MBJ_Apr20_2018

INSIDE — Manufacturing pushes state’s economy for February — Page 3 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

www.msbusiness.com

April 20, 2018 • Vo. 40 No. 16 • 16 pages

DINING

EDUCATION

Job skills, education emphasized at MEC meeting

Port of Gulfport negotiating on multi-million projects

By JACK WEATHERLY jack.weatherly@msbusiness.com

— Page 2

MBJ FOCUS

JACK WEATHERLY/MBJ

Shapley’s established itself as a premier steakhouse at its 868 Centre St. location in Ridgeland.

PUBLIC COMPANIES {Section begins P8}

» Listing has proven a smart move for Merchants & Marine » Long-term view always the best, particularly in volatile market

{The List P11}

Settlement reached in Shapley’s lawsuits » Koestler’s Prime to open in July

» Public Companies

By JACK WEATHERLY jack.weatherly@msbusiness.com

» THE SPIN CYCLE: Local TV news fares better than you think

A legal battle over the use of the name of a highly regarded steakhouse in Ridgeland has been settled.

Scott Koestler, who with his wife, Julie, have operated Shapley’s for 20 years, said in an in-

{P15}

terview Tuesday that they have reached a settlement with Mark and Mary Shapley.

The Shapleys filed suit March 7 in the U.S. District Court for Southern Mississippi, arguing that the trademark was not sold along with other assets bought by Scott Koestler in 1998 for $1.69 million.

Koestler said in a March 30 filing that he and his wife do, in fact, own the name.

See SHAPLEY’S, Page 2

http://msbusiness.com/events/lif/

The Mississippi Economic Council (MEC) is all about jobs and education.

For that reason, speakers at the council’s annual meeting on last week talked and about where Mississippi stands in those categories.

STAR students (the MEC’s Student-Teacher Achievement Recognition Program) were lauded and Gov. Phil Bryant ran down a litany of rankings that show that the state is no longer on the bottom rung of the national education ladder.

Similarly, the governor named the large prestige employers in the state.

Governors across the country are emphasizing the term “work force” rather than “education” in recent years in their key addresses to their respective states, Bryant said.

Bryant finished his speech and introduced a video as fodder for thinking about the future.

The video showed a world of automation in industry, driverless trucks, robotic surgery and artificial intelligence therapy.

In stark contrast to the video, keynote speaker Peyton Holland told the gathering at the Jackson Convention Complex of the virtues and value of hands-on skills.

He told of his father, a jack of all trades and, according to Holland, master of all he undertook.

His father’s skills were architecture, engiSee MEC, Page 6

2 Q Mississippi Business Journal Q April 20, 2018 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

The Port of Gulfport is nearing completion of a $570 million restoration project.

Courtesy of shipmspa.com/Special to the MBJ

Port of Gulfport negotiating with Turkish company on multi-million projects

By LISA MONTI mbj@msbusiness.com

A Turkish company is negotiating with the Mississippi State Port Authority to locate a multimillion dollar terminal operation at the Port of Gulfport.

Officials with the Port Authority and YilPort Holding A.S., a subsidiary of Yildirim Holding A.S., based in Istanbul, signed a letter of intent this month to kick off the negotiations.

“Yilport is promising to invest hundreds of millions of dollars at the Port of Gulfport and is looking for a long-term agreement.

Now that an LOI is in place, both sides will

engage in due diligence for the next couple of months before determining whether to enter into final lease negotiations,” said Jonathan Daniels, the port’s CEO and executive director.

Discussions with Yilport began in February 2017. Robert Yuksel Yildirim, YilPort Holding’s chairman, visited the port in November.

The Port of Gulfport is nearing completion of a $570 million restoration project, and YilPort Holding would commit to investing in additional facility and equipment upgrades, Daniels said, “to further improve the efficiency for the customers

SHAPLEY’S Continued from, Page 1

“We’ve settled with the Shapleys and we’re opening up Koestler Prime in Renaissance in early July,” Koestler said in the interview.

The Shapleys have already said they intend to take over the steakhouse at 868 Centre St. after the lease with Koestler ends on June 30.

The Shapleys established a website, M+M Shapley’s,

they will serve at the Port of Gulfport.”

Daniels said Yilport is “fully prepared” to bring targeted investments to the Mississippi Coast. “The use of their diversified portfolio could create opportunities for down stream logistics and even manufacturing to be created in conjunction with a port financial investment,” he said.

Currently, Daniels said, there is no national freight policy dealing with targeted in-vestments in U.S. ports, so funding is often a mix of public components and some level of private investment. “Robert Yildirim knows all too well what targeted private investments can do when they are properly leveraged against public funds in order to create a world-class port operation,” Daniels said.

Yildirim said his company will use stateof-the-art port technologies at Gulfport to make it “the most competitive in the region.”

“We see a great potential to feed volume, particularly refrigerated goods to Gulfport from YilPort terminals in Ecuador, Peru and Latin America to reach the (U.S.) Midwest,” Yildirim said. There is further

with a phone number on it, but the site had only an “under construction” message on Tuesday and a call to the number was not answered.

Meantime, Nathan McHardy, who worked with the Koestlers at the restaurant for about a decade before he and his wife, Leslie, bought Briarwood Wine and Spirits, 12 years ago, will return as general manager, “I’m honored and proud to be asked to come back and help the two of them . . . ,” McHardy said in a post on on his

potential in leveraging the company’s trading subsidiary to handle containerized liquid and bulk products out of the U.S. Gulf Coast region for small and medium-sized shippers.”

YilPort’s interest in Gulfport follows its public-private investment in 2016 when the company committed to investing $750 million to modernize the Puerto Bolivar port in Ecuador, a major shipping point for fruits and seafood. When the project is completed, officials say, the port is set to become the largest and most advanced container terminals on the Pacific coast of Latin America.

Meanwhile, another major expansion in Gulfport is in the works. In November 2017, the Army Corps of Engineers released the Record of Decision for the Port of Gulfport expansion project, paving the way for a 282-acre dredge and fill program which would increase the port’s operations.

“With the permit in-hand, the port is now evaluating options to complete the dredge and fill project,” Daniels said.

Facebook page. “They’ve done an incredible job over the last two decades transforming a successful restaurant into a local and national award winning steakhouse . . . .”

Koestler Prime will be in the space in the Renaissance at Colony Park formerly occupied by a Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse until recently, when that restaurant closed.

“We are very excited to get into the new spot,” Koestler said. “All of our employees should be moving there with us.”

April 20, 2018

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Mississippi Business Journal

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POLITICS

RITCHIE — Political contributions: Know your limits I

n Mississippi, every year is an election year. This election year, however, is shaping up to be one of the most memorable in the state in decades. Many Mississippians will seek to play an active part in these elections by contributing to campaigns and political parties. Such contributions are subject to federal and state campaign finance laws. Below is a summary of major restrictions.

Federal elections

This year’s ballots will include primary and general elections for one U.S. Senate seat (currently held by Sen. Roger Wicker) and all four U.S. House of Representative seats. There will also be a special election (same day as general election for the other seats) for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, who was appointed by Gov. Phil Bryant to replace retiring Sen. Thad Cochran.

Contributions in federal elections are governed by federal campaign finance laws.

Under federal law, an individual may give a maximum of $2,700 per election to a federal candidate or the candidate’s campaign committee. This limit applies separately to

each candidate and to each election. Primaries, runoffs and general elections are considered separate elections. A husband and wife each have separate contribution limits.

