Economic Development News Week of October 26, 2009

Governors from two states will make a major aerospace announcement Monday that will impact the Gulf Coast Corridor — an area from the Mississippi Gulf Coast, through Alabama and into Northwest Florida along I-10.  Barbour will appear via satellite.
http://www.northescambia.com/?p=11747

The governors of Alabama and Mississippi plan to try to rally support for a plan to turn a four-state region along the Gulf of Mexico into an Aerospace Alliance.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/AP/story/1298412.html

The Mississippi Delta soon could be home to a “very sophisticated, advanced manufacturing” operation that would create 500 jobs in five years, Gov. Haley Barbour said Wednesday.
http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20091022/NEWS/910220363/-1/nletter01/Gov.-touts–300M-manufacturing-plant-for-Delta?source=nletter-news

NASA’s John C. Stennis Space Center has become the first site to earn project ready certification in an industrial site program formalized by Mississippi Power Co.’s economic development department.
http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20091019/NEWS/91019020/-1/Nletter03/Stennis-center-earns-certification?source=nletter-news

State lawmakers may be gearing up in the coming days for another special session – this one dealing with an economic development project in north Mississippi.
http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20091021/NEWS/910210379/-1/nletter01/Special-session-possible?source=nletter-news

Reed’s Metals Inc., a growing metal manufacturing plant on U.S. 84, is undergoing its third expansion project in as many years and will soon pull in more workers, produce more metal and pour more income into Lincoln County.
http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20091021/BIZ/910210352/-1/nletter01/Metal-firm-expands-despite-economy?source=nletter-news

Northrop Grumman plans to begin conducting test flights of its small, unmanned Navy helicopter Fire Scout in the skies over Jackson County within the first few months of next year.  Along with flight testing comes maintenance. The company plans to add 10 new jobs for flight testing and eight to 10 through the maintenance support contract, company officials said Friday. Three have already been filled.
http://www.sunherald.com/pageone/story/1696394.html?story_link=email_msg

Mississippi had the eighth lowest rate of job losses in the construction industry, an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America 
http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20091021/BIZ/91021022/-1/Nletter03/Miss.-among-lowest-in-construction-job-loss?source=nletter-news 

Mississippi saw the number of people working climb in September as the state's unemployment rate slipped in every county.  The state's unemployment rate fell to 8.8 percent in September down from 9.7 percent in August, according to the Mississippi Department of Employment Security.
http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20091022/BIZ/910220349/-1/nletter01/Jobs-outlook-begins-to-brighten-in-Mississippi?source=nletter-news 

At the Biomass Summit this week in Washington, people were talking about Mississippi, said Sumesh Arora, director of Strategic Biomass Solutions (SBS) for the Mississippi Technology Alliance.
http://msbusiness.com/blog/2009/10/mississippi-the-buzz-at-biomass-summit/ 

Economic developers across Mississippi are using a new method to poll businesses and industries to find out their needs and develop better policies to assist their growth.  The 27-question survey was developed by MDA with feedback from economic developers statewide in an effort to expand the reach of the organization's Business Retention and Expansion Program.
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20379338&BRD=1377&PAG=461&dept_id=172922&rfi=6 

The U.S. Department of Labor has unveiled $447 million in funding allocations for Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) for states to assist workers who lose their jobs due to outsourcing and foreign trade.
http://msbusiness.com/blog/2009/10/stimulus-bumps-up-taa-funding/  

The land is available. The first tenants are established. Political support is present at the local and state levels. Bring on the jobs. The Columbus-Lowndes Development Link revealed its master plan today for the GTR Global Industrial Aerospace Park . . .
http://www.cdispatch.com/news/article.asp?aid=3385 
http://www.cdispatch.com/news/article.asp?aid=3391 
http://www.cldlink.org/gtr/ - Presentation

Vitech Systems Group, Inc., a leading provider of enterprise software to group benefit and public pension funds, announced today the opening of a new regional office in Ridgeland, Mississippi.
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS152971+20-Oct-2009+PRN20091020

Even with an economic revival, many U.S. jobs lost during the recession may be gone forever and a weak employment market could linger for years.
http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20091020/BIZ/910200362/-1/nletter01/After-recession-eases–higher-jobless-rates-may-be-new-norm?source=nletter-news

Five Mississippi ports on the Tennessee Tombigbee Waterway feel their assets are being underutilized, and they have formed GROWPORTS in an effort to change that.
http://msbusiness.com/blog/2009/10/ports-pooling-marketing-efforts-with-growports/

The Mississippi World Trade Center 2009 Annual Meeting and Awards Luncheon will be held 11:30 to 1:00 on Thursday, November 12.  Contact 601-353-0909 or aatkins@mswtc.org

MEDC Calendar:
November 17 – MEDC Regional Chamber Workshop, Newton, MS “Connecting With Your Members”- www.medc.ms
December 8 – MEDC Member-to-Member Seminar, Jackson, MS “Existing Industry & Business – A Fresh Approach” with Chandler Russ, Director, EIB Division, MDA

Carol Hardwick, Executive Director
Mississippi Economic Development Council (MEDC)
P. O. Box 3721, Jackson, MS  39207
www.medc.ms  
MEDC 2010 Winter Conference . February 3-5 . Hilton . Jackson
MEDC 2010 Summer Conference . July 21-23 . Beau Rivage . Biloxi

MEDC is Mississippi’s professional association of economic development and chamber of commerce professionals.