3/17/2005 - Barbour lauds teamwork in luring plant

COLUMBUS, Miss. -- Teamwork was the word Monday, March 14 as Gov. Haley Barbour signed legislation providing $100 million in state incentives to bring a new steel mill to Lowndes County. In remarks to a crowd of more than 300 people, Barbour praised the scores of state and local officials, the Tennessee Valley Authority, Kansas City Southern Railroad and others for their work to bring SteelCorr to 1,400 acres west of Columbus. “Economic development is a team sport. A few months ago, this plant was going to Arkansas, but in just a few months with hard work by so many people, we were able to turn this thing around,” Barbour said, pointing out what he called “the huge economic impact” the company will have on the region. SteelCorr plans to bring 450 high-paying jobs to a sprawling plant that will produce 1.5 million tons of rolled steel for the automotive industry. Related industries and services are expected to generate another 1,000 jobs, and as many as 1,500 workers will be needed to build the plant over 16 to 20 months. Joe Higgins, chief executive officer of the Columbus-Lowndes Development Link, who received widespread praise for his work to land the deal, said SteelCorr remains committed to trying to break ground early next month if all the final paperwork can be completed. “They (SteelCorr officials) have never wavered. I think we’ll wrap this up by then,” Higgins said. In his comments, Barbour used the bill-signing ceremony held at Golden Triangle Regional Airport to touch on a broader message including protecting taxpayers while investing in jobs for “our children and grandchildren” and convincing the state to begin looking to be the best instead of avoiding being the worst. “You protect the taxpayers when investors in the project are bearing 86 percent of the risk and the taxpayers of Mississippi have only 3 percent. The marketplace is the one supporting this enormously good project,” Barbour said. In addition to the $110 million in grants and loan guarantees, Lowndes County is putting up $10 million to buy the land and make site improvements but will get back more than $32 million in rent and in-lieu-of-tax payments over the next decade. “SteelCorr will be the most important economic development project in the country in 2005. It speaks volumes about the future of our state when a company wants to build the most modern, efficient steel plant in the world in Lowndes County, Mississippi,” Barbour said. By Steve Rogers, City Editor, The Columbus Dispatch [PHOTO: Gov. Haley Barbour, seated next to his wife, Marsha, signs legislation providing $100 million in state incentives to bring SteelCorr to Lowndes County. The ceremony was held Monday, March 14, at the Golden Triangle Regional Airport.]

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