Individuals may also contribute $5,000 per calendar year to political action committees (PACs) that support federal candidates. Certain PACs, often referred to as super PACS, that make only independent expenditures (i.e., no coordination with candidates’ campaigns) in support of candidates may receive unlimited contributions.

Finally, individuals may contribute $10,000 per calendar year to state political party committees, and $33,900 per calendar year to national party committees. The limit for the national party committees applies separately to the parties’ national committees, House campaign committees, and Senate campaign committees.

Importantly, under federal law, corporations (for-profit and non-profit) are prohibited from making contributions to federal candidates or committees. A federal campaign may, however, accept contributions from PACs established by corpo-

ECONOMY

Manufacturing pushes state’s economy for February

By JACK WEATHERLY jack.weatherly@msbusiness.com

The Mississippi Manufacturing Employment Index surged in February by 6.4 percent over January – the largest monthly increase in nearly a quarter century, according to the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning’s University Research Center.

That was 2.6 percent higher than a year earlier, according to the report.

“The average weekly hours of work of production employees climbed 5.8 percent for the month to its highest level in two years,” the report stated.

The average hourly wage in Mississippi manufacturing in February was $20.38.

Manufacturing was the primary driver in increasing by 1 percent the Mississippi Leading Index (MLI) – with its seven components, including five state indicators and two national indicators, according to the Research Center’s monthly “Mississippi’s Business” report for April.

Manufacturing ranked second in adding jobs for the month, 800, compared with construction’s 900.

Initial unemployment claims, another component, “remain historically low, and

despite a downward revision by the [U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics] to January employment in Mississippi, the job growth that began in the last quarter of 2017 continued in February.”

The unemployment rate fell to 4.5 percent in February, down .1 percent from January, and .9 percent from a year earlier.

Other indicators exerted a downward pull.

The value of residential building permits fell 6.8 percent in the second month of the year to the lowest level since August 2016.

Nationally, building permits – not one of the MLI’s seven components – fell 5.7 from January, primarily in apartment complexes “suggesting that construction companies expect more Americans to segue to home ownership,” said an Associated Press report.

Aside from the MLI, the report stated that the state’s per capita income for 2017 was $36,346, ranking last.

So-called transfer payments from federal programs constituted 26.6 percent of personal income for 2017, compared with 20.1 percent for the Southeast and 17.5 percent nationally.

rations, and corporations may contribute unlimited amounts to PACs that make only independent expenditures (i.e., super PACs).

State judicial elections

Not to be overlooked by the federal elections this year are the state judicial elections on the ballot, including for certain seats on the Mississippi Supreme Court and Court of Appeals and for chancery and circuit court judge.

Under Mississippi law, the limit for individuals and PACs contributing to candidates for circuit or chancery court is $2500 per election cycle, while the limit for Supreme Court or Court of Appeals candidates is $5000 per election cycle. Unlike federal law, under Mississippi law corporations may contribute to candidates, including those for judicial office, but cannot contribute more than $1000 per calendar year.

Applicable to both federal and state elections Most people think of political contributions as donations of money. While this is the most common way of contributing, anything of value given to influence a fed-

eral or state election is considered a contribution. For example, the donation of office space, furniture, or supplies is considered an in-kind contribution, and the value of donated items Spencer Ritchie is counted against donors’ applicable contribution limits.

Finally, contributions that exceed $200 are made public via campaign finance reports regularly filed by all candidates and committees. Federal candidates file these reports with the Federal Election Commission while state candidates file them with the Mississippi Secretary of State, and the reports can be accessed on the websites of both agencies.

Spencer Ritchie is an attorney in the Jackson office of Forman Watkins & Krutz LLP where he practices in the areas of general and commercial litigation, employment law, and political law. Spencer is the former Executive Director of the Mississippi Republican Party.

A member of the Mississippi Press Association www.mspress.org

200 North Congress, Suite 400 Jackson, MS 39201-1902 Main: (601) 364-1000 Faxes: Advertising (601) 364-1007; Circulation (601) 364-1035 E-mails: mbj@msbusiness.com, ads@msbusiness.com, photos@msbusiness.com, research@msbusiness.com, events@msbusiness.com

MBJPERSPECTIVE April 20, 2018 • www.msbusiness.com • Page 4

OTHER VIEWS

#THE OUTSIDE WORLD

Recidivism deserves continued attention

Website: www.msbusiness.com April 20, 2018 Volume 40, Number 16

ALAN TURNER Publisher alan.turner@msbusiness.com • 364-1021

M

TAMI JONES Associate Publisher tami.jones@msbusiness.com • 364-1011

Bill Crawford Again, both are accurate, but convey different perspectives.

Mitchell’s story spends 14 paragraphs describing seven “green companies” approved as projects during Gov. Haley Barbour’s administration, most of which failed, some of which may cost the state as much as $180 million in losses. He focused in particular on the biofuel company KiOR bankruptcy that may cost the state $76.3 million and the $74.8 million loan to Stion, a solar panel manufacturer that located in Hattiesburg. While calling these losses, he did quote Attorney General Jim Hood who said, “as soon as a company that promised to deliver jobs and money to the state falls flat on its promise, our office will go after every penny it owes the taxpayers of Mississippi, just as we are doing now with GreenTech, Stion and KiOR. Mitchell also quoted Columbus economic developer Joe Max Higgins who said about the KiOR plant that was located in Columbus, “Mississippi got screwed way bigger than it did with the (failed Yalobusha County) beef plant.”

Mitchell’s story does mention the one green company project that has been “a roaring success.” This is the View high-tech windows plant in

ississippi took a step in the right direction last week when legislation seeking to combat recidivism by eliminating what’s commonly referred to as a debtors’ prison was signed into law.

That legislation is part of bipartisan efforts to make changes to Mississippi’s criminal justice system with the goal of reducing the levels of incarceration – particularly for non-violent offenders – throughout the state.

Last week, Gov. Phil Bryant hosted a ceremonial bill signing for House Bill 387, which aims to reduce recidivism by preventing people from being incarcerated because of their inability to pay fees and fines if they are found to be indigent, allows people to check in with probation officers and other court personnel via such computer technology as Skype so that they do not miss work and establishes a task force to study the issue of sentencing disparities.

The proposal signifies broad efforts to reduce the state’s incarcerated population and is followup legislation to the The proposal sigmajor sentencing reforms nifies broad efmade in 2014 legislation. forts to reduce That legislation, among the state’s incarother things, gives judges more discretion in handcerated populaing down sentences – estion and is pecially as it related to followup legislanon-violent offenders.

Another bill that intion to the major cluded some other valusentencing reable benefits, however, forms made in was vetoed due to one 2014 legislation. major item.

Bryant announced that he had vetoed Senate Bill 2841 stating it would cause a financial hardship to the Mississippi Department of Corrections.

The bill would have erased the discretion of department employees or judges to grant hardship waivers for offenders who say they’re too poor to pay $55-a-month fees while on probation, parole or other supervision, as reported by the Associated Press.

The bill would have made waivers automatic for those fitting the federal definition of poverty. The AP reported Bryant said the current process has worked, and granting more waivers could cost the Department of Corrections millions of dollars.

Bryant acknowledged his regrets that his veto was killing other parts of the bill, including expansion of treatment options for people supervised by drug courts and suspension of driver’s licenses for drug convictions unrelated to driving.

Various groups as diverse as the American Civil Liberties Union and the conservative Americans for Prosperity have gotten behind the efforts to prevent poor people from being incarcerated or facing other penalties for their inability to pay fines and fees.

We urge legislators to continue examining and discussing these important issues, especially seeking to revive the items that were eliminated in the veto of the second piece of legislation.

