CITY SALES TAX REVENUES
The City of Starkville, Mississippi
By Month as Collected at the Cash Register
(does not include 2% Restaurant Tax)

Year 2007 2008 2009 2010

Month

JANUARY 386,233.16 394,274.00 405,289.88 448,787.31
FEBRUARY 396,509.76 363,017.09 422,317.42 420,263.64
MARCH 422,294.47 482,111.99 427,565.96
APRIL 422,294.47 482,111.99 427,565.96
MAY 392,259.54 409,541.27 387,521.75
JUNE 399,577.97 406,565.45 416,409.09
JULY 388,505.02 443,649.77 413,089.75
AUGUST 480,902.06 447,356.10 458,061.08
SEPTEMBER 409,501.30 446,216.16 442,673.00
OCTOBER 411,188.94 430,809.51 406,301.93
NOVEMBER 418,301.57 403,287.62 445,490.72
DECEMBER 480,023.96 485,515.93 476,767.60

Yearly Totals

$5,007,592.22 $5,194,456.88 $5,129,054.14 $869,050.95

Monthly Average for Year

$417,299.35 $432,871.41 $427,421.18 $72,420.91

% Change
08 to 09 09 to 10

JANUARY 2.79% 10.73%

FEBRUARY 16.34% -0.49%

From NEMS360:

Columbus in U.S.’ top 10 micropolitans
by carlie.kollath

Via Twitter from Dennis:

Columbus (Miss.) tied for seventh as Top U.S. Micropolitan New & Expanded Facilities 2009, via Site Selection Magazine.

Tupelo tied for 12th.

Read the full story on Site Selection Magazine’s site. Excerpts from the press release:

• For metro areas with populations over 1 million, the Top 10 Metros for new and expanded corporate facilities for 2009, in order, were New York-Newark-Edison, N.Y./N.J./Pa.; Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Ill./Ind./Wis.; Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas; Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich.; Houston-Baytown-Sugar Land, Texas; Cincinnati-Middletown, Ohio/Ky./Ind.; Pittsburgh, Pa.; Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pa./N.J./Del.; Memphis, Tenn./Miss./Ark.; and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C./Va. and Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Va. (tied for tenth).

• In the magazine’s ranking of Top Micropolitans — cities of 10,000 to 50,000 people which cover at least one county — Statesville-Mooresville, N.C., claimed the top prize among the nation’s 576 micropolitan areas, followed by Wooster, Ohio, and Pottsville, Pa. (tied for second); Daphne-Fairhope, Ala., and Lincolnton, N.C. (tied for fourth).

• The list:

Top U.S. Micropolitans New andExpanded Facilities in 20091. Statesville-Mooresville, N.C. (20 projects)T2. Wooster, Ohio (13)T2. Pottsville, Pa. (13)T4. Daphne-Fairhope, Ala. (10)T4. Lincolnton, N.C. (10)6. Ashtabula, Ohio (9)T7. Adrian, Mich. (7)T7. Columbus, Miss. (7)T7. Batavia, N.Y. (7)T10. Cullman, Ala. (6)T10. Findlay, Ohio (6)

From: Dispatch Staff Report
February 17, 2010 4:02:00 PM

In a huge economic shot in the arm for West Point, the city’s near-idle Navistar plant has been awarded a $751.5 million contract to build more than 1,000 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles for the U.S. Marine Corps.

U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., today reported that the firm-fixed-price contract was awarded by the Marine Corps to Illinois-based Navistar Defense LLC for more than 1,000 Category I MRAP vehicles. The contract was competitively procured.

“The MRAP vehicles to be built at West Point will continue to support the strengthened U.S. military surge in Afghanistan,” Cochran, ranking Republican on the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, said in a release. “MRAPs have saved hundreds of our troops from roadside bombs, and I am proud that a significant number of them have been built in Mississippi.”

“I am also pleased that our strong West Point workforce will be part of providing the Marine Corps with these life-saving vehicles,” he said.

Full article here.

Should Cadence sell out to another bank?

THE SDN covers the resignation of two Cadence directors this AM. It’s a rehash os the SEC filing from a week ago with added comments from Lewis F. Mallory Jr., Cadence’s board chairman and CEO.

It would have been interesting to hear from the two directors who resigned.

Cadence is the only Fortune 500 headquartered in the Golden Triangle and is a Starkville success story.

Their stock (Cadence Financial Corporation) closed down 10.53% at $1.70 yesterday. That puts them at a market value of $20,252,100.

The Dispatch contacts some of the principals about CottonMills. The spin is that nothing has changed for CottonMills. If it was as close to reality as is portrayed, then why would anyone sell out?

From the article:

The layout of the proposed development, although still conceptual, also has changed, Nicholas said. He said he would provide updated site plans to The Dispatch, but those had not been received as of Saturday.

Still, Nicholas said the project is “very large.”

“It has not been scaled down,” Nicholas said. “It’s still very large. Construction costs have come down, which has really helped us.”

Greater Starkville Development Partnership President Jon Maynard had heard about the change in ownership when contacted Friday night, but hadn’t heard all of the specifics.

“Honestly, I don’t know how to see it,” Maynard said. “I haven’t talked to them enough to find out more.”

Maynard said he has a meeting Monday with Nicholas to “talk about it more directly,” but he doesn’t think the change in ownership will doom the project.

“I know they still plan to move forward,” Maynard said. “I don’t think this is a bad thing at all. (Nicholas) is the local connection and I think he can push this project forward a little more diligently.”

Nicholas attended Mississippi State University and two of his sons have graduated from MSU. A third son is enrolled there now.

“I have a lot of maroon blood in me,” Nicholas said. “That’s one of the reasons I pushed this project so hard, because I love Mississippi State and I love Starkville.”