Defining the "New South"
Toyota in our Area
Our Bright Future
Railroad Roots
Believe in Amory!
Location/Maps
Suburban Features
Neighbors & Friends
Photo Tours
Neighboring Towns
For History Lovers
Additional Facts
Resources/Websites
Welcome to Amory – Progressive Neighbors in an Oasis for Families

NauticStar, local boat builder, the Watsons, an Amory sports star and an Eagle Scout, Friday night at a Panther game, the Farmer's Market with Mississippi produce, and Saturday at Bill's – do you want your burger "with or without?"

Monroe County and Northeast Mississippi define today's "New South." We embrace our unique history, tradition, our charm and "Southern Hospitality" while being free from urban problems and issues, but with a "progressive approach" to growth, city planning, and how the world is changing. This makes for a community that is thriving and growing with the earmarks of a place in which people and families want to settle.

You don't need to take our word for it. Toyota (along with many supplier companies) chose our area for its 8th US manufacturing plant (circa 2008-2009) to build Prius – a car so popular that Toyota is considering creating a brand for it similar to their Scion and Lexus divisions. According to the President/CEO of the Community Development Foundation (CDF), based in Tupelo, "Monroe County is in the 60 mile circle of where things will happen."

Plus, in Monroe County 12 companies will invest $1.2 Billion here between 2009-2011 – high-paying jobs and a growing tax base will be the result, which will create a foundation for civic growth and improvement that we will build upon into the next decades. We are a thriving small community on the rise with an extremely bright future.

We are literally in the geographic center between Birmingham and Memphis, Heather and Debra co-chaired our 30th Railroad Festival, and this barge is in our "Lock & Dam" on the important Tombigbee Waterway, which created
our Amory Lake

Amory was founded as a railroad town due to being at the exact center between Birmingham and Memphis. With the irony of rail and water transport coming back as an alternative to trucking and its high gas prices, as well as both being ideal for the transport of raw materials (to Mobile Bay in the Gulf of Mexico), this is one of the reasons a new $500,000 steel plant is moving to our industrial park and port. Plentiful water and low power costs are other reasons.

Oasis restaurant owner Mike Haba is from Tunisia and his specialty is Couscous – the Gilmore Foundation's high-tech campus is adjacent to the Amory Regional Museum, which underwent a $1.4 million renovation in 2008

Waterfront houses on Amory Lake, Todd Hunt at the 10,000 seat Bancorp Center in Tupelo, and our River Birch Golf Club, which is one of the best-rated in the state – learn about them in Life in Our Area!

But companies investing billions into a community don't arbitrarily choose locations just because there is water, and railroads and waterways close by for their business. There must be great people and a community to believe in, and these companies need a place their employees will want to live.

As you view our website, you will see these companies are committing to a community that over the next few decades is filled with promise. As they start breaking ground and new things are happening here in Amory and Monroe County, we can't think of a better time for you to meet us!

Location & Maps – Here’s where we are:

Mississippi

Roadways

Monroe County

Both a 2 ½ hour drive

  • We are a 30 minute drive to Tupelo, and just 2 ½ to Birmingham and Memphis.

A Unique Community adjacent to Suburban Features:

While most franchise chains, "big-box" retailers, shopping, and specialty grocers are inside 30 minutes or less, only in Amory can one get a Bill's hamburger, famous pies and Baklava at The Oasis, or fried catfish from Pickle's Drive-In!

Our County Government building and Main Street in Amory

Neighbors and Friends:

"This community is very representative of our state which is the most generous in per capita giving for charitable causes of any state in the US. Morals and Christian beliefs are still taught and people who have a faith are in the majority, not the minority." - Tony Green

"While many communities in the South promoted private schools during integration in the 1960s, Amory stood against that trend and has always been an inclusive and progressive-minded city. To this day, we have an extremely strong public school system with a tradition of excellence. Ask any physician or professional at Gilmore Memorial with children – they will point to our public schools as a key reason they chose us over other places." - Jean Pinkley

"You get the best of both worlds by living in North Mississippi. If you want to live a quiet lifestyle, you can do that. Or travel in any direction and in a few hours or less you have a big city or major university. I've worked in several places (Detroit, New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lake Charles and Savannah). Workers in Mississippi are by far more engaged in their professions and relationships with their co-workers. To sum it up, people care here." - Learnard Dickerson

"There is decency about how people here take time to be considerate of others. This makes for better business and personal relationships, and it surrounds how we raise our children. People from outside this area first think it is naïve to be this way, but they eventually see it as our biggest strength, and they want to be a part of it." - Colby Comer