Measures like these can go a long way in helping curb or reduce recidivism altogether, a goal all Mississippians should share.

See CRAWFORD, Page 5

— Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal

ROSS REILY Editor ross.reily@msbusiness.com • 364-1018 FRANK BROWN Researcher frank.brown@msbusiness.com • 364-1022 JACK WEATHERLY Staff Writer jack.weatherly@msbusiness.com • 364-1016 TED CARTER Contributing Writer mbj@msbusiness.com • 364-1018 BECKY GILLETTE Contributing Writer mbj@msbusiness.com • 364-1018 NASH NUNNERY Contributing Writer mbj@msbusiness.com • 364-1018 LISA MONTI Contributing Writer mbj@msbusiness.com • 364-1018 TACY RAYBURN Production Manager tacy.rayburn@msbusiness.com • 364-1019 CHARINA RHODES Circulation Manager charina.rhodes@msbusiness.com • 364-1045 MARCIA THOMPSON-KELLY Business Assistant marcia.kelly@msbusiness.com • 364-1044 SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES (601) 364-1000 subscriptions@msbusiness.com Mississippi Business Journal (USPS 000-222) is published weekly with one annual issue by MSBJ 200 N. Congress St., Suite 400, Jackson, MS 39201. Periodicals postage paid at Jackson, MS. Subscription rates: 1 year $109; 2 years $168; and 3 years $214.

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Entire contents copyrighted © 2018 by Journal Inc. All rights reserved.

» INSIDE MISSISSIPPI

A tale of two headlines

T

he same information released by State Auditor Stacey Pickering resulted in two quite different head-

lines.

“Study: Economic development incentives paying off for state,” read the headline in the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal.

“Auditor: Failed economic projects cost Mississippi taxpayers $185M,” read the headline in the ClarionLedger.

Both are accurate, both based on the same report by Pickering, but both convey very different perspectives. So, too, do the stories.

The C-L story by Jerry Mitchell focuses mainly on the state’s economic projects that failed, 11 out of 243 from 2010 to 2017. The DJ story by Bobby Harrison focuses mainly on the overall success of the projects.

“State Auditor Stacey Pickering says failed economic development projects over the past decade have cost Mississippi taxpayers more than $185 million,” begins Mitchell’s story.

“Despite failures that have the potential to cost the state $185 million, Mississippi has received positive results from its incentive programs designed to entice companies to locate in the state, according to a study conducted by the office of Auditor Stacey Pickering,” begins Harrison’s story.

PERSPECTIVE

April 20, 2018 I Mississippi Business Journal

» RICKY NOBILE

CRAWFORD

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Continued from Page 4

Olive Branch that paid back its $44 million loan and has hired 335 employees.

He also pointed out that Gov. Phil Bryant, in contrast to Barbour, “prefers that Mississippi not invest in startup companies,” adding, “the state has lost far less from failed projects under his administration.” He failed to note, however, that Barbour’s projects failed after he left office and Bryant has not yet completed his second term.

Harrison’s story spends only three paragraphs describing losses, highlighting KIOR and Stion.

Both stories quoted Pickering’s key finding: “Economic development projects have been good for Mississippi.

Overall, we have all benefited from industry being recruited to our state by economic incentives. However, we must remain vigilant in ensuring public dollars are only spent on industry with a track record of success instead of risky startup technology.”

Both cited Pickering’s statistic that the state’s five incentive programs have had “a return of $12 for each $1 invested” even when taking failures into account.

Two tales, two perspectives. But no fake news.

Bill Crawford (crawfolk@gmail.com) is a syndicated columnist from Meridian.

»ANALYSIS

U.S. publishers worry about pricier newsprint with new tarrifs

N

ewspaper publishers across the U.S. already strapped by years of declining revenue say they’re dealing with an existential threat: Recently imposed tariffs on Canadian newsprint driving up their business costs.

The tariffs are a response to a complaint to the U.S. Department of Commerce from a hedge fund-owned paper producer in Washington state, which argues that its Canadian competitors are taking advantage of government subsidies to sell their product at unfairly low prices. The tariffs, imposed in January and increased in March, are not permanent yet. But newspaper publishers are bracing for another blow to an industry that has shrunk with the loss of advertising revenue to the Internet.

Critics of the paper tariffs say the businesses that will ultimately be harmed are not Canadian paper producers, but U.S. newspapers that will have to cut staff and reduce publication days to afford higher prices of newsprint — the sheets newspapers are printed on. The newspaper industry employs just over 150,000 Americans, which is about 276,000, or 65 percent, fewer than two decades ago.

“To get an unbudgeted increase of this magnitude will be for many publishers very, very serious to catastrophic,” said Tom Slaughter, the executive director of the Inland Press Association, which represents about 1,500 daily and non-daily newspapers in every state.

A large metro newspaper can expect annual increases of about $3 million in printing costs, according to Paul Boyle, senior vice president for the News Media Alliance. While larger papers might be able to survive the increase, Boyle said smaller publications might not.

“I’ve heard from small publishers who’ve said, ‘I’m worried about shutting my doors,'” he said.

Boyle said his organization — formerly called the Newspaper Association of America — is compiling a survey from its member and nearly every publisher is exploring layoffs and scaling back news coverage.

Steve Stewart, publisher of The State Journal in Frankfort, Kentucky, told readers in a March 30 column that the newspaper they were reading

cost 10 percent more to produce than a few weeks earlier and could cost as much as 40 percent more in a few months. He said this will result in fewer pages, higher subscription costs and less non-local content.

The newsprint tariffs reflect President Donald Trump’s tough new approach to U.S. trade relations. Trump is engaged in a tense standoff with China over Beijing’s sharp-elbowed attempts to gain access to U.S. technology. He’s trying to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada. And his administration has wrangled with Canada directly over low-priced Canadian timber imports, Canadian barriers to U.S. dairy farmers, and now cheap Canadian newsprint.

The International Trade Commission is expected to make a final determination on the tariffs in August or September.

Canadian newsprint producers began paying an average of 6.53 percent more to export their products to the U.S. in January, when the Commerce Department concluded that would help offset the foreign paper mills’ advantage over American companies. In March, the department increased the cost by another 22 percent after its preliminary investigation concluded that one Canadian company, British Columbia-based Catalyst, was underselling the uncoated groundwood paper newspapers use by that much less.

In response to the second increase, Catalyst said the tariff was “without merit” and that it “will continue to vigorously defend itself against an unwarranted and onerous U.S. trade action.”

The North Pacific Paper Company, which New York hedge fund One Rock Capital Partners bought in 2016, petitioned for the tariffs, arguing that Canadian companies had an unfair advantage. NORPAC, which employs about 300 people, is the only U.S. paper producer making that argument.

“While our company understands the concerns recently surfaced by some newspaper publishers, which also face a challenging marketplace, we strongly disagree with the notion that their industry requires lowpriced, subsidized newsprint from Canada to sustain their own business model,” Craig Annenberg, the CEO of NORPAC, said in a statement. The

statement went on to say that “high-quality journalism in communities across the country should not depend on unfairly traded inputs that cause material injury to a U.S. industry and American jobs.”

The U.S. currently has five operating mills, including NORPAC. Three are in Washington state, with one of them partly owned by a Canadian company. Canada owns the remaining two in Georgia and Mississippi.

Publishers say Canadian imports are not the reason for the decline of U.S.-based paper mills, but rather a 75 percent drop in newsprint consumption over the last two decades. That has led mills to switch to more profitable products such as the boxes Amazon uses for shipping, said Tony Smithson, vice president of printing operations at Bliss Communications, which owns multiple newspapers and radio stations in Wisconsin.

