MBJ_Jul28_2017

INSIDE — Glut forces Cal-Maine into loss for quarter, year — Page 3

www.msbusiness.com

July ŦŬ, 2017 • Vo. 39. No. 30 • 20 pages

ENERGY

Encyclopedia of Mississippi: it’s about all of us — Page 2 Solar panels are a growing alternative source of electricity

MBJ FOCUS

EDUCATION & TRAINING {Section begins P13}

» Changes will prevent junior colleges from hiring staffs, and students from affording tuition » Oh, those yearly work reviews

{The List P15} » Colleges & Universities

» Networking leads to Walmart deal for Oxford businesswoman

{P4}

FILE/MBJ

Stion adds workers to Hattiesburg solar plant

By JACK WEATHERLY jack.weatherly@msbusiness.com Stion Corp.’s employment has risen to 150 at its Hattiesburg plant where it produces solar panels.

The company has agreed to create 500 jobs by the end of 2022, according to an amended memorandum of understanding with the state, city and Forrest County.

Stion started operations in 2012 after negotiating a $75 million, low-interest loan with the state and getting the city and county to agree to a fee in lieu of taxes.

Vice President Frank Yang said Tuesday that the manufacturer has added about 40

jobs in the past year.

The company, whose headquarters are in San Jose, Calif., announced the receipt of a $956,630 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy’s SunShot Initiative Program.

Using the grant, the company will work in conjunction with Colorado State University to “increase module efficiency” and lower costs for customers, according to a July 21 release.

A July 19 release announced that the company was seeking to fill five new positions in Hattiesburg, three of which were for engineers, the other two for technicians.

That release states that “many manufacturers have cut back production due to financial

concerns, and the U.S. market now has only three producers which are continuing normal operations – First Solar, Stion and Tesla’s under construction plant in Buffalo, N.Y.” Seraphim Solar USA, whose parent is based in China, is in production in Jackson.

In June, it announced that it is seeking to double its work force of about 30.

U.S. manufacturers have had to fight China’s dumping of lower-cost panels and modules on the domestic market.

President Donald Trump is weighing whether to impose tariffs on Chinese solar products, which would make the imports more expensive, and address concerns by U.S. manufacturers.

http://msbusiness.com/ceo-awards-of-mississippi/

2 Q Mississippi Business Journal Q July 28, 2017 REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK

Encyclopedia of Mississippi: it’s about all of us

B

efore the Internet, I was notorious at my house for interrupting a family discussion at the dinner table to check something in the encyclope-

dia.

Our kids would groan: “Oh no, not the encyclopedia.”

It was an occupational hazard from working for years on news desks.

No longer. We’ve got the World Wide Web. But not everything is on the web.

If you don’t believe it, pick up – and it may take both hands – The Mississippi Encyclopedia.

The 1,451-page, nine-pound tome contains more than 1,400 entries – many of which you won’t find anywhere else.

After all, there is so much there here.

Choose your poison.

For me, a fifth-generation Mississippi native on both sides of my family, there is the personal, for starters.

Mike Conner, the governor who established the state sales tax in the depths of the Great Depression because the state was broke and public schools had lost accreditation is a distant cousin. At the end of his one term, the state had a surplus.

A timely bit of history that could stand as a guidepost for those in power today.

Conner’s paternal grandparents were from Attala County, one of the 82 counties in the book, and my birthplace.

Another touchstone: the Natchez Trace, part of which crossed my maternal grandparents’ land in south Attala. We knew it as the Sand Ditch, whose steep sides were at least six feet tall, having its start as wagon ruts.

Of course, the trace, whose name has been lent to the Natchez Trace Parkway, dates to “prehistory.”

Whose prehistory? Not the Choctaws’ and not the Chickasaws’, who were here hundreds of years before the Europeans.

Those tribes have not been left out of the encyclopedia. A number of chiefs are listed.

Hence the “inclusiveness” of the book, a word used three times in the preface, in case you miss the point as you thumb through the pages.

My hands touched every one of them, and many touched me to some degree.

That’s the difference between encyclopedic and inclusive, as we’ve come to know the latter.

The volume has been touted as a celebration of the state’s 200th birthday this year.

That’s marketing.

Craig Gill, director of the University

Press of Mississippi, the publisher, said in a recent interview on Mississippi Public Broadcasting that the effort was started 14 years ago, with no date-certain goal. The Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi is co-publisher.

Ted Ownby and Charles Reagan Wilson were the senior editors. Associate editors were Ann J. Abadie, Odie Lindsey and James G. Thomas Jr., all of whom rode herd on more than 600 contributors.

