MBJ_Jan31_2014

INSIDE — Task force offers has no answers for state’s crumbling bridges

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January 31, 2014 • Vol. 36, No. 5 • $1 • 28 pages

FRENCH MADE INTERIM DIRECTOR P. Edward "Eddie" French has been named interim director of Mississippi State University's John C. Stennis Institute of Government and Community Development as the group looks for a permanent replacement for W. Martin "Marty" Wiseman.

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Inside Mississippi {P 9} » Newk’s makes it look easy, turns 10 years old Strictly Biz {P 3} » Northeast Mississippi gets good news on the jobs from with announcement

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2 I Mississippi Business Journal I January 31 2014 TRANSPORTATION

SMALL BUSINESS

now?

Young restaurateurs carving careers What » Task force offers no

By LISA MONTI I CONTRIBUTOR mbj@msbusiness.com

If you ask to see the owner at certain Coast restaurants, you may be surprised to find that four of them are in their early 20s.

Consider Jourdan Nicaud. He opened his third restaurant this month at the age of 24.

Brandon Atwell, Frankie Penn and Thomas Young are buddies from high school and they share ownership of Murky Waters Blues & BBQ in Gulfport. Penn recently took a rare day off to mark his 24th birthday. Atwell and Thomas are 23.

The four restaurateurs, all friends, worked as teens in entry-level restaurant jobs and learned to love the business from the ground up. They also share a goal of making their customers happy with good food and good service. And they all work at a seemingly nonstop pace.

“We’re not rivals at all,” said Nicaud of his Murky Waters cohorts. “I eat at their restaurant, they eat at mine. If we need something, we borrow back and forth.”

Nicaud’s new restaurant is Bacchus on the Beach in Pass Christian and it joins his Bacchus Food & Drink and Flyin’ Jalapeno’s, both in Gulfport. He has 40 employees at the three restaurants.

Will there be a fourth? “Who knows,” Nicaud said.

The restaurant business runs in Nicaud’s and Atwell’s families.

Nicaud’s father’s family-owned restaurants in New Orleans and his uncle owns Lil’ Ray’s in Long Beach.

When his parents threw big parties, he said, “I learned how to cook for their parties.” He studied culinary arts at Drexel University In Philadelphia.

Nicaud opened the original Bacchus a couple of years ago. “I always knew I wanted to open restaurants and the day I turned 21 I decided to do it.” Around the same time he was able to work out a lease on the former 27th Avenue Bistro downtown location. “It just worked out,” he said.

Being young has its advantages and disadvantages. If he was older, Nicaud said, “I’m sure I’d be a whole lot wiser. The drawback is not having experience, but you make up for experience in hard work.”

Nicaud typically puts in long days overlooking his restaurants and catering operation. “I work every day, from about 8 a.m. until about 11 p.m.,“ he said, adding, “I love it.”

Nicaud said his goal “is making sure every customer leaves happy.” He believes in serving good food in large portions at reasonable prices. “I love to see people enjoy themselves and being part of their special moments like weddings and birthdays. It’s the best job in the world.”

Brandon Atwell, Frankie Penn and Thomas Young opened Murky Waters in

answers to road/bridge issue

BY WALLY NORTHWAY I STAFF WRITER wally.northway@msbusiness.com

Special to the MBJl

Murky Waters Blues & BBQ owners are (from left) Brandon Atwell, Thomas Young and Frankie Penn.

April 2013. The three have been friends since high school in Long Beach and Atwell and Penn went to Ole Miss together. As teenagers, they all worked at Bull’s, one of the restaurants Atwell’s family owns. Atwell said, “I always knew what I was going to do.”

Atwell’s first job was washing dishes at age 14. At 18 he began serving customers and during breaks from college he’d pick up shifts waiting tables. Young worked in Bull’s kitchen and Penn waited tables.

The idea for their blues and barbeque restaurant was born the summer after Atwell and Penn graduated from college.

“By November we had the location scouted out and we signed the lease. In April (2013) we were open,” said Atwell.

At the time, most of their friends were out having fun or trying to find jobs “We were buckling down to open a restaurant,” Atwell said.

Atwell admits that working with friends has its good and bad moments. “The bad is being around each other so much you get on each other’s nerves at times. But we’re best friends, we do what we love, and the ability to succeed together has

been a good experience.”

The three split up the duties. Thomas, the kitchen manager, orders all the food and keeps the kitchen stocked. Frankie is responsible for stocking the bar with beer and liquor and keeping the wait staff schedule. Atwell watches over bookkeeping and financing and works “where I’m needed.”

Even with the duties divided, the hours are long. “I don’t even count hours these days,” Atwell said. “It’s every day, 100 hours a week easily for each of us.”

Said Penn, “A lot more perks come with owning a restaurant (than working in one) but it also has its headaches and aggravation. In this business you have to absolutely love it because you are going to be here all the time.”

Added Young, “It is fun, but it is also very stressful.”

Will Murky Waters multiply? “Absolutely,” said Atwell. but probably not for a couple of years while they build up their flagship business. “Our long-term plan is for each to have his own Murky Waters.”

Last week, the Mississippi Senate task force that began work last year charged with coming up with funding alternatives to repair the state’s roads and bridges wrapped up its work without offering any solutions.

In the summary of its report, the task force noted that the Joint Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review (PEER) identified road and bridge maintenance as a high priority, and more important than new capacity or construction, but committee members “could not reach an agreement… (to) develop a strategy for addressing the need.”

The task force did offer recommendations. It is pushing for the creation of a Joint Committee on Highway, Bridge, and Local Road Assistance Funding. It also said, following a supporting PEER study, that MDOT should improve its accountability system, make recommendations to the Mississippi Legislature aimed at helping local governments meet bridge and road replacement funding needs and report to the 2015 Legislature “on the feasibility of heavy corridors and toll corridors for accommodating truck transportation with higher than currently allowed weight.”

While the task force did not identify a plan to move the state from the 18¢-pergallon of gasoline road and bridge maintenance formula established back in 1987, sources interviewed for this story said generally they were pleased that the group had raised the issue and opened dialogue. Hopes are that the task force’s work will lead to answers for funding in the near future.

“When Arkansas began looking at their roads and bridges, they didn’t come up with an answer in one summer,” said Mark Leggett, president of the Mississippi Poultry Association, which has been lobbying for more funding. He said Simmons should be applauded for his efforts, and he sees the task force’s work as productive and potentially leading toward a solution. Leggett said one key result was the aforementioned joint committee.

“The other real plus is that the case was made that city- and county-owned roads and bridges are part of the state’s total transportation system,” he said. Leggett added that Mississippians don’t care who owns the roads and bridges — they simply want them to be safe and reliable — and that if city- and/or county-owned roads See

ROADS/BRIDGES, Page 27

January 31, 2014

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Mississippi Business Journal

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3

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Lee County gaining German auto parts maker, more than 600 jobs

BY DENNIS SEID I DAILY JOURNAL TUPELO — A German automotive supplier will employ hundreds in a new facility in Lee County.

Wednesday afternoon, local and state economic development leaders gathered at the Tupelo Lee Industrial Park South in Shannon to make the announcement.

As of press time, state and local leaders had declined to give details about the project, and said more information would be released at the ceremony.

The company is Grammer AG of Amberg, Germany, and the project will bring more than 600 jobs.

The facility is in line with the company’s longrange plans.

For example, early last year, Grammer said its Automotive division was set to expand in North America, which generates about 20 percent of its overall automotive business.

Grammer currently has two plants in Mexico that produce headrests, armrests and center consoles. In 2012, Grammer’s revenue from interior components in North America rose 30 percent. The interior components are used by U.S. automakers as well as German automakers on the continent.

Grammer AG has two major divisions: » Automotive, which supplies headrests, armrests, center consoles, head restraint systems,

integrated child safety seats and side cushions to vehicle manufacturers. » Seating Systems, which provides driver’s seats for trucks and off-road vehicles, including tractors and agricultural machinery, construction machinery and forklifts, as well as driver and passenger seating for regional and high-speed long-haul trains, coaches and buses.

In November, Grammer said its Automotive division

saw “very dynamic growth,” powered by higher sales in China and North America. The company also said its Seating Systems division “could also achieve higher revenues in the North American off-road market.”

It was unclear who Grammer will supply, but more details were to be revealed Wednesday.

The company will occupy the 75,000-square-foot shell building in the industrial park, where Wednesday’s ceremony was held.

Medley & Brown, LLC is proud and honored to be named once again

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BCBS expects new owner of HMA's Miss. hospitals to help control costs » HMA brings legal baggage to deal as Justice Dept. joins whistle blower suits claiming company-wide policy of making unnecessary admissions

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BY TED CARTER I STAFF WRITER ted.carter@msbusiness.com

Community Health Systems of Franklin, Tenn., has completed its acquisition of Hospital Management Associates in a $7.6 billion deal that gives CHS ownership of 12 of HMA’s former Mississippi hospitals and medical facilities, including four in metro Jackson.

The transaction creates the nation’s second largest for-profit hospital chain by revenue, with more than 206 hospitals in s in 29 states.

The organization’s affiliates employ more than 135,000 people and about 27,000 physicians serve on the medical staffs of CHS-affiliated hospitals. CHS’s headquarters will remain in the Nashville suburb of Franklin.

The transaction provides CHS with increased scale and broader geographic reach. “Our larger organization is well positioned to address the changing dynamics in our industry,” said Wayne T. Smith, chairman and CEO. See HMA, Page 11

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All client portfolios invested primarily in mutual funds with an allocation of 18% or more in cash and bonds are included in Medley & Brown’s Balanced Composite. All client accounts with managed individual stocks are included in Medley & Brown’s Focused Equities Composite. Performance figures reflect the average time-weighted return for all portfolios included in our composites. Performance data includes reinvestment of dividends and capital gains distributions and changes in principal value. The larger a portfolio is in relation to others in the composite, the more weight its performance will have in the composite’s time-weighted return. For several reasons including, but not limited to, asset allocation and investment choices, the performance of individual portfolios in a composite may vary significantly with some higher and some lower than the average. Investment returns and values of client accounts fluctuate such that at any time an account’s value may be worth more or less than the total payments into the account. Because accounts may contain both U.S. and international securities, results will depend on both management performance and underlying market and economic conditions throughout the world.

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4 I Mississippi Business Journal I January 31 2014 MBJ BUSINESS MARKETPLACE

NEW & IMPROVED Âť With Business Marketplace, the MBJ puts a new slant on an old standard

WANT MORE? What: MBJ Business Marketplace When: April 3 Where: Mississippi Trade Mart, 1200 Mississippi Street, Jackson, MS 39201.

Admission: The event is open to the public. General admission is FREE with a business card. For more information, call the Mississippi Business Journal at (601) 364-1000. Attendees should be 18-and-older.

To participate: For speciďŹ c information about booth registration as a vendor, or other speciďŹ c event details, please contact Tami Jones, MBJ advertising director, at (601) 3641011 or tami.jones@msbusiness.com.

By FRANK BROWN I STAFF WRITER frank.brown@msbusiness.com

The state’s largest business-to-business networking event will unveil a new name and a new format when it opens for its 31st year on April 3 at the Mississippi Trade Mart at the fairgrounds in Jackson.

The MBJ Business Marketplace — formerly the Mississippi Business & Technology EXPO — will now allow vendors to sell their wares on the showroom floor.

The Marketplace is sponsored by the Mississippi Business Journal and Comcast Business. “We’re excited about the changes, and we think the changes to the Business Marketplace will be better for both our vendors and the Marketplace attendees,� said Alan Turner, publisher of the Mississippi Business Journal.

The one-day MBJ Business Marketplace will feature about 100 exhibits and vendors who will showcase products and services from Mississippi and nationwide. This year’s event will also feature a Best Places to Work Breakfast, the Top 40 Under 40 Awards Luncheon, free seminars, Business After Hours and a Cyber CafÊ that will take

care of visitors’ on-site wireless needs.

The Marketplace is open to the public, and admission is free to adults with a business card.

Vendors can now sell and showcase their merchandise that is business-to-business oriented. This includes merchandise and services such as business attire, security systems, landscape and more. “In recent years, we’ve had numerous requests from businesses who want to offer specific products and serv-

ices at this event, and after discussion, we thought this would be an excellent way to expand the event and make it more relevant to businesses and attendees alike,�

Turner said.

Free seminars will offer Marketplace attendees and exhibitors additional opportunities to boost their business savvy. Also, attendees can learn from professional trainers about how to handle “tough� customers, implement new marketing strategies and more.

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6 I Mississippi Business Journal I January 31 2014 BANKING AND FINANCE

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Mortgage lending venturing into 'land where more is unknown than known' » Will home loan spicket stay on? Stay tuned

By TED CARTER I STAFF WRITER ted.carter@msbusiness.com

The new year brought lenders in Mississippi and elsewhere face-to-face with one of the most difficult decisions of their time: Whether to turn the faucet off on home mortgage lending.

Congress enacted the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform & Consumer Protection Act in 2010 but the early waves of regulatory change is only now arriving. The most recent rule came into play Jan. 10, with regulations set for qualified mortgages by the Dodd-Frank-created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The qualified mortgage, a designation designed to ensure a borrower can repay a mortgage home loan, sets a bar reached by three-quarters of the home loans made in 2011, according to the CFPB. The remaining quarter of loans fall into a non-conforming category that leaves the lenders that issue them open for borrower lawsuits in instances of default. Damages assessed can include nullification of the loan with the borrower keeping the property on which the lender made the loan.