The newsprint the company buys all comes from Canada.

Smithson said that even if every paper mill in the U.S. operated at full capacity, they still would only be able to produce about 60 percent of the newsprint consumed in the country. He said that raises another concern: A scarcity of available newsprint if Canadian producers decide to ship to other countries to avoid the new tariffs.

“The hidden danger isn’t just in the price. … The hidden danger is in availability,” he said.

China, for example, doesn’t accept mixed-waste paper from the U.S. or elsewhere to produce recycled newsprint, so Chinese publishers buy their product from Canada and Chinese demand is high, Boyle said.

Before a final decision on tariffs is made, publishers can still make their case with the International Trade Commission, which has scheduled a hearing on July 17. Boyle said the ITC has the power to reject the tariffs, but Smithson isn’t optimistic.

“If you think about it politically, once tariffs are in place, they’re essentially permanent,” he said. “There’s no political capital in making a tariff go away, because then you put a target on yourself that says, ‘Hey, this politician is getting rid of American jobs.'”

— The Associated Press

6 Q Mississippi Business Journal Q April 20, 2018

MEC Continued from, Page 1

neering, physics and mathematics. He put them into practice in building his own house, Holland said.

His father had only a high school degree, Holland said.

There is a “strong societal bias” that shapes the perception of success, said Holland, professional speaker and executive director of USASkills of Raleigh-Durham, N.C., which helps students with technical skills find their way into the work place.

As a boy, he wanted to emulate his father, so when he got into high school he wanted to take classes in masonry and horticulture and other hands-on skills.

But he was discouraged from taking that path, he said. He was told that he really needed to get a fouryear college degree.

And, while Holland did get a four-year degree and two master’s degrees, he did not forget his father’s model.

So his speech, “Skills That Pay Bills” showed that there is an alternative to the academic path.

He cited a Mississippi example.

Earlier this year there were more than 1,000 coding jobs unfilled in Mississippi. Innovate Mississippi has partnered with the Mississippi Development Authority and the Mississippi Community College Board to establish Coding Academies.

Graduates of the 11-month, tuition-free academies can start at $50,000 and earn upwards of $100,000.

Skilled workers can be paid a six-figure salary at

JACK WEATHERLY/MBJ

Peyton Holland delivers keynote speech at MEC meeting Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, he noted.

“A master craftsman should be looked on as the equal of someone with a master’s degree,” Holland said.

Scott Waller presided over the event, which drew about 2,000, for the first time as head of the organi-

zation. Waller succeeded 19-year President and CEO Blake Wilson, who retired.

Dan Rollins, chairman and chief executive of Tupelo-based BancorpSouth, succeeded William Yates III, president and chief executive of Yates Construction, as chairman of the MEC. Two ballerinas performed pieces from “Sleeping

Beauty” as Mona Nicholas touted the quadrennial USA International Ballet Competition that will be held June 10-23. The competition was established by Thalia Mara in 1979 and will be held in the downtown Jackson performing arts theater named for her.

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April 20, 2018

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Mississippi Business Journal

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GOVERNMENT/POLITICS

Gunn touts conservative groups’ support of transportation proposal

By BOBBY HARRISON Daily Journal House Speaker Philip Gunn, R-Clinton, said national conservative groups have endorsed his plan to decrease Mississippi’s tax on personal income and increase the levy on motor fuels – gasoline and diesel – to pay for transportation needs.

Part of the speaker’s plan is to lower the income tax – funds that normally go for education, health care and law enforcement – by about $160 million over a fouryear period and increase the motor fuel tax by 8 cents per gallon over a four-year period.

Gunn said during a meeting of the Mississippi State University Stennis Institute of Government/Capitol press corps luncheon Monday that the American Legislative Exchange Council and the Tax Foundation – both conservative nonprofit national research organizations – had endorsed his plan.

“This is solid tax policy,” said Gunn of his plan.

When the House speaker unveiled his plan last week, Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves, who presides over the Senate, said he is opposed to increasing the gasoline tax, but supports lowering the income tax.

Gunn said, “Our intent is for this to be revenue neutral.”

He said conservative groups believe use taxes, such as the tax on motor fuel, is a better way for states to generate revenue than taxes on personal income and corporations. He said a tax on motor fuel would be “a fairer tax” because it would capture taxes from many people who are not paying the income tax.

The Gunn proposal is to phase out the 4 percent tax bracket that is levied on income above $5,000. Thanks to changes made in tax law by the Legislature in 2016, the phase out of the 3 percent tax bracket on the first $5,000 of income will be underway in the coming years.

If Gunn’s proposal is approved to phase out the 4 percent bracket, the only state income tax would be 5 percent on income above $10,000. In reality, though, the tax liability for most Mississippi families, because of exemptions and deductions, does not kick in until income of $8,300 for a single person with standard deductions and of $19,600 for a married couple with two children.

Gunn said eliminating the 4 percent tax bracket would help poor people.

But others contend the tax shift would hurt working people because they are required to pay a greater percentage of their income for gasoline than do the more affluent families. For instance, a poor person would be spending a greater percentage

of his or her income to drive to work than would a more affluent person.

“An income tax cut would benefit the most affluent, and corporations (that pay the same rate as on personal income) and especially out-of-state corporations,” said Sen. Hob Bryan, D-Amory.

Gunn’s proposal also would divert $110 million in use tax (also earmarked for education, health care and law enforcement)

to transportation.

In total, Gunn’s proposal would divert about $280 million from education and other agencies to transportation.

Gunn said he is hopeful an agreement can be reached with the Senate and that Gov. Phil Bryant will call a special session to deal with transportation issues.

The Legislature already has passed multiple tax cuts in recent years that when

fully phased in will reduce state revenue by more than $700 million for education, public health and law enforcement.

Gunn said the state can absorb additional cuts to those programs while increasing funds for transportation. Most agree additional funds are needed for transportation both on the state and local levels.

April 20, 2018 • MISSISSIPPI BUSINESS JOURNAL • www.msbusiness.com

AN MBJ FOCUS: PUBLIC COMPANIES

ALL THE RIGHT MOVES Listing has proven a smart move for Merchants & Marine

By CALLIE DANIELS BRYANT mbj@msbusiness.com As the Great Depression loomed upon United States in 1932, a handful of citizens came together despite certain risk of failure to create Merchants & Marine Bank, a community bank in Pascagoula.

In 80 years, the bank grew from $25,000 in two offices to over $600 million in 12 offices.

When Merchants & Marine Bancorp, Inc. decided to publicly list in the stock market, it chose OTC Market (OTCQX) instead of NYSE or NASDAQ. The decision seems risky at first glance but unsurprising given the bank’s history and community-driven mission toward its clients and shareholders.

The QTC is the top tier of the three marketplaces for over-the-counter trading of stocks.

The OTCQX is operated by the OTC Markets Group. Stocks that trade on this forum must meet more-stringent qualification criteria compared with the other tiers. Penny stocks, shell companies and companies in bankruptcy cannot qualify for listing on the OTCQX. “We felt like that our performance over the past several decades and the growing list of our shareholders here deserved better liquidity for their stock in the market and ultimately the ease of transaction that FIG Partners and OTCQX provide will be a real value to our shareholders,” said Royce Cumbest, president and CEO of Merchants & Marine Bank.

The community bank has never had a reduced dividend, has consistently grown in the last 68 years without fail, and even doubled in size the past 13 years.

