Chamber of Commerce's Fiscal Review Shows Strong Growth in 2017

With an abundance of shops, restaurants, bars, and museums, Oxford and Lafayette County provides a getaway experience for locals and out-of-towners alike. That experience, in turn, relates directly to economic growth. 
The LOU’s Chamber of Commerce released a review of the 2017 fiscal year that showed positive growth regarding job creation, retail sales, tourism and population.

Two of the most exceptional statistics were the creation of 1,600 brand new jobs and a $1.2 billion total retail gain, the highest in county history. 
“If we’re adding jobs, we’re adding quality jobs,” said Jon Maynard, president and CEO for the Oxford-Lafayette County Economic Development.
Lafayette was the highest grossing county in retail sales in the state, Maynard said, which was $157 million more than the previous year.
The report also indicated Lafayette County’s average wage is $2,443 above the state of Mississippi’s average, $39,950. Maynard said it is still nowhere near the national average, but it is higher than most surrounding counties.
As Lafayette County’s economic growth rises, so does its total population. Maynard said the county’s population has grown 2 percent each year since the 80s, with a current population of 54,374.
“It doesn’t sound like much, but the reality is the fact that it is consistent and steady growth,” Maynard said. “When you compare Lafayette County against most of the other counties in the state we are way ahead.”
Tourism as a Revenue Source
Since June 1, 1983 there has been a 2 percent tax on both the gross proceeds of room rents (hotels and motels) and restaurants for retail sales of prepared food, beer and alcoholic beverages, according to Mississippi’s Department of Revenue, 
These taxes create a revenue for the city of Oxford and Lafayette County. Visitors to Oxford spent $174 million in the 2017 fiscal year, an increase of 13.3 percent from the year prior, Visit Oxford reports. 
Oxford experienced economic growth above the national average from 2011 to 2016, which landed Oxford on The Walton Family Foundation’s ‘best list’. 
From 2011 to 2016 job growth averaged 4.4 percent and wage gains averaged 6.2 percent, vastly outstripping the U.S. averages of 1.7 percent and 4.1 percent, respectively, over the same period, the Foundation’s research found. 
For more information on The Walton Family Foundation research, read ‘Oxford Makes ‘Best List’ for Economic Growth above the National Average’ and ‘Micropolitan Success Stories from the Heartland,’ page 20.

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By Talbert Toole, associate editor of HottyToddy.com. He can be reached at talbert.toole@hottytoddy.com.