So does the lender shut off the faucet on non-conforming loans?

Lenders may decide that is the prudent course once they take into account the cumulative effects of the International Basel III Accord's new risk capital standards, the removal of legal protections for most non-conforming home mortgages and the uncertainty over the makeup of the 50 percent of Dodd-Frank rules yet to be written.

Long-term stagnant interest rates must also be considered.

As banking CPA James Gordon put it in a interview this month: “We're in a land where more is unknown than known.”

Professionals such as Gordon and banking lawyer Debra Lewis are spending their work days laying out the alternatives and the risks, the upsides and downsides and possible scenarios that could develop.

They tread unfamiliar ground almost daily.

“They look to me to tell them what the pitfalls are,” said Lewis, a partner in Birmingham-based Balch & Bingham's financial institutions & services section.

Those pitfalls, especially ones created by the “qualified mortgage” rules that went

into effect Jan. 10, have led Lewis' clients among the regional-size banks to shut down lending that falls outside of qualified mortgage standards, she said.

The standards include a borrower debtto-income ratio of 43 percent or below, specific credit score ranges, specified down payments, fixed 30-year-rates and points and fees that don't exceed 3 percent.

Some clients from the ranks of community banks, Lewis said, are getting out of mortgage lending “all together.”

Other lenders may become surprisingly

place. “And there's the uncertainty of how the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will regulate going forward,” the banking CPA noted. “Are they really going to defer to the primary regulators? How is that going to play out?”

Mortgage companies did not escape the reach of the qualified mortgage. Once an option for borrowers looking for non-traditional home loans, mortgage companies will no longer find secondary markets for the non-conforming loans they previously made, Gordon said, and noted they'll also

“If you are on the fence, you’re probably pulling back.” resourceful. The market demand isn't going away, after all, but the flow of mortgages in the market is sure to diminish.

Ways will have to be devised to meet demand. “I am curious to see if somebody is going to come out with different products,” Lewis said.

Or different ways to keep the loan income flowing while covering increased compliance costs. That's when smaller banks fold into larger ones, the Balch & Bingham attorney said. “I don't think there's any question we're going to have more consolidation.”

HORNE CPAs' Gordon said most of the banks he works with have large mortgage operations. He expects them in the short term to retreat to the safe harbors offered by qualified mortgages.

“In the longer term they'll see how to treat some of their non-conforming products and how to fit these within the rules and still be allowed the growth they need,” said Gordon, a Memphis-based partner in HORNE's financial institutions & financial services section.

“The bigger issue is the cumulative effect of everything going on in these regulations,” Gordon said. “It would be easy enough for banks to deal with were this only one thing to deal with.”

Advisers such as Lewis and Gordon say they are further handcuffed by having to give guidance without knowing the shapes and details of lending regulations to come.

Thus, the safe play for the time being may be to leave the game.

“The safe tactical course is not to take the risks if you don't know what rules you're ultimately going to have to play by,” Gordon said.

Only half of Dodd-Frank rules are in

take on the same legal risks as other mortgage lenders.

“If the big, bad banks turned you down, you might be able to go to a mortgage company. But now they are all playing by the same rules.”

At no point has the “proverbial 80-20 rule” been more prominent, Gordon said, explaining that typically you can follow 80 percent of the business without a lot of difficulty.

“Now the 20 percent is much harder and you have to decide do you want to take those chances.”

In the way of resourcefulness, some smaller Mississippi banks can make conforming loans and “move them, upstream even if they haven't traditionally done that,” Gordon said. “Maybe they can do this by partnering with larger banks.”

Such moves may be prompted by the new difficulties community banks will encounter making 30-year, fix-rate non-conforming loans and keeping them on their books, according to Gordon.

Such 30-year, non-qualified loans “are going to be the exception and not the rule,” he said, citing risks that interest rate increases will leave the bank holding mortgages that lose value. “Even 15-year loans” that banks keep in-house could be headed for the dustbin, Gordon added.

Basil III, qualified loan standards, the blurred regulatory future – all this is arriving “at a relatively bad time” for lenders, he said. “It's coming as rates are going up and originations are going down.”

Banks that are all the way in the mortgage business are probably staying in, he said. “If you are on the fence, you’re probably pulling back.”

BUSINESS INCUBATORS HATCH SUCCESS STORIES

By LISA MONTI I CONTRIBUTOR mbj@msbusiness.com There are 20-plus business incubators throughout Mississippi nurturing startups until their owners are ready to graduate and leave for their own location.

The incubator experience gives the new ventures a boost in longevity.

“We do know that when people are part of an incubator organization, they stand an 80 percent chance of succeeding,” said John Brandon of the Mississippi Development Authority. That compares to about 20 percent for startups on their own.

Brandon said the incubators spread across the state operate independently with their own staff and governing board. “We do promote and encourage them and help them see the best practices in the field,” he said. MDA’s website features the incubators and their contact information to help market their services.

In 2012, there were more than 1,250 incubators in the United States, up from 12 in 1980. Most are “mixed use” while others focus on technology related business. Historically, 87 percent of all firms that have graduated from their incubators are still in business, according to the National Business Incubation Association.

Brandon said there are several reasons for the success rate, including proximity to other entrepreneurs. “You have neighbors to visit with who may have similar problems. You have a management team willing to help you, to sit down and go over the numbers or work on a business plan. And they’re sharing some services there.”

The shared services include office machines and high speed Internet and allow the business owner “to focus on the core business and not be as concerned about copiers or a fax machine.” Some incubators offer clerical staff services also to answer phones or send out letters.

Brandon said the number of business incubators grew in the 1980s and 1990s and by the early 2000s the expansion plateaued, mainly because all regions of the state are covered and because of the cost associated with establishing new facilities. “It is an expensive proposition to build a 10,000- to 40,000square-foot building and put in offices and light manufacturing workspace,” he said.

Holly Kelly, executive director of the North Mississippi Enterprise Initiative’s enterprise centers in Oxford, Batesville and Grenada, said she’s seen good increases in the number of tenants over the last six years. “The biggest influx was when the economy took a dive and not because of any job loss. It was just the timing. They were ready to find their own space,” she said.

The 37,000-square-foot center in Oxford is the largest facility and has 11 tenants, mainly technology based companies. Batesville and Grenada have mixed use occupants in their 20,000-square-foot buildings with warehouse and office space.

The ideal tenant stays in the incubator one to three years, Kelly said. “In our incubators we do like to have anchor tenants, somebody to keep the cash flow going when you’ve got a turnover of tenants. That is See

INCUBATORS, Page 9

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Website: www.msbusiness.com January 31, 2014 Volume 36, Number 5

ALAN TURNER Publisher alan.turner@msbusiness.com • 364-1021 ROSS REILY Editor ross.reily@msbusiness.com • 364-1018 WALLY NORTHWAY Senior Writer wally.northway@msbusiness.com • 364-1016 FRANK BROWN Staff Writer/Special Projects frank.brown@msbusiness.com • 364-1022 TED CARTER Staff Writer ted.carter@msbusiness.com • 364-1017 LISA MONTI Contributing Writer mbj@msbusiness.com • 364-1018

MBJPERSPECTIVE January 31, 2014 • www.msbusiness.com • Page 7

OTHER VIEWS

State agencies could benefit from Wiggins’ bold approach

S

tate Sen. Brice Wiggins’ bold and comprehensive proposal to straighten out the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources should be used as a standard for the state’s more than 200 other agencies, boards, commissions and departments.

“I think everybody realizes there are issues at DMR from the previous regime and we have to get it straight for the future,” said Wiggins, R-Pascagoula. “We don’t need to be micromanaging agencies, but we certainly need to exercise our oversight authority.”

Wiggins is sponsoring Senate Bill 2579, designed to keep the DMR intact, allow timely agency reorganization and

improve accountability.

Wiggins, who already has the support of other Coast Republican legislators, should be supported by the entire delegation from South Mississippi as his bill moves through the legislative process.

Some of his recommendations are specific to the DMR. But others could and should be applied to all aspects of state government.

Specifically: An independent annual audit paid for from that agency’s own budget.

Higher standards for those who serve as overseers of the state’s agencies and departments.

One of Wiggins’ objectives is to ensure the DMR remains an independent agency, rather than being absorbed into the state Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks. That is also a worthwhile goal.

But whether on its own or as part of a larger department, the DMR needs the type of overhaul and oversight contained in Wiggins’ legislation.

There are other parts of state government that would benefit from just as close an examination and Wiggins has set the standard for such analysis.

— The (Biloxi) Sun Herald

BOBBY HARRISON Contributing Writer mbj@msbusiness.com • 364-1018 TAMI JONES Advertising Director tami.jones@msbusiness.com • 364-1011

» RICKY NOBILE

» UNDER THE CAPITOL DOME

Analysis: Legislature has sharp partisan divide

MELISSA KILLINGSWORTH Sr. Account Executive

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D

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» HOW TO WRITE Letters to the editor are one of the most widely read features of the Mississippi Business Journal, and they give everyone a chance to voice their opinions about current affairs. We’re interested in what you think and we welcome Letters to the Editor for publication. Here are the guidelines: >> Letters should not exceed 300 words in length as a general rule. >> All letters must bear the writer’s address and telephone number. Street addresses and telephone numbers will not be published, but may be used for verification purposes. Letters may not appear without the author’s name. >> Form letters, thank you letters and letters to third parties generally are not acceptable. >> Letters must be typed or e-mailed. >> Letters must conform to good taste, not be libelous and not involve personal attacks on other persons.

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emocrats are starting their third year as the minority party in both chambers of the Mississippi Legislature, and they're not making life easy for Republicans.

The first big House debate of the year was over a welfare drug-testing bill pushed by Republican Gov. Phil Bryant. The four-hour fight demonstrated that Republicans have enough votes to pass almost anything they want, and can do it without even bothering to rebut Democrats' arguments. Democrats, however, didn't hand Republicans a quick victory.

Most GOP members sat silently while the Republican chairman of the Public Health and Human Services Committee, Sam Mims of McComb, Emily Wagster Pettus fielded dozens of questions from Democrats who saw the bill as mean-spirited political pandering.

Democrats also offered several amendments that failed, including one to require drug testing of corporate executives whose companies receive state aid.

“We’re trying to help people,” Mims said of welfare recipients. “We’re not trying to be punitive with this population.”

Rep. Bobby Moak of Bogue Chitto, the House Democratic leader, said during the debate: “It’s just kind of hard to feel the love in the language of this legislation.”

If House Bill 49 becomes law, people applying for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families would have to answer a questionnaire, and those deemed likely to be users of illegal drugs would have to subSee DOME, Page 8

PERSPECTIVE

8 I Mississippi Business Journal I January 31, 2014

DOME

»PERCOLATING WITH BILL CRAWFORD

Farm Bill and Sen. Cochran are important to Mississippi

H

ow important is the Farm Bill to Mississippi?

The answer is the same as for this question – how important are farms and forestry to Mississippi’s economy?

Well, 65 percent of Mississippi’s 30 million acres of land is forest land. Approximately 125,000 landowners participate in $1.17 billion in forestry production per year.

Forestry is the focus of Title VIII of the Farm Bill.

Nearly 1,500 poultry farms generated $2.7 billion in broiler, egg and chicken production in 2013. Another 2,700 farms produced soybean crops valued at $993 million. Another 2,113 farms produced corn crops valued at $613 million. About 730 farms produced cotton crops valued at $331 million. Just over 17,550 cattle farms generated production valued at $289 million. And 125 catfish operations generated production valued at $178 million. Then there were hog, rice, wheat, peanut, dairy, and sweet potato farms too. Title I of the Farm Bill deals with farm commodities.

Mississippi ag exports hit $1.3 billion in 2012. Title III of the Farm Bill deals with trade.

Altogether, farms and forestry generated $7.3 billion in state economic impact in 2013, as estimated by the Mississippi State University Extension Service. That accounts for about 21 percent of the state’s total economy and 29 percent of total state employment.

So, without even considering Title V, the Farm Bill is pretty darn important to Mississippi.

Title V is the Nutrition title that includes the SNAP program (food stamps). In October USDA reported 671,463 Mississippians participated in SNAP. That’s about double the number who participated in 2004 and represents 22.5 percent of the state population. This increase

Bill Crawford shows the tremendous negative impact the Great Recession had, since SNAP only serves low-wage workers, the unemployed, and low-income elderly and disabled persons. Total SNAP payments to Mississippians in 2012 totaled $972.5 million. Clearly, Title V of the Farm Bill is also important to Mississippi.

As you may be aware, passing the complex Farm Bill has proven difficult. House Republicans want to cut crop subsidies and SNAP payments. Sequestration cuts everything.

Farmers from different regions are at odds about which crops get the best deal.

Resolving issues and getting a bill passed will take strong, persistent leadership. A resolution that preserves Mississippi’s important farm/forest economy and provides reasonable cuts to SNAP payments will take strong, persistent, proMississippi leadership.

If there is a leader who provides both, it Cochran is highly respected Sen. Thad Cochran. A champion of Mississippi agriculture for over 40 years, Cochran is the ranking Republican member of the Senate Agriculture Committee and one of four leaders negotiating the Farm Bill.

Cochran wants a farm bill “that will reform and modernize programs, produce budget savings at the same time, and provide certainty about the government’s role to producers and consumers alike.”