“We think that kind of success … is a very com-

pelling story and not only makes us excited but also makes a lot of interest in other investors so now we have a way to tell that story on a broader basis,” said Clayton Leager, COO of Merchants & Marine Bank.

“The way we explain investing is that it’s like purchasing real estate,” Legear said. “That’s the best analogy we’ve come across. Our stock has a tremendous value and a tremendous amount of upside but up to this part it’s been very hard to make the general public aware of that value and secondarily it’s been challenging to connect buyers and sellers. We’ve had people who have been interested in buying and selling stock and it’s challenging to connect those folks and keep it in the forefront of investors’ minds. OTCQX allows us to get the visibility and exposure to investors and investment professionals and even personal investors across the nation.”

Before making the decision to enter public trading, Merchants & Marine Bank’s leadership spent a couple years researching and reaching out to legal counsel who have led community banks through the process as well as other community banks and consultants who garnered experience from listing publicly.

“It was not a fast process (but) it was one though we felt like our shareholders deserved,” said Legear.

The bank worked with FIG Partnership, an employee-owned broker/dealer based in Atlanta that works with community banks and investors.

This partnership led them to OTCQX which the bank felt was a good fit for both its mission and shareholders’ investments.

OTCQX lists over 80 community banks with 21 regional and community banks included in

this year’s OTCQX’s Best 50 List. OTCQX reports that four banks have transferred over from NASDAQ too. The draw of OTCQX is its affordability in listing fees compared to SEC registration costs. IndependentBanker.org reported that OTCQX estimated that a bank can save $160,000 to $920,000 over five years in listing fees; during the same five years it can cut down from $1.25 million to $3 million in regulatory expenses.

Executive vice president of OTCQX Jason Paltrowitz added that the affordability of its listing fees and regulatory fees is one of the main draws of OTCQX on top of having a public listing to which shareholders can compare market values on their investments.

Paltrowitz said, “A lot of the banks in U.S. are either public or private. They’re very closely held, not a lot of liquidity or volume or turnover in the stock. A lot of these banks are helped by depositors in their local areas so being listed on a national exchange requires the banks to be first of all full SEC reporting companies. There is a lot of regulatory burden and cost associated with being on an exchange when you’re a small community bank that doesn’t have thousands of shareholders and thousands of shares trading every day. It is an expensive endeavor to service a small shareholder base.”

OTCQX offers national exchanges where it allows banks to utilize disclosures as a means to go public. Traditionally on an exchange the bank has to disclose to their bank regulator – whether it’s the OCC or FDIC or state regulator, as long as they are a full SEC reporting company with See MOVES, Page 9

Public Companies MOVES Continued from Page 8

OTCQX. Paltrowitz explains that a community bank can take those OCC or FDIC reports and use those disclosure requirements to have an OTCQX listing to save a significant amount of money while gaining the same benefit as having a public market except designed for smaller companies or securities that don’t trade as much as, for example, JP Morgan or CitiBank.

He said, “What (Merchants & Marine Bank likes) about the partnership with us specifically is we designed the program to meet the needs of community banks.

They’re already reporting to their bank regulators that are doing the disclosures required of a bank but are also able to be public without doing the additional burdensome requirements of being on NYSE or NASDAQ.” Legear affirmed that the bank does enjoy having publicity, awareness and visibility that comes with public listing on NASDAQ and NYSE without SEC registration, without completing labor intensive and time consuming regulatory reporting required of SEC registration.

“I think you get all the benefits without the drawbacks,” he said.

The bank listed publicly in January.

Legear said, “We’ve seen some moderation in our share price since listing in January and see the stock being picked up by companies like Moody’s with automated rating services so we can get better awareness of our stock and reputable analysis of our stock on a day to day basis. We’re encouraged since our stock was typically trading at $40 level. We see appreciation from that level and recent Moody analysis projects our stocks have room to grow so we’re really excited about that.”

Paltrowitz confirms the bank has done well and he believes it will continue to do well on the public listing.

The advantage of publicly listing, especially in a market tailored to be affordable for community banks, is that the shareholders will be able to freely access market values while the bank itself has more opportunities to diversify its shareholder base.

“Before joining our market,” Paltrowitz said, “if they wanted to sell their stock, it was kind of out of the desk of CFO or the treasurer. You didn’t have any transparency as to the amount of valuation. By joining our market they’ve given their shareholders that (access) and I think that’s the first step of being a much more open and transparent public company and towards eventually diversifying their shareholder base. Like we see with a lot of community banks their shareholders are older people who have been in the community awhile.

This sounds morbid but when they die off and their children or children’s children inherit these assets, they want to be able to sell them and the bank in turn wants to offer that market so they can grow their

shareholder base broadly.”

A possible downside to the shareholders seeing the market values is that they may realize their shares aren’t as valuable as they might have believed if they instead traded privately depending on a treasurer’s ledger.

“I wouldn’t call it a risk,” Paltrowitz said, “but the public now values what your security is worth. You can’t value it yourself when you make those private transactions.

So the extent that the market doesn’t value your equity you might value – that’s not a risk. It’s just how the market works and you live with it.”

With all said OTCQX exists to help

April 20, 2018

community banks enter the public sector in investment.

“Community banks have been the backbone of our country and have been underserved by equity markets. We are filing that niche now. We have probably over 80 community banks already quoted on our market and we have banks listed on NASDAQ that are coming off because of its costs. We are helping serve those banks around the country,” Paltrowitz said.

Merchants & Marine Bank has fared well since listing, and its leadership is ready to charge into new opportunities to continue serving its community well.

“We’re happy and excited about this

Q

Mississippi Business Journal

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This magazine will profile all AWARD RECIPIENTS and pay tribute to their excellence in business and community achievements. » Your ad will be seen by all MBJ subscribers. » The Top 50 Under 40 recipients will know that you supported them at this special time in their lives.

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opportunity,” Royce said. “We think this is going to be a great value to our shareholders. This is something we’ve wanted to do for a long time and with the growth we’ve seen, the future looks good. With our past track record and our current management team and the composition of our board of directors, there are so many strong components to our organization moving forward and performing well so we felt it was a right time to do it.”

To learn more about Merchants & Marine Bank, visit its website at mandmbank.com. Its profile can also be found on otcmarkets.com.

The 2018 class of the Mississippi Business Journal’s Top 50 Under 40 honorees.

Daniel G. Ball Albine Z. Bennett Bill Bethany Lauren Castle Black Wayne Black David Blackburn Lorraine Walters Boykin Jon Bramlett Megan H. Burkes Jennifer Clark Mandy Davis Navketan Kaur Desai Christen H. Duhe’ Wendy Huff Ellard Willie L. Fairley Jr. Elliott G. Flaggs, Esq. Amanda Price Frazier Warren T. Herring H. Lee Hill II Will Janoush Brian Johnson Chelsa Ann Jones Kia Monique Jones Danielle Joyner Dustin Koehl

Q

tami.jones@msbusiness.com

Public Companies

10 Q Mississippi Business Journal Q April 20, 2018

Long-term view always the best, particularly in volatile market

By JULIA MILLER mbj@msbusiness.com As the markets bounce up and down, Mississippians may start to feel anxious, but those in the know are confident about the long-term future of the economy.

Ernie George, certified financial planner, of Starkville’s E.T. George Investment Management, a fee-only registered investment advisory firm, said these markets can affect large Mississippi businesses such as BancorpSouth or Sanderson Farms because their portfolios are owned by mutual funds. This in turn impacts people who participate in a 401(k) or 529 plans that might include these companies. Retirement and education investment accounts that have equities can be susceptible to the volatility of the ups and downs.

