MBJ E-Edition — December 18, 2020

M S B U S I N E S S . C O M

| D e ce m b e r 1 8 , 2 02 0 I S S U E | Vo. 4 3 • N o. 1 0 • 3 2 p a ge s

Shape of the future

{Section begins P16} Mississippi rural hospitals struggling with pandemic impacts

{Section begins P20} Historic tax incenitives key to rehabilitation

{Section begins P22} Murky Waters branching out

Pages 17, 21, 23 & 25

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December 2020 Issue

Dave's BBB circles back with eatery in Flora

A

and John Folse – eventually brought butcher shop is not what is usually him to the town of 1,800, grabbed thought of as a business that headlines and drew people to an unenergizes a community. likely site for high-grade meats.

But that is the case since Dave Raines Two years later, he opened Dave's opened the Flora Butcher in the small Triple B on High Street in Jackson, rural town in rural Madison County parlaying the wagyu beef, a prized four years ago.

Japanese meat, raised on his father's Saturdays used to be desolate in the ranch between Monroe, La., and Vickstown, with little foot and vehicular traffic JACK WEATHERLY burg, into a high-grade and moderately on its “main street,” said Raines, who now feels priced menu. bold enough to say there is tourism.

Despite an enthusiastic response by lunch customChip Estes, owner of Flora Real Estate and Develers, there was a rough ride because of the coronaviopment, agrees.

Estes said that his 25-year plan for renaissance rus pandemic, which forced a two-month shutdown, of the town has been energized “dramatically” by high property taxes and difficulty working with city government, according to Raines.

Raines' butcher shop.

He closed the eatery (whose B's stood for the “He created niche that did not exist for a product of that quality . . . anywhere . . . in Mississippi, that Butcher, the Baker and the Barbecue Maker) in September and reopened it in the former location of the I'm aware of.”

A variety of businesses have opened, including an Blue Rooster (the B's, at least for now, stand for Bararchitect's office, a gym, a juice and smoothie shop, becue, Beer and Blues) on the main drag in Flora a hair salon, art gallery, a shop for teaching the play- month ago.

Customers in Jackson “were really appreciative ing of musical instruments, a pizza parlor and a dog when we came and really hated it when we left,” groomer store.

The story of Raines' global culinary journey – in- Raines said.

Now with the proximity to the butcher shop and cluding training in prestigious institutes and working with top New Orleans chefs such as Emril Lagasse lower overhead – rent for the much smaller build-

ing is about one-fifth of what he had been paying in Jackson and the property tax rate is less than half of what it had been – he's off to a brisk start.

Despite the verbal emphasis on on pork barbecue, it is still home of wagyu.

“We're still very beefy,” he said while sitting at one of the tables in the compact eatery (seating capacity 43, but with completion of the deck and patio, it'll be close to 120, he says.)

It drew 157 on a recent Friday night, “a lot of it to-go,” he said.

The eatery is open for lunch from 10:30 a.m. till 2 p.m., Monday through Friday; 5 p.m. till 9 p.m.

Thursday and Friday; plus 5 p.m. till 9 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 11 a.m. till 9 p.m. on Saturday. It is closed on Sunday.

Flora had been primarily known, if at all, as that little town at the intersection of highways 22 and 49, the home of the Petrified Forest.

Now it is also known as where you can get that funny-sounding Japanese beef (pronounced wagyou), pork barbecue, and more. » JACK WEATHERLY is the senior writer at the Mississippi Business Journal. He can be reached at jack.weatherly@msbusiness.com.

December 2020 Issue

Murray humble but leads United Way from out front

By NASH NUNNERY mbj@msbusiness.com

I

ra Murray admits he’s a bit of an introvert.

The Columbia, S.C. native doesn’t have the desire to be front and center, despite his lofty position as president and chief executive officer of United Way of the Capital Area.

“I love to see other people do well,” he said. “That’s true in both my family and professional life. When my employees are thriving and happy, that’s my success – it’s what drives me.”

Murray originally arrived in Jackson as a National Community Fellow with United Way of America in 2005. At the end of the fellowship, he was impressed with the city’s people and their willingness to give back. Murray was appointed as director and eventually vice-president of community impact at United Way of the Capital Area, a position he held until 2014.

During his first stint with UWCA, Murray led the organization’s transition from a traditional ‘pass-through’ entity to one that focused on addressing large-scale community issues through collective impact partnerships.

“I’d never been to Jackson before the day I arrived,” he said. “I felt like I could learn a lot. A month into the fellowship, Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast and our work changed immediately. Jackson suddenly had 30,000 Katrina evacuees. I saw how the people here responded and I was impressed with how Jackson reacted in wanting to help those evacuees.”

A man with a thirst for knowledge, Murray decided he needed a change in 2014.

He resigned from UWCA and moved his family to Pennsylvania to begin work on his PhD in education at the University of Pittsburgh.

“Education runs in my family – my mother is a high school English teacher and both brothers are in the teach-

ing profession,” Murray said.

“I have so much respect for teachers and the work that they do. For me, going back to get a PhD in education was just so that I could come back into this (non-profit) work with a much

Ira Murray

deeper understanding of the complexities and issues that people are facing while trying to educate children.”

However, like a moth to a flame, the introspective Murray was drawn back to Jackson.

“I ask myself that every day – I never thought we’d move back,” he said. “Perhaps I was thinking I could have done more to help or didn’t give (Jackson) everything I could.

“It just felt right – coming back was a way to give back more.”

Growing up in South Carolina’s capital city, Murray sees similarities between Columbia and Jackson.

“Both are college towns and have a little bit of everything,” he said. “Our neighborhood was low to middle class income and there was a sense of pride in the community. My dad is an engineer and of course, Mom is a high school English teacher. Though Columbia is a little larger, Jackson is very similar in

size and scope.”

Since returning to Jackson after being named UWCA’s CEO and vice president in2018, Murray’s goals for the organization have changed only slightly. But he notes the sense

more emphasis on early childhood development and better job opportunities for families.

“We want to be a catalyst for structural change.”

Finding his leadership style is still a work in progress, Murray admits.

“I’m striving to be a transformative leader,” he said. “The ultimate goal is putting people in the best position to succeed – give them the space for creativity and flexibility with a common mission, a common goal.”

Murray has received numerous recognitions for his work, including the 2019 Early Career Alumni Award by the University of Pittsburgh School of Education. The Palmetto State native also was named to the 2013 Mississippi Business Journal Top 40 Under 40 class.

Additionally, he is a member of 100 Black Men of Jackson, the United Way Worldwide Equity Advisory Board, Excel by 5 and the Mississippi Early Learning Alliance.

Murray might be the biggest Pittsburgh Steelers fan in Mississippi.

His favorite all-time Steeler is Hines Ward (Pittsburgh’s career leader in receptions, receiving yards, touchdown re-

of community he experienced initially in Mississippi remains the same.

The COVID-19 pandemic is one example – Murray admits it’s affected the way he works and thinks about his work.

“The pandemic has given us an opportunity to reflect on what we’re doing and made us re-think how we’re re-directing our resources,” he said.

Murray is most proud of the Jackson metro com» Murray accepts award munity and his team’s response to COVID-19. ceptions and Super Bowl XL “We’ve raised $150,000 to MVP), who was known for his help feed families, provided quiet, workman-like (see ‘not PPE and found a great part- flashy’) approach to the game.

“I see myself in Hines Ward,” ner in Comcast to provide free internet to underserved chil- he said.

Most who’ve met Murray dren for their distance learning needs. Long-term, our goals are would probably agree.

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Brewery to become part of Belhaven Town Center

MBJ Staff Fertile Ground Beer Co, Jackson’s only craft brewery, will become part of the Belhaven Town Center.

Fertile Ground will be the lead tenant in the 19,000-square-foot Laundry Market, a reuse of the former Baptist Medical Center linen facility that will feature retail, restaurant, and office space, as well as an open-air market, according to a news release.

Located at the corner of Belhaven’s North Jefferson and Manship Streets, Belhaven Town Center is home to the Campbell's Craft Donuts and Tacos, Elvie's All-Day Cafe and Spectrum Sip. “Our goal with Belhaven Town Center has been to incrementally develop thoughtfully designed places that will be an asset to the community for generations to come,” said developer David Turner.

“Our purpose is to create shared spaces and a built environment that will continuously draw the community together,” said Ruffin Lowry, a partner along with Drs. Reed Hogan Sr. and Reed Hogan III. The Turner Cos. will be the builder and WBA Architecture is designing the Laundry Market, while Dale Partners will design the brewery.

Construction is expected to start in March and be complete by the fall of 2021.

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December 2020 Issue

La Brioche launching a national brand

By JACK WEATHERLY jack.weatherly@msbusiness.com

L

a Brioche, a Jackson-based patisserie, is launching a national brand called Spark Confectionary.

And that is in part because of the corona virus pandemic, owner Patrik Lazzari said in an interview.

The virus “accelerated our original vision and plan,” Lazzari said. “We can still produce [La Brioche] products, but with some slight changes to the products and the packaging . . . [we will] deliver them instead of relying on our customers to come into our store.”

When La Brioche customers moved away from the city, they asked how they could get the pastries, he said.

That, plus lockdowns ordered by state and local authorities, led to the idea for Spark Confectionary, which will open a pop-up on Thursday, Dec. 17 in the Renaissance at Colony West.

A website is in the works to enable long-distance orders.

Spark Confectionary will offer “a fresh

brand with exciting new packaging, which allows us to position ourselves for competition on a national level through online sales,” Lazzari said.

He credited Jackson-based Ferris and Co. for help with branding and project management, plus creation of the pop-up, as well as Shull Design for packaging.

“We’re proud to be able to reinvest in our business in a way that we think will bring out-of-state retail dollars into the Mississippi economy.”

Cristina Lazzari, managing partner a La Brioche, said, “We’ve put love into every batch of sweets

that have come out of our Fondren-based kitchen for the past six years.”

La Brioche plans to maintain its current permanent retail location in Cultivation Food Hall in the District at Eastover and has opened a pop-up shop at Highland Village.

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Mississippi Unemployment Rates by County December 2020 Issue

June 2020

» Mississippi - 7.0 | u.s. -

DeSoto 7.6

Mississippi 9.7 U.S. 11.2 6.6

Tunica 17.5

Benton 10.3

Marshall 9.6

Tate 9.2

MISSISSIPPI’S OCTOBER 2020 UNEMPLOYMENT FIGURES Panola 12.4

Labor force and employment security data Bolivar 9.8

STATE OF MISSISSIPPI Labor Force Data Civilian Labor Force Unemployed Unemployment Rate Employed UNITED STATES Labor Force Data Civilian Labor Force Unemployed Unemployment Rate Employed STATE OF MISSISSIPPI Unemployment Insurance Data •• Initial UI Claims Continued Claims Benefits Paid Weeks Paid First Payments Final Payments Average Weekly Benefit

October ‘20 1,289,700 90,200 7.0 1,199,500

September ‘20 1,297,700 90,100 6.9 1,207,600

September ‘20 160,073,000 12,277,000 7.7 147,796,000

October 2020 14,844 208,579 $25,299,099 147,293 4,530 12,548 $171.76

Leflore 12.6

October ‘19 ‘19 Avg. Washington 1,276,400 1,276,100 12.2 65,100 69,200 Humphreys 15.9 5.1Sharkey 5.4 11.5 1,211,300 1,206,900 Issaquena 7.2

October ‘20 161,053,000 10,620,000 6.6 150,433,000

Grenada October 8.7

Sunflower 11.5

October ‘19 Warren ‘19 Avg. 164,576,000 10.7 163,539,000 Hinds 5,510,000 6,001,000 11.7 3.3 3.7 Claiborne 159,067,000 157,538,000 18.6

Jefferson 20.3

September 2020 Adams 18,631 Franklin 12.4 8.7 342,052 $47,672,352 Amite Wilkinson 14.1263,518 9.4 4,763 15,635 $180.91 Rates Unemployment

Madison 8.2

Moving Avg.** 161,401,000 Rankin 12,137,000 6.3 7.5 149,264,000

Copiah 9.4

Simpson 7.7

Scott 6.9

31,150 $4,550,518 Pike Walthall 10.4 21,8579.9 1,474 470 $208.19

7.2 - 9.6

•• Unemployment Insurance amounts presented in this section only represent regular UI benefits, federal program 9.7 -the 14.7 amounts are not included. Labor force amounts are produced in cooperation with Bureau of Labor Statistics.

14.8 - 20.3 Note: Unless indicated state and county data presented are not seasonally adjusted.