Be glad we have Thad.

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

Continued from Page 7

mit to a drug test. Mims said if drugs were detected, the person would have to undergo outpatient treatment. TANF benefits would be paid during that time, but would be canceled if the person failed a second drug test after treatment.

The Mississippi Department of Human Services says that for fiscal 2013, which ended June 30, the average monthly payment to a family receiving TANF was $140, while the average payment to an individual was $67. In June, 9,563 families received TANF payments.

The bill passed 74-46, with all Republicans who were present voting “yes” and most Democrats voting “no.” It goes to the Senate for more work.

TANF drug testing is not the only issue with a clear partisan divide.

Many Democrats say Mississippi should expand Medicaid to an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 uninsured, low-income residents. Expansion is an option under the federal health overhaul signed into law by President Barack Obama. The federal government would pay most of the cost, but Bryant and other Republicans say they don't trust promises of funding.

Democrats are pushing for as-yet unspecified raises for teachers and state employees.

There's been little talk among Republicans about increasing state employees’ pay, and many say the state can’t afford everything the Democrats propose. Republican House Speaker Philip Gunn supports an across-theboard teacher raise, but Bryant and Republican Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves favor merit pay.

One day last week, House and Senate Democrats gathered in the Capitol rotunda and called for a swift death to a Public Employees Retirement System bill filed by Republican Sen. Sean Tindell of Gulfport. Senate Bill 2140 would make state and local government retirees wait until 65 to collect an annual cost-of-living adjustment, even if they retire years earlier.

“We’ve got another legislative session, and we’ve got another Republican attack on the retirement system,” said Sen. Hob Bryan, D-Amory.

Tindell said he's trying to preserve PERS, adding that criticism from longtime lawmakers is "disingenuous" because they voted for policies he sees as fiscally irresponsible.

The bill appears headed to defeat because the Senate Finance Committee chairman, Republican Joey Fillingane of Sumrall, opposes it. On PERS, the partisan divide is blurrier. Lawmakers in both parties recognize the political danger of angering state workers and retirees by discussing changes to the system.

Follow Emily Wagster Pettus on Twitter: http://twitter.com/EWagsterPettus

January 31, 2014

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Mississippi Business Journal

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9

A MISSISSIPPI ORIGINAL Special to the MBJ

Newk’s turns 10 » Restaurant takes fast-casual to next level

BY WALLY NORTHWAY I STAFF WRITER wally.northway@msbusiness.com

In June 2006, Chris Newcomb surveyed his newest Newk’s restaurant location in Flowood. The eatery that began in Oxford had come out of the gates running in 2004, and Newcomb made it clear that his mission was to see more Newk’s in more locales.

When asked that day what his future plans were for the then-new fast-casual restaurant, Newcomb told the Mississippi Business Journal succinctly, “To keep opening restaurants.”

In that, he has succeeded.

On the eve of celebrating its 10th anniversary, Newk’s now counts eateries in states from Texas to Maryland. And there are locations more coming with openings planned for Little Rock, Ark. (second location), Opelika, Ala., and Atlanta, according to the Newk’s web site.

“I think we fall into a good niche between fast-casual and fine dining,” Newcomb told the MBJ when asked about the keys to success. “We’re kind of that upscale, fast-casual. The food is made fresh. It’s made from scratch. You get table service.

You can get beer and wine with your meal.

It sets us apart.”

Newk’s actually represents the second successful restaurant launch for Newcomb and his co-founders — his father/dentist Dr. Don Newcomb and the dentist office’s manager Debra Bryson. None of them had any prior restaurant industry experience.

In the late 1980s, the trio bought a former gas station in Oxford and converted it into an eatery dubbed McAlister’s Deli.

From that humble beginning, McAlister’s,

INCUBATORS

which was a pioneer in the fast-casual restaurant concept, grew to locations across the country.

Over time, the Newcombs and Bryson began mulling a new restaurant, one that would take McAlister’s concept and move it up a notch toward fine dining. Following the McAlister’s model, the three opened the first Newk’s in Oxford in 2004. Seven months later, there were Newk’s scattered

“We’re in the restaurant business, but we’re not normal restaurateurs.”

Chris Newcomb Co-founder, Newk’s

across the state and the horizons were wide.

It has not come without challenges, however. Like most restaurants, Newk’s felt the bite of the recent economic recession. But it was finding the right people that proved the largest obstacle.

“We’re in the restaurant business, but we’re not normal restaurateurs,” Newcomb told the MBJ. “We’re in it for more of a hospitality environment. Keeping the team happy and the team focused is our business challenge.”

While people have been a focus, so has technology, an important element in Newk’s

Chris Newcomb and his Newk’s co-founders leveraged the experience they had growing McAlister’s, which has resulted in Newk’s restaurant locations from Texas to Maryland.

continued growth.

“Here at Newk’s, I am fortunate to work with very skilled owners and operators who are very much open to exploring ways that technology can improve upon or supplement the processes that are already in place,” said Adam Karveller, Newk’s director of information technology. “We’re investing in cloud-based technologies that will allow our operations team to remotely view sales, labor, inventory and productivity information in real time.”

While embracing new technology, Newk’s has not lost site of what keeps customers coming back — the food. Today, Newk’s menu includes California-style pizzas, toasted sandwiches, soups, salads, children’s fare and desserts. For those on the run, it offers a grab-and-go menu. (Newk’s also caters.)

The success and growth has not gone unnoticed. In 2012, QSR magazine named Newk’s to its list of “Best Franchise Deals.”

QSR wrote: “Since opening its first location

One success story to come out of the Mississippi e-Center is Navagis, which spent its first two years in the center and graduated two years ago. “For us the main thing was getting a good size office that we could particularly important to ours because we do not receive any public funding afford,” said co-founder Ben Hubbard. He and the others also took advantage of an in house business coach who provided guidance and or outside subsidies." insight to the young entrepreneurs.

The Oxford incubator attracts university graduates as tenants, Kelly “We work with large companies and organizations that have their said, “but we also have had some professors and people in the own data and create Google Map based software that allows them to community involved with technology that have come in.”

Dr. William McHenry executive director of the Mississippi e-Center visualize the data,” Hubbard said. Clients include the largest utility in the Philippines with 5.2 million customers and the fastest growing which houses the Mississippi e-Business Innovation Center in wireless provider in Indonesia.

Jackson, said the center has an average of 30 tenants. “We try to Renasant Center for IDEAs is the Tupelo/Lee County Regional focus on businesses that use information technology because we Business Incubator. have such great resources here to support those types of start up IDEA stands for innovation, development, entrepreneurship and companies,” he said. action. Renasant Bank bought the naming rights to the building.

McHenry said the center is growing in the areas of workforce Judd Wilson, director of Small Business Development for the development and training. “I think in the next year or two you will see a Community Development Foundation, said the Tupelo facility is a mixed lot of innovative things taking place at the e-Center.”

Continued from Page 6

in 2004 in the shadow of the University of Mississippi, this culinary-driven fast-casual has built a loyal customer base with a distinctive flavor profile characterized by ‘made from scratch, made fresh daily’ recipes.” A QSR reviewer added that Newk’s “tops anything I’ve seen in quite a while.”

Parent’s and Kid’s Magazine named it a “Family Favorite” in 2009. And the restaurant has garnered numerous “Best Of” awards over its history.

“Oh, my expectations have been far exceeded,” Newcomb said. “Dr. Newcomb, Debra and I obviously had an advantage from our previous experience with McAlister’s. We knew what to expect; pitfalls to avoid. We also learned how important training is, and that you have to be patient to find the best locations. We’re excited about the future of Newk’s.”

For more on Newk’s, visit www.newks.com. For franchising information, call the office on Crane Ridge Drive in Jackson at (601) 982-1160.

use incubator with some light manufacturing space, office space and a section where cubicle space is rented by the month.

The Tupelo incubator program has had 15 graduates who have created more than 370 jobs.

“Right now we have 26 client companies in the building. Six are oneman shows in the cubicles. Of the 26 companies, they are employing 115 people right now,” he said.

Wilson said Toyota employees worked out of the second floor of the incubator while the Blue Springs manufacturing plant was being built.

During that time, he said, the owner of a cleaning company formed a relationship with Toyota and eventually got a contract with the plant.

The cleaning company now has a crew of around 60 employees.

Wilson counts startups that don’t make it out of the cubicles as success stories because the entrepreneurs didn’t lose a lot of money. “If they went somewhere else in the community they would probably have been locked into a long term lease,” he said.

10 I Mississippi Business Journal I January 31 2014 GAMING

DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT

Mississippi’s casino revenues hit their lowest yearly mark since 1997

Bid to consolidate state offices into CBD passes first test

By FRANK BROWN I STAFF WRITER frank.brown@msbusiness.com

The gaming industry in Mississippi has hit a 26-year low, and the Tunica market may be less than two years from drastic changes if the spiral doesn’t stop in the next 18-24 months.

Numbers released last week by the Mississippi Gaming Commission indicate gross gaming revenue — the money casinos earn after payoffs are subtracted from wagers — dipped to its lowest level since 1997 when the gaming industry was still in its infancy.

In 2013, the 30 Mississippi casinos collected $2.136 billion in gross gaming revenue. In 1997, 24 casinos collected $1.984 billion.

The high year for revenue was $2.891 billion in 2007. The 2013 total is 5.1 percent below the $2.251 billion collected in 2012.

“The state of gaming is competition,” said Allen Godfrey, executive director of the Mississippi Gaming Commission. “Even Pennsylvania just had its first down month in the last five or six years.”

Mississippi casino revenue has been falling steadily since 2007 as more states legalize gaming in an effort to keep their gaming and tourism dollars at home. That competition especially has hurt the Mississippi River casinos, which have seen revenue fall from a high of $1.589 billion in 2007 to $1.072 billion in 2013 — about a 33 percent drop in six years.

“If you take the free market approach, I think it will dictate over the next 18 months what the Tunica market will look like,” said Larry Gregory, executive director of the Mississippi Casino Operators Association. “I can’t predict what will happen, but if the numbers continue to drop, most likely we’ll see fewer casinos than more casinos.”

“I’m not privy to their financial status, but several properties are under tremendous stress,” said Webster Franklin, president and CEO of the Tunica Convention and Visitors Bureau. “Our job is to try to create an environment to allow them to flourish. But this is not unique to Tunica. Competition is everywhere.”

The Tunica market has several tried various ways to slow the decrease, but the drop continues.

“I think they know the situation,” said Gregory. “The issues are hard issues. We’ve got national expansion and tough competition, and we’ve got to offer alternatives to combat those hard issues.

They’ve tried to offer incentives — concerts, million-dollar giveaways — to get visitors to come back.

“A lot of this growth has shown that convenience does mean something.”

Convenience is the convenience gambler. In the case of Tunica, it’s usually means the Memphis gambler who used to drive to 3045 minutes to Tunica for a few hours and wager a few dollars, then return home. Many of those gamblers are now taking the shorter trip to West Memphis, Ark., to play at Southland Park, which is prepared to embark on a $34.7 million expansion. Before the Mississippi River floods in May 2011, Southland was a small player on the gaming landscape. But when Tunica casino were closed for a few weeks Memphis gamblers opted for Southland Park, which adjusted to the situation and has profited.

“It brings challenges,” Franklin said of the Southland expansion.

“I think the flood has had a greater impact on the Tunica market than most people ever thought it would have. Today, every American is within three hours driving time of a casino, and convenience gaming has had an impact on destination gaming — and in Tunica, we are a destination.”

“But Tunica is fighting a fight and doing everything in their power to combat the competition,” said Godfrey. “I don’t know if it’s going to be enough, but I do know there are some wonderful properties up there with some good places to visit and good restaurants.”

As the casinos lose money, it has a trickle down effect within the community, both in the less casino tax money and in fewer jobs.

County governments statewide share 4 percent of casino, an amount that fell from $9.1 million in Sept. 2007 to $7.8 million in

Annual casino revenue (in billions of dollars) Year 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 (4 months)

Gulf Coast $1.064 $1.095 $1.097 $1.107 $1.115 $1.258 $1.302 $0.911+ $0.886+ $1.227 $1.173 $1.158 $1.151 $1.110 $1.030 $0.814 $0.758 $0.749 $0.716 $0.727 n/a

Mississippi River $1.072 $1.156 $1.142* $1.282 $1.350 $1.463 $1.589 $1.660 $1.582 $1.550 $1.527 $1.559 $1.549 $1.539 $1.486 $1.361 $1.227 $1.113 $1.008 $0.735 n/a

Total $2.137 $2.251 $2.239 $2.389 $2.465 $2.721 $2.892 $2.571 $2.468 $2.777 $2.700 $2.717 $2.700 $2.649 $2.516 $2.174 $1.984 $1.862 $1.724 $1.463 $0.790 $0.122

+ Hurricane Katrina * Mississippi River Floods

Sept. 2013. Jobwise, during that same period, Tunica County’s unemployment rate rose from 5.9 percent to 11.9 percent. “(The tax revenue decrease) is creating numerous challenges for our local government,” said franklin. “We’ve invested a considerable amount of money in tourism in things like golf courses and the mississippi River Park, and those facilities still have to be maintained.

“I would think a lot of (the unemployment rate) is related to the casinos,” said Franklin. “We went from about 15,000 gaming jobs at its peak to about 11,000 jobs now. But the workforce of Tunica County is only about 6,000 people.