However, it’s not necessarily a negative impact. Declines provide the opportunity to buy companies for less. George said one reason people get nervous is that the negative moments stand out more than the positive ones.

“Our minds tend to focus on what’s happened recently,” he said. “And we remember the pain of declines more. Many people remember the 22 percent decline in 1987 and the 50 percent declines after the tech boom and recent 2008 decline.”

More important, the changes aren’t unusual, but the recent behavior of the markets have drawn special attention because of the speed of these changes. George said the news cycle affects the stock market, but only in the short term. Generally, predictions by media outlets either fail to come to fruition or are counteracted by another event.

Another reason for the rapid changes

can be attributed to technology.

“A large percentage of the trading on the stock exchange is done by algorithms on computers, and it’s happening at fractions of a second,” he said.

However, despite days with 50 percent drops, George said the outlook is much more stable and positive when you look at the market over a longer period of time. For the past 12 months, the market is up approximately 10 percent.

George When looking at the past five years, the markets have tended to end the year with double digit returns despite low points throughout the year. In 2017, the market hit a low when it was down 3 percent, but ended the year up 19 percent. In 2014, the low point was down 7 percent, but still ended the year at 11 percent.

“This shows volatility is more normal than not,” he said. “The shorter the time frame, the more volatile it seems.”

He said history shows that the market typically has a decrease of about 5 percent three times a year, a decrease of about 10 percent once a year and a decrease of 20 percent or more every four or five years.

George said the current state of the market gives investors the opportunity to diversify portfolios and change stocks to bonds or cash, which tend to give investors more comfort. He also said investors should focus on the future, whether it’s retirement or college savings accounts.

“There’s too much emphasis on the short term by institutions,” he said.

For example, if a couple wants to save

S&P 500 Index Since 1928, the S&P has averaged approximately 10 percent.

Year

Low Point

Year end return

2017

down 3%

up 19%

2016

down 11%

up 10%

2015

down 12%

down 1%

2014

down 7%

up 11%

more for their grandchildren’s college costs, George said they should take more risks in the early years, but as the child gets closer to college age, they should pivot to more stable investments.

The recent drops should overshadow

the general trend upward in the strength of the market. By shifting to a longer-term perspective, investors can reap the rewards of a resilient economy over time.

Congratulations to the newly Elected 2018 Board of Directors for the Phoenix Club of Jackson President – Ross Weems, BancorpSouth Treasurer – Coby Parker, Hederman Brothers Events Director – Patrick Crews, The LeFleur Group/EXP Real Estate Programs Director – Randall Weems, HUB International Communications Director – Matt Sitton, Balch & Bingham, LLP Membership Director – Lane Bobo, Brunini, Grantham, Grower & Hewes, PLLC Co-Fundraising Director – Nathan Upchurch, Office of Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann Co-Fundraising Director – Spencer Pipitone, BankPlus Co-Sponsorship Director – Russell Morrison, Merrill Lynch with The Fenelon Group Co-Sponsorship Director – Stephan Pitts, Merrill Lynch Public Relations Director – Scott Parenteau, C Spire Assistant Treasurer – Kevin White, Trustmark

Congratulations to the 2018 New Members of the Phoenix Club of Jackson

A High Performance Bank Begins With High Performance Service And Solutions.

Proudly serving Attala, Forrest, Harrison, Jackson, Lamar, Lauderdale, Leake, Kemper, Neshoba, Newton, Oktibbeha, Rankin, Scott and Winston counties.

www.thecitizensbankphila.com

Marquis Arterberry – ProCore Security Group Jake Bradley – US Court of Appeals Parker Brumfield – Ross & Yerger Harrison Bryant – Harper, Rains, Knight & Co. J.D. Cooley – Burr & Forman, LLP Sean Doran – Phelps Dunbar, LLP Harrison Edwards – BKD, LLP Patrick Everman – Balch & Bingham, LLP Jace Ferraez – Bond, Botes & Woods Elliott Flaggs – Cornerstone Government Affairs Tim Gillis – Harper, Rains, Knight & Co. Nash Gilmore – MS Court of Appeals Richard Henley – UMMC Kyle Jones – Boston Scientific

Michael Killelea – Merrill Lynch E. B. Martin – The Cirlot Agency Read Meadows – Raymond James Financial Brady Mitchell – Carroll Bufkin, PLLC Matt Parham – Parham Group, LLC Peyton Parks – BKD, LLP John Michael Rainey – Tailored South Homes Ira Rushing – Baker Donelson Stirling Tighe – J.B. Hunt Transport Will Vanlandeghem – AER, Inc. Wesley Walker – Southern Farm Bureau Lott Warren – Baker Donelson J.D. Williams – Northwestern Mutual Kyle Williams – Brunini, Grantham, Grower, & Hewes, PLLC

The Phoenix Club of Jackson has donated nearly $500,000 to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Mississippi since inception in 2007.

Our next event, Seersucker & Sombreros, is Saturday, May 5, 2018 from 3:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. at the Cathead Distillery in Jackson.

We hope you will come enjoy the event and help support the kids!

For more information about the Phoenix Club of Jackson, please visit www.PhoenixClubofJackson.com

Public Companies

April 20, 2018

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Newsmakers

McWilliams property coordinator at Highland Village

Highland Village has named Beth McWilliams as its new Property Coordinator.

McWilliams joins Highland Village after years of managing multi-million dollar budgets serving as the Financial Controller of a Jackson-area church.

McWilliams enjoys spending McWilliams time with her husband, Tim, following SEC sports and making memories with their 3-year-old granddaughter, Katherine. She enjoys music and travel

April 20, 2018

Q

Mississippi Business Journal

Q

13

Ocean Springs community awards presented at chamber annual meeting

Armstrong marketing director at Highland Village

Highland Village has named Lynsie Armstrong as its new Marketing Director.

After years of marking work for local companies from nonprofits to restaurants, Armstrong started her own marketing company, Simpatico. She later joined the management team at Armstrong Highland Village.

As marketing director, she will focus on creating community events, social media buzz, tenant relations and consumer engagement programs.

Armstrong is a graduate of Belhaven University.

Armstrong enjoys travel, food, style and adventure.

Waycaster named Honorary Consul of Japan in Tupelo The Government of Japan has appointed C. Mitchell Waycaster, the president and COO of Renasant Corp. and Renasant Bank, to be the Honorary Consul of Japan in Tupelo. Waycaster will assist the Consulate-General of Japan in Nashville in promoting positive Japan-U.S. relations Waycaster in Mississippi. He will hold the position for a five-year renewable term.

Waycaster has demonstrated his dedication to strengthening the relationship between the U.S. and Japan by serving as a board member and Vice President of the Japan America Society of Mississippi. He has helped organize various Japanese cultural events and has led and participated in multiple economic development visits to Japan. He has also participated in several Southeast U.S./Japan and U.S. Southeast Association conferences in both the U.S. and Japan.

He is a member of the CREATE Foundation board of directors. He also serves on the boards of North Mississippi Health Services, North Mississippi Medical Center, the North Mississippi Health Services Foundation, and the Yocona Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America.

Courtesy of Ocean Springs Chamber of Commerce

The Ocean Springs Chamber of Commerce-Main Street Tourism Bureau recently recognized members of the community with its 2018 Community Awards at the Chamber Annual Meeting at Gulf Hills Hotel & Conference Center.

