Community Profile

Tupelo, Miss., remains the king of the upholstered furniture industry. But layoffs and shutdowns spur call for diversification.

In rich alluvial soil where cotton once was king, the stove now reigns. Since its founding in 1984, homegrown Viking Range Corp. has built a global business in Greenwood, Miss., become the area's premier employer and helped create an island of relative prosperity in what locals often describe as...