Columbus chamber lays out work done in 2015, goals for creating jobs in 2016

The keynote speaker for Tuesday’s State of Economic Development luncheon in Columbus, Gene Stinson laid out the traits needed for attracting employers and creating jobs in a community.

At the top of his list? “First and foremost it has to deal with the area of leadership,” said Stinson, president of the 17-state Southern Economic Development Council. “That’s a balance of public leadership from local government ... and the private sector. This would be like your business community, your chambers of commerce, civic organizations, all of those people.”

The event, held by the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce at the Columbus Convention & Trade Center, also laid out the results of 2015 and goals for 2016.

In a nutshell, according to the chamber, the area generated 250 new jobs and retained 230 more positions, with $8.7 million in capital investment from five companies. They were Ankerpak, BD&K Foods, Masterbuilt and Path-Tec in Columbus, and ITC Security in West Point, Ga.

From 2011 through 2015, the numbers are much better. There were nearly 6,200 jobs generated in the region, with total capital investment of nearly $114 million.

Bill Murphy, executive vice president of economic development at the chamber, readily acknowledged much work remains to be done. He also believes the staff is in place to accomplish that.

“Our mission is straightforward, we are here to help companies with the creation jobs from expansion and capital investment,” he said. “We’re not job creators. Jobs are created by companies and entrepreneurs who have the confidence and resources to invest in our community. The way I like to describe our role is we are confidence builders. We are problem solvers. We are gap fillers. And we are connection makers. That’s our role.”

Looking ahead to the balance of this year, Murphy said the focus will remain on developing the Regional Prosperity Initiative program that has been in the works for some time. It’s guiding principles are to increase prosperity, reduce poverty and improve quality of life.

But the core mission of the chamber and city leaders is to develop more jobs for the region in 2016. That includes cultivating more than 100 new leads into positions creating by new and existing companies and entrepreneurs. Thus far, there have been 1,100 announced jobs and $110 million in announced investment. The organization’s “program of work” also includes supporting the “Grow Benning” initiative to fill the gap left by the loss of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team at Fort Benning.

Other traits mentioned by Stinson that should help Columbus and any other community include better planning, having a quality community and economic development organization, having more available land and infrastructure for prospects to choose from, developing a workforce, retaining and expanding business with existing companies after they come to a community, and fostering entrepreneurship.

There always are obstacles and challenges in any effort a community tackles, Stinson said. That’s includes so-called “CAVE” people, he said, drawing laughs from the audience.

“Cave people are citizens against virtually everything,” he said. “And if they’re cave people, they’re probably going to be involved in the process, and don’t try to shut them down.”

Wrapping up the luncheon was Russ Carreker, chairman of the Development Authority of Columbus, who presented the 2016 Volunteer of the Year Award to Jimmy Yancey, the retired Synovus executive who has served in various community, economic and nonprofit positions over the last half century.

“Jimmy has earned the respect and admiration of, I’m sure, everybody in this room,” Carreker said. “He served as a mentor to me and I’m sure many of you as well. We often refer to him as the godfather of economic development around here, and it’s a title that has been well earned.”

Yancey, who was not at the luncheon, accepted the honor via a taped video in which he mentioned work in keeping TSYS and Aflac in Columbus, while also mining the world in general for more employers to call the Columbus area home and create jobs for its citizens.

“That’s why I like economic development,” he said. “Because if we can create good jobs, we can cure all of the problems we’ve got in this region, in the state and in this country.”

This story was originally published May 17, 2016 at 5:59 PM with the headline "Columbus chamber lays out work done in 2015, goals for creating jobs in 2016."