With a herd that big, there’s bound to be a couple of strays.

For example, what architectural style comes to mind when you hear the word “Mississippi.” If not a shotgun house, it’s got to be Greek Revival.

And the high style is in the book, but less than a half page of it. Maybe that’s sufficient. But the entry on Art Deco is about the same length. Art Deco’s heyday coincided with the Great Depression, hardly a match for antebellum Mississippi, with all its glory and inhuman treatment of slaves.

In there is Charles Banks (1873-1923), one of the leaders in Mound Bayou, founded as an all-black city in the Delta – with professionals, a post office, restaurants, newspaper and all amenities – and a bank started by Banks, who came to know and associate with Booker T. Washington, the famed African-American scientist

and educator.

The Blues entry was penned by Scott Barretta, the journalist, scholar and radio show host. There are individual entries for musicians, whether blues or country or that relative newcomer rock ‘n’ roll. (Suggestion for second edition of the book: refer reciprocally between related topics, e.g., Blues and Charley Patton, one of the founders of the genre.)

The Boll Weevil, which once upon a time threatened to end the Kingdom of Cotton, is in there as pest and character, inspiring the lyrics of Patton, among others.

Same for catfish – critter, character and industry.

Jerry “If I’m Lyin’ I’m Dyin’” Clower, the fertilizer salesman and comic raconteur, draws an entry, just as he drew listeners, first in the feed store and then at rodeos and evenually record albums.

I’m guessing that if William Faulkner had lived long enough, he would’ve been amused by Clower, even though the famed fictioneer spent much of his time on a much higher plane.

Mississippi is just that kind of a place.

“Magic” is the word that my friend Paul Greenberg – Louisiana native and longtime resident of Arkansas, where he won a Pulitzer for editorial writing, and should’ve won another – wistfully applies

to it.

As I’ve suggested, balance is a challenge for a book with 1,400 Jack Weatherly entries.

The Flood of 1927 gets less than two pages of text.

There is space for “family reunions,” which is way beyond even a generic entry.

But there is none for “homecomings,” a staple of country churches.

First Monday Trade Days in Ripley?

C’mon.

The burial place of Lt. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, CSA ret., in Memphis is reported correctly as beneath a “colossal equestrian statue of himself,” but it is not in Forrest Park. The green space was renamed Health Sciences Park several years ago, and odds are it won’t be the final resting spot for Forrest and his wife. The Tennessean’s connection to Mississippi?

Brice’s Crossroads.

U.S. Grant! All right as long as he’s seen as a force of nature, like Hurricane Katrina, who’s in there, too.

Grits. Um, too non-Mississippi-centric for my taste.

Chokwe Lumumba (Edwin Finley Taliaferro), father of the current mayor of Jackson. An interesting and timely read.

Bill Minor, the longtime, muckraking journalist.

Jerry Mitchell, a Clarion-Ledger veteran who proves that you can get rich writing for a newspaper. How? Just win the MacArthur Foundation “genius grant,” $500,000. Also, win a slew of other prizes for shedding light on civil rights-era unsolved murders.

“O Brother, Where Art Thou?” the Coen brothers’ masterpiece that, of course, is set in a fictional Mississippi.

Why an entry? A fictional treatment of the Civil War, “Gone With the Wind” (film and book version), is featured on the splashy, online New Georgia Encyclopedia. Maybe that’s a precedent. And maybe a digital version of the Mississippi compendium should be something to consider for the future.

Can you name the official soil of Mississippi? Seriously. It’s Natchez silt loam.

And on and on.

Meantime, I now have a book that’s liable to give me reason to jump up from the table and say, “Let me look that up!”

» Contact Mississippi Business Journal staff writer Jack Weatherly at jack.weatherly@msbusiness.com or (601) 364-1016.

July 28, 2017

Q

Mississippi Business Journal

Q

3

AGRIBUSINESS

Glut forces Cal-Maine into loss for quarter, year

By JACK WEATHERLY jack.weatherly@msbusiness.com

Slammed by a market glut, Cal-Maine Foods Inc. on Monday reported a net loss of $24.5 million, or 51 cents per share, for the fourth fiscal quarter ending June 3, compared with a net loss of $376,000, or a penny a share, a year earlier.

In the 53-week fiscal year the company had a net loss of $74.3 million, or $1.54 per share, in contrast with a net income of $316 million, or $6.56 per share, for the fiscal 2016.

