MISSISSIPPI ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT NEWS 11.24.08

Southerners are not shy in pointing out how rapidly the South has become an aerospace region, landing a series of new aerospace manufacturing plants. In the last few years, for instance, Mississippi has added a General Electric factory producing composite fan blades for jet engines and a helicopter plant is going up for the European Airbus consortium.  http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2008/11/17/daily99.html

Molite Systems relocates to Mississippi. Read the article at http://www.nwarktimes.com/nwat/news/71375/

Officials with the Port of Gulfport hope to start work in December now that the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development has approved the state’s revised plan to restore the port. Gov. Haley Barbour announced Friday that HUD had approved the plan and the Mississippi Development Authority has allocated $570 million to rebuild the port, damaged heavily by Hurricane Katrina.  http://www.sunherald.com/pageone/story/971356.html

GetSMART (Start Mississippi’s Approved Roads Today) is working statewide on innovative funding methods to provide a large, immediate infusion of money for Vision 21 and new construction needs. Bill Renick, a former state senator who leads GetSMART and is an economic developer with the Three Rivers Planning and Development District, said the group has endorsed a highway development bank as a quasi-independent method to raise large amounts of construction cash – involving counties, cities and the state.  http://www.djournal.com/pages/story.asp?ID=282135&pub=1&div=News

Howard Technology Park, located in Ellisville, officially achieved the first “Project Ready” status in Mississippi designated by the economic development department of Mississippi Power Co. “Project Ready” status certifies that the park is ready-to-go for industrial prospects, has infrastructure in place and has necessary connections for almost any type of business.  http://www.leadercall.com/local/local_story_302093533.html

After Jon Maynard completed his first day on the job last month as the new president and chief executive officer of the Greater Starkville Development Partnership, he said the experience was “just like drinking water out of a fire hose.”  http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20081117/NEWS/811170324/1001/news

With almost 400 jobs evaporating from the Winston County economy in January, Winston County Economic Development Director Gerald Mills recognizes the impact and aspires to help the county move forward.  http://www.winstoncountyjournal.com/articles/2008/11/19/news/news06.txt

Who’s next?

I enjoyed seeing the LINK’s ad in the Summer 2008 Southern Business & Development magazine. The cartoon character fisherman closely resembles Joe Max Higgins.  Way to go Joe Max! Keep reeling them in.