News-Sentinel.com

Thursday, 03/18/1999

NAFTA

Interstate would be lifeblood for river town

Greenville, Miss., looks to NAFTA to lift it from depression.

By CHRISCIA JACKSON of Southwest Texas State University

GREENVILLE, Miss. — By most measures, Greenville should be a haven in a region known for its poverty.

The city of 45,000 has a busy river port, the largest commercial airport in the state of Mississippi, a rail system, fertile soil, 30 natural gas pipelines and two casinos that attract more than 3,000 bettors a day. Visitors are greeted by a picturesque welcome center resembling a Mississippi River boat, festooned with glittering lights and staffed by cheerful hostesses.

But appearances aside, the mayor and other city leaders say Greenville will wither unless it gets the one thing it has never had — an interstate highway system.

For Mayor Paul Artman, Interstate 69 is critical to his city, one of the three largest cities in the country not adjacent to an interstate highway. Greenville lies 79 miles from the nearest interstate.

"That is one of the reasons why this area of the country is so poor," Artman said. "We need to bring in new industry in order to promote economic growth. The first thing that businesses consider when contemplating whether or not to relocate to Greenville is if they can get their products out quickly."

I-69 is planned to cross the Mississippi River through the city of Rosedale, 30 miles north of Greenville. This would cut off Greenville's direct access to the highway.

Artman and other city leaders are campaigning to have I-69 cross the Mississippi at Greenville. With the interstate would come a bridge to replace the aging U.S. 82 highway bridge. That narrow, two-lane structure has been hit several times by barges, and locals say they hold their breath each time they cross it.

So far, the effort to attract the highway and the bridge has been an uphill one for the city. Rosedale has been named as the river crossing in several studies.

Greenville is not giving up.

"We formed the I-69 Task Force for Greenville as soon as we heard of the possibility of additions to the interstate system five years ago," said Ronnie Tubertini, an insurance salesman and member of the organization. "Our objective is to try to influence the crossing of the Mississippi River at Greenville.

"This is a good strategic area because of the deep slack water harbor. It's a natural for shipping things up and down the Mississippi River, and then for loading and unloading barges and transferring the goods to trucks."

Tubertini, like many pushing for the highway, returned to Greenville after college to invest his life and money into bettering his community.

"The Mississippi Delta is one of the most underdeveloped regions of the country," he said. "Industry needs an interstate. Greenville has much to offer, but no interstate system. We have to be a part of NAFTA in order to lift ourselves out of this economic depression."

Harper Young, Tubertini's business partner, president of the Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Industrial Foundation, has spent much of his time traveling around the country trying to bring jobs to Greenville. He says the road is crucial not only to bringing in new industry, but in keeping it.

In an additional effort to make the area more attractive to potential business and industry, Greenville is seeking to boost the value of its work force, nearly half of which is composed of unskilled workers.

"We have formed a partnership with Mississippi Delta Junior College outside Indianola (Miss.) to train workers," Young said. "We plan to bring in experts and highly trained workers to train unskilled workers. It is important that we treat our own people well and do things to help them prosper just as we would do for someone we would romance in to work here."

Phield Parish, president of the Port Commission and the Rotary Club, has been working with the Greenville Higher Education Center raising funds to build a $13 million academic facility to educate and train potential workers.

"The people here are not looking for handouts," said Parish. "They can and want to do things for themselves. All they need is the opportunity."

City officials say I-69 could provide that opportunity.

Greenville's inaccessibility repels not only industry but also the men and women who move America's freight.

Residents see the highway as the natural solution to their troubles. They say that while Rosedale so far is the proposed route, this battle is far from over.

"We're going to make sure that we stay visible and make sure that everyone knows that we want the road here," Artman said.