Photos by Rick Guy/The Clarion-Ledger
After years of being centered largely in the cities of Ridgeland and Madison, significant economic development could finally spread to other parts of Madison County in 2013. That push is now in Canton, already home to about 1,000 jobs created last year via three vehicle brands being added to the city’s Nissan manufacturing plant. Now, the Walmart is set to join the automaker as a major employer in the city.
Wal-Mart has said it will open a Walmart Supercenter in Canton this year, creating about 300 jobs in the process. Construction began a couple of months ago on Feather Lane next to Peco Foods. The road is being widened and turn lanes added at the store site. Wal-Mart officials have said construction will take 10 to 13 months and had announced July as the month the store would open.
It’s not known if that target has changed. Wal-Mart representatives couldn’t be reached for comment on the store’s status. Groundbreaking at the site was in 2011, but construction ramped up only recently after Canton city officials agreed to allow extra acreage for the Walmart store and variances on parking and lighting.
“That store is going to have a greater impact than people may realize,” says Tim Coursey, executive director of the Madison County Economic Development Authority. “It’s a real attention-getter. It fronts (I-55), so they’re going to be able to pull traffic off the interstate.”
The gap between the groundbreaking and construction led some to wonder whether the store would be built.
“We now know they are (coming), so it’s a reality. You can’t be lied to anymore,” Canton Mayor William Truly said in July.
The looming presence of a Walmart Supercenter in Canton already seems to have produced results. A tractor supply store has been built near where Walmart will operate, and convenience stores and restaurants in the area will have a new customer base once the retailer opens, Coursey said.
Nissan Parkway also is ripe for new growth opportunities, from the Nissan jobs to the fledgling Madison River Oaks Medical Center, which opened there two years ago, he said.
The Nissan factor
A recent announcement by Nissan that production of the Murano crossover will move to Canton from Japan next year could create renewed interest from suppliers looking to set up shop near the plant. The automaker hasn’t said whether new jobs will be created by adding the Murano to the plant’s current seven-vehicle lineup.
“That (Murano production) has implications we’ve not seen yet, but we’re hoping to see another influx of suppliers,” Coursey said.
The county also is looking to lure more employers like Nissan that can create thousands of jobs through the establishment of a “megasite,” presumably along I-55, where plentiful land can be set aside for such ventures. Coursey said more details soon will be announced. Only a handful of sites in Mississippi have earned “megasite” status.
A 60-acre site near the Camden community in northern Madison County could become home to a park including ball fields, walking trails and a lake. Some residents there say the development will bring more business opportunity to a part of the county that remains largely rural, while others worry about potential flooding from the lake as well as the park’s security.
Economic strongholds
While growth finally could spread north of Canton, the county’s economic strongholds of Ridgeland and Madison could see new business opportunities unfold this year, too.
The Township at Colony Park is beginning the year with a slew of construction activity.
Two Marriott hotels, one a TownPlace extended-stay facility and the other a Springhill geared at one- and two-day travelers, are being built at the mixed-use development along Highland Colony Parkway. They should feature 90-95 rooms each and employ 30-50 people apiece, says Gabriel Herring, property and development manager of Kerioth Corp., The Township’s developer.
He says hotel demand has spiked as Highland Colony Parkway is now on par with downtown Jackson in terms of large office buildings.
A three-story retail/office building also is being built at The Township. The first floor will feature retail, while the top two floors will include Young Williams PA law firm, which will move from downtown Jackson, and Kerioth offices, Herring said. No retailers have yet been inked for the building, but Herring said those talks should accelerate once construction is six months away from completion.
Each Township development is scheduled to open by the end of this year or the start of 2014.
“It’s about good planning, combined with the (recovering) economy. We’ve been strategic and lucky,” says David Johnson, Kerioth’s marketing and technical specialist.
State agency relocation
Ridgeland’s vacant Ergon Properties Diversified Technologies building is one of three finalists, along with Jackson’s Landmark building and Clinton’s South Pointe Business Park, to become the new home of the state Department of Revenue.
An undeveloped site along I-20 in Pelahatchie could enter the running, also. State officials are expected to choose one of the finalists this spring.
Whichever site is chosen will land at least 400 jobs from the relocated department, whose current lease in a metal building near Raymond expires in mid-2014, roughly the same time the agency is to start up in its new location.
Alan Hart, Ridgeland’s director of community development, says the Ergon building, empty for just a few months, remains in good shape. He says it’s secure and near enough attractions to make it an appealing new home for the state agency.
“There’s room to grow. It’s a campuslike setting, a single-purpose building,” he said.
The thawing economy could mean stalled projects in Ridgeland get a boost this year, Hart added.
He says three to four years’ worth of talks continue to land a couple of “big, very strong” retail developments that he wouldn’t specify because no agreements have been finalized. Meanwhile, developer John Burwell said last week that work could start as soon as February on the 50-unit condominium portion of his long-delayed, Harbor Walk mixed-use project after completing design changes to the condos.
Madison also could land another major retailer — Sam’s Club.
Officials in Madison and Jackson have confirmed the possibility of the wholesale retailer moving from its home on County Line Road in Jackson to an unspecified site in Madison because of structural issues at its current location. But those officials say Sam’s Club’s corporate parent, Wal-Mart, has not informed them whether they will move.