— Mississippi Department of Employment Security

Marion 8.3

Choctaw 7.1

Coahoma 11.6

Winston 11.0

Tate 7.1

Lowndes Panola 10.7

Lafayette 4.8

9.7

Quitman 11.8

Noxubee

14.7 Tallahatchie 7.9

Yazoo Clarke 9.0 9.8

Warren 7.7

Wayne

Hinds 10.3 8.1

Claiborne 13.7

Lamar Forrest 7.3Jefferson 9.9 17.2

15.8

Marshall 6.9

Benton 7.3

Tippah 5.7

Union 5.3 Pontotoc 5.5

Alcorn 5.1 Prentiss 5.7 Lee 6.3

Tishomingo 5.0

Itawamba 5.1

Yalobusha 6.9

Calhoun Chickasaw Monroe 6.5 8.4 7.5 Bolivar Grenada 8.4 6.5 Clay Sunflower Kemper Neshoba Webster 10.7 12.5 13.4 11.6 6.6 Leflore Montgomery 10.5 Carroll Oktibbeha Lowndes 7.2 7.3 Choctaw 6.5 7.7 Washington 5.6 Lauderdale Newton 10.6 9.6 Humphreys 9.0Holmes Noxubee Winston Attala 14.4 14.3 11.8 8.1 7.8 Sharkey 10.0

Pearl River 8.4 Wilkinson

5.1

Oktibbeha 9.9

Jasper SmithIssaquena 10.1 6.1 8.5

Adams 10.2

Monroe 11.3 DeSoto

13.2

6.6

Covington Jones 8.8 October 2019 8.4 Lawrence Jeff Davis Lincoln 11.5 8.5 4,681 9.6

6.1 - 7.1

** Average for most recent twelve months, including current month

Leake 9.5

Itawamba 7.9

Clay 14.5 Tunica

Webster 7.0 8.7

Attala 9.5

Lee 10.3

Chickasaw 12.7

2020

Mississippi

Yazoo 12.2

5

Unemployment Rates

Pontotoc 8.9

Calhoun 8.7

Montgomery Carroll U.S. 9.2 Moving Avg.** 9.0

1,252,100 Holmes 96,600 20.2 7.7 1,155,400

n

4.2 - 5.1 7.4 - 13.2 5.2 Rates - 7.3 by County13.3 - 17.2 Mississippi Unemployment

Yalobusha 10.4

Tallahatchie 8.5

Mississippi Business Journal

Tishomingo 7.2

Prentiss 8.0

Union 8.2

Lafayette 8.1

Quitman 12.6

Coahoma 14.1

Alcorn 7.0

Tippah 8.0

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Copiah 7.6 Greene

Perry 9.3

Franklin 7.5

Stone 9.0

Amite 8.6

Madison 5.1

Rankin 4.2

Neshoba 6.9

Kemper 9.2

Scott 5.5

Newton 6.3

Lauderdale 6.8

Jasper 8.6

Clarke 7.5

Smith 5.5

Simpson 6.3

10.4

Leake 6.7

Covington 7.2

Lincoln Lawrence Jeff Davis 8.1 6.4 9.2

George 10.0

Pike 8.9

Harrison Hancock Unemployment 10.9 Rates 9.6

Walthall 8.1

Marion 7.0

Jackson 10.9

4.2 - 5.1 5.2 - 7.3 Source: Labor Market 7.4 -Data 13.2Publication Design: Labor Market Information Department, MDES 13.3 - 17.2

Jones 6.9

Lamar Forrest 5.0 7.1

Pearl River 7.0 Hancock 7.3

Wayne 8.8

Perry 7.3

Stone 6.9

Harrison 7.3

Greene 8.4 George 7.9

Jackson 7.5

Southwest releases initial fares, destinations for Jackson airport T Source: Labor Market Data Publication Design: Labor Market Information Department, MDES

Mississippi Labor Market Data — 3

Mississippi Labor Market Data — 3

he Jackson Municipal Airport Authority (JAN) has announced that Southwest Airlines has now released its initial fares and routes for service at Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport, beginning June 6, 2021.

Southwest Airlines previously served JAN from 1997 until 2014.

Schedules are now loaded and ready for sale and will include routes to Atlanta, Houston-Hobby, and Baltimore-Washington, with connecting opportunities to many of the more than 100 U.S. destinations and 10 countries they serve. Promotional fares and frequencies will be as follows: n $59 one-way nonstop between Jackson (JAN) and Atlanta (ATL) (three times daily); n $89 one-way nonstop between Jackson (JAN) and Baltimore/Washington (BWI) (one time daily); n $59 one-way nonstop between Jackson (JAN) and

Houston-Hobby (HOU) (three times daily).

The number of seats, days of week, and markets for these fares are limited.

Some flights will begin on June 7, 2021.

Southwest will utilize the 143-seat Boeing 737-700 aircraft to these three destinations, which are the 5th, 6th, and 9th largest metropolitan areas, per the U.S. Census Bureau (2019).

“This is great news for our travelers throughout the region who have been anxiously awaiting access to Southwest’s convenient flights and low fares,” said JMAA Board Chairman Robert E. Martin. “We appreciate the faith that Southwest has shown, helping to make Jackson an even stronger regional competitor, well-situated to attract more travelers locally and from many miles away.”

JMAA Chief Executive Officer Paul A. Brown stated that “the JMAA is thrilled by these new routes and flights provid-

ed by Southwest. As U.S. travel continues to recover in 2021, we look forward to hosting more and more passengers at JAN, the only airport served by Southwest in our great state of Mississippi. Metro Jackson and our state capital region will be well-served by this great new service and attractive pricing.”

For more information, check www.iFlyJackson.com

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December 2020 Issue

State's house market continues to favor sellers

By JACK WEATHERLY jack.weatherly@msbusiness.com

H

ouses in central Mississippi remain in a seller's market.

That's good news for that side of the equation.

Previously owned, or “existing” houses, which constitute roughly 90 percent of the market, continue to sell for more and are available for less time, according to the Central Mississippi Realtors Association.

Average days on the market were down by 29.3 percent in October, to 51 days, compared with the year-earlier period.

Median sales price increased to $217,878, 17.8 percent more than a year earlier.

Yet the market has shrunk.

Inventory of houses was down 56.1 percent, to 2.1 months, according to the association's monthly Market Heartbeat report.

Home sales across the South increased 3.2 percent in October from September, to an annual rate of 2.91 million, and up 26.5 percent from a year earlier. The median price in the South was $272,500, a 15.7 percent increase from a year earlier.

Local numbers reflect the national trend.

October marked the fifth-straight month of growth in the country – 6.85

M

million units, up 4.3 percent from September and an increase of 26.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAS).

“Considering that we remain in a period of stubbornly high unemployment relative to pre-pandemic levels, the house sector has performed remarkably well this

year,” Lawrence Yun, the association's chief economist, said in a release.

As in the central Mississippi market, the national inventory continues to shrink, which bodes well for sellers and presents a problem for the buy side.

The U.S. inventory at the end of October was 1.42 million units, down 2.7 per-

cent from September and 19.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the NAS report.

That would seem to present an opening to builders.

“Homebuilders' confidence has soared even though the actual production has not,” Yun said.

“Replenishing the short supply of homes would help decelerate rising costs and improve market affordability,” the NAS report states.

“It's a perfect time to build,” Tim Allred, president of the Mississippi Homebuilders Association, said in a telephone interview.

Interest rates are at an all-time low, Allred noted, and demand is really high.

A major factor in rising costs is the price of lumber, which reached record highs this year, though it has been moderating slightly in recent weeks.

“Overall, the attitude that I've sensed is that everyone has been very busy,” Allred said.

Pat Nelson, executive vice president of the Mississippi association, said new-home sales in Mississippi this year through October are up 4.8 percent over 2019, which he called “very healthy,” despite the fact nationally such sales are up 13.9 percent for that period.

MSU engineers lead the way for bringing UAS to the skies during ice conditions

ississippi State engineers in the university’s Raspet Flight Research Laboratory are spearheading research that could make unmanned aircraft systems operational by the U.S. government as well as civilian aviation in icy conditions.

MSU is leading an icing system development and technology team in what the U.S. Department of Defense hopes will result in lightweight anti-icing systems, leading to certification for UAS to operate in forecasted icing conditions. The DOD recently awarded $5 million for this effort that also includes the university’s aerospace engineering department and several industry partners.

The entire team is evaluating the use of a new carbon-nanotube coating, part of an intelligently controlled ice protection system. One aspect of the flight testing includes 3-D printed ice shapes designed by Raspet to mimic frozen formations affixed to the wings. Results from those tests help inform the development of the ice protection system.

“Our innovative approach allows us to replicate the most severe in-flight icing conditions without traveling to cold and remote areas,” said Tom Brooks, Raspet interim director. “This allows us to conduct nearly unlimited test flights at a much lower cost and generate the data we need to develop effective, low-cost and retrofittable anti-icing system solutions for use on today’s sophisticated unmanned aircraft.”

» Raspet Tiger Shark: Engineers Caden Teer and Peter McKinley applying ice shapes to wings. (photo by Megan Bean / Mississippi State University)

NASA-designed sophisticated software models predict the shapes, and test flights are conducted, assessing these shapes’ impact on aerodynamic performance. Icing increases drag, reduces lift and adds weight to aircraft.

“As ice builds on the wings, a process scientists refer to as ice accretion negatively impacts the aerodynamics of the wing,” Brooks said. “Raspet’s application of these 3D-printed shapes to aircraft wings enables our researchers to validate the computer modeling used to predict

changes in lift and controllability caused by the ice.”

Today’s traditional ice countering technologies used on commercial and private airplanes, such as antifreeze pumps to spray the wings or inflatable bladders expanded on wing sections to dislodge ice, are too heavy and energy intensive to work on UAS. The newly developed coating for UAS has extremely high heat conductivity, allowing it to transfer warmth from small heat strips on the wings’ leading edges to counter ice formation.

If proven successful, the ice protection system, which is retrofittable to existing aircraft and easy to install, would also be of much interest in the civilian aviation industry, Brooks explained.

“Because it’s easy and inexpensive to install on existing aircraft, this lightweight anti-icing system has tremendous potential for use in general aviation,” he said.

Raspet’s two state-of-the-art TigerShark Block 3 XP aircraft support the project, weighing about 350 pounds, carrying nearly 100 pounds of payload and flying for 8-12 hours before refueling. The MSU laboratory also has worked with MSU Professor of Aerospace Engineering David Thompson, a well-known expert in aircraft icing, to create the 3-D predicted-shape models.

Other Raspet partners include Ohio’s private, nonprofit Battelle Memorial Institute, Kansas’ Ultra Electronics subsidiary ICE Inc., and Pennsylvania’s Navmar Applied Science Corporation.

December 2020 Issue

Photo by Jack Weatherly

Indie pharmacy closes after eight months at District at Eastover

By JACK WEATHERLY jack.weatherly@msbusiness.com

D

istrict Drugs and Mercantile, an independent pharmacy that opened in February in the District at Eastover in Jackson, has closed its doors.

The pharmacy's owner, Whitney Harris, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The future for the pharmacy is uncertain, but Harris is “trying to relocate,” according to R. Michael Bolen, her attorney, who declined to comment further.

Chapter 11 status, if granted, allows for reorganization of debt, working with creditors.

Harris earned her doctorate in community pharmacy at the University of Tennessee at Memphis School of Pharmacy.

She worked at Beemon Drugs in Maywood Mart on Northside Drive for four and one-half years.

Lester Hailey closed Beemon Drugs in June 2019 after 63 years and retired, selling his accounts to CVS. Eight months later, Harris achieved her goal of owning her own pharmacy.

She found a home in the District at Eastover and hired Wier Boerner Allin Architects to design the space to look like Beemon's.

She hired nine employees and opened, drawing most of the former customers of Beemon's.

But the dream ended last month.

Now there is a sign at the pharmacy announcing “City Center Drugs Coming in 2021.”

“Serving customers now via delivery from our sister location,” Flora Pharmacy, which can be reached at 601-401-5060.

Flora Pharmacy will open City Center Drugs in the old District Drugs location, according to Whitney Watkins, manager of Flora Pharmacy.

Watkins said that the pharmacy may open as early as January, and that arrangements are also being made for pickups from the former District Drugs location.

Those would be made between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. After 3 p.m., the pharmacy would make deliveries, according to Creighton Hardy, who, with his wife, Mary Beth Hardy, a pharmacist, are owners.

Breck Hines, co-developer of the District Land Development Co., welcomed the new tenant, saying: “We always thought that the District at Eastover was a good fit for a hometown pharmacy.”

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Mississippi Business Journal

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Gulf Coast Produce learns to navigate the pandemic

By LISA MONTI mbj@msbusiness.com

A

few days before Thanksgiving, after a brutal eight months of lost business and layoffs, Christi Alise was sure of one thing. Her employees at Gulf Coast Produce Distributors in Biloxi were getting a plump turkey for their holiday feast, with their family, just like they have for the last 25 years.

“One thing that’s not changing is our Thanksgiving tradition of giving back to our employees,” Alise said. “And they’re excited that tradition won’t change.”

Mike Alise, Christi’s husband, started Gulf Coast Produce Distributors in 1995, and today the wholesale distributor sells fruits, vegetables, specialty produce, eggs, cheese and dairy to restaurants, schools, assisted living facilities, casinos, military bases and country clubs among other customers in Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama. Produce comes from local growers in Mississippi and others in places like California, Florida, Idaho and Michigan to meet demand for conventional produce and specialty products.

The couple and their employees have endured direct hits from hurricanes and the lingering effects of the Gulf oil spill and are now trying to navigate the uncharted pandemic landscape. This time, instead of building back from disasters, the Alises had to reinvent their business in response to how their customers ad-

justed to Covid-19.

Downsizing began at the start of the pandemic. “We had to furlough half of the staff when it first hit and our sales were down 70 percent,” Christi Alise said. Gulf Coast Produce now has 52 employees and a fleet of 19 trucks, down from 23. The company operates from a 30,000-square-foot refrigerated warehouse.

“We have never been in a position where we have no control of our destiny,” she said. “When (the pandemic) hit, it shut down everybody and everything. All the cruise lines we were serving were gone, all the casinos and country clubs. Corporate businesses like Chili’s, Olive Garden and Chick-fil-A, everything was disrupted.”

Gulf Coast Produce Alise said it was painful to see the customers unable to survive the impact of the pandemic.“Lots of restaurants couldn’t make it through it. It breaks my heart. You know your customers, and when they hurt, we all hurt. They’re not just accounts, they’re friends.”

With customers in flux, the Alises quickly turned the wholesale distributor into a retail service, selling produce to retailers including Rouses, the Louisiana-based grocery store chain with locations across their service area. “Retailers

have been able to keep their head above water and grow even more in the pandemic,” she said.

Gulf Coast Produce went one step further by selling boxes of fruit and vegetables directly to the public for the first time. Customers placed orders by phone or email and employees placed the boxes in the trunk or back seat. “We had lines and lines of cars,” she said. “The line was wrapped around our facility for hours.”

Alise said she and Mike had to learn to change the vision of their company to make sure it survived and its employees got paid. “There is no more black and white when you look at sales goals and projections. It’s all a gray area now,” she said.

The new business plan is showing signs of success. Alise said in late November that sales were just 25 percent below the previous year.

“We see the light at the end of the tunnel,” she said. “We’re looking at a bright future and our employees are excited.

It took the entire team to survive all of this and I give them all the praise in the world and appreciate each and every one of them.”

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Shape of the future » Magnolia State Cadillac dealers eye offers to buy in to electric version, or take buyout

By JACK WEATHERLY jack.weatherly@msbusiness.com

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adillac has been synonymous with top excellence since the American car was born in the early days of the 20th century.

And the General Motors Co. intends for it to remain that way.

The next incarnation of the auto will be the electric-powered Lyriq (pronounced lyric) in late 2022.

So dealerships must get ready, if they want to stick with the brand.

General Motors has made an offer of a buyout if a dealership doesn't want to.

