Starkville and Mississippi State will be hosting the County Government Workshop for the Mississippi Association of Supervisors for the first time in October 2008. The Greater Starkville Development Partnership contributed to the decision for Starkville to host the workshop.Arma Salazar, vice president of tourism and retirement development for the GSDP, said the organization’s goal is to improve the city’s economy.
Salazar said the partnership is made up of three entities: the Chamber of Commerce, Oktibbeha Economic Development Authority and the Starkville Convention and Visitor’s Bureau.
“The partnership is here to build the economic well-being of the business community,” she said.
She also said that the partnership tries to promote Starkville in a way to bring in more jobs and to help build the economy.
Salazar said Starkville was chosen as the 2008 location for the conference after a presentation by the GSDP at the Mississippi Society of Association Executives conference.
The MSAE conference is an opportunity for businesses, cities and other associations to display what they have to offer to potential clients and people looking for places to have conferences and other meetings, Salazar said.
Student Association President J.R. Love, who is involved with the Chamber of Commerce, said the partnership is interested in what students want around the city.
“Their overall goal is to positively impact Starkville,” Love said.
If this conference is successful, Starkville may be more likely to host similar events in the future.
“Our immediate goal is to get Starkville out there as a meeting place,” Salazar said.
One reason that the Starkville area is appealing for conferences is because of the presence of Mississippi State, she said.
“College towns are always a desirable place,” Salazar said.
Having a university near the town means that there are a wider variety of different venues such as eateries and local stores for shopping, she said.
A college town includes many different cultures in one area, Salazar said. Having all of this available in Starkville creates an ideal location for conferences, benefiting both the city and the college.
Starkville mayor Dan Camp plans to have the Hilton Garden Inn and Suites built by 2008, which may help with the former housing problem. Camp said that a conference of this size has not been held in Starkville partly because of its shortage of facilities.
“We hope [that] by 2008 we will have adequate hotels,” he said. “I think in the past there’s been a lack of quality hotel rooms and conference rooms.”
Salazar said the new Hilton Garden Inn and Suites would include a large conference room, which would be helpful for the Mississippi Association of Supervisors conference.
Salazar said that since the conference will be held during the week, it would especially benefit businesses. Typically, restaurants and hotels would not receive this kind of volume with the exception of football game weekends, she said.
“It will bring in revenue Monday through Wednesday on typical non-tourism weekdays,” Salazar said.
Camp said that MSU would directly benefit from the conference.
The university, along with other groups, receives a percentage of the sales tax from hotel rooms. Hosting the conference will fill up hotels, thus boosting the amount that the university receives from the sales tax, he said.
Camp also said that MSU uses the money for enhancement of student activities.
“This [conference] is an economic stimulator. Mississippi State will be getting benefits and students will certainly be sharing in those benefits,” Camp said.
Salazar said that since this is the first time for Starkville to host this conference, the first impression is important.
“Hopefully this will set the tone for additional conferences of this type to come here,” Camp said.