directory%202020%20Update.pdf.

The 91 page directory is updated frequently as we learn about new businesses opening and old business-es closing.

The directory is not a recommendation of any particu-lar business. Normal business practices, for example, checking references for service providers, is recom-mended.

The intent of the business directory is to increase sales by Tishomingo County businesses, to encourage busi-nesses to expand, and encourage individuals to start new businesses.

The majority of jobs in the USA are created by small businesses. Small businesses spend their income in the community and support community facilities and services.

Tishomingo County businesses need as much help as possible to survive during the pandemic.