That means upwards of $1 million. To convert service to accommodate the Lyriq, dealerships must invest about $200,000, according to the Wall Street Journal.

It would seem to be a no-brainer to make the investment, but that's not necessarily the case.

The Journal reports that 17 percent of the dealerships decided not to take the offer, or 150 out of 880 franchises.

One Mississippi dealer who asked not be identified and who is still weighing the offer, said, “I'd be surprised if we had three Cadillac dealers in the state” when all is said and done.

One would be Jackson Cadillac. General manager John Hill said: “We're going to be a full-service Cadillac dealership,” Hill said in a telephone interview.

Not necessarily so for the dealers contacted for this article.

One reason for the willingness to deal away the brand is diversification.

Due to the high price of Caddys, the other brands carried at a dealership dwarf sales of the most expensive.

George Carr Buick, Cadillac, GMC of Vicksburg sells 15 to 20 GMCs for each Caddy sold, said owner George Carr.

While Cadillac is the marquee brand, it would be better for General Motors to help smaller dealers, rather than hold their feet to the fire, Carr said.

GM made him an offer, which he declined, and the parent called back and asked what it would take, and he countered.“I haven't heard back from them, and don't expect to,” he said.

The figures cited in the Wall Street Journal are accurate, Carr said.

He said he is “not afraid” of making the investment because he will be able to spread the cost over the GMC Hummer electric vehicle.

Change is the only constant in the business, he said.

Carr said he that during his career he has seen the demise of GM's Oldsmobile (in the early '80s the No. 3 seller behind Chevy and Ford, and the Pontiac, another GM brand.

“I think Mississippi will be slow to adapt to the electrification,” he said.

A diversified portfolio is always a defense against market failure.

Michael Joe Cannon, for instance, owns 10 dealerships that sell Chevy, Buick, GMC, Nissan, Toyota and Ford – in addition to Cadillac.

An effort to contact him for this article was unsuccessful.

Larry Clark, owner of Larry Clark Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac and GMC in Amory, declined to talk about the matter beyond acknowledging that he had signed a confidentiality agreement.

There have been other technological changes in the industry for the well-being of drivers and the general public before the current emphasis on electric power.

The first in the modern era was the mandatory seatbelt, which came about after Ralph Nader's book “Unsafe at Any Speed” in 1965.

Then a decade later came a nod to the environment with the catalytic converter.

Enhanced mileage was promoted by the industry after the Arab Oil Embargo of the early 1970s caused fuel to become scarce.

Pump prices skyrocketed and long lines at gas stations were a common scene. And so the emphasis shifted to mileSee CADILLAC, Page 9

Construction of solar facility in Carroll County to begin MBJ STAFF

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ubico Buffalo Holdings I, LLC, has acquired the Delta’s Edge Solar facility near Greenwood in Carroll County, development of which was begun

by RES America Developments.

With the acquisition, construction of the 750-acre site will begin. Commercial operation is expected to start in about two years.

Hattiesburg-based Cooperative Energy will purchase all power produced by the 100 MW solar energy facility.

Cooperative Energy is a not-for-profit, member-owned generation and transmission cooperative that supplies

electricity to 11 member cooperatives that stretch from the Gulf Coast to the Tennessee line.

Cooperative Energy approved its first member-owned (residential) solar systems in 2010, and began operating five solar-powered electrical stations in 2016 in Taylorsville, Lucedale, Kiln, Greenwood, and Lyon. Additionally, Cooperative Energy currently purchases all power produced at a 52MW site near Sumrall.

The 11 electric cooperatives own and maintain approximately 57,300 miles of distribution lines and provide service to approximately 432,000 homes and businesses throughout 55 counties.

December 2020 Issue

CADILLAC

Continued from Page 16

age, whose estimates found their way to the price stickers on new cars, as a selling point.

In more recent years, the United States has become energy independent, thanks to a breakthrough called hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking.”

Yet concerns about the warming of the planet, blamed by most observers on carbon emissions, primarily from auto exhaust, have offset that advancement.

Hence the “hybrid” vehicle, fueled by petroleum fuel and electricity and now the

all-electric vehicle.

Carl Hogan Automotive in Columbus is in discussions with GM about the buyout, but general manager Clyde Ray said he could not talk about the details.

He did say that he feels that GM's “objective is to downsize . . . dual dealers like us.”

He said Hogan Automotive sells about five Caddys a month, out of approximately 40 GM vehicles sold, the others being Chevrolet and GMC. Hogan also sells Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep vehicles.

Those two GM divisions, Chevy and GMC, asked Hogan to offer electric ver-

sions, but without pressure, Ray said.

Despite pressure from the coronavirus pandemic and the slowdown in the economy, Carl Hogan is having “the best year in the past five years,” Ray said.

Carr said he was general manager of a Cadillac dealership on Nashville for several years and so he has a sentimental feeling for the brand.

“You're always hoping that a franchise will all of a sudden get hot.”

- Jack Weatherly is the senior writer for the Mississippi Business Journal.

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Three retailers join Highland Village lineup MBJ Staff Three retail tenants have joined the ranks of Highland Village’s collection of local and national brands. BJ Weeks Art Studio & Gifts, Redbird Boutique, and Wren & Ivy are now at Highland Village, a venerable collection of shops in northeast Jackson.

Local artist BJ Weeks' work features vivid, sunsets, white sandy beaches, mossy oaks, and an abundance of wildlife, inspired by her childhood on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Weeks has partnered with Summer Weatherly of Weatherly Jewelry Designsto create a new line of luxury bedding and loungewear.

Redbird Boutique offers a wide range ofwomen’s apparel and home and gift items, including tableware, vases, photo frames, candles, throw pillows and more.

Wren & Ivy offers products for the sporting lifestyle – from gun sleeves to blind bags to travel essentials.

PERSPECTIVE December 2020 Issue • www.msbusiness.com • Page 10

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132 Riverview Dr., Suite E • Flowood, MS 39232 Main: (601) 364-1000 • Fax: (601) 364-1007 E-mails: mbj@msbusiness.com, ads@msbusiness.com, photos@msbusiness.com, research@msbusiness.com, events@msbusiness.com Website: www.msbusiness.com

December 2020 Issue | Volume 43, Number 10

TAMI JONES Publisher tami.jones@msbusiness.com • (601) 364-1011 ROSS REILY Editor ross.reily@msbusiness.com • (601) 364-1018 MARK MOORE Production Manager mark.moore@msbusiness.com • (601) 364-2244 MARCIA THOMPSON Business Assistant marcia.kelly@msbusiness.com • (601) 364-1044 FRANK BROWN List Researcher frank.brown@msbusiness.com • (601) 364-1022 JACK WEATHERLY Staff Writer jack.weatherly@msbusiness.com • (601) 364-1016

» INSIDE MISSISSIPPI

Another racial inequity lawsuit continues in Mississippi S chools in commu“More than 100 years since Renities with strong construction and 66 years after tax bases generally Brown v. Board, Mississippi provide better learning continues to operate two types environments than those of schools: high-performing in communities with schools for white children and strained tax bases. This refailing schools for black chilality looks to be at the heart dren,” Southern Poverty Law BILL CRAWFORD of another Mississippi racial Center attorney Will Bardwell said. inequity lawsuit kept alive by the 5th No and yes.

The state does not operate schools. LoU.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

“A federal appeals court has affirmed that cal school boards and superintendents do.

Mississippi parents may pursue a lawsuit The state provides most of the funding for that says the state allows grave disparities in school operations. Local communities profunding between predominantly black and vide most of the funding for school facilpredominantly white schools,” wrote Emily ities. And better off communities provide additional funding for teacher salaries and Wagster Pettus for the Associated Press.

Federal William H. Barbour had dis- other enhancements.

In Mississippi, poverty rates are overmissed the lawsuit in 2019. A three-judge panel from the 5th Circuit overturned his whelming for blacks but around the naruling. The state appealed to the full court tional average for whites. Consequently, communities with high levels of impovbut lost.

The lawsuit was filed in 2017 by the erished black populations face a double Southern Law Policy Center against state whammy. Children living in poverty face officials on behalf of several “low-income more learning challenges which impacts black women.” They contend, Wagner school performance. Communities with wrote, that the schools their children and high poverty rates tend to have weak tax other black children attended “were in bases making it hard to afford topnotch worse condition and had lower academic school facilities and enhance pay to attract performance than some wealthier, pre- and retain good teachers.

The sticky wicket for the state lies in Secdominantly white schools.”

tion 201 of our state constitution which puts the burden for school maintenance and support on the Legislature, not school boards and communities.

Unless the state appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court, the case will go forward in Mississippi next year. The difficult issue facing the state is not intentional discrimination but whether the school disparities cited by the plaintiffs arise from a “vestige of segregation” that can be practically eliminated.

That was the core issue in the 2016 Cleveland School District case, just as it was in the Ayers higher education desegregation case.

As one of the negotiators of the Ayers settlement, I can testify that resolving such vestiges can be costly.

For example, should the court on remand find that the Legislature’s funding mechanism is a vestige of segregation, it could well order the state to take over funding for school facilities and bring all school buildings across the state up to a minimum standard. Of course, as in Ayers, much more could be included.

“For one law and one rule shall be for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you” – Numbers 15:6.

BILL CRAWFORD is a syndicated columnist from Jackson.

LYNN LOFTON Contributing Writer mbj@msbusiness.com • (601) 364-1018 TED CARTER Contributing Writer mbj@msbusiness.com • (601) 364-1018 BECKY GILLETTE Contributing Writer mbj@msbusiness.com • (601) 364-1018 NASH NUNNERY Contributing Writer mbj@msbusiness.com • (601) 364-1018 LISA MONTI Contributing Writer mbj@msbusiness.com • (601) 364-1018 SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES (601) 364-1000 subscriptions@msbusiness.com Mississippi Business Journal (USPS 000-222) is published

monthly with one annual issue by MSBJ 132 Riverview Dr., Suite E, Flowood, MS 39232. Periodicals postage paid at Jackson, MS. Subscription rates: 1 year $109; 2 years $168; and 3 years $214.

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is an affiliate of Journal Publishing Company (JPC), Inc. Entire contents copyrighted © 2020 by Journal Inc. All rights reserved.

PERSPECTIVE

December 2020 Issue

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Highways are critical to state's economic development

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hen it comes to recruiting Mississippi’s best rankings are total disbursemajor economic developments per mile (2nd) and maintenance disment projects, highway bursements per mile (3rd). It ranked 8th in accessibility is critical. Mississippi capital and bridge costs per mile. is moving up a national ranking, Mississippi’s worst rankings are in overall faaccording to a just-released survey of tality rate (49th), rural fatality rate (42nd), and state highway program effectiveness. urban fatality rate (42nd). In safety and perforHistorically, highway accessibility has mance categories, Mississippi ranks 49th in overheld the first or second spot in the rank- phil hardwick all fatality rate, 37th in structurally deficient bridges, ings of Area Development magazine’s Annual 9th in traffic congestion, 23rd in urban Interstate paveCorporate Survey of site selection factors. In the most ment condition, and 31st in rural Interstate pavement recent survey, that was no exception. Indeed, 92.4 per- condition. cent of the 100 corporate executives responding to the annual survey listed the factor as “very important” or “important.” That percentage is up from 87.2 percent in the 2018 survey.

According to the magazine’s article, more than half of those executives are with manufacturing firms and are the top-level executive at their firms, i.e., chairman, president or CEO, or owner, and nearly 60 percent are responsible for their companies’ final site location decision.

The Reason Foundation recently published its 25th Annual Highway Report ranking state highway performance and cost-effectiveness. Mississippi came in at 8th. The study calculates the effectiveness and performance of each state in 12 different categories, including traffic fatalities, congestion, pavement condition, bridge condition, highway maintenance costs, and administrative costs.

What is especially impressive is that Mississippi upped its ranking from the previous report in which it was ranked 25th overall. The category with the most dramatic improvement was in its urban Interstate pave“To improve in the rankings, Mississippi needs to ment condition. What makes this improvement even decrease its fatality rate. Mississippi is in the bottom more impressive was that Mississippi ranked 38th over- 10 states for each fatality measure (overall, rural, and all in Reason Foundation’s 17th Annual Report on the urban). Compared to nearby states, the report finds Performance of State Highway Systems.

Mississippi’s overall highway performance is better than Arkansas (ranks 9th) and Texas (ranks 18th), » RICKy NOBLE but worse than Tennessee (ranks 7th),” said Baruch Feigenbaum, lead author of the Annual Highway Report and senior managing director of transportation policy at Reason Foundation. “Mississippi is doing better than some comparable states like Louisiana (ranks 31st) and Alabama (ranks 19th). ”Here are some other snippets from the report: North Dakota, Missouri, and Kansas have the nation’s best state-owned road systems. In terms of return on investment, New Jersey, Alaska, Delaware,

and Massachusetts have the worst-performing state highway systems.

New Jersey, Massachusetts, Alaska, Delaware, and Maryland had the highest costs most per-mile.

The condition of the nation’s bridges improved slightly in 2019. Of the 613,517 highway bridges reported, 46,771 (7.6 percent) were rated deficient. The best rankings go to three states where less than two percent of their bridges are structurally deficient: Texas, Nevada, and Arizona. Meanwhile, Rhode Island reported a whopping 23 percent of its bridges as structurally deficient.

Meanwhile, it is informative to take a look at high employment counties in Mississippi and the relationship to highways. According to data on the Mississippi Department of Security website, the five highest employment counties as of October 2020 were: COUNTY

EMPLOYED

Hinds

101,700

DeSoto

87,830

Harrison

82,950

Rankin

73,330

Jackson

56,620

Total Employed

402,430

Mississippi’s total employment was 1,199,500, meaning that one-third (33.5 percent) of the state’s total employment was in those five counties. Every one of those five counties has at least one interstate highway and another four-lane highway.

The importance of highways to economic development cannot be overstated. It appears that Mississippi is in the right lane (pun intended). » PHIL HARDWICK is a regular Mississippi Business Journal columnist.

His email address is phil@philhardwick.com

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PERSPECTIVE

Santa is coming to town, social distanced, of course

» the spin cycle

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toward him. Other safety measures inanta Claus is coming to town – socially clude online reservations to shrink lines, distanced, of course. workers wiping down holiday-decoratSo, there won’t be any traditional ed sets, and a sleigh full of hand sanitizlap-sitting poses with good ole St. Nick er. Santa’s hours are also getting revised this coronavirus Christmas! to give him a break from crowds.