We have a lot more jobs than we have people who live here and can be employed.

“I think the most important thing is our economy was based solely on agriculture and tourism and gaming,” said Franklin.

“Now what your seeing is because of the infrastructure — the fourlane roads, water and sewer — we’re seeing our area become more viable for industry. We have Schulz Xtruded Products and Feuer Powertrain. And Greentech Automotive is constructing a building as we speak. In the last year, we’ve announced 1,000 new jobs.

“Growth in Tunica is no longer about gaming and casinos. We need to build other things around the casinos. The reason Schulz invested $300 million here is because of the hotels, restaurants and entertainment. So when Schult brings in their suppliers, they put them in our hotels.”

“In Tunica, there’s no doubt the expansion of gaming in West Memphis, Alabama and other places has affected the Tunica market,” said Gregory. “They’ve taken a definite hit in that area. Your not seeing the investments like they’re making in Gulf Coast.

Right now, with numbers in a negative trend, you’re not going to See

CASINO, Page 26

» Sen. David Blount says this bill's prospects improved without weight of Dept. of Revenue relocation debate

By TED CARTER I STAFF WRITER ted.carter@msbusiness.com

A revived move to consolidate far flung state government office space into Jackson's Central Business District won unanimous approval Monday afternoon from the Senate Public Property Committee.

The bill's main selling point is the prospect of shaving around $5 million a year off the state's current $16 million annual leasing costs, as well as the prospect for saving money from: » Reduced travel time and supply costs; » Reduction in duplication of personnel and services; » Utilization of vacant space in state-owned office buildings; » Possible favorable prices to acquire buildings in the Capitol Complex, a several-square-mile area that surrounds the Capitol.

The bulk of the savings would come from reducing the average square-feet of office space per state employee from a current 321 to the federal benchmark of about 221.

The initial target for relocation into the Central Business District are the 692 state employees who occupy 221,245 square foot of office space under 26 different leases in metro Jackson outside the several-mile Capitol Complex.

The leases carry a weighted rental rate of $14.03 a squarefoot, according to a leasing study presented to the committee Monday.

The idea is to move them into leased space in eight privately owned office buildings in the CBD, which in total has about 471,000 square feet of empty space, mostly in buildings rated class B and C. The need for landlords to fill that space could get the state attractive lease rates, the leasing study predicts.

This likelihood is reflected in recent state lease deals in the CBD that included 26,021 feet of office space in Regions Plaza for the State Personnel Board at $12.19 a square-foot; 42,130 square feet in Region's Plaza for the Department of Finance and Administration for $12.50 a square foot; and 32,000 square feet in Capitol Towers for the Secretary of State's annex office for $11 a square foot.

The leasing study projects the moves could save the state about $990,000 a year.

Bill author David Blount, property committee chairman, gives this year's version of the bill improved odds of passing now that the question of where the Department of Revenue should go has been settled — South Pointe Business Park in Clinton won the lease –— and downtown's Jackson's Landmark Center building will soon be owned and occupied by Mississippi University Medical Center.

Last year's legislation passed the Senate with no dissent but never received a hearing from the House Public Property Committee, an apparent nod to House Speaker Philip Gunn's opposition to moving the DOR out of Clinton.

See

BILL, Page 24

January 31, 2014

HMA

Continued from Page 3

With the acquisition, CHS takes on the legal baggage of Hospital Management Associates, whose subsidiary Health Management Associates is alleged in more than a half dozen whistle blower lawsuits to have systematically pressured physicians to make admissions to its hospitals, and is reported to have granted bonuses to the most compliant physicians. The lawsuits, which the Justice Department joined earlier this month, claim that along with the incentives, physicians received threats if they failed to hit admissions targets. The scheme, regulars say, was aimed at inflating the company’s payments from Medicare and Medicaid by making unnecessary admissions.

CHS itself faces similar accusations that it inappropriately increased admissions, the New York Times reports. The Times says CHS is seeking a settlement with the government over some of the accusations.

Analysts say some for-profit hospital companies regard the penalties assessed by government regulars as just the cost of doing business. They say that for the penalties to carry any punch they must rise to at least the $500 million level..

CHS, in an email statement from spokeswoman Tomi Galin, insisted Community Health Systems organization is committed to acting ethically.

“We have a robust compliance program designed to help ensure that operations at our affiliated hospitals and across the organization are conducted in accordance with high ethical standards and all federal, state and local laws, rules and regulations,” she said.

“Our program includes a process by which employees, physicians, vendors and patients and their families can report any concerns. When we receive a notification of a concern, it is investigated and resolved.”

CHS compliance efforts, she said, include monitoring compliance with Medicare rules for the admission of hospital inpatients as well as other patient classifications.

In Mississippi, HMA had a months’ long standoff with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Mississippi over reimbursement levels the insurer was having to pay HMA. The fight started in early fall with an HMA lawsuit seeking $around $15 million in additional patient reimbursements. The standoff finally ended shortly before Christmas.

In a statement late in the impasse with HMA, BCBS of Mississippi complained about excessive reimbursement charges for treating BCBS patients. The statement came as BCBS offered to reinstate Gilmore

Former HMA hospitals now under Community Health Systems ownership are: » Biloxi Regional Medical Center, Biloxi » Central Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson » Crossgates River Oaks Hospital, Brandon » Gilmore Memorial Regional Medical Center, Amory, » Madison River Oaks Medical Center, Canton » Natchez Community Hospital » Northwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center, Clarksdale » River Oaks Hospital, Flowood » River Region Health System, Vicksburg » Tri-Lakes Medical Center, Batesville » Wesley Medical Center, Hattiesburg » Woman's Hospital, Flowood

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Mississippi Business Journal

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EDUCATION

School conditions spur consolidation debate JACKSON — Reports of decrepit buildings, illiterate high school students and bloated employee rolls could fuel another round of school district consolidation by the Mississippi Legislature.

Bob Strebeck, who runs the Leflore County system since the state took control last year, told Senate Education Committee members this week that conditions in the 2,800-student system are the worst he’s seen in six districts where he’s been conservator.

Strebeck said former administrators hired twice as many teachers as needed.

“There was absolutely no academic accountability, there was no financial planning and the school district needs to be restructured,” he told the committee.

Strebeck hasn’t said how many employees he plans to lay off at the end of their contracts this spring, but said

the 266 teachers and 37 central office employees are both at least twice as many as he needs. The system has 541 employees overall.

“Each day I am learning something about a new employee I didn’t even know I had,” Strebeck said.

Claiborne County conservator Jayne Sargent wasn’t there. But in a written report from November, the former superintendent of Jackson schools also found too many employees, neglected buildings, seniors who haven’t passed state graduation tests, and failure to check employee backgrounds. She reported that 14 of 139 employees had criminal backgrounds, including four felons. She said a $10,000 theft using a district fuel card was never resolved and that hiring was “often connected to politics rather than needs of students.”

— from staff and MBJ wire reports

INSURANCE

Miss. House panel passes insurance disclosure bill Memorial Regional Medical Center in Amory, Northwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center in Clarksdale, Tri-Lakes Medical Center in Batesville and Woman’s Hospital in Flowood.

“As to the other HMA hospitals, significant issues regarding HMA’s charges and lack of focus on managing healthcare costs are still of great concern,” BCBS of Mississippi said.

“As HMA continues its efforts to distract the public from the fact that HMA hospitals charge significantly more than other hospitals in their service area, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi will continue to take care of its members’ health.”

The New York Times detailed accusations against Health Management Associates in a lengthy front-page article Jan. 24.

BCBS of Mississippi declined to comment Monday on either the Community Health Systems’ takeover of HMA or the Times’ article.

It indicated, however, that it expects health-care providers that treat its policyholders to be partners in keeping down costs and to provide only services that are truly needed. “Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi is committed to ensuring our members receive the highest quality of care from a network of providers and facilities that are equally committed to managing the cost of healthcare. The goal of all of our partnerships is to provide service that is always in our members’ best interest,” said Meredith Virden, communications manager for BCBS of Mississippi.

“As to the other HMA hospitals, significant issues regarding HMA’s charges and lack of focus on managing healthcare costs are still of great concern.”

JACKSON, — Mississippi lawmakers could force insurers to disclose how much they collect in premiums and how much they pay in claims in each ZIP code.

The House Insurance Committee passed that bill Tuesday, and a measure regulating when insurers can charge homeowners a hurricane deductible. Both go to the full House for more debate.

House Bill 753 is modeled on an Alabama law. There, supporters say disclosure has shown coastal

homeowners are overcharged for insurance. Biloxi Republican Scott DeLano, sponsoring the Mississippi bill, says he wants to increase public information.

House Bill 756, also sponsored by DeLano, would require Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney to make rules on when a hurricane deductible applies. Now, rules vary on when homeowners pay the higher deductible, usually a percentage of a house's insured value.

— from staff and MBJ wire reports

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AN MBJ FOCUS:

HEALTH CARE And her late son’s heart beats on ...

Courtesy of Mississippi Organ Recovery Agency

Liz Wroten listens to her son’s heartbeat, which was transplanted into Linda Amos of Florence in 2011. Chase Wroten was 19 when he died of a stroke, but his family donated his organs — both kidneys, the spleen, heart, liver, lungs and pancreas — for transplants.

Working miracles for Mississippians » State’s organ recovery agency saves lives and provides comfort through transplants

By BECKY GILLETTE I CONTRIBUTOR mbj@msbusiness.com

Y

OU DON’T ALWAYS get the miracles you want, said Liz Wroten, whose son, Chase Wroten, died suddenly from a massive stroke suffered while pitching for the baseball team at Hinds Community College on April 15, 2011.

“We would have wanted our son to recover,” Wroten said. “But we knew he was on life support and wasn’t going to recover. My husband, Mike, is a Hinds County deputy sheriff. At the time Mike worked with another deputy sheriff, David Cox, who was on dialysis and we knew he would have died within a year without a new kidney. We had signed papers with the Mississippi Organ Recovery Agency (MORA) to donate Chase’s organs. If there could be a match,

we wanted David to get his kidney. But it is rare that there is a tissue match when a family specifies the person they want to get the organ.

When they ran tissue tests, David Cox was number one on the list for matching. So, it was a miracle. David is doing great.”

The Wrotens donated all of their son’s internal organs: Both kidneys, the spleen, heart, liver, lungs and pancreas.

“Our philosophy is just because our son’s life stopped suddenly, that didn’t mean we couldn’t help other people live on,” Wroten said. “God gave doctors the ability to do transplants, and I think what they do is a little bit of a miracle.

Nothing is harder than losing a child. But so many other blessings have come from my son’s death, and that is how you have to look at it.”

Certainly the woman who received Chase’s heart considers it a miracle that she is not just

alive, but has enough energy to play with her grandchildren and work at her church. Linda Amos, 58, Florence, was down to her heart operating at only 15 percent of normal capacity when she received the heart of a 19 year old on April 15, 2011.

“I was always short of breath, and couldn’t walk any distance,” she said. “I couldn’t do anything that I wanted to do. Now I can do mostly whatever I want to do. My heart is in good condition. I feel great. People tell me I look better now than before my heart attack. I’m able to do more with my grandbabies, and do more at my church. At church they tell me I do so much, they can’t keep up with me. I feel like I want to give back more because the Lord has blessed me.”

See

MORA, Page 14

JAMES HINSON

Natchez, MS

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Skilled Hands. Compassionate Hearts.

HEALTH CARE

14 I Mississippi Business Journal I January 31, 2014 MANAGED CARE

Marking 20 years of health care » Mississippi Health Partners has 800 physicians, 14 hospitals in 10-county network

By LISA MONTI I CONTRIBUTOR mbj@msbusiness.com

Mississippi Health Partners, the Jackson-based managed care network, is entering its 21st year of operation in 2014, providing employers and payors with quality health care services while controlling the costs associated with those services.

The company has grown to encompass approximately 800 physicians and 14 hospitals, including the two that were there in the beginning: Baptist Medical Center and St. Dominic Hospital. Mississippi Health Partners also has expanded geographically and now includes hospitals and physicians in the central part of the state. Today, it is has 15 employees.

Marisa Davidson is president and CEO of the company, which is owned by the physicians and hospitals in its managed care preferred provider network. She joined as an MBA program intern when Mississippi Health Partners was getting off the ground.

“We started off as a partnership with Mississippi Baptist Medical Center, St. Dominic and the former Rankin Medical Center,” she said. “Our Jackson area physicians and the hospitals came together because they realized they needed a way to work with insurance companies and plans, and they wanted to demonstrate a qualified network. They wanted to bring some value in a single contracting entity that would be administratively easy for them to work with.”

The network concept was new 20 years

MORA

Continued from Page 13

Amos used to be opposed to donating her organs because her grandmother said, “I’m going to leave this world with all my parts.” But Amos’ son, who worked at a funeral home, said no one would know if she donated an organ.

“Since the Lord blessed me with this gift from Chase, I have a new outlook on it,” Amos said. “My mentality now is you should be a donor because it helps someone else to live on. There is nothing else you can do for me after I’m dead.”

Organ transplant is more common than many people might think. In 2013, 229 organs from 70 donors were transplanted through MORA. The agency’s CEO, Kevin Stump, said more than 200 people

ago but has become more familiar over the years. “It’s very routine nowadays that any insurance plan is directed to network of physicians and hospitals that they must use,” she said.

