Southern Business & Development has recognized Columbus as one of 10 Southern markets considered “no-brainer” locations for manufacturing in the South.
The Winter 2012 edition of the magazine notes Columbus, which is home to two of eight Tennessee Valley Authority-certified megasites, is “truly amazing with an abundance of electricity, water, sewer and natural gas” and transportation provided by three railroads, two U.S. highways, two ports located on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway and the state’s third busiest airport, all included in the 4,000-acre “master-planned” Golden Triangle Global Industrial Aerospace Park.
Additionally, Columbus is praised as a “cultural melting pot” with workforce training provided by East Mississippi Community College’s Center for Manufacturing Technology Excellence and a “rich environment for advancement” created by Mississippi State University, as well as Mississippi University for Women.
“For a publication as reputable as Southern Business to recognize us as a top 10 no-brainer is as high an honor as I think the Link has ever been given,” said Columbus-Lowndes Development Link CEO Joe Higgins. “We look at it as ratification that we have arrived. Now we have to make sure that we keep the focus that got us where we are, in hopes that we continue our progress.”
The Northeast Tennessee Valley region, Martinsville-Henry County, Va., Memphis, Tenn., Tishomingo County, Henderson and Calvert City in Kentucky, Liberty County, Ga. and the Mississippi River Corridor, which includes the New Orleans, La. and Baton Rouge, La. regions, also were listed as “no-brainer” locations for manufacturing in the South.
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