FOREST -In an important five-part Clarion-Ledger series this week, the state's largest newspaper takes a look at some of the smaller towns in Mississippi in an effort to answer the question: "Rural Mississippi - Can The State's Small Towns Be Saved?"
The answer is an unequivocal "yes."
In the town that's been my home for the last 22 years, the recipe for success has been simple - diversify, diversify, diversify. Did I mention diversification?
Those who drive through Forest for the first time likely react the same way I did years ago when the man who would become my banker, Thomas Colbert, was giving me the nickel tour on my first day in town. It was a hot June day and the aromas wafting from the poultry processing plants and feed mills were particularly pungent.
"Do you ever get used to that smell?" I asked. "Smells like money to me," Colbert laughed.
I got used to the smell, watching companies like Tyson Foods, Choctaw Maid, Lady Forest Farms and Koch Foods (formerly B.C. Rogers) provide thousands of jobs to plant workers, contract growers, truckers and a host of ancillary industry employees.
There were other smells for many years in Forest. Chef Pierre (later known as Sara Lee) had a pie factory in Forest that employed more than 500.
There was a Sunbeam small electronics plant east of Forest that closed, then was reborn in 1984 as Hughes Aircraft when the late U.S. Sen. John Stennis and former U.S. Rep. Sonny Montgomery steered the defense giant there.
The company now does business as Raytheon Systems and manufactures some of the weapons systems relied upon most by the U.S. military since the 9-11 attacks.
The most recent addition to Forest's industrial community was Nissan supplier Unipres Southeast. The high-tech auto part facility brought a new level of manufacturing sophistication to the city and kept industrial diversification in the city high.
Chicken, auto parts and missile systems. What's that smell? Jobs. Progress. Spinoff businesses. Pride. Money.
Why did Forest succeed when other cities similarly situated languished? Forest got the LEAD out.
Acronym? Yes. But stick with me .
"L" is for leadership. Forest has had a succession of mayors over the last 40 years (Fred Gaddis, Erle Johnston, Red Beard, Nancy Chambers) who understood that Job One was better jobs.
"E" is for education. Public school bond issues in Forest regularly pass with over 90 percent of the vote. The school system has produced state STAR students and teachers, state championship sports programs, all-superior band and choral programs and competitive students. Parents are involved daily.
"A" is attitude. In recruiting or retaining industries, the Forest Chamber of Commerce joined forces with municipal and county government officials, the local media and state and regional economic development officials to be competitive and believed the city could and should win its share of jobs. It did.
"D" is for development. Mayors Gaddis, Johnston and Chambers all put a priority on keeping the city looking good. Landscaping, green spaces and quality city parks, community buildings and a unique county coliseum set Forest apart from cities that don't see the value in putting a town's best foot forward.
It makes sense. Towns with visionary leaders, good public schools, a can-do attitude backed up by people who do the hard, regular work of community development will win the race for jobs.
But it begins in the public schools. Without quality schools, the race is over.