The mission of MHP is “to develop an integrated delivery network of physicians and hospitals that enhances the health status of our communities.” Said Davidson, “Our initiatives are all about cost effective health care services that are locally managed.”

Davidson said being local is an important asset valued in Mississippi. “We are a provider sponsored initiative very much with the local flavor of this community,” she said. “The local aspect is a key thing because we live and work here. The physicians are part of the community here. We do work directly with local plans as well as national plans.”

She said Baptist and St. Dominic continue to own the company along with the

physicians on staff at those hospitals. “Our network has grown to a 10-county service area focused in Central Mississippi. Today we serve over 100,000 covered lives.”

She said that physician participation in the network is key to its success.

Dr. H. Clark Ethridge Jr. is chairman of the board of Mississippi Health Partners.

“We are one of the few highly successful (physician-hospital organizations) in the country,” he said. “Most have either closed over the years or have been ineffective. The thing that makes ours most effective all these years has been the physicians’ participation. The doctors on board actually participate and come to meetings and stay involved. We have been very successful in having a good doctor coalition and a working relationship with both hospitals.”

Ethridge said that even though Baptist and St. Dominic are competitors, they have worked together through Mississippi Health Partners rather than seeking con-

tracts with insurance companies separately that might give them an advantage.

And unlike states such as Alabama where one insurance company dominates the market and can dictate rates, he said. “We have been able to keep things in balance.”

Davidson said more growth is in the future for Mississippi Health Partners but may not necessarily be like the kind of growth experienced in the last 20 years. “You’ll see growth in some creative ways like our health information exchange,” she said.

Mississippi Health Partners is rolling out its MHP Connect that allows patients to share their personal health records electronically with physicians and other health care providers. “Some patients have multiple health care providers and it’s difficult to maintain all the information at their fingertips,” she said. “This is a way patients can exchange that information with health care providers and the health care providers can efficiently receive information about patients, whether it’s lab reports, a discharge summary or their prescription history.”

The goal is to make electronic access to health records simple, she said, and that will be a first step toward more innovation in service.

“The trend is mostly the technology route,” she said. “That’s going to be a big focus for us because it enables other initiatives in the future that promote quality and give patients more tools to manage their own health.”

(some received multiple organs: Example a kidney-pancreas transplant) across Mississippi and in the U.S. received those lifesaving gifts. MORA also had 142 tissue donors in 2013. One tissue donor can help enStump hance the lives of up to 50 people.

People in the business community can help by promoting employees signing up to be organ donors.

“We are always looking for business partners to help promote our mission, either through workplace partnerships or just inviting us to company health fairs or lunch and learn sessions,” Stump said. “We want to get the word out that more than

1,300 Mississippians are in need of a lifesaving transplant. Those are people who are your friends, your neighbors, co-workers and church members.”

MORA recently received a $33,000 donation from Nucor Steel. The money was raised from their fund raising record-setting 11th annual golf tournament that was held in September.

“In those 11 years, they have raised over $500,000 dollars for local charities,” Stump said. “We were one of four local charities that Nucor Steel gave to this year.

The money has been designated to help build our Donor Tribute Garden that will be the third phase of our campus construction plans at our headquarters in Flowood.

The second phase will be the addition of on-campus recovery suites that we hope to break ground on later this year. Over time,

the suites will help reduce the cost of recovery and transplants.”

Nationally someone is added to the transplant list every 10 minutes and 18 people on the national waiting list die every day. Stump said donated organs can give a child a life, allow a mom to see her child married, or allow a grandparent to see grandchildren born.

The simplest way to register to be an organ donor is when you renew your driver’s license. More than 90 percent of those registered do it this way. People can also register online at msora.org or at donatelifems.org. People can also sign up at a health fair or community event attended by a MORA representative.

MORA, one of 58 organ procurement agencies across the county, is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.

“Our Jackson area physicians and the hospitals came together because they realized they needed a way to work with insurance companies and plans, and they wanted to demonstrate a qualified network.”

Marisa Davidson President, CEO, Mississippi Health Partners

Left to right: Dr. Kimberly Simpson, Associate Professor of Neurobiology and Anatomical Sciences; Dr. James E. Keeton, Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs; and Alon Bee, City President of Regions Bank Metro Jackson

Expect more admiration.

Congratulations to Dr. Kimberly Simpson, an associate professor at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC), for being awarded the first Regions Bank TEACH Prize. This award recognizes a faculty member who best exemplifies the values of student engagement, intellectual challenge and dedication to the craft of education that drive UMMC’s educational mission. As a proud corporate citizen, Regions is always excited to support those in our community who work so tirelessly to make a difference in the lives of others.

To Dr. Simpson and everyone striving to improve our communities, we offer our thanks, our assistance and our commitment to making life better.

© 2013 Regions Bank.

16 I MBJ I January 31, 2014

HEALTH CARE

JACKSON HEART CLINIC

Improving cardiovascular health in state » Clinic has been taking care of patients since 1973

By LYNN LOFTON I CONTRIBUTOR mbj@msbusiness.com

Since 1973, the Jackson Heart Clinic has been leading central Mississippi with state-of-the-art cardiovascular care. The founders were James C. Hays, M.D., James L. Crosthwait, M.D., and Quinton H. Dickerson, M.D. These physicians were also instrumental in the formation of the Mississippi Heart Institute and opening of the cardiac catheterization laboratory at St. Dominic Memorial Hospital. Hays and Dickerson are still with the clinic where there are now 125 employees, including board certified physicians covering all realms of specialties.

Looking back, Hays said, “The best interest of the patient is the only interest to be considered. This is one of my favorite quotes that I have practiced from the beginning. The focus of JHC has been on improving the general and cardiovascular health of patients. Fortunately, the clinic has physicians who are intelligent, care for patients, and are always looking for ways to improve. We consider it a huge compliment for a patient to choose us to care for his/her cardiovascular needs.”

As with any medical profession, the governing bodies require continuing medical education to keep abreast of the latest cardiovascular advances. “JHC physicians also keep up with their sub specialty education training on an annual basis,” said Russell Young, M.D. “Information flows rapidly with technology. Updates occur daily. Often, we spend more time refuting studies that hit the media.”

The research department at Jackson Heart Clinic has clinical trials that not only help personnel keep up to date with the latest procedures but also help with the development of new technology. This department is devoted to helping discover new treatments and medical devices related to cardiovascular disease.

“Our physicians and staff believe that research plays a vital role in healthcare today. We are involved in several clinical trials, including investigational device

studies, post-approval studies and registries,” said Janet Humphreys, R.N., B.S.N. and senior research coordinator.

“All of these clinical trials are helping us stay on the cutting edge of the new technology that is rapidly being developed.”

The personnel of JHC are encouraged that Mississippi's status as the state with the highest number of people with cardiovascular disease is improving. “Yes, we see it every day. Prevention is a huge key factor and is discussed more and more,” said Russell Young, M.D. “You see more Mississippians who are aware of what they are eating, how much they are exercising, and aware of and if heart disease runs in the family tree.”

At Jackson Heart Clinic diet is stressed as a way of controlling risks for cardiovascular disease.

“In terms of risks factor modification, non-pharmacological methods — such as proper diet and exercise — remain the bedrock of the foundation in which we lower risks,” Young said. “At Jackson Heart Clinic, regular counseling is offered by our lipid clinic and other clinical nurses. The lipid clinic offers a series of educational classes for high risk patients.”

In 2009 Jackson Heart Clinic established the Jackson Heart Foundation to help lead the fight against heart disease in the local community through education, prevention, and early detection. “Jackson Heart Clinic knows the importance of increased awareness and education of the number one disease that so profoundly effects our state,” Hays said.

Procedures available at Jackson Heart Clinic include cardiac catheterization, electrophysiology, percutaneous coronary interventions, peripheral vascular catheterization or intervention, transcatheter aortic valve replacement, and venous reflux study and treatment of varicose veins.

Diagnostic testing includes cardiac ultrasound imaging, computed tomography angiography, doppler studies, electrocardiograms, exercise stress testing, nuclear cardiac imaging and outpatient telemetry monitoring.

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NEWSMAKERS

January 31, 2014

I

Mississippi Business Journal

I

21

Duke elected to board Vickie Duke of New Albany Main Street Association has been elected by fellow Main Street managers and members to the Mississippi Main Street Association (MMSA) board of directors.

Duke will serve a two-year term as manager representative on the statewide board.

Mickey Howley of Water Valley Main Street Association is the other manager representative fulfilling his last year on the board.

Duke has lived in New Albany since 2004 and served as the manager of New Albany Main Street Association and director of the Magnolia Civic Center for the past seven years. She is coordinator for the Keep New Albany/Union County Beautiful program and the City Beautification committee. Duke was voted Best Professional by her community in 2011.

She and her husband, Toby, have two children, Alley and Corey.

The 2014 board of directors are: president Joey Hudnall, Neel-Schaffer Inc.; past president Barry Plunkett, B. Plunkett and Associates; vice president Mark Loughman, Mississippi Power Company; treasurer Suzanne Smith, Renasant Bank; Allison Beasley, Southern Mississippi Planning and Development; Hilary Burroughs, Sanderson Farms Inc.; Steve Kelly, Entergy; Hibbett Neel, Neel-Schaffer Inc.; Bill Scruggs, St. Dominic Health Services Inc.; Mayor Robert E. Smith Sr., city of Columbus; Sheila Varnado, R3SM Inc.; Wyatt Waters, Wyatt Waters Gallery; Beth Williams, The Alluvian Hotel & Spa; H.T. Holmes, Mississippi Department of Archives and History; Leland Speed, EastGroup/Parkway Properties; Jim West, College of Architecture, Art and Design at Mississippi State University; Howley; and Duke.

Ex officio members are Brent Christensen of the Mississippi Development Authority and Alex Thomas, Mississippi advisor to the National Trust.

Designated representatives to the board are Ken P'Pool, Mississippi Department of Archives and History; John Poros, The Carl Small Town Center at Mississippi State University; and Joy Foy of the Mississippi Development Authority.

King made IEEE fellow Roger L. King, a longtime Mississippi State University engineering administrator, has received the highest membership honor of a leading international organization. King was recently designated as a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. A member of the university faculty since 1988, King directs the Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems.

King King, a University of Wales doctoral graduate, is among a select MSU faculty group holding the title of William L. Giles Distinguished Professor, the land-grant institution's highest academic rank.

King's latest recognition is based, in part, on his contributions to power systems data analytics to improve grid reliability. He also has made significant technical contributions in other areas of data analytics and information semantics throughout his long career. Most recently at CAVS, King led in developing research activities that focus on vehicle weight reduction, improved crashworthiness, crash avoidance, new power-generation, and autonomous vehicle control, as well as advances in improved diagnostics, manu-

Renasant awards promotions Renasant Bank has announced numerous promotions. Larry Coggin has been named executive vice president, corporate banking administrator Tupelo. Coggin attended Mississippi State University, graduating with a BBA in banking and finance.

He also attended the National Compliance School, Mid South School of Banking (summa cum laude), and The Graduate School of Banking at LSU. He contributes to his community through organizations such as CDF’s Jim Ingram Community Leadership Institute.

Lucius Brock has been promoted to senior vice president, corporate relationship officer Lafayette County. Brock attended Mississippi State University and the University of Mississippi, graduating with a bachelor’s of business administration and MBA respectively.

Brock contributes to his community through organizations such as Rotary Club and United Way. Marshall Briscoe is now first vice president and trust officer, Wealth Management Department - Tupelo. Briscoe is a graduate of the University of Mississippi with a bachelor of arts in biology and a juris doctorate in law. He is a certified trust financial advisor in addition to his experience in corporate and private practice of the law.

Crystal Tucker has been named assistant vice president and trust officer, Trust Department - Tupelo. Tucker attended the University of Mississippi, graduating with a bachelors in business administration. She also attended Cannon Financial Institute and received certification as a certified trust and financial advisor as well as certified securities operations professional. She contributes to her community through the United Way of North Mississippi.

Kory Hunter has been elevated to credit officer, Credit Department - Tupelo. Hunter attended the University of Mississippi, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts. Hunter contributes to her community through the Tupelo Young Professionals, United Way, Sanctuary Hospice Junior Auxiliary, where she has served in many capacities.

Alasha Rhea has been promoted to vice president, employee benefits officer - Tupelo. Rhea grad-

facturing and human-interface and computational design technologies.

In addition to holding four patents, he is the author of more than 200 published works relating to his research areas.

Earlier this year, King was named to the international advisory board of the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology where he has opportunities to implement joint projects that further CAVS research programs.

Prior to leading CAVS, he was associate dean and coordinator of the Bagley College's international programs. Other MSU administrative roles have included chief engineer of the Remote Sensing Technologies Center and associate director of research for the GeoResources Institute.

In addition to the Giles Distinguished Professor designation, King's other major campus honors include a Bagley College Career Achievement Award and a campus-wide Ralph E. Powe Research Award.

uated from Mississippi State University with a bachelors in business administration, majoring in marketing. She is a member of Priceville Baptist Church, where she teaches pre-school discipleship training.

Saundra Sims is the new assistant vice president, consumer underwriting - Tupelo. Sims has been with Renasant since 2001, serving in the position of credit officer in the Credit Department. Prior to joining Renasant, Sims worked in finance for 20 years.

Yolanda Wooten has been with Renasant since 2011, serving in the position of vice president and branch manager, and has been in banking for 38 years. In her new role with the Renasant, she will be responsible for the management of operations for the Bank’s Starkville region. Wooten attended the Mississippi School of Banking and the School of Bank Marketing and Management in Boulder, Colo., and has completed the certificate program with the Mississippi Bankers Association.