“Our results for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2017 reflect the volatile and challenging egg market fundamentals that have prevailed throughout this fiscal year,” Dolph Baker, chairman, president and chief executive officer, said in a news release Monday morning.

The company’s stock fell $2.25, or 6 percent, to close at $34.85 on the NasdaqGS stock market on Monday, down 16 percent since the beginning of the year, according to MarketWatch. The 52-week range is $33.40 to $46.47.

After the 2015 avian flu outbreak, producers replaced flocks with younger, more productive chickens, and consumer demand has not kept pace with these production levels — creating a glut.

Also, “institutional egg customers” re-configured their products to use fewer eggs during the height of the avian flu outbreak and price spikes, according to the company.

“Our average customer selling prices for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2017 were down 15.5 percent from the same period a year ago. For fiscal 2017, average customer selling prices were down 42 percent compared with fiscal 2016,” Baker said.

Institutional customers have not returned to their previous usage levels, even though prices have dropped.

“We do not expect to see any meaningful improvement until there is a better balance of supply and demand,” Baker said. “However, we are encouraged by recent USDA reports indicating the chick hatch has been trending down for the last 10 out of 11 months, suggesting there may be a moderation in the size of the laying hen flock as we move forward.”

For the year, specialty eggs accounted for 43.6 percent of total shell egg revenues, compared with 29.1 percent last year, even though specialty egg prices were down 12.4 percent compared with fiscal 2016 prices. according to the company.

“Our specialty egg business has contin-

ued to be a primary focus of our growth strategy. We have made significant investments across our operations to meet anticipated demand for cage-free eggs, as food service providers, national restaurant chains and major retailers, including our largest customers, have stated objectives

to exclusively offer cage-free eggs by future specified dates,” Baker said.

“In addition to cage-free eggs, our product mix provides a wide variety of healthy choices for consumers including conventional, nutritionally enhanced and organic eggs.”

Cal-Maine is the largest producer and marketer of shell eggs in the United States. In fiscal 2017, it sold approximately 1,031 million dozen shell eggs, approximately 2 percent of domestic shell egg consumption.

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4 Q Mississippi Business Journal Q July 28, 2017 SMALL BUSINESS

Networking leads to Walmart deal for Oxford businesswoman

By LISA MONTI mbj@msbusiness.com

Oxford businesswoman Karen Kurr took her Southern-style frozen casseroles up to Bentonville, Ark., and landed a deal in her first meeting with Walmart. Starting in the fall of 2018, Kurr’s No Time 2 Cook family-size meals will be introduced in the frozen food aisles of 250 Walmarts throughout the Deep South.

Kurr’s winning combination of fresh ingredients and snappy packaging helped her strike retail gold in Bentonville, but it all began with some productive networking back home.

Kurr took part in the Big Bad Business Series, a 9-month entrepreneurial initiative presented by the Oxford-Lafayette County Economic Development Foundation in partnership with the Yoknapatawpha Arts Council. Her son, Allen Kurr, is vice president of economic development for the foundation.

Early in the series, she networked alongside other entrepreneurs to find helpful contacts and resources. She soon hit pay dirt.

“I made a connection with someone who works closely with Walmart and he connected me with a consulting group in

Courtesy of No Time 2 Cook/Special to the MBJ

Karen Kurr took her frozen casseroles to Bentonville, Ark., and struck a deal.

Bentonville,” Kurr said. “We traveled to Arkansas for a meeting which resulted in a partnership with the group.”

The new sales representative, a former Walmart buyer, “got so excited about our company, product and packaging that she took us immediately under her wing,” Kurr said.

GOOD NEWS IS WORTH REPEATING! Digital Reprint Article or list will be reformatted with Mississippi Business Journal

She recommended Kurr apply for the annual open call event held in June.

The highly competitive process is part of Walmart’s commitment to sell products made in the U.S. After filling out a lengthy online application, Kurr received the invitation to go to Bentonville to pitch her products.

Armed with advice from her sales representative and carrying piping hot casseroles, Kurr was well prepared for her meeting. She even arrived two days early to make sure everything was right. “The appointment was scheduled for half an hour but the buyer spent an hour with us,” Our sales rep said that’s unheard of. The buyer gave us a deal right on the spot.”

Out of about 500 companies at the open call, only about 100 got a deal that day.

“We hit it out of the park,” Kurr said.

“And it all started with networking I was

able to do through the Oxford/Lafayette business series.”