Despite the pandemic – and the fact Macy’s canceled its in-person visits that Santa’s age and weight put him at high this year, saying it couldn’t provide a safe risk for severe illness from the coronavirus environment for the more than 250,000 – mall owners are going ahead with plans to todd smith people that show up to see Kris Kringle at its bring him back this year.

New York flagship store each holiday season.

But they are doing all they can to keep the jolly old But malls, which have struggled to attract shoppers for man safe, including banning kids from sitting on his knee, no matter if they’ve been naughty or nice, accord- years, are not willing to kill a holiday tradition that is one of their biggest ways to lure people during the all-iming to the Associated Press.

Kids will instead tell Santa what they want for Christ- portant holiday shopping season. mas from six feet away, and sometimes from behind a More than 10 million U.S. households visited Santa sheet of plexiglass. Santa and his visitors may need to in a mall or store last year, according to GlobalData Rewear a face mask, even while posing for photos. And tail’s managing director Neil Saunders. Nearly 73 persome malls will put faux gift boxes and other decorations cent of them also spent money at nearby restaurants or in front of the jolly ole elf to block kids from charging stores, he told the AP.

Mall operator CBL, which filed for bankruptcy earlier this month, plans to bring Santa to nearly 60 malls at the end of November, nearly three weeks later than last year. The company decided against a plexiglass barrier because it didn’t look right in photos. But Santa will be socially distanced and wear a face mask. He may also put on a plastic shield to protect his face.

Malls certainly understand many people will celebrate the season remotely – and Cherry Hill Programs, which will bring Santa to more than 700 malls, is also offering Zoom calls with the jolly elf for the first time in its 60year history. Also, Brookfield has teamed up with virtual Santa company JingleRing, offering another way to connect with Santa from home.

Holiday Sales Forecast to Grow by as Much as 5.2 percent

With retail sales rebounding strongly due to continued consumer resilience, the National Retail Federation See THE SPIN CYCLE, Page 13

PERSPECTIVE THE SPIN CYCLE

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has forecast that holiday sales during November and December will increase between 3.6 percent and 5.2 percent over 2019 to a total between $755.3 billion and $766.7 billion. The numbers, which exclude automobile dealers, gasoline stations and restaurants, compare with a 4 percent increase to $729.1 billion last year and an average holiday sales increase of 3.5 percent over the past five years.

“We know this holiday season will be unlike any other, and retailers have planned ahead by investing billions of dollars to ensure the health and safety of their employees and customers,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. “Consumers have shown they are excited about the holidays and are willing to spend on gifts that lift the spirits of family and friends after such a challenging year. We expect a strong finish to the holiday season and will continue to work with municipal and state officials to keep retailers open and the economy moving forward at this critical time.”

NRF expects online and other non-store sales, which are included in the total, will increase between 20 percent and 30 percent to between $202.5 billion and $218.4 billion, up from $168.7 billion last year.

“Given the pandemic, there is uncertainty about consumers’ willingness to spend, but with the economy improving most have the ability to spend,” Households have strong balance sheets supported by a strong stock market, rising home values and record savings boosted by government stimulus payments issued earlier this year, the NRF said. Jobs and wages are growing, energy costs are low and reduced spending on personal services, travel and entertainment because of the virus has freed up money for retail spending.

As a result of store shutdowns and stay-at-home orders last spring, not all retailers and categories have rebounded as quickly, including small and mid-sized retailers. However, in the aggregate retail sales have seen a V-shaped recovery, growing both month-over-month and year-over-year each month since June. As calculated

by NRF, sales were up 10.6% in October versus October 2019, likely driven in part by early holiday shopping. For the first 10 months of this year, retail sales were up 6.4 percent versus the first 10 months of 2019.

With ecommerce sales up 36.7 percent year-over-year during the third quarter, many households are expected to depend on digital shopping to make many of their holiday purchases, just as they have for much of their everyday spending this year. The online spending includes websites operated by bricks-and-mortar retailers, which have become major players in the online market as retail channels have merged.

Weather traditionally plays a role in holiday sales, and while details vary by region, the National Weather

Service is forecasting cooler and wetter weather in the north and warmer and drier weather in the south, according to NRF. That combination has correlated with stronger retail holiday spending in the past and could be a factor this year.

The NRF forecast is based on an economic model that takes into consideration a variety of indicators including employment, wages, consumer confidence, disposable income, consumer credit, previous retail sales and weather. NRF defines the holiday season as Nov. 1 through Dec. 31. Numbers forecast by NRF may differ from other organizations that define the holiday season as a longer period or include retail sectors not included

by NRF, such as automobile dealers, gasoline stations and restaurants.

The forecast comes as NRF’s latest research shows 42 percent of consumers started their holiday shopping earlier than usual this year. NRF’s “New Holiday Traditions” campaign has urged consumers to shop safe and shop early amidst the pandemic, and 59 percent had begun by early November, up from 49 percent at that point a decade ago.

Holiday Hiring

NRF expects retailers to hire between 475,000 and 575,000 seasonal workers to help accommodate additional demand during the holiday season. That compares with 562,000 in 2019. Some of the hiring may have been pulled forward into October as many retailers implemented holiday sales campaigns earlier than in the past. That’s good Holiday cheer!

» TODD SMITH is co-founder, president and chief executive officer of Deane | Smith, a full-service branding, PR, marketing and advertising firm with offices in Jackson. The firm – based in Nashville, Tenn. – is also affiliated with Mad Genius. Contact him at todd@ deanesmithpartners.com, follow him @spinsurgeon and like the ageny on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/deanesmithpartners, and join us on LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/company/deane-smith-&-partners.the ageny on Facebook at https:// www.facebook.com/deanesmithpartners, and join us on LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/company/deane-smith-&-partners.

Women’s Foundation of Mississippi awards more Than $422,000 in grants

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he Women’s Foundation of Mississippi, a public grantmaking foundation focused on designing and funding programs that support women and girls across the state, announced 2020 annual grant awards totaling $270,000 for eleven Mississippi-based programs.

The investments fall in four of our priority areas identified by the Foundation: Better Futures:

Two-Generation approach, Two-Generation Community College, Healthy Women, and Access to Opportunity: Community College.

Earlier this year, to help women and girls respond to the crisis caused by the pandemic, we awarded more than $152,000 in Rapid Response awards bringing our total 2020 investment to more than $422,000.

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Work resumes on Renaissance 3; expansion of TIF district sought

By JACK WEATHERLY jack.weatherly@msbusiness.com

C

PERSPECTIVE

December 2020 Issue

Photo by Jack Weatherly

onstruction has resumed on Phase 3 of the Renaissance at Colony Park in Ridgeland.

Steel has risen for a structure to accommodate an Xfinity store plus a space for another potential tenant.

Also, work has begun on a road to accommodate a Walk-ons Bar and Bistreaux.

Across from the 45-acre site on the east side of Highland Colony Parkway, are 9.5 acres, now home to a Costco fueling station and a Wendy's drive-in, the latter of which opened Nov. 28.

Costco Wholesale, which opened on March 12 after a protracted legal fight with homeowners, dominates Phase 3 of the Renaissance at Colony Park.

Ridgeland Mayor Gene McGee and the Board of Aldermen held a public hearing Tuesday and granted a request by the development group led by Andrew Mattiace to include the 9.5 acres in the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District the city gave the 45-acre site.

The city of Ridgeland approved the creation of the district to temporarily divert $12.5 million in sales and property tax revenue to go toward infrastructure costs for the project.

The anticipated boost in revenue because of the increased value of the property and more sales tax will be used to pay off bonds issued by local government for infrastructural improvements.

C Spire acquires Mobile area telecom

R

idgeland-based C Spire announced Tuesday that it has acquired Mobile-based Harbor Communications, LLC, which provides a range of voice and data telecommunications services to consumers and businesses on the Alabama Gulf Coast.

The announcement was made during an online virtual press briefing hosted

by C Spire, a privately-held diversified telecommunications and technology services company, and attended by executives of both companies and regional economic development advocates.

“Throughout its 32-year history, C Spire has grown both organically and through strategic acquisitions,” said Chief Executive Hu Meena. “Harbor is a great addition to our family and solid-

I

ifies even further our efforts to become the dominant market player in Alabama and the Southeast region.”

Meena said Harbor will continue normal operations during the transition period.

C Spire also will immediately begin upgrading and expanding Harbor’s fiber optic infrastructure in Mobile and Baldwin counties to bring its all-fiber services to more consumers, businesses and government entities in the area.

The purchase price was not disclosed.

Regional economic development officials emphasized the importance of fiber-optic infrastructure and technology in the creation of new jobs and economic growth for the area.

“As Alabama’s growth and job creation leader, fiber-optic infrastructure

is essential to Baldwin County’s continued economic success – enabling families and businesses to engage fully in the digital transformation of our livelihoods and economy,” said Lee Lawson, president and chief executive of the 100-plus-member Baldwin County Economic Development Alliance.

“We’re grateful that C Spire is investing in our future.”

C Spire Wireless is the seventh-largest wireless carrier in the United States and the largest privately held mobile communications company.

It operates across Mississippi and in the Memphis metropolitan area, as well as the Florida Panhandle.

-MBJ Staff

Idaho group picks Lumberton for $120 million sawmill, 135 jobs

daho-based lumber producer Idaho Forest Group (IFG) has secured initial approval for its plans to build Lumberton’s first new sawmill since the 1920s, clearing the way for the company’s expansion into the South.

The project is a $120 million corporate investment and will create up to 135 jobs.

Operations are scheduled to commence by mid-2022.

The Lamar County Board of Supervisors approved a proposal to transfer 174 acres of county land to IFG. The Mississippi Development Authority is providing a $3 million grant for site preparation rail. It will make a $1.25 million loan to Lamar County, if needed, for public infrastructure.

“We are pleased to have the confidence of the Lamar County leadership,” said Marc Brinkmeyer, owner and chief exec-

utive of IFG. The Lumberton advanced manufacturing facility will produce a variety of wood products. Mill supervisors, information technology and human resources staff, engineers, technicians and operators will all be recruited from the local area.

IFG is working closely with Pearl River Community College (PRCC) on several work-force training initiatives. Details about training and employment opportunities will be available in early 2021.

Headquartered in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, IFG currently operates six sawmills and a finger-joint plant in Idaho and Montana.

IFG sources logs from across the Northwest and is committed to collaborating with landowners, including federal and state agencies, to bring value to their lands.

The company manufactures, markets and distributes a variety of lumber prod-

ucts to consumers predominantly across North America and has the capacity to produce more than 1 billion board feet per year, making it one of the country's largest lumber producers.

Company officials began visiting Lumberton and other sites in the region over the past year, looking for an opportunity to expand into the South. “We felt welcomed by local officials and encouraged by workforce and education leaders in Mississippi,” said Tom Schultz, vice president for Resources and Government Affairs.

“Between the availability and sustainability of raw material and the warm embrace we have received from locals, it was an easy decision to choose Lumberton for IFG’s first home in the South.”

-MBJ Staff

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health care December 2020 Issue • Mississippi Business Journal • www.msbusiness.com

Mississippi rural hospitals struggling with pandemic impacts

By BECKY GILLETTE mbj@msbusiness.com

M

ississippi is largely a rural state, and its rural hospitals have long served as not only major healthcare providers, but as some of the largest employers and purchasers of supplies in their communities. Rural hospitals also allow patients to be treated closer to home, which makes it easier to be visited by family, friends and clergy.

“I don’t know what we would do without our rural hospitals,” said Paul Gardner, vice president of the Rural Hospital Alliance that has 39 rural hospital members in the state. “When a small community loses its hospital, it leads to the community drying up, pretty much.”

The current pandemic has added to the economic and staffing challenges of rural hospitals. The hospitals and their associated clinics are seeing less business as some patients avoid the hospital out of fear of catching the virus that causes COVID-19.

“The pandemic itself has had tremendous impact on the facilities by reducing the volume of business,” Gardner said.

“The hospitals are just trying to weath-

er this thing and survive. The fear of COVID definitely has a negative impact on the financials causing tremendous strain. The tragedy of all that is that many of these people have a lot of serious health issues such as cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure and heart problems.”

Most of the rural hospitals in Mississippi were already under financial strain prior to the pandemic. Gardner said that number has now probably increased 30 percent because of the pandemic. A big challenge is continuing to pay doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers with patient volumes down significantly.

“They are trying to maintain staff or they will go somewhere else,” Gardner said. “The Payroll Protection Program has helped some of the hospitals. Some took advantage of that. Some did not.”

Few rural hospitals have intensive care unit beds to take care of seriously ill COVID-19 patients. But some recovering COVID-19 patients are being cared for in swing bed units in rural hospitals rather than putting them in a nursing home. That helps prevent COVID-19 patients being sent to nursing homes to recover. Nursing homes are very vulnerable to COVID-19 infections sweeping

through the facility since most residents are at high risk for complications due to their age and underlying health conditions.

Hospitals are often the second largest employer in rural counties after public schools. And rural hospitals are also vital for economic development.

“Nobody is going to bring a business into an area where there is not some kind of healthcare availability,” Gardner said.

“The counties need at least an emergency room. I’ve heard horror stories of people dying because of lack of access to an emergency room. Rural emergency rooms save lives every day either administering drugs to stop a stroke, stopping a major bleed in an accident, or other life-saving measures.”

Some rural hospitals have found success by aligning with a larger health care system. But some are isolated to the point that the large systems don’t really want to take them on.

“A lot of hospitals don’t have that option,” Gardner said. “Also, most hospitals want to protect their market area. Even for a rural hospital, it might be in its best interest to keep its own markets.”

Keeping adequate staff is a challenge for

both large and small hospitals. One of the state’s largest hospitals was advertising for 100 RNs before the pandemic.

“That is an urban area,” Gardner said.

“You can just imagine what would happen in a rural setting.”

Being a nurse even before the pandemic was challenging with 12-hour shifts, keeping up with extra electronic charting need because of COVID-19, and filling in when there are shortages.

“Now nurses at bigger hospitals have to gown up, don personal protection equipment, and be concerned that they could catch a virus that could kill their loved ones,” Gardner said. “A lot of nurses are getting out of hospital work. It has definitely put more stress on that situation and we already had a tremendous shortage.”