She contributes to her community through organizations such as the Greater Starkville Development Partnership and as the bank’s representative in the Starkville Main Street Association.

Loren Zimmerman recently joined Renasant as a senior vice president and business development officer for the bank’s Starkville market. Zimmerman attended Mississippi State University, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in general business. He is also a graduate of the American Bankers Association School of Banking at LSU and the ABA Commercial Lending School at the University of Oklahoma. Zimmerman contributes to his community through organizations such as the Rotary Club of Starkville.

Gene Bell has been promoted to vice president and commercial relationship officer – Grenada. Bell has been with Renasant since 2008, serving in the position of assistant vice president. Prior to joining Renasant, Bell was self-employed as a Realtor with Coldwell Banker Landmark Realty. Bell attended Delta State University, graduating with a bachelor of business administration. He currently attends the Mississippi School of Banking at Ole Miss.

Additionally, he holds the title of honorary professor at Cardiff (Wales) University.

Prior to completing his doctorate in the United Kingdom, King received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from West Virginia University and a master's from the University of Pittsburgh.

Firm welcomes Mukoro McNeil Rhoads has added Quincy Mukoro, M.P.P.A., in its Jackson office. Mukoro joins McNeil Rhoads as the vice president of business development, bringing with him 10 years of experience in funding and advocacy issues for municipalities across the state. Prior to joining McNeil Rhoads, Mukoro served as the director of public and governmental affairs with the Mississippi Municipal League and organized the leagues statewide lobbying efforts.

Mukoro grew up in the Mississippi Delta and went on to attend the University of Mississippi where he

Bell

Briscoe

Brock

Coggin

Hunter

Rhea

Sims

Tucker

Wooten

Zimmerman

received his undergraduate degree in political science and a minor in computer science. He later received a master of public policy and administration from Mississippi State University.

Dorcé joins firm Julia Dorcé has joined Wise Carter Child & Caraway, P.A. as marketing director.

Dorcé, a native of New York City, graduated from Cornell University with a bachelor of science in industrial and labor relations.

Her experience includes positions as real estate marketing analyst for Shearman & Sterling, LLP, litigation business developDorcé ment coordinator for Cravath, Swaine & Moore, LLP and marketing coordinator for Milberg LLP.

NEWSMAKERS

22 I Mississippi Business Journal I January 31, 2014

Leadership class unveiled

Dodds honored

Fortenberry made partner

Bryant chooses Marchand

The selection is final for the Leadership Mississippi Class of 2014. Members of the class are: Stan Alford, American Medical Response, Brandon; Nathaniel A. Beach, GE Aviation, Ellisville; Matthew Bengloff, Teach for America, Cleveland; Russell Bennett, Entergy Mississippi Inc., Jackson; Bernard Booth, Adams and Reese, LLP, Ridgeland; Robin Boyles, Delta State University, Cleveland; Jerome Brown, The First Bank, A National Banking Association, Hattiesburg; Patrick Brown, FNC Inc., Oxford; Corrie Cockrell, Southern Poverty Law Center, Jackson; Ashley Reneé Comstock, Office of the State Treasurer, Jackson; Penny Danford, TempStaff Inc., Jackson; Victoria N. Danish, Beau Rivage Resort & Casino, Biloxi; Meta C. Danzey, Butler Snow LLP, Gulfport; Steve Davidson, C Spire Wireless, Ridgeland; Christen Duhé, Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, Gulfport; Tod Etheredge, Trustmark National Bank, Jackson; Derek Finley, Mississippi Development Authority, Jackson; James R. Gainspoletti, Gainspoletti and Associates, Cleveland; John Graham, Jernigan, Copeland & Anderson, PLLC, Ridgeland; Charles E. Greer V, Greer Law Firm, PLLC, Hattiesburg; Rodney Harris, Mississippi Army National Guard, Jackson; Cynthia M. Hines, Delta 180 Inc., Greenville; Susan Jacobs, Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula; Willie Jones, Dependable Source Corp of Mississippi, Jackson; Eddie R. Kelly, Mississippi Power, Meridian; Kellum Kim, Hol-Mac Corporation, Bay Springs; Monica Lebron, Ole Miss Athletics Foundation, Oxford; Rebecca J. Mansell, Children's Justice Center at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson; Justin Martin, Community Bancshares of Mississippi Inc., Tupelo; Katrina McMillin, The Center for Education Innovation, Jackson; Paula McNair, Atmos Energy, Flowood; Mary Lacy Montgomery, SouthGroup Insurance and Financial Services, Hattiesburg; Mary Ann Moon, CEcD, GEC Inc., Gulfport; Sharon Oswald, D.D.S., College of Business, Starkville; Kerri Paul, University of Southern Mississippi Foundation, Hattiesburg; Sherry Rainey, ClearPoint Credit Counseling Solutions, Jackson; Robert J. Reed, Reed Food Technology, Pearl; Francine Thomas Reynolds, New Stage Theatre, Jackson; Rhonda Rhodes, Hancock Housing Resource Center, Waveland; Doug Robertson, Cadence Bancorp, LLC, Columbus; Jamie Rogers, Avon Engineered Fabrications, Picayune; Lori W. Sanders, BankPlus, Ridgeland; Kate Dennis Spear, Specialty Contractors & Associates Inc., Gulfport; Frederick Spieker, Cardinal Health, Madison; De'Keither Stamps, City of Jackson, Jackson; Rebekah K. Staples, Butler Snow LLP, Ridgeland; Alex Thomas, Blue South Entertainment, Jackson; Wes Thomas, BancorpSouth, Jackson; Jaci Turner, City of Pascagoula, Pascagoula; Joshua Patrick Whelan, Palmer Home for Children, Columbus; Farae Wolfe, City of Cleveland, Cleveland; and Willie Woo, Baxter Healthcare Corporation, Cleveland.

Mississippi State University Extension cotton specialist Darrin Dodds was recently named the 2014 Extension Cotton Specialist of the Year, an award based on leadership and industry service.

Dodds received his doctoral degree at Mississippi State University and has worked at MSU for six years studying cotton variety performance, management, fertility, plant growth regulator use, Dodds irrigation management and weed control.

In 2009, Dodds expanded MSU’s Cotton Short Course to include all row crops, and since then the course has seen growth in attendance.

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP has elevated Jason Fortenberry to partner. Fortenberry is a member of the firm’s Litigation Practice Group.

He holds a J.D. (magna cum laude) from the Mississippi College School of Law and a B.A. from Mississippi State University.

Gov. Phil Bryant recently appointed Memorial Hospital president and CEO Gary G. Marchand, MPH, to Mississippi Health Care Solutions Institute’s board of directors. Marchand has more than 25 years of health care experience in a variety of related fields, including hospital administration and finance, managed care operations and joint venture development. He received his bachelor of science degree from the Univer- Marchand sity of New Orleans and his master of public health degree from The University of Southern Mississippi.

Marchand, who served in the United States Air Force, is a member of the Healthcare Roundtable for Chief Executive Officers, Gulf Coast Business Council and is a Paul Harris Fellow with the Gulfport Rotary Club. He is a board member of the United Way of South Mississippi and the University of Southern Mississippi College of Health Dean’s Council.

Herrington leaves department Oxford director of tourism Mary-Kathryn Herrington has stepped down to spend more time with her family. Herrington had been with the tourism department for 10 years and became the director in 2009. Herrington and her husband, Lewis, had a baby girl in the summer.

Mary Allyn Hedges will succeed Herrington as tourism director. Hedges is currently the assistant tourism director.

Kinney Ferris will become assistant tourism director.

Turner named to team The American Red Cross Mississippi Region welcomes Jared Turner of Jackson to Mississippi’s leadership team as the Capital River Chapter executive. Turner previously served as president of J.W. Turner Consulting, LLC. Turner earned his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and political science from the University of Mississippi. Upon graduating, he took his first job in politics as the field director for a statewide Turner campaign. Since then, Turner has worked throughout the election process, specializing in political finance, fundraising and compliance.

He has experience across all levels, from municipal contests to federal campaigns, both partisan and non-partisan, in-state and out-of-state.

Turner is a past president of Mississippi Young Democrats of Hinds County and a member of the Greater Jackson Urban League Young Professionals.

Rouse selected for class McGlinchey Stafford attorney John Rouse has been selected to participate in The Mississippi Bar’s Leadership Forum Class of 2014.

Rouse is an Associate in McGlinchey Stafford’s Jackson office who handles cases involving commercial litigation, consumer financial services defense, class action defense and general litigation.

He received his J.D. from Mississippi College School of Law in Rouse 2004, his M.B.A. from the University of Mississippi in 2001 and his B.B.A. from Delta State University in 1999.

Purvis elected to board Dale Purvis has been elected chairman of the Pearl River Community College board of trustees and will serve a two-year term. He has served as Lamar County's representative on the board since 2007 and replaces Frank Ladner of Bay St. Louis.

Purvis received an associate in applied science degree from the college in 1984. He holds a master in business administration degree from Mississippi State University.

French made interim director P. Edward "Eddie" French has been named interim director of Mississippi State University's John C. Stennis Institute of Government and Community Development as the group looks for a permanent replacement for W. Martin "Marty" Wiseman.

French served the institute as a Stennis Scholar for Local Government since the associate professor of political science and French public administration came to the university in 2006. He holds an MSU doctoral degree in public policy and administration, and his research has been published in numerous peer-reviewed academic journals, including Public Administration Review and Public Integrity, among others. Additionally, he serves as editor-inchief for Public Personnel Management. French also is a member of the editorial boards of State and Local Government Review and Review of Public Personnel Administration, among other roles. Along with his MSU teaching and research duties, French serves as the graduate coordinator in the political science and public administration department.

French grew up on a cattle farm in Bristol, Va. He earned his bachelor's in political science at the University of Tennessee and his master's in city management from East Tennessee State University. He served as a local government manager in Virginia, where he supervised day-to-day operations, developed community budgets and worked with community planners and council members.

French has been honored numerous times during his tenure at MSU. Students voted him the Outstanding Political Science/Public Administration Graduate Professor of the Year in 2009, 2011 and 2013, and he received the MSU President's Faculty Diversity Award in 2012. He was also awarded the Clinton Wallace Dean's Eminent Scholar Award in 2011 and the College of Arts and Sciences' Researcher of the Year for Social and Behavioral Sciences Award in 2010.

Bryant taps Reed Dr. Mike Reed, assistant professor of educational leadership at William Carey University, was recently appointed by Gov. Phil Bryant to serve as Mississippi’s commissioner of the Interstate Compact for Educational Opportunity for Military Children.

Before moving to Mississippi, Reed served as superintendent of Hartselle City Schools in Alabama and as Alabama’s ComReed missioner of the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children. He was the first person chosen for this position in Alabama, and is the first to serve this role for Mississippi.

Bagley elected to chair Freddie J. Bagley has been elected to serve as the new chairman of the board for Community Bancshares Inc. Thomas W. Colbert, who will move to the position of senior chairman, has served as the holding company’s chairman since formation in 1977, and will continue to have an active role.

Bagley has been President and CEO of the holding company since 1992.

Bagley is a graduate of Mis- Bagley sissippi College with a degree in mathematics. He is also a graduate of the University of Mississippi School of Banking and the Louisiana State University Graduate School of Banking.

Active in the banking community, Bagley is vice chairman and chairman-elect for the Mississippi Bankers Association where he also serves as president of the Education Foundation. He continues to serve on the boards of Rankin First Economic Authority and the Greater Jackson Chamber Partnership. He is a board member of Mississippi United Methodist Foundation and serves as chairman of its Investment Committee.

Sibley, Bradley earn license Heather Sibley and Taylor Bradley of the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers Vicksburg District recently obtained their professional civil engineer license. Sibley began her Corps career in the analytical section of the geotechnical branch in June 2009. She was born in Jackson and reared in Phoenix, Miss. She earned a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering from Mississippi State University. Sibley is married to Caleb Sibley and they reside in Bentonia.

Bradley began his career in the investigation and inspection section of the geotechnical branch. He earned a bachelor of arts degree in biology and a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering from the University of Mississippi. He resides in Jackson.

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24 I Mississippi Business Journal I January xx, 2014 » JEFFREY GITOMER

Mirror, mirror, on the wall.

Are you the BEST salesperson of them all? hat makes a “top performer” a top performer?

If you hold interviews with the most successful salespeople in the world, and ask them “why are you successful?” they’ll give you their take on it, but it will not be the right answer. They will give you symptomatic responses like, “I get up early in the morning” or “I work hard every day” or “I’m willing to do what other people are not willing to do” or “I ask a lot of questions” or “I put my customers first.”

All of those answers and those characteristics will not help another salesperson to become more successful. I would rather hear something like, “I have coffee with one customer every morning at 7:30” or “I pre-prepare three questions before every sales meeting. Engaging, thought-provoking questions about what I believe are the emotional elements of my customers desires” or “I take notes when the customer is talking to be certain I capture his needs and my promises.”

The differences are subtle.

Most successful salespeople have no concept of why they are successful, or perhaps they have no ability to make it clear, or even – never gave it

W

much thought.

Yes, the salesperson asked a lot of questions, but the secret is to get to the motive of the person wanting to buy. The questions he or she asked drew out emotion and buying motive and, as a result, the salesJeffrey Gitomer person created a buying atmosphere.

