West Point and Clay County are the newest members of the Columbus-Lowndes Development Link.
The Link board voted unanimously to add West Point and Clay County to its economic development portfolio at today’s quarterly meeting.
Link Executive Director Joe Max Higgins said contracts need to be signed to formalize the agreement, but today’s vote starts the process that will add another economic developer to the organization’s staff.
The West Point-Clay County Community Growth Alliance will pay the Link $350,000 annually to have representation on the Link board and one person working solely for those communities.
Higgins said the goal is to land a big project in Clay County, which has infrastructure in place.
Columbus and Lowndes officials praised the action.
“This is one of the best things that’s gonna happen in this region,” Lowndes County District 1 Supervisor and Board President Harry Sanders said.
“I’m very much in support of it,” Columbus Mayor Robert Smith said.
The effort complements the regional government approach that officially began Thursday night with a meeting of Golden Triangle mayors and other leaders at the Trotter Convention Center in Columbus, he added.
Smith, West Point Mayor Scott Ross and Starkville Mayor Parker Wiseman initiated the cooperative approach to market and operate governing entities in the best interest of the region.
The Link was formed six years ago, as a merger of Columbus and Lowndes County’s chamber of commerce and economic development arm, to recruit business and industry to the city and county.
Since its inception in 2003, the Link has helped Lowndes County attract nearly $4 billion in facilities and more than 6,500 jobs.
Its recent focus is adding industrial and high-tech jobs at the Golden Triangle Regional Global Aerospace Industrial Park, an expansion of the county’s previously existing industrial park.
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