Why doesn’t the state just go ahead, close the Capitol and other official buildings and anoint Ben and Erin Napier as king and queen of Mississippi?
Do you know of anyone or any organization, public or private, getting more done for the people than the Napiers, who host a show on the Home & Garden TV network called “Home Town?”
I do not.
House by house, building by building, community by community, the Napiers are rebuilding Mississippi. It’s a slow process, but somebody’s got to do it. Their hometown of Laurel is the base for the show’s popular series that began four years ago, but plans are to expand elsewhere in the state and beyond.
The only place I’ve witnessed that has already rebuilt itself is DeSoto County, with its two economic giants of business and industry, Olive Branch and Southaven. If you’re traveling through, be prepared to think “suburb of Atlanta,” not merely Memphis.
Those cities can survive without the Napiers. They’ve remade themselves on some of the fastest population and economic growth going on in America. Of all the new business projects announced for Mississippi, it seems at least two-thirds are occurring in DeSoto County, including the burgeoning county seat of Hernando.
The rest of us in beleaguered towns across Mississippi (and there are some doozies ripe for the rebuilding) must await to be rescued by Ben and Erin, and they no doubt will charm us out of our shoes when they arrive.
To be fair, Laurel hasn’t relied strictly on the Napiers. More 20- and 30-somethings
began opening new businesses and helping to renovate not only houses but whole neighborhoods.
One immediate success story that led to Laurel’s almost overnight rejuvenation was the reopening in 2016 of The Mercantile store, of which the Napiers are part owners. The store first opened in 1901 and closed in 1930.
It should go without saying that none of this would have happened without a buy-in from locally elected officials, other business owners, a positive attitude from most of the population and a supportive newspaper, a must for inspiring community activism.
Getting involved in these endeavors isn’t what Ben and Erin intended to do in their adult lives. He was a history major who five years ago was on the staff of the First United Methodist Church in Laurel, while Erin is a graphic designer by education.
While renovating both large and small houses in Laurel, their work was noticed by the television network, setting the stage for the raved-about series.
The Napiers aren’t abandoning Laurel at all, but with that city solidly on its way toward greater prosperity, HGTV and the Napiers announced in January they were initiating an expansion of the original program.
“Home Town Takeover” will start in 2021 with six episodes featuring places with a population of 40,000 or less. (Laurel’s population at the 2010 Census was 18,540.)
Several towns in Mississippi like Booneville, Leland, Mendenhall, Petal and Vicksburg applied almost immediately, using video presentations to try to convince the network and its stars that their community was worthy of reinvention. Towns outside the state also asked to be considered.
Petal Chamber of Commerce leader Valerie Wilson told The Jackson Clarion Ledger, “There are a lot of (projects) we have in mind … I would be most interested in seeing what this group has to offer that we haven’t even considered.”
Volunteers in other towns have scrambled into action, asking “where’s that video” of local developers and elected officials.
They haven’t always gotten an answer. Some of those places might be satisfied with the status-quo.
Ah, that lovable Mississippi complacency — a condition unbeknownst to King Ben and Queen Erin.