At the Walmart meeting, she served eight family-size casseroles including best-seller chicken and dumplings. Beyond the food, the buyer “fell in love with the sustainable packaging and labeling,” Kurr said. A year ago, Mabus Agency of Tupelo rebranded her product line and created the new labels that focus on the whole food ingredients used in Kurr’s recipes.

And those recipes haven’t changed much since Kurr pulled them out of her recipe box to make meals she sold first at farmers markets. “We use real dairy and whole meat chicken, no MSG or hydrogenated oils, and we buy local when we can,. All of our chicken is purchased from a small chicken plant in Mississippi” she said. “We’ve stayed true to our recipes using high quality ingredients all through the years.”

It’s been a heady ride since Kurr turned her hobby into a business 12 years ago. Seven years ago she moved the operation from her home commercial kitchen to a small USDA-inspected food plant with a part time, all-female staff.

About three years ago, her frozen products hit the freezer shelves of Kroger stores.

Today No Time 2 Cook can be found in 250 Krogers throughout Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, and west Tennessee.

To fulfill the increased demand, Kurr is considering hiring more people and adding equipment or working with a co-packer to make and package the products for Walmart.

“We have the ability to produce about 1,000 units a day. We could double that by adding another shift and extending the workday,” she said. “We’re deciding what’s best for us.”

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RENASANT REPORTS RECORD QUARTERLY INCOME

By JACK WEATHERLY jack.weatherly@msbusiness.com Renasant Corp. has reported record quarterly net income $25.3 million, up 10.4 percent from $22.9 million a year earlier. Earnings per share were 57 cents, compared with 54 cents for the second quarter of 2016.

Renasant announced in January that it was buying Metropolitan BancGroup for $190 million in stock.

The Tupelo-based bank said that acquiring Metropolitan’s $1.2 billion in assets would boost its market share, making it the fifth-largest bank in the metro areas of Memphis, Tenn., and Jackson, Miss.

The acquisition was completed on July 1 and is not reflected in the second-quarter report.

“Our earnings were driven by expanding net interest margin, strong fee income, improving credit quality metrics and continued focus on overall expenses. As our earnings grew, our profitability metrics continued to improve as our returns on average tangible assets and average tangible equity, excluding nonrecurring items, were 1.38% and 14.84%, respectively,” said Renasant Chairman and Chief Executive Officer E. Robinson McGraw.

Net interest income for the quarter was $79.6 million, compared with $77.2 million, the bank reported.

Noninterest income for the quarter was $34.3 million, compared with $35.6 million a year earlier.

Assets stood at $8.8 billion, contrasted with $8.5 billion at the end of second quarter 2016.

June 2017

July 28, 2017

Q

Mississippi Mississippi Business Journal6.1Q U.S.

4.5

DeSoto 4.7

5 Tunica 6.4

MISSISSIPPI’S JUNE UNEMPLOYMENT FIGURES

Tate 6.2

May ‘17 1,296,800 69,100 5.3 1,227,700

June ‘16 1,292,200 87,700 6.8 1,204,500

‘16 Avg. 1,280,500 74,700 5.8 1,205,800

Yalobusha 6.7

June ‘17 161,337,000 7,250,000 4.5 154,086,000

STATE OF MISSISSIPPI Unemployment Insurance Data •• Initial UI Claims Continued Claims BeneďŹ ts Paid Weeks Paid First Payments Final Payments Average Weekly BeneďŹ t

