MURFREESBORO--Probably the best thing Houston's Emma Riales did Saturday was just leave the ball alone.

Business partners Chad Foreman and Kirk Cotham, the creative minds behind Pyro’s Fire Fresh Pizza, The Levee Coffee and Creamery, and Wolf River Brisket, have had a very busy year.

Despite a steady rain, more than 100 vendors and an estimated 1,500 attendees turned out for the annual Collierville Business Expo and Holiday Market at the H.W. Cox Community Center on Wednesday.

Yep, they beat Houston alright.

Things are about to get a whole lot sweeter in Collierville as Dinstuhl’s Fine Candy Company returns to town with the opening of a new store in the Poplar Square retail center.

From fully assisted living to semi-assisted to unassisted in age-restricted communities with amenities, five projects with senior living components are in various stages of development in Collierville. 

The Collierville Planning Commission last week agreed to a little give-and-take with developer Regency Homebuilders, the body approving a planned development for nearly 300 new homes on 95 acres near Carriage Crossing Marketplace. 

Southeast Shelby County families hoping to break the cycle of poverty have new support in the community as nonprofit Neighborhood Christian Centers (NCC) Inc. has opened a satellite branch at St. Patrick Presbyterian Church in Collierville. 

Work is underway in Collierville on a new Center Connect streetscape project that promises to transform Center Street leading to the historic Town Square, establishing a new gateway to Downtown Collierville.

Collierville development should continue its optimistic trend with anticipated growth expected for residential, office, industrial, hotels and retail, according to town leaders.