Awards were given in the following categories: Volunteer of the Year, Ocean Springs Community Leader of the Year, Ocean Springs First Responder of the Year, Main Street of the Year, Retailer of the Year, Restaurant of the Year, Ambassador of the Year and 2017 Board President recognition.

-- Volunteer of the Year - Carla Moore -- Ocean Springs Community Leader of the Year – Michael Sunderman with M2 Media Corp -- Ocean Springs First Responder of the Year - Sgt. Alfred Parker of the Ocean Springs Police Dept.

-- Restaurant of the Year - Mosaic Tapas Restaurant & Bar -- Retailer of the Year - Fort Bayou Wine & Spirits -- Main Street of the Year - Miner’s Doll & Toy Store -- Ambassador of the Year - Sherri Johnson with Community Bank -- 2017 President Appreciation Award – Scott Wells with Rushing & Guice PLLC The chamber also provided video testimonials from business leaders in the community and their 2017 year in review including visitor statistics, economic development growth, membership achievements and town mentions.

Pictured L to R: Chamber staff with guest speaker Brett Fleenor, Anna Curtis, Matt Wagner P.h.D (guest speaker), Cynthia Sutton executive director, Lindsay Adksisson

Cirlot Agency hires Director Drinkwater named to of Brand Engagement Who’s Who Legal 2018

Matt Dowell chosen for National Security Forum

The Cirlot Agency has hired Beth Savage as Director of Brand Engagement.

Savage will provide clients with strategic branding services, developing trendsetting ideas and market strategies through industry research and analysis.

Before joining The Cirlot Savage Agency, Savage worked with engineering and science-based giants including General Motors, IBM and NASA. Eventually seguing into the marketing world, Savage spent the majority of her career working with clients in technology, mobile communications, medical technology, industrial/manufacturing and retail. Savage is a native of Mississippi, and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Humanities from Belhaven University.

Matt Dowell, Deputy Director at the Golden Triangle Regional Airport, was recently selected by the Air Force to attend the 65th Annual National Security Forum at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Ala. The Air Force’s Air War College annually hosts approximately Dowell 150 civilian distinguished visitors for the NSF. The purpose of the forum is to share perspectives between key civic leaders, senior military officers, and highly experienced government civilians on current and future topics pertaining to strategic leadership, strategy, national security, and other key areas.

Dowell was nominated by the leadership at the Columbus Air Force Base and selected based on his background and the key role he plays in the local community.

W. Wayne Drinkwater, a partner in the Jackson office of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP, 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 2018.

A member of Bradley’s Litigation Practice Group, Drinkwater has experience in major business, commercial and constitutional litigation. A former law clerk of Chief Justice Warren Burger at the U.S. Supreme Court, Drinkwater is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, a Fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, and an Advocate of the American Board of Trial Advocates. He received his J.D. (summa cum laude) from the University of Mississippi School of Law and his Bachelor of Arts (summa cum laude) from the University of Mississippi.

14 Q Mississippi Business Journal Q April 20, 2018

Methodist Rehab names employees of the quarter

Methodist Rehabilitation Center in Jackson has named its latest Employees of the Quarter.

Leslie Taylor of Brandon was named Clinical Services Employee of the Quarter. She is a physical therapist for MRC’s stroke recovery program.

Toney Vaughan of Jackson Taylor was named Support Services Employee of the Quarter. He is a technician for MRC’s environmental services department.

Erin Bischofberger of Canton was named Clinical Services Employee of the Quarter for MRC’s external campuses. She is manager of therapy services for MRC’s Assistive Technology Vaughan Clinic in Flowood.

Maxine Jackson of Jackson was named Support Services Employee of the Quarter for MRC’s Bischofberger Jackson external campuses.

She is cook for nutritional services at Methodist Specialty Care Center, MRC’s long-term care facility in Flowood.

Contributors inducted into Society of Philanthropists

Two local entities, AT&T Mississippi and the Jackson Medical Mall Foundation, were inducted into the Society of Philanthropists at the 30th Annual Business Luncheon hosted by Tougaloo College.

Also, Judge Roosevelt Robinson, Jr. of the Class of 1951 was posthumously inducted into the Society of Philanthropist. To support deserving students, the family of Judge Robinson has created a $100,000 endowed scholarship in his name.

The Tougaloo College Society of Philanthropists was established in 1996 to communicate appreciation to businesses and individuals who have given major philanthropic gifts, their time, and expertise toward advancing the College’s mission and educational goals.

AT&T connects the globe with entertainment, business, mobile and high-speed internet services and has committed to the educational advancement and the economic growth of Mississippi. About 785 students are mentored by AT&T employees in Mississippi through the Aspire Mentoring Academy, and AT&T is a supporter of Tougaloo’s innovative initiative, Career Pathways, which pairs students with local businesses for internship opportunities.

Founded in 1996 by Dr. Aaron Shirley, the Jackson Medical Mall was transformed from an abandoned shopping mall to a modern medical and retail facility.

The mission, to provide healthcare for the underserved and to promote economic and community development, was made possible through strategic

partnerships with UMMC, Jackson State University and Tougaloo College. Two decades later, the Jackson Medical Mall provides health and community services to the public.

Robinson, a Mississippi native and graduate of the college, worked on the briefs and sat in the courtroom for the landmark Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka case as future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall argued the case. Afterward, he successfully engaged in the private practice of law in Los Angeles from June 1956 until April 1976, when he was elected by the Inglewood Municipal Court’s judges as a court commissioner. Gov. Jerry Brown appointed him a judge of that court the following year, and he served nine years as the presiding judge.

Newsmakers

Winning teams from C Spire C3 coding challenge

Anderson named USM VP for student affairs University of Southern Mississippi Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Steven R. Moser, has announced the selection of Dr. Dee Dee Anderson has been named the University of Southern Mississippi’s new Vice President for Student Affairs, pending ap- Anderson proval from the Board of Trustees of the State Institutions of Higher Learning. Anderson will succeed Dr. Thomas H. Burke, who is retiring in June.

Anderson will hold supervisory responsibility for a wide range of activities, programs and services that enhance the quality of life for the University community, including all programs that support student welfare and development.

Anderson has worked in higher education for more than 20 years and recently was Interim Vice Chancellor for Student Development at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

Anderson is an active member of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators and is on the Associate Vice President Steering Committee. In 2017, Anderson received the Women in Higher Education Tennessee Women of Achievement Award.

Anderson holds a doctorate in Education Leadership from Louisiana Tech University, as well as a Master of Arts in Industrial and Organizational Psychology, a Master of Arts in Elementary Education and a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education from that same institution.

Courtesy of C Spire

Coding team members from Long Beach High School in Long Beach, Miss. won first place in C Spire’s C3 statewide coding challenge held at the company’s corporate offices on March 28. As part of its Tech Movement initiative, the company convenes the coding challenges each year to encourage and inspire high school students to pursue a degree and career in information technology and computer science. Each team member received a $2,000 college scholarship. Pictured above left to right are C Spire Systems Software Developer and team adviser Jeremy Ingle, students Maxwell Lam, Nathaniel Underwood, Alexander Baker, Michael Chan and school sponsor Andrew Huey.

Courtesy of C Spire

Coding team members from St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in Ridgeland won second place in C Spire’s C3 statewide coding challenge held at the company’s corporate offices on March 28. As part of its Tech Movement initiative, the company convenes the coding challenges each year to encourage and inspire high school students to pursue a degree and career in information technology and computer science. Each team member received a $1,500 college scholarship. Pictured above left to right are C Spire Systems Integration Manager and team adviser Rabun Jones, students Allen Ryu, Will Buffington, Jack Ditto, Joe Han and school sponsor David Bramlett.

