After a year in operation in Columbia, the management of Nelson Wholesale has nothing but good things to say about the community.
“Really and truly, you’ve got a wonderful city. I’m so impressed with your community and your people, and we’re glad to be a part of it,” John Harkey Sr., owner of the pet supply distributor, said at a ribbon cutting Tuesday.
The Marion County Development Partnership sponsored the event at the industrial facility on Evergreen Street off Mississippi 13, and political and business leaders helped welcome the company.
Nelson Wholesale is based in Brownwood, Texas, a city of about 19,000 between Abilene and Austin. It opened exactly one year ago Friday in Columbia after relocating its second distribution center from Ponchatoula, La.
Nelson made an initial capital investment of $2 million into the facility and employs 20 people here.
“Using the multiplier effect that we economic developers use to measure how one company affects an entire community, Nelson Wholesale’s move is projected to create in total direct and indirect jobs more than 60 jobs and an additional input of more than $2.6 million into the local economy through increased wages every year,” Lori Watts of the MDCP said. “That’s if they just keep those first 20 jobs. As they grow, that effect will grow also, and they are already growing.”
Watts gave a history of the recruitment effort of Nelson and thanked local and state forces who helped land the deal.
Although a native Texan, Harkey has ties to Mississippi through his wife, Lucy, a Kosciusko native and Ole Miss graduate.
“You don’t take a Mississippian out of Mississippi very long,” Harkey said. “She’s so glad that we have now migrated to her home state.”
He’s a former Air Force jet fighter pilot, and his company employs 120 in total. The Texas division is in Brownwood and the Southeast division in Columbia. Both serve independent pet centers and farm and feed stores in a 450-mile radius. That service area spans from New Mexico to the Florida panhandle. They carry 10,000 products from 187 different manufacturers. Employees at the Columbia center assemble pallets of supplies based on customers’ orders, and trucks pick those up to deliver to stores.
“We would not be here if it were not for Jerry (Frazier) and Lori. You all are an asset beyond belief. Thank you for the hospitality,” Harkey said. “We came in and we looked at this facility and we thought, ‘My goodness. It’s too big. It’s just more than we need.’ But they opened up their offices, they opened up everything. Thank you both. You represent Marion County so well.”
Marion County Board of Supervisors President Calvin Newsom and Columbia Mayor Justin McKenzie also gave brief remarks thanking the company for coming here.
“We hope that this facility is filled to capacity very soon,” McKenzie said.
Pictured Above: John Harkey Sr., owner of Nelson Wholesale, smiles after cutting the ribbon Thursday for the pet supply distribution center in Columbia. To Harkey’s right is Marion County Board of Supervisors President Calvin Newsom and to his left is company President Cody Richmond. | Photo by Charlie Smith
