Tupelo builds on history, looks to future

TUPELO - From 1990 to 1998, this city nestled in the northeast corner of the state grew 16% in population, from 30,685 to 35,589 residents, making it Mississippi's ninth fastest-growing community.

From the onset, Tupelo has long been regarded as an essential link. Its location along the Natchez

Incorporated in 1870 and named after the native Tupelo Gum Tree, Tupelo was also an important railroad distribution center. Tupelo residents were also among the first to have electric power provided through the Tennessee Valley Authority.

"When the Community Development Foundation was chartered in 1948, we were principally cotton and dairy producers with less than 2,000 manufacturing jobs," said Harry A. Martin, longtime chief of CDF, who recently announced his retirement. "Now, we are Mississippi's highest industrialized county with over 200 industries. We are the center of the manufacturing community in the state of Mississippi with over 600 industries within 50 miles of Tupelo. Per capita income has gone up and all the things that come from more income, such as education level and literacy, have gone up."

One of CDF's first challenges, more than 50 years ago, was to raise $150,000 to bring furniture maker Morris Futorian from Chicago to northeast Mississippi to begin an assembly line operation for upholstered furniture like Henry Ford did for automobiles. Since then, suppliers and spin-offs have attributed to the billion-dollar industry, which employs more than 30,000 workers at 124 furniture manufacturers and 153 furniture suppliers in a 10-county radius.

Twice a year, more than 800 vendors exhibit their wares to more than 25,000 attendees at the Tupelo Furniture Market. Opened in 1987, it served primarily as a marketplace for lower-priced or promotional furniture goods, but exhibitors with more mid-priced furnishings have found the market, the second largest in the country behind High Point, N.C., very profitable.

When FMC-Tupelo, a major supplier of aircraft cargo loaders to industries involving airfreight, officially opened its doors on October 26, 1974 with 350 employees, it opened doors for other industries, too, said Martin.

"The location of FMC led to the location of several other plants in that immediate job center, such as Action (Industries), Stone Container, Bauhaus U.S.A., Omega Motion, Precision Blade and others," said Martin.

In the last few years, CDF has been picked one of the top 10 economic development agencies in the U.S., an achievement based on production, Martin said.

"We have averaged about $75 million worth of manufacturing projects a year, and about one million square feet of new space," he said.

Since 1994, new and expanded growth accounted for a total of 5,618 new jobs in 140 industries, according to the Mississippi Employment Security Commission.

One of few cities nationwide to receive the designation three times, Tupelo has been named a Top Ten All-America City.

"Tupelo's success is a result of a succession of people who were willing to take a critical look at their community, identify opportunities for progress and work together to make the city a place where everyone can be successful," said former Tupelo Mayor Glenn McCullough.

High ratings in the Tupelo and Lee County school system have played a tremendous role in the community's successful growth rate. More than 1,000 educators tour businesses and chat with industry leaders during the city's annual Industry-Education Day, a 24-year tradition.

The Tupelo Fairgrounds Redevelopment Initiative, an estimated $66.6million public/private partnership that will expand and enhance Tupelo's Central Business District, is expected to create 275 new jobs and an $8.5-million annual payroll, said Deborah M. Brangenberg, director of the Tupelo Redevelopment Agency and the Downtown Tupelo/Main Street Partnership.

For the last two years, the city has provided tax breaks to entice businesses to locate in downtown Tupelo. Since 1989, private developers have invested more than $24 million in 98 buildings in Tupelo's Central Business District, Brangenberg said.

Reed's Department Store was founded in 1907 as a general merchandise store by R.W. Reed and has expanded to its current size of 18,000 square feet that includes a gift shop and bookstore, according to Jack Reed Jr, president of R.W. Reed Company.

"When you look at Tupelo and what has been done to the old downtown area, you'll see that it's because of a 'can-do' attitude from this town of 35,000," said Harry Baxter, vice chairman of BancorpSouth in Tupelo.

During special events such as the annual Elvis Presley Festival, a threeday event in August, the anniversary of his death, the city's 1,500 hotel rooms are booked as visitors from around the world flock to see the $180 shanty in which Tupelo's most celebrated son, Elvis Presley, was born in 1935.

Until 1990, the land at the Mall at Barnes Crossing was nothing but a cotton field. In its first year, almost four million shoppers contributed to an average of $155 per square foot in retail sales. In 1998, almost 10 million shoppers boosted it to an average of $350 per square foot. Now the mall, which employs more than 3,000 workers, is No. 2 in sales productivity in the state, said Jeff Snyder, mall manager.

"In 1990, when Tupelo was mentioned as a retail area to real estate agents, people would ask 'where? Now the biggest problem is lack of space," said Synder.

Phil Purdom, director of leasing for Rite Aid, called Tupelo "one of the best middle markets in America."

Tupelo boasts the largest hospital in the state, with the campus of North Mississippi Medical Center sprawling over several city blocks. Leroy P. "Buddy" McCarty, Jr, president and CEO of The McCarty Company in Tupelo, said northeast Mississippi "seems to maintain a productive mix of stable corporate entities and spirited entrepreneurial businesses."