So, when I interview a successful salesperson, I want to make sure that if I’m asking him or her why they are successful, I want to get to the WHAT THEY ACTUALLY DO behind their perception of why.

Yesterday, I interviewed two multi-million dollar producers. I asked them what they did to get to their top position. Here are the net results (what I asked + what they said + how I interpreted it + how they agreed it really was after I restated/reworded it): 1. Persistence without being a pest. Following up professionally and consistently with value messages and firm reasons to buy. Their key: NEVER MISS ONE FOLLOW-UP. 2. Build real relationships. More than just a

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sale. Investing quality time with each customer BEYOND the sale.

3. A high percentage of customers give repeat orders without a bid, quote, or proposal. This is a result of TRUST and RELATIONSHIP. 4. They pass on the sale if the deal isn’t a good fit or good profit. They are not afraid to lose a sale or pass on a sale if it’s a NO PROFIT one or one that goes outside their business safety.

5. They make recommendations that favor the customer, not the salesperson’s wallet.

They do what is best for the LONG TERM, not just make the sale.

6. They think “customer” not “sale.” That strategy leads to customer LOYALTY. 7. They think “ask” not “tell.” Great salespeople discover needs and motives by asking, not giving a sales pitch. (SECRET: They don’t use the slide deck provided by marketing, because it didn’t help them make a sale.)

8. They think “friendly” not “professional.” Their relationships are enhanced by the relaxed attitude found in FRIENDSHIPS. 9. They think “service” not “quota.” They found that the better they SERVICED their accounts,

BILL

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“It got all wrapped up in a very by public debate last year over the Department of Revenue,” Blount, a commercial real estate professional, said at the outset of Monday's hearing. “The larger issue of how to handle leasing and do it more effectively is very much with us.”

Blount's legislation hands authority for negotiating state leases to the Department of Finance & Administration, a move the senator says puts the DFA “in the driver's seat” and eliminates having each department negotiate its own leases. The bill further authorizes the retaining of commercial real estate professionals as tenant representatives in lease negotiations.

“The only way this can work is to give the DFA the authority they currently don't have,” Blount said.

“They don't have the legal authority to do what needs to be done.”

As it did last, the Senate property panel heard a survey report presented by Millsaps College's ELSE School of Management. The new report leaves out the Landmark Center in its space and leasing calculations, said Dr. Bill M. Brister, director of Millsaps' Executive MBA program.

Also the same as last year, the survey found that Mississippi state government is leasing substantially more office space per employee than specified in federal benchmarks and benchmarks of other many states.

In fact, the average 321-square feet of leased space per state worker greatly exceeds Mississippi state government's own guidelines, according to Brister.

Those guidelines state that office space requested by

the easier it was to get the next order. They never worried about their “sales plan” or quota.

10. They are accessible and available. All of their customers can TEXT when needed.

11. They are trusted by their customers.

The TRUST they have has been earned slowly over time. Customers ask their advice before they buy.

12. They are truthful at all costs. Relationships based on TRUTH end up being relationships based on trust.

13. They are experts about their product and their market. Their customers want to know their salesperson is an EXPERT, not just a nice guy.

13.5 As a result of ALL the other things they do for their customers, they get referrals, often without asking. Referrals are not just leads, they’re REPORT CARDS. Now you can say anything you want to about this list. But be careful what you say, because this is from salespeople that make big sales, and are putting major money in the bank. How major are you?

Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of “The Sales Bible”, “Customer Satisfaction is Worthless” “Customer Loyalty is Priceless”, “The Little Red Book of Selling”, “The Little Red Book of Sales Answers”, “The Little Black Book of Connections”, “The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude”, “The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way”, “The Little Platinum Book of ChaChing”, “The Little Teal Book of Trust”, “The Little Book of Leadership”, and “Social BOOM!” His website, www.gitomer.com, will lead you to more information about training and seminars, or email him personally at salesman@gitomer.com.

state agencies should not exceed an average if 170 square-feet per person. Space requested which exceeds this average requires written justification, the Mississippi State Agency Leasing Manual states.

Brister said the relocations would occur over a number of years, noting current leases in the survey average about 2.5 years remaining. One lease has 14 years remaining.

Brister's report emphasized that the first priority in cost savings must be identifying state agencies now leasing property that can be moved into state-owned buildings, some of which have sizable vacancies.

The other priority, he said, must be to buy rather than lease when bargains are offered on buildings, such as occurred with the Landmark Center, which is going for around $7 million after having a 2012 price of $14.6 million.

Brister said a number of states are saving big dollars by reducing space allocations per worker. Most notably Florida and Illinois, which between them cut leasing expenses by about $50 million annually by moving employees into lease spaces that averaged around 200 square feet per worker.

The federal government is also cutting way back on space per employee, with a current prevailing standard work space average of a little more than 218 rentable square feet per person, Brister noted, The study he led found that federal space allocation could drop to an average of 60 square-feet per worker in the next five years.

Blount, in an interview after the hearing, emphasized that state offices that serve specific counties or populations in a particular county are not among those that would be relocated under his bill.

The legislation is expected to reach the Senate floor in about a week, Blount said.

January 31, 2014

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THE SPIN CYCLE: Pithy PRognostications From A Recovering Journalist the bite-sized candies, whose colorful characters have been featured the past two years in Super Bowl commercials. In recent weeks, Mars has spotlighted its M&M's peanut vaDoritos (PepsiCo's Frito-Lay) riety, but the company hasn't tipped its hand Doritos will be back with two 30-second on the direction. spots chosen through the “Crash the Super Bowl” contest, back for the eighth year in a Oikos (Dannon) Dannon made its Super Bowl debut in row. The twist this year – the contest was open for the first time to entries from all 46 2012 with an Oikos Greek spot featuring countries where the chips are sold. Creators actor John Stamos, but skipped the 2013 of the winning ads will get the chance to game because it wanted time to evaluate the work on the set of “Marvel's The Avengers: long-term viability of the Oikos brand, which Age of Ultron.” launched in mid-2011, as well as the sustainability of the relatively young Greek segment.

GoDaddy Now it's back with plans to reunite Mr. StaGoDaddy will have two 30-second ads, mos with fellow former “Full House” cast one in each half. Expect both spots to feature members Bob Saget and Dave Coulie.

Danica Patrick, the racecar driver and longtime GoDaddy endorser.

Paramount Pictures (Viacom) This 30-second spot will promote “TransH&M formers: Age of Extinction,” the fourth movie H&M’s 30-second spot during the second in Hasbro and Paramount's “Transformers” quarter will feature David Beckham, and will franchise, due out in June. let viewers with certain Samsung smart TVs

Ads take center stage for Super Bowl XLVIII he greatest game of the year is set to kickoff on Super Bowl Sunday.

I’m not talking Denver Broncos vs. Seattle Seahawks. Yes, it’s the biggest sports event of 2014, and everyone across the globe – including The Spin Cycle – will be dialed-in to see the epic battle between the NFL’s best offense (The Peyton Manning Express) vs. the league’s No. 1 defense (Richard Sherman’s Reputation Wreckers).

That’s all an appetizer to the really big game of the day. Call it the Brand Bowl!

Major companies from across the land are suiting-up, lacing-up and spending a whopping $4 million per 30-second ad spot for Super Bowl XLVIII. It’s a fierce competition between ad shops and their vaunted brands, which have spent, for the better part of a year, all their time out-creating each other in hopes of scoring major consumer gold!

So tune in to Fox on Feb. 2 for the Super Bowl from MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. To keep your pulse on all the action, The Spin Cycle has turned to the master playbook – the AdAge Super Bowl Ad Chart – to give you everything you need to know for the big game!

This year, Scarlett Johansson will pitch the SodaStream home carbonation machines – going head-to-head with the cola companies.

Jaguar is dialing-up Ben Kingsley and two other British villains. Stephen Colbert has gone Wonderful Pistachios for his Super Bowl debut. And David Beckham will throw a deep Hail Mary with H&M’s first Super Bowl shoppable ad.

Squarespace, a web design company, has entered the game this year for the first time.

Audi, Axe, Chobani and TurboTax are in; ETrade is out for the first time in years. So we will certainly miss snarky kids with higherthan-adult IQs giving us investment advice.

Chobani, whose minute-long ad will depict a nature-loving bear in a supermarket, won't be the only Greek yogurt brand in the big game. Dannon's Oikos is returning to the Super Bowl, after sitting out 2013, with plans to reunite the men of “Full House:” John Stamos, Bob Saget and Dave Coulie.

Here’s a rundown of the top Super Bowl ad contenders:

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Anheuser-Busch InBev The famous brewer’s crucial and expensive Super Bowl plans this year comprise three ads for Bud Light and two for Budweiser.

The five ads will run a total of three and a half minutes, one minute less than the brewer bought in the past two Super Bowls. They include two celebrity-filled Bud Light ads, a 60-second spot and a 30-second spot, which will introduce a tagline, “The Perfect Beer for Whatever Happens,” ending the four-yearrun of “Here We Go.” Teaser ads on TV and online promised appearances by Arnold

Schwarzenegger, Don Cheadle and comedian/musician Reggie Watts. Another 30second Bud Light spot in the game's first ad slot will promote a new aluminum bottle.

One Budweiser ad will Todd Smith bring back the Clydesdale trainer from last year's well-received “Brotherhood” commercial and spotlight a bond between a Clydesdale and a puppy. The other Budweiser spot will pay tribute to soldiers returning from Afghanistan.

Audi of America There will be one 60-second commercial in the first ad break after the third quarter kick-off to promote the new Audi A3 Axe Axe will feature a 30-second depicting a series of soldiers and tyrants turning toward love. Last year the company used its Super Bowl ad to introduce the Apollo product line and a global contest to send 25 fans into space, or at least the very edge of space, aboard private commercial carrier Space Exploration Corp. The contest drew more than a million male and female entrants, according to Unilever.

use their remote controls to engage with the commercial and buy products from Mr. PepsiCo Beverage Pepsi will feature two 30-second ads in adBeckham's Bodywear line, using tech from dition to its sponsorship of this year's halfDelivery Agent. time show for the second year in a row. Pepsi is emphasizing multiple brands in spots H.J. Heinz Co. Heinz, for only the second time in Super around its NFL sponsorship this year, with Bowl history, will take to the field, and will new ads featuring each of Pepsi's varieties -tap into nostalgia and the belief that when Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Pepsi Max, Pepsi Next. someone picks up a bottle of Heinz Ketchup, they're triggering all the happy memories Toyota (Toyota) Toyota will feature one 60-second spot they've experienced over the years. promoting the Toyota Highlander. For the Hyundai Motor America prior Super Bowl, the automaker bought two Hyundai will have two ads, and the creative 30-second slots, then combined them into a is not yet known. Last year it offered “Team,” comedic 60-second ad starring Kaley Cuoco about a kid gathering a team to take on some from “The Big Bang Theory” as a “RAV4 bigger kids, and “Stuck,” about using turbo to Genie” who grants wishes for a family. escape unsavory other drivers.

Butterfinger This thirty-second spot in the second half will promote the new Butterfinger Peanut Butter Cups, a line extension meant to go head-to-head with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups from Hershey. This ad ditches longtime Butterfinger mascot Bart Simpson, for something much more broad while keeping the Intuit Intuit – which makes financial and tax brand’s clever irreverent personality. prep software such as Quicken and TurboTax – will boast a 30-second spot in the third Cheerios Expect a clever family-oriented spot that quarter announcing the winner of a contest will resonate with the audience and score for small businesses. The four finalists were Poop Natural Dairy Compost, dog treat with consumers. maker Barley Labs, egg company Locally Laid Chevrolet and Beastie Boys antagonist GoldieBlox.

Chevy (GM) – which sat on the sidelines in 2013 – will sport two 60-second ads, to Jaguar Jaguar pounces into the game with its firstspotlight the company’s new cars and trucks. ever Super Bowl ad. This 60-second spot in the third quarter, for this venerable British Chobani Chobani cranked it up this year to a 60- brand, will promote the new F-Type, starring second ad in the third quarter. This ad, called British actors Ben Kingsley, Tom Hiddleston “Ransacked,” will show a bear in a supermar- and Mark Strong as a trio of British villains. ket in a move to depict how hard it is to find “real, natural food.” The spot will unveil the Kia Kia is making its fifth consecutive Super brand's new platform, “How Matters,” which is meant to describe the company's mantra of Bowl outing to help introduce its new K900 making “nutritious, delicious foods with only flagship sedan in the United. States. Spots in natural ingredients accessible to everyone.” the last Super Bowl focused on “space babies” and “hotbots.”

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola has ads expected to feature M&M's (Mars) Mars debated between featuring Snickers roller skaters and tap dancers to celebrate or M&M's this year, and decided to go with American society.

No Golden Mic | Richard Sherman, Seattle Seahawks Cornerback It was definitely not a super moment for Richard Sherman, and the rant heard around the world. This rambling, heated, post-game interview took all the shine and luster off a win that landed the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl. Sherman – an intelligent Stanford graduate – should have been smart enough to refrain from the bombast he hurled at San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree following the Seahawks' thrilling 2317 victory to advance to the Super Bowl. As a result, he spent the better part of a week apologizing for the serious misstep instead of focusing on the Super Bowl. In the end he may hoist the shiny Lombardi Trophy, but there’s no place for a Golden Mic on his shelf.

