Mississippi Economic Development News – July 13, 2009

Economic Development News for Week of July 13, 2009

An expanded state port will be a “gold mine” for Mississippi, Gov. Haley Barbour told a crowd gathered Thursday afternoon on the West Pier for a “ground making” ceremony.  Barbour said the West Pier work is the beginning of a 25-year plan to expand the port into a “world-class maritime container port” that can compete when a widened Panama Canal opens in 2015 or 2016.
http://www.sunherald.com/local/story/1466219.html

Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant said Thursday night that Mississippi “refuses to participate in the recession” because of the state’s strong economic development and fiscal foresight.  Bryant delivered this message at Horn Lake Chamber of Commerce’s annual membership banquet at the DeSoto Civic Center in Southaven.
http://tinyurl.com/nolevw

Advanced satellites being built today by Lockheed Martin all have a stamp – figurative if not literal – that says “made in South Mississippi.”
http://www.mscoastgeospatial.com/newsletterLMSTENNIS.html

Mississippi has received $16 million in energy plan funds from the federal government’s economic stimulus program to develop energy efficiency projects.
http://tinyurl.com/mfcc9b

Rite-Hite Corporation of Milwaukee, Wis., which develops, manufactures and sells loading dock safety systems and industrial door solutions, plans to relocate a manufacturing facility to Horn Lake, bringing more than 50 manufacturing jobs to the state. 
http://www.msbusiness.com/article.cfm?ID=8600

Drainage and access construction around United Chair should be started soon.  Calhoun Economic Development Association director Terry Fales told county supervisors Tuesday that the Appalachian Regional Commission had approved Bruce and the county’s grant for infrastructure funds.
http://www.monitorherald.com/articles/2009/07/10/news/news2.txt

More than 20 percent of the population in Greene County’s remote pine woods is on the government dole in some fashion, yet only a few miles away shipbuilders along the Gulf Coast are desperately trying to find qualified workers.  “Our unemployment rate is 11.5 percent,” said Gabe Churchwell, Greene County’s part-time economic development director, “and more than 20 percent of the population is on welfare. . .
http://www.dailymail.com/ap/ApTopStories/200907080129

The long-awaited Kimberly-Clark access road moved another step closer to reality Tuesday as Alcorn County supervisors voted to seek  a loan for the remainder of the county’s share of the project.
http://www.dailycorinthian.com/KC720708.htm

Some 65 civic leaders from Jackson, Miss., stepped off a bus today in front of the Shaw Center to start a two-day canvass trip of downtown Baton Rouge.
http://www.businessreport.com/archives/daily-report/2009/jul/09/1074/

Six months into his presidency Barack Obama still hasn’t nominated anyone to head the Delta Regional Authority, a disappointment to people fighting to improve the economically-depressed Mississippi Delta.
http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/264019

The Mississippi Municipal League will hold its 78th annual conference at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Coliseum & Convention Center in Biloxi on Monday through Thursday.  An estimated 3,000 municipal elected officials, municipal employees, state agency representatives, legislators, exhibitors and others are expected to attend this annual event.
http://www.sunherald.com/local/story/1468188.html

The Ellisville Public Library celebrated its grand opening Thursday after more than six years of planning and development.  Mitch Stennett, who heads the Economic Development Authority of Jones County, said the library will be beneficial to residents of Ellisville and Jones County. He noted a love for books that began at a young age, when his mother was a school librarian.
http://www.leadercall.com/local/local_story_191105708.html

The MEDC 2009 Summer Conference starts next week!  Register today! www.medc.ms

Carol Hardwick, Executive Director
Mississippi Economic Development Council, Inc.
P. O. Box 3721, Jackson, MS  39207
601-352-1909; fax 601-352-2061; www.medc.ms