Howard Boozer
Mayor
2008 Board Member
Mayor's Welcome

Tony Green
Economic Development
Chamber of Commerce
Compelling Growth

Jean Pinkley
Civic Volunteer
2008 Board Member
Amory Organizations

Debra Strawbridge
Volunteer Director
Railroad Festival
Festival Photos

Bo Miller
Director
Amory Regional Museum
Bo's Invitation to you

Marty Polk
Director of HR
NE Mental Health
2008 Board Member

Mike Haba
Restaurateur
Fine Dining in Amory
Oasis Menu

Learnard Dickerson
PR & Govt Affairs
Tronox
On Economic Growth

Colby Comer
Park Manager
Tupelo Buffalo Park
The Park’s Story

Bill Abney
Director
Parks & Recreation
Seasonal Schedule

Tom Booth
Executive Director
Tupelo Theater
Buddy's Revenge

Tim Watson
Nurse Practitioner
Featured Family
Meet the Watsons

Photo Tours:

Downtown Amory
Video of Downtown

Vinegar Bend
Meet us at Bill's!

Country Drive
Come Along!

Tombigbee Waterway
See how the Lock & Dam works

Neighboring Communities:

Tupelo
Our Regional "Hub"

Aberdeen
Our Monroe County Seat

Fulton
Home to ICC

Smithville

Hatley

Nettleton

Street Map

Smithville and Hatley are small rural neighbors of Amory in Monroe County, while little Nettleton is northwest of Amory along the railroad line bound to Memphis. If you want to know exactly where we are, and our drive times to major cities and colleges, check out Street Map, above

Are you a History Lover?

Dave Carney gives his personal video history of the amazing Natchez Trace Parkway
– learn from Dave how DeSoto met his fate in History and More Facts

Bo Miller at the Amory Regional Museum looks forward to giving you a personal tour – he's pointing to his doctor.
Bo was born in this building, which used to be our community's hospital before Gilmore Memorial was built.

The Natchez Trace Parkway is one of the most visited National Parks in America – you'll meet Chief Interpreter Dave Carney. Two battles in the Civil War in Mississippi took place in our region. The Chickasaw Nation's presence is throughout Northeast Mississippi – Tupelo is Chickasaw for "Resting Place," many of our county's have Chickasaw names, and Indian mounds are omnipresent. The Oren Dunn Museum preserves interesting history of our area. Elvis Presley was born in Tupelo and his Birthplace Museum is Mecca for adorning fans and music lovers. Our "Crown Jewel" museum is our Amory Regional Museum. These "treats" are in History and More Facts.

Additional Facts:

The staff at Gilmore Memorial welcomes you! We hope you enjoy this recruitment website, which will
show you what life and work will be like with us here in Monroe County and Northeast Mississippi.

  • Our county has 12 existing economic development projects and companies that will invest over $1.2 Billion which will provide 500-600 new jobs between 2009-2010. These companies are from New York, Houston, Denver, Virginia, Missouri, Europe, and Canada.
  • No other county in the state of MS outside of two metropolitan areas has more occurring economically than Monroe County at the present time. (See Economy/Growth Study)
  • We fall within the 60 mile radius of Toyota's Prius plant to our north, which will impact our area as first and second tier auto suppliers and companies will follow – the gem of the industry, Toyota is the only car maker with the highest Consumer Reports reliability ratings in every car and truck category for 2008.
  • The progressive nature of our community defies many smaller more rural towns in the South. There are numerous civic and professional groups for men and women, including multiracial and interdenominational organizations.
  • As another example of our progressive nature, unlike many communities in the South during integration in the 1960s and 70s, there was never the establishment of an alternative private school in Amory – our public schools have a tradition of excellence that exceed state standards, and they are a draw for families.
  • Every graduate of our Monroe County high schools with a "C" average is offered FREE college through their AA degree at Itawamba Community College.
  • All seniors at Amory High can earn a FREE laptop computer.
  • Amory Middle School was ranked the "Second Healthiest School in the US" by Health magazine in 2008.
  • The Amory Drama Club is the only high school ever to perform at the Memphis Orpheum Theater, and was recently recognized again in USA Today.
  • Amory is over an hour's drive or less to 3 major Southeastern Conference universities: Mississippi State University – the top engineering school in the state, Ole Miss and the University of Alabama, premier liberal arts universities in the South. 3 medical schools (Jackson, MS, Memphis, TN, and Birmingham, AL) are also within a three hour drive or less.

Resources/Outside websites:

www.amoryms.us
www.monroecountyms.org
www.gomonroe.org
www.gilmorefoundation.org
www.tenntom.org/econdev/ttwecondevinlandww.html
www.ci.tupelo.ms.us
www.tupelo.net
www.aberdeenms.org
www.itawamba.com
http://smithvillems.us

Unless otherwise indicated, every photo was taken specifically for this presentation. Unlike many company websites and recruitment materials, in this presentation there are no "stock" photos or images that aren't authentic. Gilmore Memorial RMC is very grateful to our friends and neighbors for making our presentation so special. We truly appreciate you!

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