The Golden Triangle… perfect place to grow and prosper

The “triangle” includes the communities of Columbus, Starkville, and West Point and their respective counties, with a population of over 128,000 people. The term Golden Triangle was created to encourage greater economic ties between the three cities and counties, Lowndes, Oktibbeha, and Clay. The three cities share the Golden Triangle Regional Airport.

Columbus had traditionally been the leading city of the Mississippi Golden Triangle, but the rapid growth associated with Mississippi State University, and other factors, has led Starkville to challenge this position and ultimately surpass Columbus in population.

• Mississippi State University has spent more than $1 Billion since 2009 on capital improvements – including a $75 million expansion of Davis Wade Football Stadium & a brand new $55 million baseball stadium.
• Old Waverly Golf Course in West Point will be hosting the 2019 Us Women’s Amateur.
• Columbus, Mississippi is known for Columbus Air Force, the Golden Triangle Regional Airport and their massive Industrial Parks – including PACCAR, Airbus Helicopters, SDI, Stark Aerospace and many more.
• Starkville is anticipating the opening of a new industrial park, which is scheduled to be completed later this year. It will sit on about 400 acres of land north of the Highway 82-Highway 389 intersection in north Starkville.
• A brand new 175 acre Sportsplex is expected to be located on Highway 25 in Starkville, bringing in thousands of visitors a year!
• In October 2015, The Mill at MSU opened in Starkville. The Mill includes a conference center, office space, and a brand new Courtyard Marriott, all located across from Mississippi State University for easy access.
• Also in 2015 was the brand new City Hall building prominently located in downtown Starkville.
• The SMART bus system, which serves both the City of Starkville and Mississippi State University, has carried more than 1.42 million riders since its inception in January 2014. With more than 20 stopsl, one of which includes the Golden Triangle Regional Airport.
• Quality of life improvements: bike paths, parks, and high tech amenities including high-speed, fiber optic internet service.
• Recognition: Restaurant Business Magazine named Starkville one of the top restaurant growth markets in the U.S., WalletHub.com listed the City of Starkville as a top baseball market, TIME magazine, in their piece “Where to Retire”, named Starkville one of the top eight college football cities to retire in, and Best Colleges Online named Mississippi State University as one of the best small town colleges in the country.

According to the City of Starkville, between 2011-2013, the City of Starkville issued permits for more than $115 million in construction. From 2014-2015, those permits rose to $154 million. Projections show that 2016 could be the City of Starkville’s biggest construction year yet.

A recent industrial boom of manufacturing companies locating at the Golden Triangle Industrial Park in Lowndes County has led to a strong push for Columbus as the lead for the anchor city position of the rapidly growing region. Columbus is also the home of Columbus Air Force Base and Mississippi University for Women.

More recently, Yokohama Tire Corporation selected West Point, MS, as the location of its new U.S. commercial truck tire manufacturing plant, which is set to open in October 2015 and manufacture one million commercial tires annually.

Farmer Commercial Properties’ market incudes the entire Golden Triangle region, as well as the entire state.

Mississippi State University continues to be a major economic driver for Starkville, MS.

Athletics
• Charter member of the Southeastern Conference
• Record crowd of 62,945 fans during the 2014 Football season
• 2014 MSU Football tied the single-season school record for home victories
• MSU holds the NCAA record for the fastest rise from unranked to No. 1; a spot they held for five weeks
• Currently have 15 wins over the last 21 home football games
• MSU has attended 21 bowl games; including 8 consecutively since 2010
• MSU holds 9 of the top 10 the NCAA baseball on-campus attendance records, including #1 at 15,586 spectators
• Bulldogs have attended the College World Series 10 times
• Women’s Basketball team has made it to the National Championship 2 years in a row
• Women’s basketball ended the UConn Huskies historic 111-game winning streak in the 2017 Final Four
• Only SEC school to have 5 teams (Men’s Basketball, Women’s Basketball, Baseball, Track & Tennis) to make it to a final 4 of the perspective sports, all in the same 2017/2018 season.
• Only 2 baseball players have ever won the SEC’s triple crown, both of which are from MSU (Rafael Palmeiro, 1984 & Brent Rooker, 2017)

Academics
• $410 million expenditures for the state of Mississippi in 2016; MSU accounted for more than half with a total of $226.4 million
• The national lead university for the FAA’s Center of Excellence for Unmanned Aircraft
• MSU’s Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation is helping young entrepreneurs launch nearly 100 companies with annual sales of more than $2 million
• MSU is recognized as one of the most influential institutions in entrepreneurship research & is ranked number 6 in the world for impact of its entrepreneurship research
• The College of Veterinary Medicine also allows students to experience nearly 70 surgeries before graduation, compared to the national average of only 5
• Research & development expenditures in MSU’s computer science program were nearly $10 million in 2016, placing the university in the National Science Foundation’s top 50 national ranking
• Leader in integrated computational materials engineering, MSU researchers are working to eliminate sports-related concussions via more innovative designs that make helmets safer for athletes everywhere
• The Thad Cochran Research, Technology & Economic Development Park at Mississippi State University is the state’s largest & oldest research park. On 272-acres, it features 12 buildings that are home to more than 1,500 employees & private businesses, spin-off companies, government offices & research centers & institutes

Construction & Expansion
• Capital improvements totaling more than $1 billion since 2009
• 5 consecutive years of $100 million or more from alumni donations
• New state of the art facilities across academics & athletics
• $75 million expansion to Davis Wade Stadium was finished in 2014
• Brand new $55 million baseball stadium (Dudy Noble Field at Polk-Dement Stadium) complete by 2019 season
• New stadium features biggest scoreboard in college baseball, berm seating & Left Field Lounge condos
• Since 2010 MSU has spent $125.5 million on new dorms
• 150,000 SF Old Main Academic Building completed in 2017 for $41 million
• Building new Partnership School for $27.5 million
• New 7,500 SF Veteran’s Center
• $10 million 4th floor expansion of Mitchell Memorial Library
• $9.8 million renovation on historic YMCA building originally built in 1914 (July 2018)
• Brand new $18.7 million entrance that connects Poorhouse Rd & the south end of campus at Blackjack Rd