Taking Care of Business: I Left My Heart in Bogue Chitto...
It probably won’t rival Tony Bennett’s classic, but it is
eye-catching. I have a new favorite name for a U.S. town. Bogue Chitto is
located in east/central Mississippi. I remember passing by a road sign with the
name on it when I visited Mississippi right after Hurricane Katrina struck a
few years ago. At the time, my mind conjured up thoughts about what a Bogue
Chitto HVAC contractor would look like (demographically).
Bogue Chitto covers a total of 6.3 square miles. It is a poor community of 533 people in 160 households, according to the 2000 U.S. census. The average household income is $18,641 and over 56.1 percent of families are below the poverty line. In other words, Bogue Chitto exists, period.
So why am I quoting all of these stats about this little town that few people know about? Because I found it amazing that a total of six HVAC contractors serve this community, according to DexKnows.com, an online telephone directory. Four contractors share a Bogue Chitto zip code and two others are nearby.
So let’s do the math. There are 160 homes divided by six contractors, which is about 27 homes per contractor. And with most below the poverty line, that would probably reduce the number of available households to about 14 per contractor per year. Without knowing the demographics of each contractor, I would have to guess that some of them are themselves below the poverty line.
So in case you see a story down the road about Bogue Chitto contractors and how they make a living, you will at least know when and where the story originated.
Bogue Chitto covers a total of 6.3 square miles. It is a poor community of 533 people in 160 households, according to the 2000 U.S. census. The average household income is $18,641 and over 56.1 percent of families are below the poverty line. In other words, Bogue Chitto exists, period.
So why am I quoting all of these stats about this little town that few people know about? Because I found it amazing that a total of six HVAC contractors serve this community, according to DexKnows.com, an online telephone directory. Four contractors share a Bogue Chitto zip code and two others are nearby.
So let’s do the math. There are 160 homes divided by six contractors, which is about 27 homes per contractor. And with most below the poverty line, that would probably reduce the number of available households to about 14 per contractor per year. Without knowing the demographics of each contractor, I would have to guess that some of them are themselves below the poverty line.
So in case you see a story down the road about Bogue Chitto contractors and how they make a living, you will at least know when and where the story originated.