May 24, 2015

Salute to Industry
Training Ground

The Center for Manufacturing Technology Excellence......8

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SALUTE TO INDUSTRY

 SALUTE TO INDUSTRY

ON THE COVER: Golden Triangle Development LINK CEO Joe Max Higgins on the site
of the incoming Communiversity, a $38 million EMCC workforce training facility that
will serve the Golden Triangle.

ADVERTISER INDEX
4-County Electric Power Association..................................................... 12
Airbus Helicopters................................................................................. 11
Baptist Memorial Hospital Golden Triangle......................................... 9
Burns Dirt Construction........................................................................... 5
Cash & Carry Building Supply................................................................. 4
Columbus Brick Company..................................................................... 19
Columbus Light & Water......................................................................... 7
The Clinic at Elm Lake............................................................................. 4
Columbus Diesel Service....................................................................... 17
DPM Fragrance...................................................................................... 20
East Mississippi Community College........................................................ 2
Ecolab................................................................................................... 18
Evans Plumbing & Air Conditioning......................................................... 6
Falcon Lair............................................................................................... 4
Flexsteel Industries.................................................................................. 5
Industrial Fire Protection........................................................................ 20
The Golden Triangle Development LINK................................................. 3
Golden Triangle Regional Airport............................................................. 9
Greater Starkville Development Partnership............................................. 7
Gulf States Manufacturers...................................................................... 13
Mid-South Signs.................................................................................... 20
Mississippi University for Women.......................................................... 19
Neel-Shaffer............................................................................................ 9
Newell Paper Company........................................................................... 5
PACCAR Engine Company....................................................................... 6
Puckett-McGee Electric Supply................................................................ 9
Quality Inn............................................................................................ 12
Southern Ionics........................................................................................ 4
Southwire.............................................................................................. 19
Steel Dynamics...................................................................................... 18
Superior Catfish..................................................................................... 18
Thad Cochran Research, Technology & Economic Development Park.... 12
Tronox................................................................................................... 23
Valmet................................................................................................... 24
Waste Pro USA........................................................................................ 5
Wheeler Roofing................................................................................... 20
Yokohama Tire Corporation................................................................... 13

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The Clinic at
Elm Lake

Personalized Medical Care for a Healthy, Happy, Strong YOU!

We are proud
supporters of local
industry and workers.
Certified DOT Medical Examiners

Were proud to be a part of the growing economy of

Lowndes County for the past 51 years, and we welcome
new industry and salute the already successful!!

Stephanie M. Gale
CFNP

CALL FOR A SAME DAY APPOINTMENT

WORK CARE & PRIMARY CARE
662.240.9999
3700 North Frontage Road Columbus, MS
www.elmlakeclinic.com

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1-866-508-3537 328-5776 1120 Gardner Blvd. Columbus

The Dispatch

t
u
o
k
c
e
h
Come cgeous pool
our gor tub!
& hot
e
Smok
Free
6
In 201

625 31st Avenue North

(Behind K-Mart Off Hwy. 45 North)

662-329-2544
Office Hours Mon-Fri 8-5

www.falconlairapts.com

SUMMER MOVE-IN SPECIALS

GOING ON NOW!!!

 SALUTE TO INDUSTRY

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SUNDAY, MAY 24, 2015

The Dispatch

208 INDUSTRIAL PARK RD STARKVILLE, MS 662.323.5483 Ext. 249

Thursday and Friday 8:00 - 5:00 Saturday 8:00 - 2:00

The Dispatch

Proud
To Work
With Area
Industry
Demolition | Site Work | Storm Damage | Grading

57 Burns Drive | Columbus, MS 39702 | (662) 329-3703

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WE ARE ZERO HEROES

In 2014, PACCAR Engine Company recycled
1,206 tons of Plastic, Cardboard, Paper and Wood.

