Entrepreneurial Greenwood

Greenwood impressed me as an “Entrepreneurial Town.” It is a community that has an incredible number of entrepreneurial companies and their impact is felt throughout. I was only there for a couple of hours, but met more entrepreneurs in those two hours than I’d meet in some towns in a lifetime.

Greenwood was the Cotton Capital of the World in the 1930s and Staplcotn, a local cotton selling coop, got its start here years ago. It’s still headquartered in a beautifully redone series of old downtown buildings. They have 150 high paying jobs in the town.

Two catfish processing plants are also headquartered in Greenwood. Heartland Catfish and America’s Catch were both started here and employ 800.

But it’s not just ag that drives Greenwood today. “We grow cotton and catfish, but that is not all that we do,” said Fred Carl, founder of Viking Grill. He started the company in Greenwood with the help of 10 local investors. It’s still headquartered here and employs over 1,000.

There’s also J. J. Ferguson Sand & Gravel (construction—263 employees); The John Richard Collection (home decorating accessories—345); and Hickok Electronic Corp. (testing equipment—106). All started here and are still run from Greenwood.

I also found some very small entrepreneurial companies in Greenwood. Kornfeld’s Store is a small retail store that has been featured in national publications. It specializes in VERY large sizes. Murray Kornfeld told me, “We go up to size 84, 10x jackets, 80” belts and other big sizes. We are the biggest big and tall store in the state. I’ve got 6x tall shirts and 8 x camouflages. How do you camouflage someone that big?” I was at a loss for words as I tried to imagine someone that big in camouflage.

Cindy Tyler started The Mississippi Gift Company (www.MSGifts.com) in 1993 in Greenwood. She sells over 500 food and gift items that are made by over 120 Mississippi gourmet food companies. Today she sells her products all over the world from her catalog and website along with retail stores in Greenwood and the state capital of Jackson.

As I drove out of Greenwood I shook my head wondering how one small town like this in the depressed Delta could be so entrepreneurial. I’m going to go back to try to find out why.