Yocom joins Haddox Reid Eubank Betts PLLC Jesslyn Yocom recently joined the audit division of the CPA firm of Haddox Reid Eubank Betts PLLC as an audit staff member. She graduated from the University of Louisiana at Monroe, where she received her Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration with concenYocom trations in Management and Marketing. She also completed her post-Baccalaureate in Accounting from Louisiana Tech University. She was born and raised in Monroe, La., and recently moved to Jackson.

Courtesy of C Spire

Coding team members from Madison-Ridgeland Academy in Madison won third place in C Spire’s C3 statewide coding challenge held at the company’s corporate offices on March 28. As part of its Tech Movement initiative, the company convenes the coding challenges each year to encourage and inspire high school students to pursue a degree and career in information technology and computer science. Each team member received a $1,000 college scholarship. Pictured above left to right are C Spire Systems Administrator and team adviser Allen Steib, students Colby Wynn, Carter Wachtel , Conner Ivey and school sponsor Rebecca Dew.

April 20, 2018

Q

Mississippi Business Journal

Q

15

THE SPIN CYCLE

Local TV news fares better than you think

I

t’s a known fact that TV news audiences are shrinking – and there’s plenty of research to support it.

The percentage of Americans that gets news from TV is decreasing, Pew shows, and those who do get news there are the over 40 crowd. The millennials and younger generations find it even less relevant.

But don’t underestimate local TV news, suggests a far-reaching study from the Knight Foundation – especially as a source of online news outside the largest markets.

“No other existing news medium appears to have more advantages right now than local TV news,” write the authors of the comprehensive five-part report released last week. Knight is paying increasing attention to local TV news; earlier this year, it provided $2.6 million to five organizations working on local TV news projects.

“When I say ‘television,’ people just think of a television program,” Karen Rundlet, Knight’s director of journalism, told NiemanLab. “They don’t think: this station has a website and that website is the community’s No. 1 leading source of information, more than newspapers or radio.”

In many smaller markets, however, that is the case. Knight’s report points out that local TV may not be shrinking so much as spreading out.

Here are some highlights from Knight’s four-part report, “Local TV news and the new media landscape,” which was written by the University of Mississippi’s Debora Wenger and Hofstra’s Bob Papper. » A brief overall state of affairs: There are currently 703 local TV newsrooms across the U.S., producing local news for 1,072 stations. Consolidation (see: Sinclair) is increasing, leading to cost savings. Retransmission fees (“the money cable, satellite, and telecommunications carriers pay to broadcasters to include those local channels on the cable or satellite systems”) have gone from close to zero 10 years ago to 24 percent of station revenue today, and that’s expected to rise by at least 50 percent over the next five years. Add in advertising revenue from a “seemingly endless political cycle” and its clear local TV is doing well. » The drops in audience aren’t as big as you’d think. From the report: Common wisdom says the local TV news audience is shrinking. That’s almost certainly true, but it’s more complicated and less defined than that.

It’s never been clear whether the aggregate local TV news audience has shrunk versus simply spread out as on-air news choices have expanded. While the audience for any given program (or specific time slot) has generally fallen, there’s also

90 percent more local news being broadcast today than 20 years ago. And viewers can find that local news on 39 percent more stations than 20 years ago.

Definitively answering the question requires a complete examination of ALL local TV news over time in a reasonably wide sampling of markets. No one has done that — or even attempted it as far as we can determine. We were not able to do that either, but we were able to look at two markets — one on the East Coast and one on West — both in the middle range of the U.S. population (markets 20 to 30). We looked specifically at audience size for local news at all stations in all time periods over the last dozen years — from 2004 to 2016.

In both cases, there was a drop in overall local TV news audience. At the East Coast market, the total ratings for local TV news fell by 12.4 percent from 2004 to 2016; at the West Coast market, the total ratings for local TV news fell by 9.8 percent.

That’s ratings — the percentage of viewing of all possible viewers.

The point is the drop in audience was real, but the data suggests that it may not be nearly as extensive a drop as has been widely reported.

“If you believe the misconception that local [TV] news has fallen out of favor, think again. In actuality, news viewing increased from 2015 to 2016 and has shown continued growth in early 2017,” according to a recently-released 2017 Local Watch Report from Nielsen. » When you hear “local TV,” you should actually think “online news”. ”Television stations’ websites are the dominant local news source in many smaller markets, Knight found: Of the 22 markets initially analyzed (excluding New York City and Washington, D.C. with three national newspapers), newspaper websites came out on top in 14 of the markets, and television websites came out on top in eight.

Of the 37 smaller markets analyzed, numbers 25 to 205, television websites came out on top in 23, newspapers came out on top in 13, and radio came out first in one. » Local TV stations are relying heavily on Facebook. It’s “the dominant component of most local TV newsrooms’ [digital] strategies,” the authors write.

WHNS, the Fox affiliate in Greenville, S.C., posts to Facebook several times an hour, “so depending on the day and how much news there is, that means about 60 to 100 posts per day.” Meanwhile, Chicago’s WLNS, which is owned by ABC, said as much as 84 percent of its website traffic

comes from Facebook. “We use Facebook to engage people with our brand and then drive them back to TV.” » Social media actually appear to increase viewership. TV stations – like other news organizations – have worried that posting too much to social media will cannibalize viewership, but there is at least some evidence to suggest that that isn’t the case: In 2015, researchers for the market research and strategy company SmithGeiger analyzed social media and ratings data and found a “very strong relationship between social engagement and positive audience behaviors for broadcasters.”

This report shines a bright camera light on the fact that solid local TV news is still an audience influencer – and should be part of all PR and media relations strategy.

Hockey Tonk Mic | Nashville Predators take President’s Trophy, poised to pounce in playoffs The Nashville Predators took another giant prehistoric cat leap this year on the way to the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs.

They capped an impressive regular season run, clinching first place in the Central Division and the top seed in the Western Conference – and took the Presidents’

Trophy for most points in the league.

It was the franchises first ever Presidents’ Trophy and first conference crown, and it secured home ice advantage throughout the Todd Smith playoffs for the Preds.

They are currently battling the Colorado Avalanch in the first round.

The President’s Trophy is awarded annually to the club with the best overall record, A year after making a surprising run to the cup final as the eighth seed in the West, the Predators spent this regular season building to give themselves the best opportunity to make another playoff run. More games in Music City is one way they hope to do that after going 9-2 at home in the playoffs in 2017.

Last year, Nashville earned 94 regular-season points and entered the postseason as an eight seed before going to the Stanley Cup final, where they lost to the Penguins in six games. This year, the reigning Western Conference champs built off that Cinderella run by picking up more than 115 points in the process.

Break out the Fang Fingers, y’all! The Predators are on the prowl. And they won’t stop till they hoist the Stanley Cup!

Todd Smith is president and chief communications officer of Deane, Smith & Partners, 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, and follow him @ spinsurgeon.

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Information Security Summit

MAY Jackson

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Convention Complex

We’re bringing together thought leaders and industry experts for a series of talks and breakout sessions about the latest trends, threats, and technology to hit the IT security sector.

• Mobile Security • Smart City Security

• Cloud and Network Security • Advanced Persistent Threat Groups

Presenting companies at InfoSec include: • Apple • Dell Technologies • HORNE Cyber

• Cisco • Hitachi Vantara • RSA

To purchase a ticket for InfoSec visit: events.cspire.com/InfoSec2018 Tickets to InfoSec will also include access to MVMT. cspire.com/mvmt

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