The Dispatch

Total Waste Recycled: 86%

Total Waste to Energy: 14%

 SALUTE TO INDUSTRY

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SALUTE TO INDUSTRY

TRAINING GROUNDS
By ANDREW HAZZARD | ahazzard@cdispatch.com

Communiversity aims to attract, grow industry in Golden Triangle

he Golden Triangle is growing.
A decade ago, engineers, chemists
and other skilled laborers from the
area would get their degrees and leave for
a place they could better use them. An
influx of business and industry, though,
changed that. Now the area needs as many
skilled workers as possible. And it needs
them now.
The first batch was a whole lot easier
to find than the last, Scott Blue, plant
manager at PACCAR, said when asked
about finding skilled labor.
Local developers recognized the problem.
Golden Triangle Development LINK
CEO Joe Max Higgins brought on Dr.
Malcom Portera, former Chancellor of the
University of Alabama and president of
Mississippi State University, who worked
as a workforce development consultant in
2013. Portera offered a solution.
For the whole three counties, he said
your Achilles heel is going to be workforce
development, Higgins recalled Portera
telling him. He said, Im envisioning a
place where youth are inspired to work.
Enter Communiversity, formally known as
the Center for Manufacturing Technology
Excellenece 2.0, a joint venture between
East Mississippi Community College and the
Golden Triangle Development LINK. The
$38 million, 133,690-square-foot, threestory structure will house 15 manufacturing,
technology and engineering educational
bays triple the amount currently offered
at EMCCs CMTE 1.0. Higgins said the
facility may be able to house as many as 25
bays; he is currently pursuing private money
to contribute more training bays.
Thats where the rubber hits the road,
Higgins said of the work bays.
Communiversity has $31.5 million raised
thus far. The state legislature has put in
$18 million over the past two sessions.
Locally, Lowndes County put in $10 million;
Oktibbeha County contributed $2.5 million;

and Clay County approved $1 million

toward the project. Higgins said $6.1
million remains, but that money is expected
to come from the federal government.
The building will be located at the Golden
Triangle Global Industrial Aerospace Park,
right by the airport. Higgins hopes it is the
first thing visitors see.
We picked that spot for the wow factor
going into GTR, and now were going to
push, push, push, Higgins said.
Construction on the project is slated to
begin in August 2016. Local industries are
excited about that.
I think it fits directly in line with us,
other local industries and any companies
thinking of coming in the future, Blue said.
And they will come.
His company, PACCAR, now employs

Courtesy image

more than 500 people at its Lowndes

County plant. Blue said his workers will
be able to go back to the Communiversity
to train with new technologies as their
business grows.
Communiversity is one of the final
projects put into motion by EMCC
president Dr. Rick Young, who is retiring
June 30. For his replacement, Dr. Thomas
Huebner, it was a bonus.
Its one of the things thats very
attractive to me about EMCC, Huebner
said. Its on the cutting edge of industry
and technology.
Huebner is coming to EMCC from
Shelton State Community College in
Tuscaloosa, a school with a reputation
for producing skilled manufacturers and
educating students in mechatronics, an

interdisciplinary field of engineering.

I dont think its a coincidence that
they hired someone from Shelton State,
Higgins said.
Technology in manufacturing is
changing at as fast a rate as anything in
the world, Huebner said. Understanding
that technology requires constant
retraining and education.
Communiversity is about looking ahead
and preparing for the unknown changes that
the industrial world will surely experience
in years to come. Whatever those adaptions
are, the LINK and local businesses think
EMCC will be able to ready the work force
in the Golden Triangle.

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SALUTE TO INDUSTRY

SUNDAY, MAY 24, 2015

Connecting North Mississippi

to the World

So, you CAN get there

(or there or there) from here.
GTR Airport is the only airport in North Mississippi still providing worldwide connections.
Located close to home with nearby parking, convenient check-in and free Wi-Fi,
GTR Airport is whats right about travel.

Golden Triangle
Regional Airport
WWW.GTRA.COM

Puckett-McGee
Electric Supply

A LOCALLY-OWNED ELECTRICAL SUPPLY COMPANY

for over 75 years

We salute local industries

for their hard work
and dedication.

