ROTARY

by the first day of classes, but due to weather delays this spring, the completion date is tentatively slated for Sept. 1.

“I can't even begin to describe to you how much of a relief that's going to provide for all of those fans that are heading south after a football game,” Shaw said.

Shaw also addressed the Blackjack Road project, which will be made possible through a joint effort between the county and university.

“We're excited to be partnered with the county and see additions and enhancements with that road that goes all the way over past the shell station all the way to the west to Spring Street,” Shaw said. “We were actually talking about contractor selection within a really short period of time so that project can get started as well.”

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Many different projects are in the works around the MSU campus in terms of economic development and

Shaw focused on the redevelopment of Aiken Village during his talk at Rotary.

Shaw said the university is currently looking to develop the property into a new residence hall space complete with a mixed-use retail development.

“We are in the process of selecting a developer and looking at a brand new approach to not only residence hall space, but partnering with a private developer to have a public/ private partnership to be able to do mixed use,” Shaw said. “That side and that part of town is going to be changing and changing dramatically over the next two years as we see that happen.”

The university is looking at as much as 50,000 square feet of retail space in addition to the residence space that will feature “hundreds and hundreds of beds.”

Shaw said he hopes to get approval from the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL) board at its August meeting so the project can move forward.

“What we're looking at is making that a transformative part of the town by linking that with properties further to the south all the way to The Mill and other properties on that piece to really change that corridor for the positive in terms of the opportunity for economy development,” Shaw said.

Another piece of property the university now owns and hopes to develop is a tract just east of The Mill Conference Center.

“That's probably, if I were to choose one parcel of land in the entire Starkville and Oktibbeha County area, that's probably the most premium space we could possibly have and therefore, with it being premium space, we want to be careful because we will only get one shot,” Shaw said.

Shaw also presented economic development news about the Thad Cochran Research, Technology and Economic Development Park.

The university is actively recruiting new companies for the park and Shaw urged Rotarians to visit the park before it undergoes future changes.

“If you have not had the opportunity to go out there and see what's happening, I can not encourage you strongly enough to go out there now because in just a couple year's time, it's going to be a completely different experience with some of the things from an expansion standpoint.”

Shaw said the university added two new companies to its portfolio at the park in the past year and is looking at the possibility of several more.

PARTNERSHIP SCHOOL

Education has been on the minds of leaders at MSU and the StarkvilleOktibbeha Consolidated School District as both prepare for the opening of the new Partnership School.

Shaw said there is excitement for the opening and the possibilities to come not only for MSU students, but the school district.

“We have seen a few delays because of the rain, but the feeling on our campus is palpable in terms of the optimism about this being an agent for change and having the opportunity to work with a great school district and see both of us benefit tremendously,” he said.

While he said the SOCSD will be an obvious beneficiary of the project, he said MSU will be the big winner because of the opportunities offered to students.

“The opportunity for us to actually have classrooms in the facility and for our students to be able to learn the conceptual ideas behind curriculum and instructing, then go right down the stairs and see it actually implemented will change the way we do education here in the state of Mississippi,” Shaw said.

DRONE RESEARCH AND NOTORIETY

Another talking point Shaw said has generated interest on campus is the notoriety being brought to MSU by unmanned aircraft research.

Shaw said MSU was selected this spring as the test site for the Department of Homeland Security for testing of all unmanned aircraft.

“Anything they think about doing with unmanned aircraft will be tested right here in the state of Mississippi,” Shaw said.

He then highlighted the attention brought to the university by Fox News, which spent over 48 hours on campus in recent weeks to profile drone research.

“They were so impressed and as they were leaving said ‘we will be back,'” Shaw said. “You can't pay for that kind of positive press.”