Gardner said he can’t say enough good things about healthcare workers who have elected to stay in the trenches and take care of patients.

“The ones who are staying, my hats are off to them,” he said. “I’m not sure I would stay if I were in that situation. They have a very stressful job. A lot of times patients See RURAL HOSPITALS, Page 18

HEALTH CARE

December 2020 Issue

Hospice Facilities

hospice facilities Licensed Hospice Facilities Provider

County

Phone

Alliance Health Care Hospice, 1430 Hwy 4 E., Holly Springs MS 38635 Asera Care Hospice -Senatobia, 300 Northwest Plaza, Senatobia, MS 38668 Baptist Home Care and Hospice-North Mississippi, 560 Highway 6 East, Batesville, MS 38606 Baptist Hospice - Golden Triangle, 2309 Bluecutt Road, Ste B, Columbus, MS 39705 Baptist Hospice - Yazoo City, 732 E. 15th St., Yazoo City, MS 39194 Canon Hospice, 1520 Broad Ave, Suite 500, Gulfport, MS 39501 Comfortcare Hospice, 2260 Highway 15 N, Laurel, MS 39441 Compassionate Care Hospice of Southern Mississippi, LLC, 208A Hwy 51 S., Brookhaven, MS 39601 Compassus - Jackson, 3010 Lakeland Cove, Suite Z-1, Flowood MS, 39232 Compassus - Hattiesburg, 517 W. Scooba St.; Units 20 & 30, Hattiesburg, MS 39401 Compassus - Memphis, 919 Ferncliff Cove, Suite 1, Southaven, MS 38671 Compassus - Mid-Mississippi, 120 W. Cherokee St., Brookhaven, MS 39601 Continue Care Hospice, 15359 U.S. 49 S.; Suite 3, Yazoo City, MS 39194 Continue Care Hospice II, 803 E. Sunflower Road, Cleveland, MS 38732 Deaconess Hospice - Biloxi, 2556 Marcia Court, Suite 101, Biloxi, MS 39530 Deaconess Hospice - Brookhaven, 105 Whitebrook Dr., Brookhaven, MS 39601 Deaconess Hospice - Laurel, 128 S. 11th Ave, Laurel, MS 39440 Delta Regional Medical Center Hospice, 300 S. Washington, Greenville, MS 38701 Dignity Hospice, LLC, 121B W. Monticello St., Brookhaven, MS 39601 Encompass Health - Hospice, 133 Mayfair Road, Hattiesburg, MS 39402 Encompass Health - Hospice of Central Mississippi, 225 Katherine Drive, Flowood, MS 39232 Encompass Health - Hospice of North Mississippi, 2166 S. Lamar Blvd, Oxford MS 38655 Encompass Health - Hospice of Northeast Mississippi, 499 Gloster Creek Village; #I-7, Tupelo, MS 38801 Encompass Health - Hospice of Southwest Mississippi, 1304 Harrison Ave, Ste B, McComb, MS 39648 Encompass Health - Hospice of the Gulf Coast, 11703 Highland Circle, Gulfport, MS 39503 Forrest General Home Care Hospice, 304 S. 40th Ave., Hattiesburg, MS 39402 Grace Community Hospice, 808 E. Sunflower Road, Cleveland, MS 38732 Grace Hospice, 200 E. Market St., Greenwood MS 38930 Grenada N. Delta Hospice & Palliative Services, 123 Stateline Road, Southaven MS 38671 Halcyon Hospice - Batesville, 270 Power Drive, Batesville, MS 38606 Halcyon Hospice - Hattiesburg, 1 Lincoln Pkwy, Ste 303, Hattiesburg MS 39402 Halcyon Hospice - Philadelphia, 1012 E. Main St, Suite B4, Philadelphia, MS 39350 Harper's Hospice Care, Inc., 1703 24th Ave, Meridian, MS 39301 Heart of Hospice, LLC, 9849 Highway 178, Unit B, Olive Branch MS 38654 Heart of Hospice, LLC - Delta, 810 E. Sunflower Rd, Suite 100C Cleveland, MS 38732 Heart of Hospice, LLC - Jackson, 232 S. Main St, Yazoo City, MS 39194 Heart of Hospice, LLC - Southern, 12 Melody Lane, Collins, MS 39428 Homecare Hospice North, LLC, 103 B Highway 30 W., New Albany, MS, 39652 Homecare Hospice South, LLC, 100 Walnut Circle; Suite 110, Hattiesburg, MS 39401 Homecare Hospice, Inc., 13 Northtown Dr, Ste 130, Jackson MS 39211 Hospice Care Group, 114 E. Donald St, Quitman, MS 39355 Hospice Compassus - MS, 119 W. Presley Blvd, Suite D, McComb, MS 39648 Hospice Ministries, 450 Towne Center Blvd., Ridgeland, MS 39157 Hospice of Light, 1121 Ocean Springs Road, Ocean Springs, MS 39564 Hospice of North Sunflower, 105 E. Floyce St, Ruleville, MS 38771 Infinity Hospice Care, Inc., 110 S. Pearl St, Carthage, MS 39051 Kare-In-Home Hospice, 497-B Keywood Circle, Flowood, MS 39232 Kare-in-Home Hospice of North Mississippi, 909 S. Fulton Dr., Corinth, MS 38834 Kare-in-Home Hospice of Northwest Mississippi, 271 Highway 6, Batesville, MS 38606 Kare-In-Home Hospice, LLC, 936 Hall St; Suite G, Wiggins, MS 39577 Kindred Hospice, 1990 S. Frontage Road, Ste 1, Vicksburg, MS 39180 Kindred Hospice - Biloxi, 962 Tommy Munro Dr, Suite D & E, Biloxi, MS 38532 Kindred Hospice - Booneville, 301B W. College St, Booneville, MS 38829 Kindred Hospice - Flowood, 106 Riverview Dr, Flowood, MS 39232 Kindred Hospice - Oxford, 2706 W Oxford Loop, Ste 100, Oxford, MS 38655 Kindred Hospice - Starkville, 403 Hospital Road, Starkville, MS 39759 Legacy Hospice of South, 212 E. Jefferson St, Ripley, MS 38663 Legacy Hospice of the South - Batesville, 108 Woodland Road, Suite 7D, Batesville, MS 38606 Legacy Hospice of the South - Grenada, 1410 Wooded Drive, Grenada, MS 38901 Legacy Hospice of the South - Starkville, 1085 Stark Road, Suite F, Starkville, MS 39759 Magnolia Regional Home Health & Hospice, 1001 S. Harper Road, Corinth, MS 38834 Mid-Delta Hospice of Batesville, 112 Highway 51 N., Batesville, MS 38606 Mid-Delta Hospice of Canton, 1150 E. Peace St, Canton, MS 39046

Marshall Tate Panola Lowndes Yazoo Harrison Jones Lincoln Rankin Forrest DeSoto Lincoln Yazoo Bolivar Harrison Lincoln Lamar Washington Lincoln Lamar Rankin Lafayette Lee Pike Harrison Forrest Bolivar Leflore DeSoto Panola Forrest Neshoba Lauderdale DeSoto Bolivar Yazoo Covington Union Forrest Hinds Clarke Pike Madison Jackson Sunflower Leake Rankin Alcorn Panola Stone Warren Harrison Prentiss Rankin Lafayette Oktibbeha Tippah Panola Grenada Oktibbeha Alcorn Panola Madison

662-252-1212 662-504-4628 662-578-8402 662-243-1173 352-742-6809 228-575-6251 601-422-0054 601-282-9660 601-956-9755 601-705-0360 662-393-4033 601-835-3363 662-746-5815 662-846-6211 228-435-2265 601-823-5990 601-261-4010 662-725-1200 601-748-7020 601-264-8691 601-932-9066 662-238-7771 662-844-2870 601-684-5033 228-374-4434 601-288-2500 662-846-7600 662-563-2919 662-745-0587 662-561-0902 601-336-5832 601-656-7411 601-483-4134 662-253-5824 662-350-0557 662-350-0830 601-714-1221 662-539-7339 601-909-6105 601-625-7840 601-776-8880 601-250-0884 601-898-1053 228-818-2160 662-756-1700 601-654-2328 601-605-3881 662-286-9833 662-890-4646 601-336-7855 601-629-9673 228-385-7845 662-728-7404 601-983-6193 662-234-0140 662-615-1519 662-837-9990 662-578-8177 662-226-4246 662-338-0078 662-293-1405 662-563-1021 601-855-2400

Mid-Delta Hospice, Inc., 405 Hayden St, Belzoni, MS 39038

Humphreys

662-247-1254

North Delta Hospice & Palliative Services, 520 Goodman Road, Southaven, MS 38671 North Delta Hospice of New Albany, 212 Starlyn Ave, New Albany, MS 39652 North MS Medical Center Hospice, 422-B E. President St, Tupelo, MS 38801 North Yalobusha Hospice & Palliative Care, Inc., 30656 Highway 32, Oakland, MS 38948 Notre Dame Hospice of Mississippi, 5407 Indian Hill Blvd, Diamondhead, MS 39525 Palladium Hospice and Palliative Care - Ridgeland, 680 Highway 51, Suite L, Ridgeland, MS 39157 Palladium Hospice and Palliative Care, LLC, 243 Beauvoir Road, Ste B, Biloxi, MS 39531

DeSoto Union Lee Yalobusha Hancock Madison Harrison

662-393-0170 662-393-0170 662-377-3612 662-623-0946 228-687-1385 601-317-4947 228-207-0390

n

Mississippi Business Journal

Additional Locations

Jackson

Columbia, Picayune Vicksburg Southaven Columbus

Hattiesburg, Picayune

Belden

Jackson

Meridian, Natchez Brookhaven, Ridgeland Lucedale

Tupelo

Amory, Corinth

Clarksdale, Charleston Lexington, Vicksburg Cleveland, Greenville, Greenwood, Yazoo City

Hattiesburg

n

Accreditation status Non-Accredited / Not Deemed CHAP Accredited / Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed CHAP Accredited / Deemed Non-Accredited / Deemed Non-Accredited / Deemed CHAP Accredited / Deemed CHAP Accredited / Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Not Accredited / Not Deemed Not Accredited / Not Deemed ACHA Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed TJC Accredited / Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed CHAP Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed CHAP Accredited / Deemed CHAP Accredited / Deemed CHAP Accredited / Deemed CHAP Accredited / Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed

17

18 n

Mississippi Business Journal

n

HEALTH CARE

December 2020 Issue

Hospice Facilities

Licensed Hospice Facilities hospice facilities Provider

County

Phone

Additional Locations

Accreditation status

Pax Hospice, 359 Towne Center Blvd, Suite 500, Ridgeland, MS 39157

Madison

601-991-3840

Quality Hospice Care, Inc., 340 Byrd Ave., Philadelphia, MS 39350

Neshoba

601-656-5252

Saad Home Health and Hospice of MS, 10598 D'Iberville Blvd, Suite B, D'Iberville, MS 39450

Harrison

228-432-8855

Non-Accredited / Not Deemed

Saint Anthony's Hospice & Palliative Care, 108 N. Ruby Ave., Ruleville, MS 38771

Sunflower

662-756-2072

Non-Accredited / Not Deemed

Saint John Hospice & Palliative Care, 106 N. Ruby Ave., Ruleville, MS 38771

Sunflower

662-756-0928

Non-Accredited / Not Deemed

Sanctuary Home Hospice, 5159 W. Main St, Tupelo, MS 38801

Lee

662-407-2400

Non-Accredited / Not Deemed

Serenity Hospice, LLC, 103 S. Court St. Ste 107, Cleveland, MS 38732

Bolivar

662-545-4756

Non-Accredited / Not Deemed

Shepherd Hospice, 106 W. Bankhead St., New Albany, MS 39652

Union

662-539-7123

Non-Accredited / Not Deemed

Solace Hospice, Inc., 215 Highway 26 E., Poplarville, MS 39470

Pearl River

601-403-9822

Southerncare Biloxi, 8195A Woolmarket Road, Biloxi, MS 39532

Harrison

228-396-4756

Southerncare Hattiesburg, 4700 Hardy St., Suite Y, Hattiesburg, MS 39402

Lamar

601-579-9493

Southerncare Newton, 191 Northside Drive, Newton, MS 39345

Newton

601-683-7500

Meridian

Non-Accredited / Not Deemed

Southerncare Oxford, 512 Azalea Drive, Oxford, MS 38655

Lafayette

662-578-4072

Southaven, Tupelo

Non-Accredited / Not Deemed

Specialty Hospice - Central MS, 1221 Grove St, Vicksburg, MS 39183

Warren

601-661-9752

TJC Accredited / Deemed

Specialty Hospice, LLC, 5924 Pleasant Hill Road, Olive Branch, MS 38654

DeSoto

662-420-7157

ACHC Accredited / Deemed

Spring Valley Hospice, 7139 Commerce Drive, Bldg B3, Olive Branch, MS 38654

DeSoto

662-890-5554

Non-Accredited / Not Deemed

Spring Valley Hospice of Tupelo, 1018 N Gloster, Suite J, Tupelo, MS 38804

Lee

662-890-5554

St. Joseph Hospice of Southern Mississippi, LLC, 101 Aldersgate Cir., Hattiesburg, MS 39402

Forrest

601-261-2515

Gulfport

ACHC Accredited / Deemed

St. Joseph Hospice of West, MS, LLC, 322 Highway 80 East, Clinton, MS 39056

Hinds

601-894-3014

Vicksburg

Non-Accredited / Not Deemed

St. Luke Home Health and Hospice, 1170 E. Broad St., Monticello, MS 39654

Lawrence

601-587-7686

Sta-Home Hospice of MS, Inc., 3500 Lakeland Dr. Ste 515, Flowood MS 39232

Rankin

601-991-1933

Unity Hospice Care, LLC, 1413 W. Main St, Suite B, Tupelo, MS 38801

Lee

662-539-7010

Non-Accredited / Not Deemed

Unity Hospice Care, LLC - Olive Branch, 9035 E. Sandridge Road, Suite 102, Olive Branch, MS 38654

DeSoto

662-893-5662

Non-Accredited / Not Deemed

Wayne General Hospital Hospice Agency, 951 Matthew Dr., Suite C, Waynesboro, MS 39367

Wayne

601-735-5500

Non-Accredited / Not Deemed

We Care Hospice, 3725 Main St, Moss Point, MS 39563

Jackson

228-474-2030

Non-Accredited / Not Deemed

Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Meridian

TJC Accredited / Not Deemed

Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Lucedale, Picayune

Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Non-Accredited / Not Deemed

Non-Accredited / Not Deemed

Non-Accredited / Not Deemed Grenada, Meridian, Philadelphia

CHAP Accredited / Deemed

Source: Mississippi State Department of Health, July 2020. Hospices are certified and licensed by the state as well as accredited by either the Community Health Accreditation Program (CHAP), The Joint Commission (TJC) or Accreditation Commission for Health Care (ACHC). Direct questions to frank.brown@msbusiness.com.

