On September 8-10 Springfield community leaders will travel to Tupelo, Mississippi for the 18th annual community leadership visit.

As with previous visits, our goal is to learn from the experiences of another community and bring back ideas that will benefit the Springfield region.  This year, we will learn more about the way Tupelo approaches economic development and, in particular,  the way they are transitioning into a new type of economy.   As part of that transition, Tupelo was recently successful in working to locate a Toyota auto assembly plant in northeast Mississippi – a competitive win that resulted in significant national attention.   For the two-day leadership visit, we are planning to develop the agenda around:

·         The collaboration of the region’s education institutions to support workforce development; 

·         Tupelo’s focus on regional cooperation;

·         Their economic development efforts that focus on providing support to existing businesses; and

·         Their efforts at defining a distinct image that must often overcome preexisting perceptions of the region.