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Butler Center Hits Ground Running in 2023-2024

A recent economic impact study authored by the Turner College's Fady Mansour has helped the city of Columbus hit a grand slam in bringing professional baseball back to the Chattahoochee Valley. In early January, Diamond Baseball Holdings announced that its Double-A Atlanta Braves affiliate team, the Mississippi Braves, would relocate from Pearl to Columbus following the conclusion of its 2024 season. As part of the move, the Columbus Consolidated Government has approved a $50 million bond issue to upgrade Golden Park. The upgrade is part of a $300 million investment to redevelop Golden Park and the South Commons Softball Complex. Mansour’s study, part of his work as the Director of the Butler Center for Research & Economic Development in the Turner College, outlines just how transformative the team’s move to Columbus and the related improvements to the Golden Park area will be to the local economy. “Our community continues to be a well-known and diverse destination for sports tourism, and this most recent announcement by Diamond Baseball Holdings underscores that,” said Mansour, who also serves as the Sarah T. Butler Associate Professor of Economics. “The team’s move to Columbus and the improvements to Golden Park that brings promise to bring a significant increase of economic activity, job opportunities and city revenue to the Chattahoochee Valley.” 
     Specifically, Mansour’s research cites that the region could expect an estimated $475 million in direct and indirect economic output, an increase of $260 million in Muscogee County’s gross domestic product (with $179 million in labor income), and the addition of 3,934 new jobs. Annually, the sports venue is anticipated to generate $6.26 million in revenues, create 59 jobs, and provide more than $2 million in labor income. The project includes a mixed-used development with apartment condominiums, retail and office spaces, and renovations to the sports venue. Established in 2011, the Butler Center is an applied research center in the Turner College with the vision of being the region’s leader in providing objective business and economic analysis. Researchers affiliated with the center provide timely, high-quality and affordable products to benefit business, municipal and community leaders charged with policy analysis, economic impact analysis, market analysis, forecasting and cost/benefit analysis. Their services include collecting, analyzing and generating economic and demographic data on our local region while developing students’ academic and investigative experience in the areas of business and economic research.
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