RURAL HOSPITALS

Continued from Page 16

and their family complain, and there is a lot of stress. It is a thankless position, very difficult. Only special people can survive under those situations.”

When someone on staff contracts COVID-19, that puts stress of what was likely already a skeleton crew.

Gardner said when a health care worker has to be out for ten days to quarantine or recover from COVID, it puts makes the situation more difficult from every angle.

Timothy H. Moore Moore, president and CEO of the Mississippi Hospital Association, said all hospitals in the state--not just rural hospitals--were already short staffed prior to COVID-19, and COVID has exacerbated those problems.

“Rural hospitals, especially, struggle to offer the financial incentives that larger urban hospitals can offer,” Moore said. “Uncompensated care is an enormous burden for all hospitals, but especially our rural hospitals.

Even for patients with coverage, the reimbursement rates of all payers in our state are low when compared to other states. This affects our hospitals' ability to attract and retain staff at all times - but especially during a pandemic.”

Sicker patients are transferred to larger facilities. But as those hospitals fill up, there is nowhere for rural hospitals to send them, Moore said.

Federal CARES funding for the pandemic was fairly specific regarding what monies could be used for, and general facility upgrades were not allowable. Facility improvements for treating COVID patients have been allowable and were undertaken in some facilities, he said.

Moore said while there are still concerns about people avoiding the hospitals when they need care because of concerns about being exposed to the coronavirus, it is not as bad as back in April and May. “Patients learned that putting off needed health care services was not best for their health in the long run,” Moore said.

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architects & engineers December 2020 Issue • Mississippi Business Journal • www.msbusiness.com

historic tax incenitives key to rehabilitation

By LYNN LOFTON mbj@msbusiness.com

H

istory lovers and business people like to see as many as possible of the state's historical properties preserved, and tax credits aid in those endeavors. Both the federal government and the state of Mississippi provide tax incentives for historic preservation — federal is 20 percent of qualified rehabilitation expenses and the state credits are 25 percent. These tax credits can be combined.

Michael Morris, director of public relations for the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, says

» Historic lighthouse in Biloxi, MS

the two credits usually are combined. “To qualify for either tax credit, a building must be listed in, or eligible for listing in, the National Register of Historic Places, a designation that makes the building a certified historic BEFORE

» The Mill at Mississippi State University

structure,” he said. “The project must also comply with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation. In addition, the property must be income producing at the completion of the rehabilitation project.” The National Register is maintained by the National Park Service.

Morris explains that applicants (property owners) must complete a three-part application and are strongly encouraged to submit Parts 1 and 2 for approval prior to the start of work on a project. “Part 1 of the application must be approved prior to placing the building back into service. Part 3 certifies that the project meets the Secretary’s Standards and designates the project as a 'certified rehabilitation,' which authorizes the applicant to claim the tax credits.”

Leigh Jaunsen, managing partner with Dale Partners Architects, notes that the rehabilitation must be substantial, meaning the value » The Mill at Mississippi State University of the pre-rehabilitation and the limitations that some of the historic features may has to exceed the rehabilitation value of the building. “It's a signif- have on the final design.”

Jaunsen, who has the AIA, LEED AP BD+C designaicant amount of money so it is definitely worth considering in every project that tions and has worked on numerous historic preservation involves a historic building or district, but projects, says, “I think the program works well in that it sometimes it is difficult to maintain all the historic fea- combines the goal of preserving historic structures with tures and include all the elements needed for the end user economic development goals and creates a powerful incentive for developers to make the extra effort to preserve at the same time,” she said.

“An owner has to weigh the benefits of the tax credit See REHABILITATION, Page 25 AFTER

ARCHITECTS & ENGINEERS

Oldest Architectural Firms

December 2020 Issue

n

Mississippi Business Journal

oldest Oldest Architectural Firms architectural firms

n

21

Rank

Firm

Address

Phone Website

Top Officer/Principals

1

Landry Lewis Germany Architects, P.A.

5211 Old Hwy. 11, Hattiesburg, MS 39402

601-271-7711 llgarch.com

Kevin P Lewis

1910

2

Canizaro Cawthon Davis Architecture Planning Interior Design

129 S. President St., Jackson, MS 39201

601-948-7337 ccdarchitects.com

Danny Cawthon, Steve Davis

1938

3

Dean & Dean/Associates Architects, P.A.

4400 Old Canton Rd., Suite 200, Jackson, MS 39211

601-939-7717 deandean.com

J. Alan Grant, Timothy G Geddie, Richard M. Dean, Kenneth A. Oubre

1949

4

Archer Architecture

717 Front St. Ext., Meridian, MS 39301

601-483-4873 archerarchitecture.com

George Williamson "BB" Archer

1951

5

Eley Guild Hardy Architects, P.A.

1091 Tommy Munro Dr., Biloxi, MS 39532

228-594-2323 egh.ms

W. Taylor Guild III, David J. Hardy, James H. Eley

1953

6

Brumfield Ward & Associates Architects, PA

1050 Northpark Dr., Suite C, Ridgeland, MS 39157

601-982-0341 brumfieldward.com

Hal C. Brumfield

1957

7

Allred Stolarski Architects, PA

711 Church St, Ocean Springs, MS 39564

228-762-1975 allredstolarski.com

Hoppy Allred, John Stolarski

1961

Cooke Douglass Farr Lemons Architects & Engineers, P.A.

3221 Old Canton Road, Suite 200, Jackson, MS 39216

601-366-3110 cdfl.com

Gene Crager, Robert Farr II, David Burnet, Ron Fender, Newell Watkins

1961

9

jH&H Architects/Planners/Interiors, PA

1047 N. Flowood Dr., Flowood, MS 39232

601-948-4601 jhharchitects.com

Joseph Carl Franco, A. Bruce Wood, Paul Bagley, Randall Lewis

1964

10

JBHM Architecture

308 E. Pearl St, Ste. 300, Jackson, MS 39201

601-352-2699 jbhm.com

Richard H. McNeel, Joseph Henderson

1970

Robert Parker Adams, Architect, P.A.

219 N. Lamar St., Jackson, MS 39201

601-948-7722 robertparkeradams.com

Robert Parker Adams

1970

12

RJZ Architecture, PA

91 Sunset Drive, Suite C, Grenada, MS 38901

662-226-7115 N/A

Robert J. Zander

1972

13

tryon comstock rosser - architect

P.O. Box 12724, Jackson, MS 39236

601-927-7777 N/A

Try Rosser

1975

14

Foil-Wyatt Architects & Planners PLLC

1510 N. State St., Suite 400, Jackson, MS 39202

601-352-3071 foilwyatt.com

Edward Bowden Wyatt, Michael R Foil

1977

15

ArchitectureSouth, P.A.

330 W. Jefferson St., Tupelo, MS 38804

662-844-5843 architecturesouth.com

Linda E. Smith

1978

16

McCarty Architects

533 W. Main St., Tupelo, MS 38804

662-844-4400 mccartycompany.com

Kurt Shettles

1983

17

Paul Ingram, Architect

1280 Warrenton Road, Vicksburg, MS 39180

601-415-7347 N/A

Paul Ingram

1985

PryorMorrow PC

5227 S. Frontage Rd., Columbus, MS 39701

662-327-8990 pryormorrow.com

William Dexter, Rud Robison, Corey Ravenhorst, Jose Guadalupe Arellano, Michael Taylor

1985

19

Albert & Robinson Architects, PLLC

514 Main St., Hattiesburg, MS 39401

601-544-1970 ar-architects.com

Larry A. Albert, Chris L. Robinson

1986

20

LPK Architects, P.A.

821 22nd Ave., Meridian, MS 39301

601-693-9990 lpkarchitects.com

Robert E. Luke

1987

21

Belinda Stewart Architects, PA

61 N. Dunn St./PO Box 867, Eupora, MS 39744

662-258-6405 belindastewartarchitects.com

Belinda J. Stewart

1990

Howorth & Associates Architects

P.O. Box 1569, Oxford, MS 38655

662-234-7444 howortharch.com

Thomas S. Howorth FAIA

1990

23

Grantier Architecture & Interiors, P.A.

5570 Wayneland Dr., Jackson, MS 39211

601-957-3530 grantierarchitecture.com

Buddy Grantier

1992

24

Dale Partners Architects, P.A.

188 E. Capitol St., Ste. 250, Jackson, MS 39201

601-352-5411 dalepartners.com

Leigh G. Jaunsen, Doug Dale, Jeffrey Barnes, Russ Blount, Jason Agostinelli

1995

25

Burris/Wagnon Architects, P.A.

500L E. Woodrow Wilson Ave., Jackson, MS 39216

601-969-7543 burriswagnon.com

Stan Wagnon, Bill Burris

1997

Duvall Decker Architects, P.A.

2915 N. State St., Jackson, MS 39216

601-713-1128 duvalldecker.com

Roy T. Decker, Anne Marie Decker

1997

27

Ferguson & Associates Architecture, P.A.

100 Calumet Gardens, Suite 200, Madison, MS 39110

601-607-7933 fergusonarchitecture.net

G.G. Ferguson

2000

28

AERC, PLLC

342 W. Valley St, Hernando, MS 38632

662-298-0057 aercpllc.com

Douglas W Thornton AIA, LEED AP

2002

29

Gary Haygood, Landscape Architects & Contractors

571 Highway 51, Suite C, Ridgeland, MS 39157

601-966-3581 garyhaygood.design

Gary Haygood

2004

30

M3A Architecture, PLLC

4880 McWillie Cir., Jackson, MS 39206

601-981-1227 m3aarch.com

William L. McElroy

2005

31

Beard + Riser Architects PLLC

201 Main St, Greenwood, MS 38935

662-455-2581 beardriser.com

John Beard, Dale Riser

2007

32

Dale | Bailey, An Association

188 E. Capitol St, Ste 250, Jackson, MS 39201

601-352-5411 dalepartners.com/about-dba

Doug Dale, Gary Bailey, Jeff Barnes, Leigh Jaunsen, Russ Blount, Jason Agostinelli

2008

33

Seabold Architectural Studio

111 N. State St., Jackson, MS 39201

769-216-3101 seabold-studio.com

Jeff Seabold

2009

Wier Boerner Allin Architecture, PLLC

2727 Old Canton Road, Suite 200, Jackson, MS 39216

601-321-9107 wbaarchitecture.com

Michael Boerner, Jamie Wier, Jack Allin

2009

List is ranked by year founded. Information provided by company representatives and MBJ research. Direct questions to Frank Brown at frank.brown@msbusiness.com.

Founded in Miss.

economic development September December 2020 Issue Issue • Mississippi • Mississippi Business Business Journal Journal • www.msbusiness.com • www.msbusiness.com

Murky Waters branching out

By LISA MONTI mbj@msbusiness.com

I

t took the owners of Murky Waters Blues and BBQ restaurants about three years to finally find a place in Bay St. Louis for their fourth location. “The real estate never worked out for us,” said co-owner Brandon Atwell. He and co-owners Frankie Penn and Thomas Young grew up in nearby Long Beach and were familiar with the Bay’s historic downtown district. They all worked in entry-level restaurant jobs in their teens and learned the business from the ground up.

So when Lulu’s on Main went on the market, the three partners had finally found a spot, right in the middle of Old Town’s galleries, restaurants, boutiques and bars.

Nancy Moynan opened the retail space and art gallery at

126 Main St. 13 years ago and opened Lulu Eats 11 years ago. The casual restaurant closed Sept. 12 and the sale to Murky Waters was completed in October. Then the structural work began.

“We gutted the whole space but it will be the same footprint as Lulu’s,” Atwell said. Walls were knocked down to declutter the space and new electrical and plumbing was installed. The retail tenants in the front of the building have remained open during the renovation.

Atwell said the new restaurant is expected to open next month. “We’re hoping to open in mid- to late January. The bar is built and half the equipment is in.”

The three Murky Waters owners opened their flagship restaurant and music venue in downtown Gulfport eight years ago and have expanded into Hattiesburg and Ocean Springs. Atwell said each has the same menu, craft beer selections and catering menus. But the interiors are not

Photo courtesy of The Cooking Channel

» Frankie Penn, Brandon Atwell and Thomas Young, from left, are the co-owners of the Murky Waters Blues & BBQ restaurants.

“cut and paste” in their style, he said. “All the layouts are different, not cookie cutter. This one (Bay St. Louis) is probably most similar to Ocean Springs with white See MURKY WATERS, Page 23

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT MURKY WATERS

December 2020 Issue

n

Mississippi Business Journal

23

Oldest Historic Places in oldest historic Mississippi places in Mississippi

Continued from Page 22

Oldest Historic Places in Mississippi

» Located in Historic Downtown Gulfport, the open-air building that houses the flagship Murky Waters. It features 1800s-era brick walls, an indoor stage, and a wrought iron enclosed courtyard which is accessible from Fishbone Alley, an alley turned public art space.

walls and a wood grain bar.”

The new restaurant is the smallest location and will seat around 100 customers. Around 25 to 30 employees will be hired for the daily operations.

The new restaurant will be open daily from 11 a.m. to 9 or 10 p.m.

Atwell said live music has been put on hold in all the restaurants since the pandemic but when restrictions are dropped, all four locations will offer live entertainment that’s part of the Murky Waters’ name.

Atwell said as the pandemic unfolded earlier this year, the months of March and April were very stressful. “We closed the dining rooms and operating as fast food to-go is not our model. And like everybody else, there were employment issues, prices fluctuated, we couldn’t carry brisket. Now it’s calmed down.”

