HATTSBURG, Miss. (WDAM) – With two college campuses in Hattiesburg welcoming students back to campus, business is set to boom.
“There are over 26,000 college students within a 30-mile radius ten months out of the year, which obviously has a huge financial impact,” said Todd Jackson, executive director of Area Development Partnership (ADP).
With such a large influx of students, families and other visitors, many local businesses experience a dramatic increase in sales during the school year.
“Summers are pretty slow,” said Payton Wilson, manager at Accents of Midtown. “Everyone at Southern and William Carey has gone home. When school starts again we see a good surplus of girls coming in and shopping for Greek stuff, moms, birthdays, girls nights out. It stays pretty consistent.”
More students mean more jobs. Some students want to earn extra money throughout the year and get a job while they’re in town.
“These are probably the most applications I’ve submitted, and I’m grateful to be able to get many more employees back,” said Kathleen Sick, manager at Campus Book Mart.
Whether the student is in front of or behind the counter, students are a significant driver of Hub City’s growing economy.
“Our local economy here in Hattiesburg has about $2 billion in annual retail sales, which is a staggering amount of retail sales and is largely driven by the education sector and the students who come here,” Jackson said.
Hattiesburg has some of the highest concentrations of Millennials and Gen Z in the Southeastern United States, according to ADP.
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