Experience Columbia 2023 was once again a huge success despite the weather hindering, and even stopping, some of the planned proceedings.
Storms caused some destruction that was overcome and some that was not. The ladies at Pioneer repaired the tarp for the skating rink so that show could go one, but the huge LED tree in Bluff Street Park could not be saved. Extreme cold put a damper on some of the busiest nights as well.
Visits to EC from Nov. 19 through Dec. 31 totaled 286,000 according to Lori Watts of the Marion County Development Partnership, and a preliminary economic impact numbers are a direct impact of $13,993,801 with an additional indirect impact of $8.8 million. These numbers could be revised after a review by the Mississippi State Extension office.
Watts said attendance was down a bit from last year because of the cold weather during Christmas break and the postponement of opening night after Thanksgiving. The data allows MCDP to compare daily numbers to see where the difference was made.
Watts said the economic footprint grew from 37 sq. miles in 2017 to 159 sq. miles away for this year's event, which means the city is attracting people from further away and outside the regular trade area. From 2021 to 2022, even though the numbers were down 10%, the trade area still increased slightly, meaning more people came from further away.
"We are really grateful for the people who patronized us," Jacob Harrison of Experience Columbia said. "We are looking forward to the coming years and creating an even better attraction. We employed locally more than 120 people mainly youth and some adults. We are working diligently to get everything down by the end of the month and to have Second Street open. "
Harrison wants people to let them know how they can do better and serve the community.
"Since 2018, 20 net new businesses have opened in the area from the courthouse to the post office on Main Street and between High School Avenue and Pittman Street not counting some that have opened and closed during that time," Watts said. "This appears to indicate that we have begun to achieve the goal of turning the downward spiral of our downtown vitality to an upward direction. In general, a downtown is the heartbeat of a community, making its vitality an intricate element to the success of the entire city and county. We have to remember that this is not something that is an accomplished fact and then the efforts can stop. The economic development of a community is a continuing process, to use a cliché, 'it’s a marathon, not a sprint,' so the work that’s been done is great, but we can’t stop moving forward."