For your patronage,

we say thank you.
James Gibson, Owner
715 6th Street South, Columbus, MS 39701
662-328-5151 Fax 662-329-1842

The Dispatch

SQUARE D
PREMIER
DISTRIBUTOR

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YOKOHAMA RECEIVES TOP HONOR, MAKES DONATIONS

AT EMCC INDUSTRY APPRECIATION LUNCHEON

MAYHEW Yokohama Tire Manufacturing

Mississippi stole the show at East Mississippi
Community Colleges 2015 Industry
Appreciation Luncheon.
The Japanese tire manufacturer, preparing
to open its 1 million-square-foot Clay County
factory this fall, received the Directors Award,
the events highest honor. YTMM President
Tad Yamamoto delivered a progress report on
the plant and checks for $250,000 to EMCC
and Mississippi State University.
Other honorees included PACCAR Engine
Company, which took home the Best
Practices Award, and special recognition for
Randy Kelly of The Mississippi Partnership,
and Wanda Land, who is retiring from the
Mississippi Development Authority.
We need people with more than just the
ability to work hard. We need people who
can think and solve problems. And thats
what all the people in this room are working
toward, said Dr. Raj Shaunak, vice president
of EMCCs Manufacturing Technology and
Engineering division.
In presenting YTMM with the Directors
Award for the highest level of recognition
through workforce training, demonstrating
management excellence with superior
outcomes, continuing to improve and build
upon outstanding results and excellent
systems and deploying world-class processes,
Shaunak said EMCC looks forward to a very
long relationship with the company.
He said the $250,000 YTMM presented
to EMCC will provide scholarships to
eleventh and twelfth grade students to take
MTE division credit courses, particularly
in the recently added electro-mechanical
and mechatronics programs, as well as
manufacturing summer camps for sixth
grade students.
We need every business in this room,
government as well as private business,
to expose these students to real work
environments, said Shaunak.
Some of the money donated by YTMM will

Special to The Dispatch | EMCC Public Relations

also be used to bolster manufacturing training

at EMCCs West Point Center.
During his progress report, Yamamoto
said the YTMM plant should be operational
sometime in October, producing about 1
million truck and bus tires per year with a staff
of around 500 employees.
Explaining the rationale behind locating
the YTMM plant in Clay County, Yamamoto

said the company looked at 3,000 U.S.

counties, including 116 in the Southeast,
before settling on Clay County due to cost,
available workforce, government incentives
and Southern hospitality.
As of April, YTMM had hired 180
employees, with more than half having been
trained at EMCC.
EMCC President Dr. Rick Young, who is

retiring in June, took one final opportunity

to brag about the Workforce Services team
at EMCC, which worked in concert with the
Golden Triangle Development LINK to bring
Yokohama to Clay County.
Our Workforce training team is among
the best in the nation, without a doubt. And
our success is the communitys success,
said Young.

Yokohama Tire Manufacturing Mississippi presented East Mississippi Community Colleges Workforce Services Division a donation of $250,000
during EMCCs Golden Triangle campus Industry Appreciation Luncheon. (from left) Dr. Raj Shaunak, vice president for EMCCs Manufacturing
Technology and Engineering Division; Osama Zushi, YTMM executive vice president of EVP manufacturing and technology; Tad Yamamoto, YTMM
president; Debby Gard, EMCC vice president for the Lion Hills Center; Joe Cook, EMCC assistant dean for EMCCs MTE Division; Susan Baird,
assistant dean for EMCCs MTE Division; Alan Easome, YTMM senior director of new plant development; Mitzi Thompson, director of EMCCs
West Point Center; Dennis Dorvilliers, YTMM engineering manager; and Dr. Rick Young, EMCC president. | Image courtesy EMCC Public Relations

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East Mississippi Community Colleges

26th Annual Industry Appreciation Luncheon
Photos Luisa Porter & Mark Wilson | Dispatch Staff

