NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI DAILY JOURNAL
EDITORIAL
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
EDITORIAL: BALDWYN'S GROWTH
Monday's announcement of a $12 million, 50-employee plant in Baldwyn for customizing and distributing golfing accessories is the latest in a series of first-rate economic development stories in the historic small city straddling Lee and Prentiss counties.
Baldwyn native and resident James Davis, an eminently successful business executive, helped steer the ForeFront Group's investment to his hometown. Davis is chief financial officer of Stanford Financial Group, a $25 billion Houston, Texas, company with which he has been affiliated for 35 years. Davis' personal commitment is to help focus potential investors on Baldwyn.
ForeFront Group's purchase involves a 40-acre tract in the Charles M. Gordon Industrial Park, east of Mississippi 145.
Earlier this fall, Toyota Auto Body, a tier-one supplier to Toyota Mississippi's under-construction SUV assembly plant near Blue Springs in Union County, announced a $200 million, 400-employee plant would be built in Baldwyn at the Harry A. Martin North Lee Industrial Complex. The site will be connected by U.S. 45 and U.S. 78/Interstate 22 to Blue Springs, and later linked by a planned new highway from near Guntown to Blue Springs.
The historic town, near the famous Civil War Battle of Brice's Crossroads Battlefield site, earlier applied for and received a $512,000 grant to renovate Main Street. The project will add new sidewalks and decorative lighting from Highway 145 to Front Street.
In addition, plans are moving forward for major expansion of the Brice's Crossroads battlefield project, with the long-term goal of designation and funding as a national military park. ...
The industrial parks and the U.S. 45 corridor, especially with a planned link from Guntown to the Toyota site near Blue Springs, make Baldwyn prime for growth.
Just months ago Baldwyn's economic development leaders had only hopes of a visit from Toyota suppliers.
Those hopes became reality, and the ForeFront announcement Monday adds depth to prospects for the community of 3,400, and the immediate surrounding area.
For the full story, visit the Daily Journal website: http://www.djournal.com/pages/story.asp?ID=255294&pub=1&div=Opinion