Once the restaurants reopened, the dining rooms were packed. “It hasn’t been an issue with the revenue side, just the management of labor and supply prices. Even today, chicken

n

prices are up.”

The owners continue to deal with issues from the pandemic but Atwell said, “We navigated it and were able to pay our employees even when the dining rooms were closed.”

Murky Waters is one of several new

RANK

Property

Location

Year

1

de la Pointe-Krebs House (Old Spanish Fort)

Pascagouola

1757*

2

Mount Locust

Natchez area

1780*

3

Richmond

Natchez

1785*

4

Hope Farm (Hope Villa)

Natchez

1790*

5

Belvidere (Airlie)

Natchez

1793

6

King's Tavern

Natchez

1795*

7

Site of Fort Adams

Fort Adams

Texada (Texada Tavern, Old Spanish House)

Natchez

1799*

9

House on Ellicott's Hill (Connelly's Tavern)

Natchez

1800*

10

Winthrop Sargent House (Bellevue, Gloucester)

Natchez

1803*

Site of Fort Dearborn

Washington

1803*

12

The Elms

Natchez

1805*

13

Springfield

Church Hill

1806*

14

Mistletoe

Natchez

1807*

15

Cowles Mead House (Meadvilla)

Washington

1808*

16

Rosemont

Woodville

17

Selma Plantation House

Washington

1811*

Salisbury (Shepherd House)

Woodville

1811*

Holly Grove Plantation

Centreville

1812*

Blantonia

Lorman

1812*

John Ford Home

Marion County

1812*

Auburn

Natchez

1812

Reedland (Linden)

Natchez

1815*

Routhland

Natchez

1815*

Smithland Plantation

Natchez

1815*

Mercer-Laird House

Natchez

1815*

27

Pecan Grove

Church Hill

1817*

28

Jefferson College

Washington

1818

The Briars

Natchez

Site of Elizabeth Female Academy

Washington

1818

Gen. John Quitman House (Monmouth)

Natchez

1818

Arlington

Natchez

1819*

Branch Banking House (Bank of Mississippi, Wilkinson County Museum-African American Cultural Center

Woodville

1819

Hawthorne Place (Hawthorne)

Natchez

1820*

Bedford Plantation House

Washington

1820*

Railey House (Oakland)

Natchez

1820*

Saragossa

Natchez

1820*

19

and in-the-works barbecue places in Bay St. Louis but Atwell said he isn’t worried about competition. He pointed to all of the seafood restaurants operating in the market and said the restaurant business is “hyper competitive.” What Murky Waters offers is an upscale, sit down service with appetizers, cocktails and live music. “It’s how we set ourselves apart,” he said.

23

32

34

1799

1810

1818*

Source: Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Please direct questions to frank.brown@msbusiness.com. * Approximate date

» Murky Waters hosts 6 nights of music across 3 locations every week. From Grammy winning artists to regional breakthroughs, Murky Waters hosts some of the South's most talented musicians.

During this magical time of year, full of hope and love, we’re reflecting on all the reasons why we’re thankful to be a part of your community. We extend tidings of comfort and joy to you and your loved ones this holiday season and look forward to a new year of serving you.

1.800.regions I regions.com

© 2020 Regions Bank. Regions and the Regions logo are registered trademarks of Regions Bank. The LifeGreen color is a trademark of Regions Bank.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

December 2020 Issue

Largest Economic Development Projects

Largest Economic Development Projects top 20 projects

n

Rank

Company

Location

Products

Announced

Type of Project

1

Associated Wholesale Grocers

Hernando

Cooperative food wholesaler

June 2

2

Amazon

Canton

Distribution

3

Calgon Carbon

Pearlington

4

Mission Forest Products

5

Mississippi Business Journal

n

25

Jobs Created

Corporate Investment

Existing

79

$300,000,000

Nov. 12

Existing

1,000

N/A1

Activated carbon

June 25

Existing

38

$185,000,000

Corinth

Pine sawmill

Sept. 25

New

130

$160,000,000

Kimberly Clark

Corinth

Non-woven components

Dec. 1

Existing

33

$140,000,000

6

Ardagh

Olive Branch

Metal & glass packaging

Nov. 10

Existing

80

$90,000,000

7

IG Design Group

Marshall County

Paper products, stationery, gift wrap & bags

July 21

New

35

$49,000,000

8

Vicksburg Forest Products

Vicksburg

Lumber manufacturing

Sept. 9

Existing

60

$40,000,000

9

General Atomics

Shannon

National security components/technologies

Sept. 3

Existing

125

$39,500,000

10

Ajinomoto Foods

Oakland

Specialty frozen foods

Jan 16

Existing

15

$27,300,000

11

Ashley Furniture

Verona, Saltillo

Upholstered furniture

Aug. 3

Existing

130

$22,000,000

12

Material Bank

Olive Branch

Architecture materials distributor

Oct. 8

New

300

$14,500,000

13

Toshiba America Business Solutions

Horn Lake

Office equipment distribution

Jan. 9

New

40

$14,000,000

14

Hankins Timbers

Grenada

Lumber manufacturing

Nov. 5

Existing

43

$12,500,000

15

Quadient

Marshall County

Communications technology distribution

Dec. 8

New

75

$11,000,000

16

ST Engineering Halter Marine and Offshore

Pascagoula

Ship maintenance, repair

Feb. 18

Existing

100

$10,000,000

17

Milwaukee Tool

Olive Branch

Power tools

Feb. 11

Existing

100

$8,700,000

18

Northrop Grumman

Iuka

Composite aerospace structures

Jan. 21

Existing

40

$8,300,000

19

Navistar Defense

West Point

Military vehicles

Sept. 8

Existing

500

$8,000,000

20

Samuel Roll Form Group

Iuka

Roll-formed steel products

Aug. 11

Existing

30

$6,900,000

Source: Mississippi Development Authority. List ranked by corporate investment. Direct questions to frank.brown@msbusiness.com.

1 Confidential Private Investment

REHABILATION

Continued from Page 20

parts of the structure that otherwise would have been changed or eliminated in order to be cost effective.

» Millsaps Christian Center in Jackson, MS

“This strategy works very well in markets that are thriving, but in areas that are struggling economically or dealing with blight, it is often difficult to update a historic building to a modern use and preserve all of the historic features.”

She give as an example a main street building that was once office and retail would work well as restaurants and downtown living but needs balconies to be added to the main facade to create the kind of downtown living product capable of producing the rental rates that make the project economically feasible. “Because the building did not originally have balconies, the project does not qualify for tax credits,” she said. “I'd like to see more economically challenged areas have a little more flexibility.”

Dale Partners has completed many » Millsaps Christian Center historic preservation projects although Jaunsen says a lot of its historic work has been through municipalities and universities which do not qualify for tax incentives. The most recent project was The Mill at Starkville.

Morris says there's a substantial difference in rehabilitation and restoration, and lists some outstanding rehabilitation projects ranging in size from small downtown commercial buildings to warehouses, schools, courthouses, historic hotels and office buildings. Recent examples include the McGrath Building in Brookhaven, Canton High School, the Lamar Life Building in Jackson, and Travelers Hotel in Clarksdale.

Bank Of Okolona Okolona P.O. Box 306 • Okolona, Mississippi 38860 (662) 447-5403 Bank of Mantee 54 1st Street • Mantee, Mississippi 39751 (662) 456-5341

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662-842-7305

NEWSMAKERS Cracchiolo Spain appointed as president of Coastal Mississippi Board of Commissioners

Coastal Mississippi has announced its board of commissioners for fiscal year 2021. Mary Cracchiolo Spain will serve as president, leading fellow Coastal Mississippi commissioners, who are charged with overseeing the promotion of the tri-county region as a tourism and convention destination worldwide. The mission of Coastal Mississippi centers on attracting ever-increasing Spain numbers of leisure, convention, sports and business visitors to the area.

With more than 25 years of experience in the Mississippi tourism and hospitality industry, including 19 years with MGM Resorts International, Cracchiolo Spain brings extensive experience in marketing and communications to leading Coastal Mississippi tourism. She is the Regional Communications Director for MGM Mississippi’s Beau Rivage and Gold Strike and served eight years on the board of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Travel & Tourism Section, including board chair in 2014. Past president of the Public Relations Association of Mississippi and PRAM-Mississippi Beach Chapter, Cracchiolo Spain is a past recipient of the Southern Public Relations Federation’s (SPRF) Professional Achievement Award, the organization’s highest honor. Cracchiolo Spain is a longtime board member and past chair of the American Red Cross Southeast Mississippi Chapter and currently serves on the board of the Moon Tree Foundation.

Here is the complete list of board members, including titles and county representation: Mary Cracchiolo Spain, Regional Communications Director for MGM Resorts International (Board President, represents Harrison County) Mark Henderson, Owner of Lazy Magnolia Brewing Company (Vice President, represents Hancock County) Carla Todd, Past President/CEO of Jackson County Chamber of Commerce (Treasurer, Finance Committee Chair, represents Jackson County) Rob Stinson, Owner of Salute, The Reef, and Kelly’s Sports Pub (Secretary, represents Harrison County) Nikki Moon, Owner of Bay Town Inn Bed & Breakfast (Past President, represents Hancock County) Shirley Dane, Owner of The Coast Company design studio (Tourism Engagement Committee Chair, represents Harrison County) Rusty David, retired from Bancorp South (Nominations Committee Chair, represents Harrison County) Kim Fritz, Owner of Fritz Development and former Regional Senior Vice President of Marketing for Caesars Mid-South Region (Marketing & Conventions/ Group Sales Committee Chair, represents Harrison County) Danny Hansen, retired from Farm Bureau Insurance (Governance Chair, represents Harrison County) Bill Holmes, retired from his role as Executive Director of Mississippi Coast Coliseum & Convention Center (Represents Harrison County)

December 2020 Issue

Richard Marsh, retired from Anchor Glass and Harrison County Director of Committees for District 4 (Audit Committee Chair, represents Harrison County) Brooke Shoultz, General Counsel and former CFO for Blacklidge Emulsions, Owner of KB Shoultz Law Firm and Cohesive Solutions Consulting (Finance Committee Vice Chair, represents Harrison County) Clay Wagner, Senior Vice President/Economic Development Officer at Hancock Whitney Bank (Development & Government Relations Committee Chair, represents Hancock County) Rich Westfall, retired from Charter Bank (Represents Jackson County) Jim Williams, President of Lockard & Williams Insurance Services, Inc. (Represents Jackson County)

government operations, services, and decisions using professional auditing standards, best practices, and data analytics, conducted performance and compliance audits, and led training for outside organizations in performance management, budgeting, contract management, internal control, and fraud prevention.

“The Division of Medicaid is a massive organization that impacts so many lives directly and indirectly,” Atkinson said. “I’m excited for this opportunity to help strengthen the agency’s core functions and to be a part of the effort of transforming it into a 21st century Medicaid program.”

Atkinson earned a MPPA and BA from Mississippi State University. A recipient of the 2017 Governor’s Excellence in State Government Award, she is also a certified inspector general auditor.

Delta Health-The Medical Medicaid names Steve Stanic as Center welcomes new Deputy Administrator and Chief rehabilitation director Scott Christensen, Chief Executive Officer, Delta Information Technology Officer Health System, has announced Margaret Swartzfager as The Medical Center’s new Director of Rehabilitation Services.

Swartzfager is a graduate of the University of Mississippi with an undergraduate degree in Communication Disorders and a graduate degree in Speech-Language Pathology. Margaret has worked as a Director of Rehabilitation and Therapy Services for most of her career providing patient care services to all ages.

“Margaret is bringing an advanced level of expertise with her to serve our patients and team at The Medical Center,” said Amy Walker, Chief Clinical Officer. “We are extremely fortunate to add Margaret to our dedicated Swartzfager therapy staff. The Medical Center will continue to recruit talented individuals to provide quality patient care.”

Swartzfager and her husband, Jon, live in Shelby, and are parents of five children.

Medicaid names Sam Atkinson as Deputy Administrator for Accountability and Compliance The Mississippi Division of Medicaid has named Sam Atkinson as the agency’s Deputy Administrator for Accountability and Compliance.

Atkinson, who previously served as Director of Audit Response Teams and Special Projects for the Office of State Auditor, will report to Drew Snyder, the Division of Medicaid’s executive director.

In her new role, Atkinson will oversee the program integrity, external audit, internal audit, Atkinson and compliance functions of the $6 billion dollar agency.

Atkinson has more than 25 years of experience working with government programs. As Director of Audit Response Teams and Special Projects for the Department of Audit, she evaluated and analyzed

The Mississippi Division of Medicaid has named Steve Stanic as the agency’s Deputy Administrator and Chief Information Technology Officer.

Stanic previously served as Vice President/CIO of Mississippi Baptist Health Systems.

In his new role, Stanic will be charged with advancing information technology strategy and delivery across a government agency with an annual budget of over $6 Stanic billion dollars. He will report to Drew Snyder, the Division of Medicaid’s executive director.

Stanic has over 30 years of health information technology experience. As CIO of Mississippi Baptist Health Systems, he implemented a total replacement of all revenue cycle and major clinical systems and established an operational performance function to execute key performance projects linked to the health system’s strategic initiatives. His previous leadership roles include VP/CIO of Healthcare Practice for Juran, national director of the clinical solutions center for Perot Systems, and VP/CIO of Memorial Health in Savannah, Ga. Stanic earned a MBA and BA from Youngstown State University. He is Six Sigma Black Belt Certified, and he is a frequent presenter at functions for the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives and the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society.

n

Mississippi Business Journal

n

27

Crace named to board for American Society of Golf Course Architects

Nathan Crace, the only member of the American Society of Golf Course Architects based in Mississippi or Alabama, will join the ASGCA’s Board of Governors with fellow ASGCA member Drew Rogers of Toledo, Ohio.

The two will replace outgoing governor Billy Fuller of Augusta, Georgia, whose three-year term has ended, and Mike Benkusky of Chicago, who will become the new ASGCA Secretary.

Crace and Rogers officially Crace began their roles last month.

