A collection of industrial prospects looking at Greenwood as a location would add more than 500 jobs if they establish operations in the community.
That’s one of the pieces of information presented during a Greenwood-Leflore-Carroll Economic Development Foundation board meeting on Tuesday.
The foundation members heard reports on workforce development activities, prospects for company expansion or new company location to Greenwood and the current status of Greenwood’s oldest industrial partner, Hickok Waekon, a tool manufacturing company that was first established in town in 1928.
The foundation’s executive director, Angela Curry, updated those present on several prospective businesses the EDF has worked on bringing to the area or has worked to develop within the area.
At the top of the list was Milwaukee Tool’s already announced intention to soon offer 300 new jobs, bringing its total up to over 1,000. Milwaukee Tool is working on a third facility at the moment, in a building bought by the city and leased back to the company.
“We have met on several occasions recently, and they have said this is just the beginning,” Curry said.
Other prospects include “Project Ralph,” a rail repair company looking to locate in the Greenwood Industrial Park, where it would employ as many as 100 workers. The project is currently on hold by the Mississippi Development Authority.
“Project Que,” a project that has been approved and will provide up to 200 jobs, is currently waiting on word from Gov. Phil Bryant to formalize its plans for locating in Leflore County. An announcement is expected by the end of the year, Curry said.
“Project Gingerbread,” a food/bakery type project that could create 200 jobs over five years, is currently on hold with Mississippi Development Authority.
“Project Hammock,” a plastics company that would bring 50 to 70 jobs to the area, is waiting on feedback from Delta Council.
And plans for “Project Bright,” an LED lighting manufacturer that has chosen Greenwood for its new location, should be formally announced in the next several weeks. The company has committed to 25 jobs within three years and a $3 million investment.
“Altogether, we have 525 jobs coming to Leflore County,” Curry said.
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Rick Allen of Hickok Waekon introduced his company to industrial board members who might not know about it. First established in Greenwood in 1928, the company has been operating quietly out of its buildings on Carrollton Avenue near the cemetery since 1945. Before that, it was located on Henry Street, where its workers made radio testing equipment, then on Howard Street, where the Super Soul Shoppe now stands.
“Our company was the first one that employed women in industrial jobs in Leflore County,” Allen said.
In the company’s early years, women manufactured testing equipment during the months when their children were in school and male engineers came in and worked on product design during the summer months.
In the 1970s and ’80s, the company began making electronic test equipment for automobiles and continues to develop and manufacture testing devices for cars as well as gauges for aircraft and other specialized testing and measurement devices.
On June 1, Hickok Waekon’s largest public stockholder was able to take the company private, according to Allen. Currently the company employs 75 people with 37 located at the Greenwood facility.
“Back during the two world wars, that number was about 200,” Allen said.
Currently, the company is aimed at breaking into the contract manufacturing business, taking designs for products from other businesses and fabricating them in their machine shop.
“We do delicate assemblies for very specialized equipment as well as making larger objects,” Allen said.
The last few months have been the best on record for the company in the last 15 years, and though Allen doesn’t expect to sustain that growth indefinitely, he is working hard to grow the contract manufacturing arm of the business.
He asked business owners to consider the company when they have a specialized product that needs to be made. He emphasized that Hickok Waekon tries to use other local businesses when it needs specialized services, such as getting Greenwood’s Lawrence Printing Company to create labeling on tools it manufactures.
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Also addressing the foundation was Todd Donald of the Charles W. Capps Technology Center in Indianola.
The Capps Center is a workforce training center of Mississippi Delta Community College, strategically located to meet the needs of workers and businesses across the Delta.
Capps provides critical career and technical skills training for area workers.
Donald said Capps also creates financial incentives for business owners and executives by providing reimbursement for various types of workforce training. For example, if employees need specialized credentialing or certification, Capps can provide reimbursement for part of that cost to the employer.
Activity at Capps has increased exponentially since 2015 when it had 14,684 clients to 43,000 clients served in the last fiscal year. Training reimbursements during that time have nearly tripled.
Both Curry and Tony Sinclair, board chair, emphasized the importance of continuing efforts to certify potential employees to demonstrate job readiness, so that when new companies come into the community they can be assured they will have qualified employees to fill their jobs.
Curry said that while much of the attention of the foundation is on bringing new industry, it’s also important to continue growth by providing economic development tools to existing employers.
• Contact Kathryn Eastburn at 581-7235 or keastburn@gwcommonwealth.com.
