south mississippi scene • 3 7

California real estate developer Collie Christensen discovered a treasuretrove of opportunities when he first visited Mississippi in 2006.

“I was motivated to go to Mississippi to help the people there afterKatrina,” recalled Christensen. “I have to admit. I had the wrong ideaabout the people there. What I was really nervous about in Mississippiwas would I be able to fit in with the good old boy network? But I didn’tfind that to be a problem at all.”

What the CEO and founder of investment company Equus Eleven didfind is what south Mississippians have always known. This is a greatplace to live, to build and to make money.

“In coming to Mississippi, not only did I learn that my perception ofMississippi was somewhat outdated, I figured out that California has a lotto learn from Mississippi,” said Christensen. “One big thing is that they

C o ll ie Christensen:C a lifornia Dreaming in

Wiggins, Mississippi

STORY BY KRISTEN TWEDTPHOTOS COURTESY EQUUS ELEVEN

3 8 • south mississippi scene

destinations: south ms deve l o p m e n t

have top-notch hospitality,friendliness and customer serv-ice there. My employees talk allthe time about what a pleasureit is to see people greet youwith a smile. Too much hustleand bustle in California oftentranslates into too little atten-tion to those things. Southernhospitality lives on there. I feellike I’ve developed good andlasting friendships inM i s s i s s i p p i . ”

Just nine days afterChristensen’s first visit to StoneCounty, Equus Eleven pur-chased 121 acres with frontageon Highway 49, just across thestreet from Wal-Mart inWiggins. The expansive resi-dential and retail project hascommunity leaders and trans-portation officials touting theenormous economic boon thedevelopment will mean interms of jobs, homes andincreased tax revenue.

“This will be 700,000 squarefeet of retail designed muchlike an outlet mall offeringmore than 200 jobs,” said JerryAlexander, Mayor of Wiggins.“Of the 121 acres, 60 will bededicated to shopping. They’reputting in the retail first, thenthe residential. We’re hopingfor a 10 to 15 percent increasein our tax revenue. We’realready at better than 50 per-cent occupancy. If you’re inter-ested in getting in, the time isn o w . ”

Traffic through Wiggins isalready heavy and expected toincrease substantially.

“Traffic counts done byMDOT last year indicate we

average 20,000 cars a day onHighway 49 out here,” saidAlexander. “That’s more than 8million per year. The new con-nector to Highway 67 just 12miles south of here will likelyadd to that. It just makes accessbetween Wiggins and the Coastthat much better. It meansgrowth for all of us.”

Southern DistrictTransportation CommissionerWayne Brown understands thatdevelopments like the EquusEleven project will inevitablyspark new growth along theheavily traveled corridor ofHighway 49.

“I see US Highway 49 insoutheast Mississippi asSoutheast Mississippi MainStreet,” said Brown. “Its role asa commercial corridor is goingto become more and morei m p o r t a n t . ”

Like any developer,Christensen investigatedgrowth patterns, access to roadsand utilities and projectedneeds for residential and busi-ness interests before investinghere. With 23 years experiencein financial enterprises andcommercial development, herecognizes the potential forgrowth along the Highway 49corridor as similar to what hehas witnessed at home.

“I have watched SanFrancisco and Sacramento growtogether,” said Christensen ofthe 230 mile stretch between theCalifornia cities. “They havetheir own distinct personalitiesbut they’ve grown together. Ithink within the next 15 years,Hattiesburg, Wiggins, and

Gulfport will grow the sameway. I’ve watched that happenhere, and I think that’s whatwill happen there. The hurri-cane and insurance issues willjust continue the move north.”He also noted the tell-tale signsof communities ready toexpand their retail base andresidential development.

“I learned that when Wal-Mart comes, the others follow,”said Christensen. “I know thatwe can provide affordablehousing and also meet theneeds of the community. I seewhat the needs are, I envisionwhat it will take to make it hap-pen, and I follow through. Itfeels good to see it fly. It feelsgood when you help out oth-e r s . ”

A millionaire by age 25,Christensen got his start in realestate as a young entrepreneurwho bought apartments inHawaii with a partner, renovat-ed them as condos and resoldthem at a profit. With some ofhis proceeds, he bought his firstlimousine, what he consideredthe ultimate symbol of success.

“My mom took one look atthat and asked what I wasgoing to do with a limousine,”recalled Christensen. “I thoughtabout it and decided to start myown limo service. Within a fewyears, it was the largest limou-sine service in California. Wewere based in Sacramento andserved all of Orange Countyand Palm Springs.”

In 1983, Christensen landedthe contract for limousine serv-ice for the Olympics.

“Part of that contract said

that you had to have cellularphones. I remember asking‘What’s a cellular phone?’ I hadworked for two years to getthat contract. I spent $100,000for phones that I didn’t have. Iremember thinking, ‘I’m in thewrong business.’ So, I startedresearching cellular phones.”

He sold the limo service anddelved into the cellular phonemarket. His new businessbecame the Cellular One serverfor northern California and allof Nevada. Christensen sold out

to ATT in 1993, another highlyprofitable endeavor.

The son of a single mom whodedicated her life to serving theneeds of others, the young andindustrious Christensen lent lit-tle credence to his mother’sown brand of success.

“When I was young, Ithought success was all aboutmaking money,” saidChristensen. “My mom didn’thave any money, so I didn’tthink of her as successful at thetime. She had been crippled in a

car accident when I was little.She worked with AlcoholicsAnonymous groups and suicideprevention lines. She ran ahome for battered women.”

At age 30, the hard realiza-tion hit Christensen that he hadmissed the mark in dismissinghis mother’s benevolent serviceto others.

