Little Sturgis Motorcycle Rally has big economic engine

The Oktibbeha County town of Sturgis has a population of just over 200, but by this weekend there are expected to be thousands of people riding into town.

STURGIS, Miss. (WCBI) – The Oktibbeha County town of Sturgis has a population of just over 200, but by this weekend there are expected to be thousands of people riding into town.

For local businesses and leaders, The Little Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is a big economic engine.

Sturgis is usually a quiet little town, but that will change this weekend.

In the next few days, the population is expected to swell from a couple of hundred to thousands.

Driving the temporary growth spurt is the annual Little Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.

Mayor Leah Brown said the rally had a huge economic impact on the town.

“This town benefits by us getting the sales tax that the vendors have from their sales, and it makes a huge difference to our town,” Brown said.

Owner of Old Goat Custom Leather Greg Dysart said this is his first time at the rally, but he sees it as a great opportunity to showcase his business.

“This is supposed to be a big rally,” Dysart said. “There’s supposed to be a lot of people coming out. Anytime you can get a lot of people, the better off you are as far as selling something. The more eyes you have on your product, the more sales you’re gonna make.”

Little Sturgis is family-oriented. The whole town helps out, and it brings people from around the country to this corner of Oktibbeha County.

“The community comes together as volunteers for this event,” Brown said. “It takes a lot of volunteers to put on this event.”

“It brings a lot of good economy to all the towns around it,” said attendee Jerry Boley. “The family, the camaraderie, the car shows the bikes, the bands, and it’s just a real nice time.”

Morgan Scriber is on the Motorcycle rally board and has been to every rally since it started in the 90s. He said they are trying to grow the event even bigger to impact the growth of the town.

“Oh this is their money maker,” Scriber said. “We hope we can get bigger and bigger where we can help them out. We’re trying to build it up and hopefully next year, we’ll have a larger band highlighter on Saturday night, get more vendors in here, and more bikes started up.”

The Little Sturgis Motorcycle Rally keeps rolling through Saturday, August 19. Armbands are $10 for the whole weekend.

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