Quint Studer says Columbia reminds him of Janesville, Wisconsin, another town he has worked with on building up its community.
Not because of the culture or weather, but because residents from both cities tend to define themselves based on what they’re near.
“You say, ‘What’s the best part about living in Janesville?’ ‘It’s close to other places. We can get out easily.’ And I think you remind me of that,” the author and consultant said to a group of community leaders Thursday at the Magnolia Grille. “’What do you like about living here?’ ‘It’s close to Hattiesburg. Get to Jackson. Get to Gulfport. Really you can get to New Orleans.’
“I think if I wanted to get to Hattiesburg I would live in Hattiesburg. I think Hattiesburg should say, ‘We’re close to Columbia, Mississippi, and it’s a quaint little town and you will not believe it. And that’s where you’ve got to get, and that’s where you’ve got to live.’”
Studer, 68, found success in the hospital industry and has been working for the past 11 years to revitalize downtown Pensacola, Fla. He spoke over lunch Thursday before headlining the Marion County Development Partnership’s annual banquet that evening.
Studer shared poll results of Columbia citizens and stories about successes they’ve had in Pensacola.
He said they’ve started a program where mothers get information to build their baby’s brain when they are born at the hospital. He said the goal is to help development up to age 3, attacking the education problem at its source rather than through symptoms like a high dropout rate. He said it only costs $12 to $25 per child, and a University of Chicago study found that moms rated 6.5 out of 10 about how to help their baby’s brain develop before the program and then 9.5 afterward.
He said small and mid-sized towns are dying because the talent is going to big cities. He said institutions that traditionally drove growth like locally owned banks and media aren’t in most towns anymore either, noting it was unusual for Columbia to have that.
The town also rated well in the poll on residents’ perception of the education system and of the willingness of getting wealthy people to invest in the community.
Despite the struggles for small towns, Studer said reverse migration is beginning where people in big cities are starting to have families and want to move out. But he said they don’t want to give it all up, and communities need good restaurants, things to do on the weekend and a diversity of places to live like condos and apartments.
Studer said Columbia will never be completely separate from Hattiesburg, with its universities, stores and downtown reinvention, but can carve its own place.
“You can both do well. You’ll never be a Hattiesburg, but they can’t be you,” he said.
Pictured Above: Quint Studer talks to community leaders Thursday during a luncheon at the Magnolia Grille. The consultant later spoke at the Marion County Development Partnership annual meeting. | Photo by Charlie Smith