That makes a busy fall for Crace, who recently redesigned The Refuge golf course in Flowood, Mississippi (in the Greater Jackson metropolitan area) and has numerous renovation projects ongoing across three states. The Refuge is slated to open in the spring of 2021, featuring three new holes to create returning nines, wider playing corridors, new greens and bunkers, and the Longleaf Tee System—allowing the course to play anywhere from 3,900 yds for juniors and beginners to 7,005 yards from the tips. The blended tee concept allowed Crace to create essentially 10 courses within 18 holes.

Kent joins Renasant as assistant vice president

Renasant Bank has announced that Richard Kent has recently been hired as Assistant Vice President, Credit Policy and Procedure Administrator. He will be at the Tupelo Main location at 209 Troy Street.

"We are proud to announce Richard joining our team. He brings valuable experience and will be an asset and leader to our team. We look forward to watching Richard grow in his Kent new role and within Renasant," said Michelle White, Credit Administrator Manager.

Kent received his Bachelor's degree from Mississippi State University, and has seven years of experience in the financial industry.

For full versions of Newsmakers visit www.msbusiness.com

G N DI

N E P

D L SO

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NEWSMAKERS

December 2020 Issue

Community Bank continues Hunter promoted to assistant vice president succession plan for Renasant

Charles W. Nicholson, Jr., President and CEO for Community Bank of Mississippi, is proud to announce the promotion of David M. Hughes and Justin C. Martin.

“As we continue to implement our succession plan, we feel this move positions Community Bank to continue our success for many years to come. Hughes and Martin both will be tasked with ensuring we are operating not only efficiently, but in a way that is continually looking to the future.” stated Nicholson.

Hughes has been named Chief Banking Officer for Community Bank. Hughes has spent the last twenty years of his banking career with Community Bank, most recently serving as the company’s Chief Operating Officer. Prior to assuming that role, Hughes served as Chief Executive Officer for Commu- Hughes nity Bank’s Coast Region. In his new role, Hughes will be responsible for all bank operations and continue to Chair the bank’s Risk Management Committee.

Martin has been promoted to Chief Operating Officer for Community Bank. Martin joined Community Bank in 2007, where he began as Assistant Vice President in Brandon, he was later named Executive Vice President while in Tupelo, and then served the Pine Belt ReMartin gion as Regional Chief Executive Officer. Most recently, he served as Regional Chief Executive Officer for Community Bank’s Metro Jackson Region. In his new role, Martin’s focus will be to help carry out the strategic growth plan for the company, as well as Chair the Bank’s Corporate Loan Committee.

“The leadership of these distinguished bankers is respected across our footprint, as they are continually pushing Community Bank to new heights. We look forward to their success in their new roles,” said Nicholson.

Renasant's Holmes promoted to consumer underwriter

Renasant Bank has announced that Miranda Holmes has recently been promoted to Banking Officer and Consumer Underwriter.

"We are proud to announce Miranda's promotion to Banking Officer," says Jonathan Spell, Vice President, Consumer Underwriter Manager.

"She has been an asset and leader to the Consumer Underwriting team. We look forward to watching Miranda grow in her new position and leadership."

Holmes received a bachelor's degree in Accounting from Mississippi University for Women and a Master of Business Administration in Accounting from the University of Phoenix.

Renasant Bank has announced that Roslyn Hunter has been promoted to Assistant Vice President, Regional Sales and Service Manager.

"We are proud to announce Roslyn’s promotion to Assistant Vice President," says Louis Marascalco, Lee County Market President. "She has been an asset and leader to our team. We look forward to watching Roslyn grow in her role and leadership."

Hunter

n

Mississippi Business Journal

n

29

Hunter received a Bachelor of Arts from Mississippi State University. Hunter is a member of White Hill Missionary Baptist Church and currently serves as Treasurer and Chairperson of Building You Economic Legacy. She is also a member of the Nu Sigma Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. where she participates in many community events including Soles 4 Souls and Pillowcase Project.

MEC CAPITAL DAY

CURRENT SPONSORS CAPITAL CORPORATE

Atmos Energy Electric Cooperatives of Mississippi Mississippi Power Taylor Machine Works TEC

CORPORATE

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Thursday, January 7, 2021 • 10:30 am – 12:30 pm

Join MEC Virtually as We Kick Off the 2021 Legislative Session!

SPONSORSHIPS ARE STILL AVAILABLE SPONSOR OR REGISTER ONLINE TODAY AT WWW.MEC.MS 601-969-0022 MEC PINNACLE MEMBERS

INDIVIDUAL REGISTRATIONS MEC Members $10 Non–Members $20

MEC Capital Day Nearly 2,400 Already Registered!

AT&T BancorpSouth BankPlus Baptist Memorial Health Care Corporation Barksdale Management Baxter Healthcare Corporation Beau Rivage Resort & Casino/Gold Strike Casino Resort Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi BNSF Railway Butler Snow C Spire Caesars Entertainment Corporation Chevron Pascagoula Refinery Clarion Ledger/Hattiesburg American Cooperative Energy EdgeTheory Entergy Mississippi, LLC Ergon, Inc. General Atomics Godwin.

Hancock Whitney Bank Ingalls Shipbuilding Irby Construction Jones Walker LLP Mississippi Board of Nursing Mississippi Business Journal Mississippi Development Authority Nissan North America, Inc. Regions Bank Renasant Bank Roy Anderson Corp Sanderson Farms, Inc. State Farm Insurance Structural Steel Services, Inc. SuperTalk Mississippi Toyota Trustmark National Bank W.G. Yates & Sons Construction Company Y’all Politics

LEADERSHIP Adams and Reese LLP APAC Mississippi, Inc. BankFirst BKD - CPAs & Advisors Brunini, Grantham, Grower & Hewes, PLLC CenterPoint Energy Chemours CINTAS Coca-Cola Bottling of Corinth & Tupelo Comcast NBCUniversal Community Bank Corbin & Biggs, PLLC Deviney Construction FedEx F.L. Crane & Sons Gresham Petroleum Hol-Mac Corporation Ivey Mechanical Jumpstart Test Prep Keesler Federal Credit Union Key Constructors, LLC Magnolia Health Maris West & Baker Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians Mississippi Hospital Association Mississippi REALTORS® MyHRConcierge Neel-Schaffer, Inc. North Mississippi Health Services Norbord Northrop Grumman Corporation Nucor Steel Jackson Penn National Gaming, Inc. Phelps Dunbar LLP Ports America Raytheon Technologies Southern Farm Bureau Life Insurance Company Tennessee Valley Authority Tyson Foods United Healthcare of Mississippi Verizon W.K. Kellogg Foundation Westlake Chemical Woodward Hines Educational Foundation WAPT TV 16 WJTV News Channel 12 WLBT 3 On Your Side

30 n

Mississippi Business Journal

n

NEWSMAKERS

December 2020 Issue

Posey, Cox join Origin Drinkwater named to DSU’s Wallace Johnson Bank commercial lending 2020 Who’s Who Legal: elected director of Origin Bank has announced that Phil Posey and Product Liability Defence Mississippi Association of Melanie Cox have joined the company’s Mississippi Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP has announced commercial lending team.

Colleges and Employers that W. Wayne Drinkwater, a partner in the firm’s Phil Posey joins the bank as a Senior Vice President and Commercial Relationship Manager. In his new position at Origin, he is responsible for business development, cultivating new banking relationships and ensuring the highest level of credit quality for large businesses, including Posey commercial and real estate banking.

Posey has more than 35 years of experience working with commercial and business clients in the Southeast, with expertise in offering working capital lines of credit, equipment financing, commercial real estate financing, along with deposit and treasury management solutions.

Posey holds a Bachelor of Science in banking and finance from Mississippi State University. He is also a graduate of the Stonier Graduate School of Banking, which is sponsored by the American Bankers Association. He serves as a member of the Board of Directors for Mississippi Blood Services and holds the position of Treasurer. Posey and his wife, Cissie, reside in Madison and have one daughter, Elizabeth, who graduated from Mississippi State University in 2019 and is currently enrolled in the Accelerated Nursing Program at University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson.

Cox joins the bank as a Commercial Portfolio Manager. She has over 12 years of experience in the banking industry, specializing in credit and commercial underwriting.

In her position at Origin, Melanie’s primary focus will be to serve as a client relationship representative and support Cox the commercial banking team and their clients by coordinating and preparing credit request packages, documentation, and correspondence and proactively providing recommendations and resolutions to customers, as needed.

Cox attended Mississippi State University and enjoys putting her education training to work by volunteering in the community. She is a member of the Junior League of Jackson. She and her husband, Chris Cox, reside in the Jackson area.

Jackson office, has been named by Who’s Who Legal as among the world’s leading product liability defense practitioners. He is listed in the Who’s Who Legal: Product Liability Defence 2020.

Bradley’s acclaimed Product Liability team members represent clients in a variety of industries and jurisdictions throughout the state and federal court systems. Their representations involve litigation over a diverse range of consumer products, including tires, construction equipment, Drinkwater pharmaceuticals, medical devices, vehicles (both on- and off-road), component parts, industrial equipment, power tools, and building products. Many of the firm’s attorneys have leadership roles on clients’ legal defense teams for litigation in various multidistrict litigation and mass claim matters.

Terracon promotes Ainsworth to senior associate Amy Wisdom Ainsworth has been named a senior associate of Terracon. Based in the Ridgeland office, Ainsworth manages client development services for the national firm throughout Mississippi.

Terracon appoints senior associates based on their consistent high performance and commitment to growth, within Terracon and their community.

Ainsworth Ainsworth has over 20 years of marketing and client development experience, and was recognized as one of Mississippi Business Journal’s 50 Leading Business Women in 2012. She and her husband are residents of Fondren in Jackson.

Terracon is an employee-owned consulting engineering firm providing geotechnical, environmental, construction materials and facilities services for over 50 years. They have 150 offices nationwide, including Ridgeland and Biloxi.

LUBA Workers’ Comp expands coverage into three new states

Delta State University alumna and staffer Nakikke Wallace Johnson has been elected the four-year college director of the Mississippi Association of Colleges and Employers (MACE).

Wallace Johnson, director of career services at Delta State, will represent all fouryear college and university members on the MACE board.

A triple DSU alumna—B.S. in social sciences in 2005, B.S. in interdisciplinary studies in 2007, and M.Ed. in secondary Wallace Johnson education and teaching in 2007—she also will serve on the MACE nominating committee, audit committee, and programming committee.

Previous positions Wallace Johnson has held at Delta State include assistant director of career services and residence hall director. Earlier on, Wallace Johnson was assistant director of housing and residence life as well as a residence hall director at Mississippi University for Women.

“Nakikke Wallace Johnson has been an invaluable resource at Delta State for years, and I am confident that she will represent campuses and employers well in her newly elected role with MACE,” said Dr. Vernell Bennett-Fairs, vice president for student affairs at Delta State. “Nakikke brings a wealth of career services knowledge and experience to the position. She will be a stellar representative of the institution.”

Luke Sullivan joins Neel-Schaffer as a Senior Project Manager Neel-Schaffer, Inc., is pleased to announce that Luke Sullivan, PE, ENV SP, has joined the firm and will serve as a Transportation Senior Project Manager based in the firm’s Murfreesboro, Tenn., office.

Sullivan has 12 years of experience in transportation engineering, transportation planning, and site development. He has worked with a wide variety of clients, Sullivan including state departments

LUBA Workers’ Comp has expanded its coverage into Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Alabama. Founded in 1991, the Baton Rougebased insurance company currently writes workers’ compensation insurance through a network of select, independent agencies in Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Texas.

LUBA, with the addition of the three new states, will now write in seven states. LUBA is the second

largest writer of workers’ comp in Louisiana, the fourth largest in Mississippi, and continues to grow market share across their regional footprint. “We’ve seen steady growth in new markets thanks to our long-standing relationships with independent agents.

The success we’ve had in partnership with them has been very rewarding.” said David Bondy, Founder and CEO of LUBA. “We continue to build upon our unwavering commitment to excellence in customer service and genuine

of transportation, municipal governments, transit agencies and private industry. Projects he has worked on include planning studies, road safety audits, interchange access requests for highways and intersections, intelligent transportation systems, greenways, schools, hospitals, and commercial and residential developments.

In addition to being a Registered Professional Engineer in Tennessee, Sullivan is accredited by the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure.

“We are excited to have Luke join the Neel-Schaffer team,” said Richard Sullivan, PE, Assoc. DBIA, Vice President for Neel-Schaffer’s Tennessee operations.

“Neel-Schaffer has long been a leader in Transportation Engineering and Luke’s experience and expertise strengthens our ability to provide professional services to existing and future clients.”

Luke Sullivan holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Tennessee.

WBA Architecture welcomes Tyler Malouf

The partners of WBA Architecture announce the addition of Tyler Malouf as Project Manager in their Jackson office. Malouf joins the firm after six years at firms in Atlanta. She is an Alabama native and graduate of Auburn University’s School of Architecture.

“We are honored to have Tyler join our team, not only for her talent, but for her dedication to client service,” says Jamie Wier, Principal Malouf Architect. “She sets out to exceed the expectations of the client, which is one of the many reasons she’s a perfect fit for our firm.”

“After researching and asking friends about potential firms to continue working for, the praise and positive reputation I heard of WBA Architecture and their team members was overwhelming,” says Malouf.

“I am confident that it holds true and am excited to be working with a really great group of people. I am looking forward to becoming an involved member of this community and help add to the impressive portfolio of WBA.”

dependability and are excited to introduce three new states to the LUBA Difference.”

LUBA insures over 196,000 workers across 4,000 policies with more than $80 million in direct written premiums. LUBA recently received their sixteenth consecutive “A- Excellent” rating with a stable outlook from A.M. Best Company, the world’s oldest and most authoritative rating agency.

Ratings are based on four primary factors: balance sheet strength, operating performance, business profile, and enterprise risk management (ERM).

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Shining more light on solar.

Entergy Mississippi is committed to providing affordable, reliable and clean power to Mississippians for generations to come. So we’re making it easier for our customers to self-generate solar electricity and incorporate solar power into our power grid. Thanks to net metering, registered solar users earn credit for excess solar energy sent back to the grid.

The Mississippi Public Service Commission is making it easier to understand how solar can work for you.

“A Consumer’s Guide to Solar Power in Mississippi” provides information on how solar and net metering work, and the details you need to consider before purchasing or leasing hardware.

Get the working group’s guide for free at entergybrightfuture.com.

A message from Entergy Mississippi, LLC ©2020 Entergy Services, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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