(top left) Wanda Land receives an East Mississippi Community College Workforce Services Special Recognition Award from EMCC President Dr. Rick Young (left) and Vice President for EMCCs
Manufacturing Technology and Engineering Division, Dr. Raj Shaunak. | (top right) Shaunak and Young present representatives for Yokohama Tire Manufacturing Mississippi (L-R) Alan Easome,
YTMM senior director of new plant development; Tad Yamamoto, YTMM president; Osama Zushi, YTMM executive vice president of EVP manufacturing and technology, and Dennis Dorvilliers,
YTMM engineering manager with the Directors Award. | (bottom left) Young and Shaunak present representatives for PACCAR Engine Company Kim Decker, Jason Barlow, Lance Walters and
Scott Blue with the Best Practices Award. | (bottom left) Young and Shaunak present representatives for The Mississippi Partnership (L-R) Bobby Smith, Gary Golden, Courtney Rackley and
Jessica Jordan.with a Special Recognition Award on behalf of Randy Kelly.

 SALUTE TO INDUSTRY

(right) 2d Lt Lauren Woods, Col John Nichols, and CMSGT

Rita Felton of Columbus Air Force Base; (below) David Pierce,
John Fairley of Southern Ionics; (below right) Carla Lowery and
Andrea Stevens of Mississippi University for Women

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(above left) Melinda and Rick Young; (above right) Steve Grice and Mike Taquino of Mississippi State Universitys nSPARC and Wanda Land of the Mississippi Development Authority
(below left) Kevin Baird and Jim Bearden of EMCC; (below right) Rebecca Hunt and Bill Brown of BankFirst

SALUTE TO INDUSTRY

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The Dispatch

COLUMBUS

DIESEL SERVICE
383 Island Road P.O. Box 704 Columbus, MS

662-328-6040 800-748-8960
DIESEL ENGINES

ENGINE PARTS FUEL INJECTION

TURBOCHARGERS
GENERATOR SETS DRIVE-IN SERVICE

(above) Joanna Alford of EMCC and Eric Blake of Jesco

(below) Joshua Carroll and Gary Gammill of EMCC

Friendly City
Mini-Warehouses

662.327.4236 friendlycitymini.com

For all your

residential and
commercial
storage needs.

Highway 45 North
Near Walmart
Well-lit driveways
Variety of sizes to meet your needs
Disc locks and insurance available

East Columbus
Gated and fenced with keypad entry
Well-lit driveways
Variety of sizes to meet your needs
Disc locks and insurance available

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Two Convenient Warehouse Locations

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SALUTE TO INDUSTRY

Manufacturing Brick since 1890

Serving The Southeast

For Over 125 Years.

MUW, Columbus Hall

Built 1896 by Puckett and Lindamood Builders.
114 Brickyard Road Columbus, MS 39705
Like Us on Facebook 662.328.4931 ColumbusBrick.com

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SUNDAY, MAY 24, 2015

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SALUTE TO INDUSTRY

A Family Business
Since 1946

Doug Wheeler &

Jason Wheeler

Wheeler Roofing, Inc.

Commercial & Residential

Shingles Single Ply Roof Systems

Roof Repairs of All Types Licensed, Bonded & Insured
Proudly Serving the Golden Triangle for 68 Years

1218 Military Rd. Columbus, MS

328-3625 or 328-7612

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 SALUTE TO INDUSTRY

(right) Sharon Oswald, Jack McCarty, Jason Keith and Nathan

Moore from Mississippi State University; (below) Tad Yamamoto of
Yokohama Tire Manufacturing Mississippi and Rick Young;
(below right) Paul Miller, Bubba Hudspeth and Mickey Stokes of EMCC

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(above left) Gregory Stewart of Aurora

Flight Sciences and Stuart Vance;
(above right) Mickey Stokes of EMCCScooba, Dr. Bruce Hanson and Mitzi
Thompson of EMCC-West Point;
(right) Dr. Rick Young

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