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Visionary Businessmen The Borden Plant Property Starkville, Mississippi By: Margaret McMullen Oktibbeha County Leadership Forum May 3, 2007. Visionary Leader in his time Gail Borden, Jr. Gail Borden, Jr., creator of the first commercial process of condensing milk,
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Visionary Businessmen The Borden Plant PropertyStarkville, Mississippi By: Margaret McMullenOktibbeha County Leadership ForumMay 3, 2007
Visionary Leader in his timeGail Borden, Jr. • Gail Borden, Jr., creator of the first commercial process of condensing milk, • was born in Norwich, New York. • 1822 he was a federal surveyor in Amite County Mississippi • His commitment to Mississippi was due to his married his wife Penelope Mercer • of Amite County Mississippi. • 1829 he moved to Texas where he raised Jersey livestock. • 1856 His process of condensing milk was US patented. • 1857 He founded his first plant, The New York Condensed Milk Co. • later renamed Borden Inc. in 1968
The man Gail Borden, Jr. The memorable invention was condensed milk, • created through the invention of the vacuum pan. • It is an oddly shaped copper kettle officially designated as a "vacuum pan." • It sits in the Agricultural Hall at the Smithsonian's National Museum • of American History, a relic of the one great inventor. • By the late 1860s condensed milk had changed the dairy business from a • haphazard farmer-to-consumer operation into a major industry. Condensed • milk made Borden rich, respected and famous.
Visionary Leaders of the City Starkville • One of the area’s strongest promoters leaders to start the dairy industry in Oktibbeha County was Colonel W. B. Montgomery • Col. Montgomery had imported an exceptional herd of jersey cattle from Texas, which revolutionized the agricultural base in Oktibbeha County. • It became the backbone of the local economy. • In 1923, Dr. H. R. Ryder, came to Starkville and talked to the • Chamber of Commerce about building a dairy condenser in • Oktibbeha County.
Starkville Plant Opening • The Borden plant opened on March 12, 1926 with a two day city wide celebration that featured parades and visitors from state dignitaries.. • The Borden Plant was the largest milk condenser in the south and the • only plant of its kind south of the Mason-Dixon Line for five decades. • The Starkville Borden Plant economically revived the city almost overnight with new agriculture and industrial developments faster than any other North Mississippi town.
The Ingredients that Changed Dessert • Condensed milk: • milk reduced by evaporation, with sugar added. 1 can (14oz) = 1 quart whole milk plus 7oz of sugar. • Starkville's Borden plant was unique in that it was the only facility in the country to produce the company's line of canned sweetened condensed milk.
Marketing the Product • Borden’s trademark • Elsie the Jersey Cow • Became the Borden’s advertising trademark at the Worlds Fair in 1939 in New York
Decision to Close the Borden Plant • As the area saw the agricultural and industrial change in the 1970s; the Borden plant began trucking milk from out of state and the remaining Mississippi dairy farms suffered. • The Starkville Eagle Plant operated only 6 month out of the year due to the inability to acquire Class IV milk needed to produce condensed milk. • In July 2005, the Eagle Family Food Company made the decision to close the Starkville Plant, citing a lack of milk supply in the region and moved the production to El Paso, TX. • From 1926-1976 the Borden Steam Whistle summoned the employee and signal the start and stop time of the work day and could be heard all over Starkville over fifty years. • Future production was shifted to the Company's manufacturing plant in El Paso, Texas.
Visionary leader for the Borden Site Johnny Arnold –Tag Development • Tag Investments, based in Baton Rouge, La., recently bought the property • Johnny Arnold, a member of Tag Investments, noting Tag plans to maintain much of the existing," architectural integrity of the area”. • “The whole ‘new urbanism' is what they are projecting. Tag Development Site -4.63 acres
Borden Crossing Development Lampkin Street Southrail Railroad Montgomery Street Jackson Street Eagle Way Arnold Alley Borden Way Hogan Street
Borden Crossing • TAG is developing nearly 2 whole city blocks on the Borden Crossing. • The development will feature 32 patio homes, 40 loft units, • 174 parking spaces and 28,600 square feet of retail property. • It will include property from East Lampkin Street, South Montgomery, Hogan Street and South Jackson Street.