“I was at my mom’s funeral,”remembered Christensen.“Hundreds of people turnedout for that. They all talked tome about how she had turned

their lives around. All thesepeople gave her credit for sav-ing them. I bawled like a baby.I realized that the most suc-cessful person I ever knew wasmy mom. She was the bestmentor I ever had.”

One large lesson Christensentook from his mother’s guid-ance was that anything is pos-sible if you believe you can doit. It is this approach that ledhim to establish the CaliforniaTrade Exchange (CTE), a fran-chise of the International TradeExchange (ITEX). With 160offices in the United States andseven countries, the healthyCTE cultivated by Christensenwas eventually bought out byITEX, making Christensen thelargest shareholder of stock inITEX and the company’s CEO.

“I had been just this hard

working street kid and neverspent a day in college,” saidChristensen. “Here’s a compa-ny with thousands of employ-ees and board members withP h D s . I didn’t have much of aresume because I had neverworked for anyone. When Iwent for the interview for thatposition of CEO, I told them Iactually did have a PhD—poor,hungry and determined. Theyall laughed, and I figured thatwas it, it was all over. But theyhired me.”

Demands on his time andtravel abroad kept Christensenfrom enjoying his family lifethe way he desired. Hestepped down from his posi-tion at ITEX in 2001 to pursuehis first love, real estate devel-o p m e n t .

“I have four kids,” said

Christensen, who lives inSacramento with wife Kira andchildren Rikki, C.J., Gracie andCaden. “Every time I wouldread a successful story of apowerful CEO, it would talkabout the great success theywere, but their personal liveswere a train wreck.”

Christensen stepped downas CEO but stayed the largestshareholder at ITEX to allowmore time for family interests.

“From age 19 to age 43, Ilearned that I always mademore money buying and sell-ing real estate. The way thingshad been, I wasn’t there to be aSunday school teacher or bethere for my kids the way Iwanted. I became a real estatedeveloper so I could be therefor them, like I promised.”

Recalling his mother’s inspi-

destinations: south ms deve l o p m e n t

south mississippi scene • 4 1

ration, Christensen also feltdriven to give something backto communities struggling toprovide essential housing andmedical care.

“Every spring through mychurch, I take about 50 highschool students down toMexico, places like Mexicali,and build houses for the home-less,” said Christensen. “Eachyear we go different places. Wedo it through various agencies,like universities. We find thepoorest of the poor and gobuild one to five houses. Webuild with no power tools, justhand tools. By serving others, itreally blesses you.”

Christensen also travels toGuatemala on medical mis-s i o n s .

“I go as a grunt worker forthe doctors and nurses,”laughed Christensen. “I just goand do whatever they need. ”

While eager to help those inneed, Christensen makes nobones about his ability to pusha deal when stakes are high.

“I’m a tough negotiator,”said Christensen. “I like to win.Real estate developmentappeals to me because I havealways liked construction. I likethe sense of accomplishmentyou get when something iscompleted and it really makes abig difference in the quality oflife for people.”

“Tragically, Mississippi lost70,000 homes after Katrina,”said Christensen. “But I’mthinking that would interestany developer. Look at the jobsthat are coming, with the casi-nos and tourism and new busi-ness. Add the ‘GO Zone’opportunities with tax creditsand grants, and I can’t believe

every developer isn’t looking atMississippi.” Then there’s theaffordability of investing inconstruction here.

“Permit fees in Stone Countycost $450. In Elk Grove, CA,that would be around $80,000. Ican build a house in Wigginsfor what the permit fees arehere.” Living in Sacramentomost of his life, Christensencommends his home state forits talent in cultivating smartc o m m u n i t i e s .

“One thing that I have togive California credit for is thatthey have truly learned to buildbeautiful, planned communi-ties,” said Christensen. “Theproblem is the bureaucracy.Mississippi is pro-growth.Equus Eleven has an eagernessto build and modernize andbuild the right kind of commu-nities. That’s what I’m excitedabout, using our experiencehere and making it work inM i s s i s s i p p i . ”

Going green is a priority,too, but one that will come intime for his interests inM i s s i s s i p p i .

“We started a green divisionat Equus Eleven,” saidC h r i s t e n s e n . “The reason wehaven’t unveiled a lot of thatthere is because the challenge isthe expense of the products.Our green division has someincredible products. We arecurrently building in Cabo SanLucas which is at the end ofBaja, CA. Real estate there isvery expensive because it’s thewestern U.S. playground yearround. I’ve got a couple ofguys in Mississippi meetingwith me about going green.We’re on it.”

As a board member for the

California Museum forWomen’s History and Art,which includes California gov-ernor Arnold Schwarzeneggerand wife Maria Shriver,Christensen says “green build”is always a topic of conversa-tion and concern there. H efeels Mississippi’s needs areurgent and better served by tar-geted development that will getthings rolling in the right direc-t i o n .

“Right now, what I thinkMississippi needs is a focus onaffordable housing where weget communities rebuilt andthriving again. I tell people thatnow that the media has goneaway, people act like every-thing is fine and hunky dory.But we know better. The sur-face has barely been scratched.Get that infrastructure in placefirst and go from there.”

Finding success inMississippi proves to be a wel-come challenge for this investorand developer, one that he feelscertain will be a win-win rela-tionship between Equus Elevenand the future of SouthM i s s i s s i p p i .

“I never planned on being abillionaire. That’s not some-thing I aspired to be, but Godhas blessed me on how to befinancially successful,” saidChristensen. “I want to leave alegacy that my children will beproud of. They’ll be able to saythat I honored my commitmentto them, and that’s what’s mostimportant to me.”