A Harvard Business School research team praised the Golden Triangle after it visited the area last fall. The research became part of a case study that was used in the curriculum this semester. Harvard published a story, Manufacturing a Renaissance in the Deep South, about the excursion on its website. Here are some excerpts:
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| Team visits PACCAR plant. Credit: HBS. |
Columbus, Starkville, and West Point comprise an area in eastern central Mississippi that has come to be known as the “Golden Triangle.” Though Mississippi is the lowest-income state in the United States, the Golden Triangle (GTR) region has earned the new moniker thanks to its economic resurgence and future potential as a manufacturing hotbed.Kingfish note: So much for "We don't need no Harvards here".
With a labor pool of 500,000 people within a 60-mile radius, a bustling regional airport, several sizeable colleges and universities nearby, and plenty of available land, the GTR has attracted some $5.9 billion in industry and investments in the last ten years, including an advanced-tech steel mill, a drone plant, and a helicopter factory. In short, the region has been putting itself on the business world’s map, and Harvard Business School (HBS) faculty have been taking notice....
LINK worked closely with the HBS Division of Research and Faculty Development (DRFD) staff to develop a rigorous schedule for a mix of 16 junior and senior HBS faculty who would visit on October 30 and 31. Beyond the three topics of interest Rivkin had mentioned—leadership, cross-sector collaboration, and local competitiveness—the trip dovetailed well with the School’s U.S. Competitiveness Project, begun in 2011 under the leadership of Rivkin and University Professor Michael Porter, and the newer Managing the Future of Work (MFW) project directed by Professors Bill Kerr and Joe Fuller, both of whom participated in the trip.
“Many of the faculty, including Dean Nohria and Professor Rivkin, intentionally selected the Golden Triangle because of the significant economic development there in the last few years,” said Alain Bonacossa, Senior Director for Research Administration and Behavioral Research Services at HBS. “They wanted to understand how that came about so they could bring those lessons to bear in the classroom and for other communities in their research.”
Much to Learn in the Magnolia State
The first day of the trip began in Columbus with a series of meetings hosted by LINK’s charismatic CEO, Joe Max Higgins, a driving force behind the organization’s (and region’s) success and ability to recruit almost 6,000 high-end manufacturing jobs and nearly $6 billion in investment since its inception. To offer a sense of his larger-than-life personality and significant ambitions, The Atlantic reported that Higgins’s Mississippi license plate reads “2EQLAST.” “In the economic development business,” he explained, “coming in second equals coming in last.”Rest of article.
14 comments:
Higgins for governor. Enough of these stupid MDA know-nothings.
Wow, just wow. Bravo GTR. Thanks for happening in spite of us.
If it were not for MDA you wouldn't have all of the tire plant and sawmill opportunities for your kids to enjoy.
How about we stop dumping money on beef plants and coal stations and invest in people like this?
It's nice to see some good press for the state. I'm sure someone will sh*t on it, though.
500, how the hell do you think this happened? Most every one of the entities in the GTR were receipants of MDA assistance just as we're the ones you point out. Next time you go to a casino I want to go with you since you must have a 100% batting average.
In business, not every venture succeeds. Those highlighted here were great successes as we're Nissas, Toyota, Ingalls, Booeng, nd dozens and dozens of others.
If your standard is that every venture must be 'a success like these people' then there will be no successes like these - but there won't be any losses either.
In other news, Hail State (aka Moo State) has challenged Harvard to a football game. Hail State officials proclaimed, "we will put a cowbell up side yo egg heads."
I like the moo state comment... let's face it... with people like Phil Tate him hood and Cindy at the helm Mississippi really has a long way to go. Any state could look to our lack of leadership and see why we are the way we are. Chris McDaniel really? Mike esp? These are the people we have wanting to lead Mississippi. It's a crappy time for our leadership choices or lack there of. Wasn't there a guy on the coast or South Mississippi... What happened to him I heard him speak and he seemed like a good choice for governor... can't recall his name.
6:35 am. Well said. Amen.
"...the Golden Triangle (GTR) region has earned the new moniker thanks to its economic resurgence and future potential as a manufacturing hotbed."
New moniker? When I started working for the state straight out of college more than 40 years ago, that area was known as the Golden Triangle then and lord only knows how long before that. Other than that, great story and well deserved!
Joe Max Higgins is the man...his style should be studied and duplicated all over the state. You have some passion for your job!
This is a very refreshing thing to see in light of all the crap that Mississippi has to deal with. Kudos to everyone in the GTR that made this happen. I don't know if MDA had anything to do with it, but if they did (nod to 3/22, 7.20PM), good job to them as well.
A couple of interesting things that come to mind with regard to GTR:
- I have to believe that this area's past successes with Bryan Foods and Mossy Oak have contributed to the current success, along with the presence of the Columbus AFB, which no doubt has helped attract some of the aerospace investment
- Note that this success has grown up around MSU - our principal technical university, which provides the research and engineering/technical talent to feed the industries that have moved into GTR. Ole Miss/Oxford can point to a recent success in FNC, but it has had far less economic impact on the state than GTR. Ole Miss produces a lot of doctors, lawyers and bankers who go on to be successful, but they are for the most part swapping dollars around in the state - not bringing in fresh money. [Full disclosure: I am an Ole Miss grad.]
While it would be great to replicate this model elsewhere in the state, I can't think of any other regions that have the same combination of key components found in GTR to make it work.
These companies are only here for cheap labor, government grants, and weak labor law...I know that when PACCAR started hiring, they were paying journeyman skilled trade Maintenance...Elect, Mech, Welders in 2010 the same wage that the US automotive industry was paying in 1995, but with less benefits...thats 15 years of regressive pay...add to that an average of 3% inflation a year over the 15 years and the standard of living for working middle class has fallen drastically.
Meanwhile, government Unions have gotten bigger, and government compensation has skyrocketed along with benefits.
So they have 500,000 potential employees in a 60 mile radius for an inflated 6000 positions...at an investment of 6 billion dollars...
Question...where is the other 494,000 people going to work at?
Just by the numbers, thats only a 1.2% employment rate at a cost of $1,000,000.00 per job.
But that appears to be a bargain compared to the Kemper Coal Plant at 50 jobs for 6.4 billion and counting cost...or $128,000,000 per job.
306, need to check the records of the companies that have located in this region. Servistal steel opened with average pay of over $75,000 per employee and many of the others that came along after have been over $50k average.
State grants for infrastructure, MSU technical/engineering, TennTom waterway, CA Base, intersection of major 4-lane highways, and productive workforce of willing workers all combined to make this region attractive. Plus, local leaders - particularly in Lowndes County that were willing to make the deals work.
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