Todd Smith is president and chief communications officer of Deane, Smith & Partners, a fullservice 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.

26 I Mississippi Business Journal I January 31 2014 ENERGY

Keeping the lights on in polar vortex cold temps

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ast week (Jan. 24) TVA met a record breaking winter demand for electricity generating 33,345 megawatts as temperatures across the sevenstate Tennessee Valley averaged 7 degrees F. This is TVA’s highest demand for electricity since the summer of 2007 (TVA records summer and winter peaks) and the third highest demand for electricity in the TVA’s 81-year history.

Thanks to talented, dedicated men and women at TVA, 155 local power companies, large industrial customers and citizen’s conservation efforts, another record demand for electricity was met.

TVA generated 29 percent of its electricity from coal-fired plants, 24 percent natural gas, 21 percent nuclear, 12 percent hydro and 2 percent wind generation while purchasing 12 percent from the power market to meet record demand.

Looking ahead TVA’s 20 year Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) calling for 40 percent nuclear, 20 percent coal, 20 percent natural

ROADS/BRIDGES

gas and 20 percent hydro/renewable energy generation mix is a sound strategy to meet the energy, environmental and economic growth needs of over 9 million people in the Tennessee Valley.

Today’s digital way of life is powered by electricity so skilled professionals working 24-7, a diverse, strong generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure and cooperation between power companies, industry, business and residents is required to keep the lights on.

As polar vortex temperatures freeze North America, there is a hot debate in Washington as states challenge the EPA’s recent rule to reduce carbon emissions from coal plants.

European Union countries are at odds on how to reduce carbon emissions, what wind and solar generation mandates should be and how generate affordable, reliable electricity to stem manufacturing job losses.

Japan is debating how to re-start much needed nuclear reactors while implementing plans to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the shale-gas rich U.S..

Continued from Page 2

China with 20 nuclear reactors operating today has 28 advanced nuclear reactors under construction (U.S. has 5), is the world’s largest coal consumer ( and largest CO2 emitter) and is aggressively exMcCullough panding solar and hydro generation.

India is slowly evolving its energy policy to address subsidies that are not efficient, add advanced nuclear and diversify resources to address 1.2 billion Indians demand for energy, a cleaner environment and economic growth.

While the energy, environment, economy debate rages on our good planet earth, Mississippi is a leader in clean coal technology implementation (see Kemper county plant), nuclear generation (see Grand Gulf nuclear station), enhanced oil recovery adding 2 million barrels oil/year, biomass energy, natural gas pipelines, solar technologies and reward-

Highlights of Task Force’s Report

While no hard answers came from the Senate task force and bridges are defective, it impacts the state’s whole transportation system. charged with finding a solution to the inadequate funding of Others echoed Leggett’s take on the merits of the task road and bridge maintenance in Mississippi, the group did force’s work. identify and quantify the issue. Some of the key findings and Mike Pepper, who leads the Mississippi Road Builders recommendations included: Association in Jackson, said, “I have heard both parties, Republican and Democrat, have this issue as one of their 2014 » The state’s need to maintain its transportation Legislative session priorities — to fund roads and bridges. infrastructure outstrips current resources, and the current “Even though we have heard a few of the legislative leadmotor fuel tax is inadequate. ers stance on raising the fuel user fee, no other options outside of raising the user fee have been suggested yet. That is » As of June 2013, 25 percent of the state’s 20,000 lanewhere I hope other options will start being discussed miles of highway were in “very poor condition.” By 2035, 50 among legislative leaders. percent of the state’s roads and bridges “will be in very poor “Facts remain such as the 1987 funding mechanism is or failed condition at the current funding levels.” outdated, construction cost have increased dramatically during that time period, plus with more fuel efficient » The Mississippi Department of Transportation can only and alternative fueled vehicles the fuel user fee colleccommit $150 million for repairs while the agency says $400 tions are declining.” million is needed.

One group lobbying for more money is the T1 Coalition, » The proposed Joint Committee on Highway, Bridge and led by former legislator Charlie Williams, and Williams said they have crafted a three-year short-term plan for raisLocal Road Assistance Funding should consider the “feasibility ing funds. The coalition’s plan also lacks definitive funding and desirability of using state general obligation bonds” for sources, though Williams said that could come from new road and bridge repair.

Internet sales tax or BP settlement money. User fees also are a possibility but there is “not much appetite” for that as » The committee also should study and recommend officials begin readying for the 2015 election year, he added. funding solutions “that will ensure the safe transportation of Williams said the three-year plan would ensure that the Mississippi’s citizens and visitors and will foster economic state’s roads and bridges do not fall into total disrepair bedevelopment of the state.” tween now and 2016, and gives lawmakers time to draft “more substantive and permanent” funding solutions.

Past the three years, the T1 Coalition is recommending a 10-year program for more permanent solutions.

Williams said the task force began momentum toward costs, but also public safety, according to Pepper. answers, and he feels “pretty good” that at least a gap meas“The big question is what is the ‘cost of waiting,’ because ure will be enacted this year. over time our road and bridge problems will just compound Timing is certainly crucial in not only the area of future in severity,” he said.

CASINOS

ing careers in energy.

The Electric Power Research Institute PRISM/Merge analyses show that affordable, reliable energy, reduced harmful emissions including carbon dioxide for a cleaner environment and economic growth can be achieved through innovative diverse advanced generation technologies, energy efficiency, electric transportation and smart grid.

The key is a balance in the sometimes competing demands for energy, a cleaner environment for the next generation and more and better jobs today and tomorrow.

The good news is that leaders in Mississippi are on the right track to achieve the energy, environmental and economic development balance that will enhance our future quality of life.

Glenn McCullough Jr. is the former chairman of the Tennessee Valley Authority and a past mayor of Tupelo. He is chairman of Advance Mississippi, a coalition advocating for sound energy policies that will benefit consumers, the environment and economy.

Continued from Page 10

see any new investors in that area.”

Meanwhile, the Gulf Coast, which was once a step-child to the prolific gaming market in Tunica, is poised to pass the river casinos in revenue. Until recent years, it was normal for the river casinos to post revenue numbers that were $200 million to $400 million more than the Gulf Coast. In 2013, that margin shrunk to less than $8 million. The Gulf Coast’s total for 2013 was $1.064 billion.

Coast casinos outperformed Tunica casinos in each of the last six months of 2013. Previously, that had happened in only six other months total since 1995. “The Lower River Region (south of Greenville) and he Coast area are seeing a lot of capital expenditures to their properties, and that speaks highly for those areas that people are willing to do that.”

“Two areas of the state are responding differently,” said Gregory. “Confidence on the Coast is going to continue to grow. Just look at the investments this past year: The Golden Nugget spent $100 million in renovations, the Island View is spending $60 million to rebuild the older hotel tower, Hard Rock is opening its new hotel next week, The Silver Slipper is adding a hotel, IP is investing in its property, the Hollywood in Bay St. Louis is adding a new Lazy River, and the Beau Rivage is adding a baseball stadium that can be used for other events.

“And their shareholders and investors expect a return on these investments, so this tells me that the Gulf Coast is doing okay. Certainly, they could be better, but they’re maintaining their product. They’re going to have to maintain their product because people are not coming just to sit in front of a slot machine. They are wanting a lot more for their entertainment dollars.”

But the Coast is not immune from competition. Casino gaming expansion is expected to be a hot topic among Florida legislators when they meet beginning March 4.

“There’s no telling how that will end up,” said Godfrey.

“But if they do expand it, we will feel the impact. Just like we feel the impact from the Poarch casinos in Alabama and the casino in West Memphis.”

January 31, 2014

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» MISSISSIPPI LEADERS by Martin Willoughby

Heart of the matter Skinner seizes opportunity

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ne of my favorite concepts from bestselling business author Jim Collins is to “confront the brutal facts.” Collins explains how great leaders are not afraid to face the facts and deal with them head on.

With that in mind, I note a few brutal facts about cardiovascular disease in the state of Mississippi. It is not a surprise that it is the leading cause of death in the state, accounting for over a third of all deaths.

Mississippi lies in the center of the “Stroke Belt,” which is an 11 state region of the United States where studies show that the risk of stroke is 34 percent higher for the general population than other areas of the country. For visual people (which I am), there are some disturbing graphs on the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) website that really illustrate this problem. For most of us, these aren’t just statistics. We can personally relate to the impact of cardiovascular disease through our family, friends, or even ourselves.

I share this disturbing information as a backdrop to my leadership interview this week with Dr. Robert Skinner. Skinner is a native of Olive Branch and graduated from Mississippi College and Kansas City University of Medicine. After earning his doctorate of osteopathic medicine, Skinner completed his residency in Tupelo before

Up Close With ... Dr. Robert Skinner Title: Partner, Family Medical Clinic of North Mississippi; founder & chief medical officer, Heart Attack & Stroke Prevention Center Favorite Books: 4 Hour Workweek (Tim Ferris); Bible First Job: “I worked at Hamilton Pharmacy in high school.“ Proudest Moment as a Leader: “I was very proud of our team when we opened the Heart Attack & Stroke Prevention Center, and I was very excited that my brother decided to join me in this venture. “ Hobbies/Interests: Reading, family time and travel

opening his practice in 2003 in Southaven.

As he began practicing medicine, he was disturbed by the alarming prevalence of heart attacks and strokes in the state. He shared, “As I reflected on this problem, I felt like we were losing the battle against cardiovascular disease.”

Driven by a passion to change the CDC map of Mississippi, he began to explore what else could be done to prevent these problems. He modeled his approach to preventive care off of the leading cardiovascular thinkers in the country. The challenge was a lot of the preventive care was cost prohibitive for the average patient. Undeterred, Skinner went out and negotiated fee structures with service providers to allow him to

bring the leading edge diagnostic resources to his patients. Skinner soon realized that it would be best to provide these enhanced cardiovascular prevention services through a separate entity, so in 2012, he opened the Heart Attack & Stroke Prevention Center in Southaven.

While his practice was already booming because of his relationship and trust he had built with his patients, he quickly realized that his new center presented a bigger opportunity.

Skinner determined that he could replicate his leading edge prevention program and positively impact more people. As a busy practitioner and family man, Skinner knew he needed help so he called upon his

“I have always focused on the patient experience.”

Dr. Robert Skinner Heart Attack & Stroke Prevention Center

brother, Ray. Ray had a successful banking career in Atlanta, but he too saw the vision of how the Prevention Centers could make a difference in a bigger way. Ray agreed to transition Martin Willoughby his career and join his brother to become CEO of the Prevention Center and lead its expansion. Together, the brothers are expanding this concept and partnering with other physicians to bring this innovative program to the marketplace.

Building a medical practice from scratch is no easy task, nor his launching a new healthcare business venture. Therefore, I probed to learn more about how Skinner had achieved his success. Skinner noted, “I have always been focused on the patient experience. For example, I don’t want patients to have to wait long when they come see me.” Thinking about patient wait times is a great example of Skinner’s attention to detail that has served him well. He likes to understand all aspects of his business so he can be an effective manager.

While his “hands on” approach requires more investment of time, it has paid off as he has built the foundation for growing a very successful venture.

I appreciate Dr. Skinner’s passion for tackling this major issue in our state, and I look forward to watching as his innovative preventive approach helps patients around the state improve their lives.

Martin Willoughby is a business consultant and regular contributing columnist for the Mississippi Business Journal. He serves as Chief Operating Officer of Butler Snow Advisory Services, LLC and can be reached at martin.willoughby@ butlersnow.com.

Jeeves and Bertie spring back to life with humor in tact

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» Jeeves and the Wedding Bells: An Homage to P.G. Wodehouse

By Sebastian Faulks Published by St. Martin's Press $25.99 hardback

ans of Wodehouse's bumbling Bertie Wooster and his unflappable valet Jeeves will relish this homage to the author and these comic English characters. Although Wodehouse died in 1975, Faulks has brought Bertie and Jeeves back to life in a romping good imitation.

Wodehouse purists may grumble and grouse that the new book sullies the memory of this master of comic farce, but Faulks knows he isn't Wodehouse and doesn't try to be. As the title suggests, it's written as an homage to the late great author who during his 93 years wrote many novels. It's a funny book in the dry wit method of Wodehouse.

For those who enjoy the erudite English humor — or should it be humour? — here's a fabulous quote from Faulks' book.

“The Red Lion was a four-ale bar with a handful of low-browed

sons of toil who looked as though they might be related to one another in ways frowned on by the Old Testament.”

Bertie was describing a village inn in Dorsetshire. I think we get the picture.

Here's another example: “I sprang from the armchair like a roosting waterfowl at the sound of a shotgun being closed.”

That's Bertie reacting to the entrance into the room of a beautiful young woman.

Of course the usual silly plot is involved and this one revolves around a weekend at a country house (oh how the English love those) where young hearts are trying to come together and something has to be stolen to make that happen. However, the repartee between Bertie and Jeeves is the glue that holds it all together and makes it snap, crackle and pop.

Faulks has a thoroughly English pedigree and several books to his credit. He was critically praised in 2008 for writing a James Bond novel, Devil May Care, as the chosen writer by the Fleming family to continue Sir Ian Fleming's famous character.

Whether or not he will again be so critically lauded remains to be seen. But at the least, he's brought us another tale of two loveable characters and provided a fun read.

“Wodehouse purists may grumble and grouse...”

— Lynn Lofton, mbj@msbusiness.com

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