May ‘17 159,979,000 6,572,000 4.1 153,407,000

June 2017 7,934 55,563 $7,885,461 40,113 3,921 613 $196.58

June ‘16 160,135,000 8,144,000 5.1 151,990,000

May 2017 9,474 45,977 $6,586,533 32,716 2,241 759 $201.32

‘16 Avg. 159,187,000 7,751,000 4.9 151,436,000

June 2016 8,690 68,913 $8,999,837 45,625 4,084 696 $197.26

Calhoun 5.2

Leflore 8.8

Carroll 7.0

Montgomery 6.1

Holmes 10.4

Moving Avg.** 159,796,000 7,442,000 4.7 152,353,000

Yazoo 7.3

Issaquena 12.2

Lowndes 6.6

Oktibbeha 7.1

Choctaw 5.6

Noxubee 8.7

Winston 6.9

Attala 6.7

Sharkey 8.1

Monroe 6.0

Clay 8.0

Webster 6.4

Washington 8.7

Leake 6.3

Neshoba 5.7

Scott 4.8

Newton 6.4

Kemper 9.6

Madison 4.7 Warren 6.6 Rankin 4.3

Hinds 5.9

Claiborne 11.6

Copiah 6.6

Adams 8.7

Franklin 8.1

Wilkinson 10.2

Lincoln 6.2

Amite 7.7

Pike 7.3

Covington Jones 5.7 6.2

Marion 6.4

Unemployment Rates

— Mississippi Department of Employment Security6.7 - 10.2 10.3 - 16.7

6.7 - 10.2 10.3 - 16.7

Lamar 4.6

Clarke 7.1

Wayne 7.5

Lawrence Jeff Davis 7.5 8.8

Walthall 8.1

Lauderdale 6.5

Jasper 7.8

Smith 5.7

Simpson 5.6

Jefferson 16.7

** Average for most recent twelve months, including current month Rates •• Unemployment Insurance amounts presented in this section only represent regular UI benefits, federal program amounts areUnemployment not included.

4.3 - 4.8 4.3 - 4.8 Labor force amounts are produced in cooperation with the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

4.9 - 6.6 4.9 - 6.6 Note: Unless indicated state and county data presented are not seasonally adjusted.

Forrest 5.9

Pearl River 6.3

Hancock 6.2

Perry 7.3

Stone 7.7

Harrison 5.6

Greene 8.8

George 8.2

Jackson 6.5

Source: Labor Market Data Publication Design: Labor Market Information Department, MDES

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Itawamba 5.3

Chickasaw 6.5

Grenada 5.5

Sunflower 9.0

Lee 4.7

Pontotoc 4.7

Bolivar 7.9

Moving Avg.** 1,288,400 69,900 5.4 1,218,500

Lafayette 6.0

Quitman 10.2

Coahoma 9.2

Humphreys 10.8

UNITED STATES Labor Force Data Civilian Labor Force Unemployed Unemployment Rate Employed

Tishomingo 5.7

Union 4.4

Tallahatchie 5.8

June ‘17 1,305,100 79,300 6.1 1,225,800

Alcorn 5.4

Tippah 5.4

Prentiss 5.6

Panola 8.0

Labor force and employment security data STATE OF MISSISSIPPI Labor Force Data Civilian Labor Force Unemployed Unemployment Rate Employed

Benton 7.0

Marshall 6.3

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MBJPERSPECTIVE July 28, 2017 • www.msbusiness.com • Page 6

THE LEGISLATURE

#JUSTSAYIN by Ford Williams

GOP has led charge to expand vices

Website: www.msbusiness.com July 28, 2017 Volume 39, Number 30

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» INSIDE MISSISSIPPI

Casinos may get sports betting on the sly

S

peaking of doofuses, did you see Geoff Pender’s column entitled “Did legislative leadership really fall for sports-betting rope-a-dope?” Or the earlier Mississippi Today story entitled “Lawmakers: Didn’t think law would legalize sports betting?”

Lots of legislators are saying they didn’t know the bill they passed this year to tax fantasy sports betting may open the door for Mississippi casinos to offer and control Las Vegas style sports betting. Gov. Phil Bryant, Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves, and Speaker of the House Philip Gunn are saying that was not the intent of the law.

So who are the doofuses? Legislators and state leaders for not knowing what they were doing? Or us, if we believe there was no skull duggery involved?

Consider this.

In early November, state Commissioner of Revenue Herb Frierson told legislators that sports betting could bring in an additional $88 million to $100 million if legalized and taxed on the state level.

On Nov. 14, Attorney General Jim

Bill Crawford

Hood General joined with attorneys general from West Virginia, Arizona, Louisiana, and Wisconsin to support New Jersey’s Supreme Court appeal that would overturn the federal law that limits sports betting to Nevada, Oregon, Delaware and Montana (though only Nevada and Delaware allow it).

On Nov. 26, the Biloxi Sun-Herald editorial board took the same position as Hood, “The federal government has correctly left it up to the states to decide whether to allow casino gambling. It should do the same for sports betting.”

In February and March of this year, the House (92 to 22) and Senate (46 to 6) passed the fantasy sports tax bill that opened the door to Las Vegas style sports betting. Bryant approved it on March 13.

Biloxi Rep. Scott DeLano told the Sun-Herald on June 27, “We did make modifications to Gaming Control Act that would allow for the Gaming Commission to regulate sports betting if it were ever to be overturned at the federal level.”

See CRAWFORD, Page 7

ears ago, when the casino industry was still relatively new in our state, I ventured into a Mississippi River casino for one of my first times and inserted a spare chip into a slot machine.

When I pulled down on the lever, nothing happened. Confused, I mentioned this to a nice woman playing nearby, who informed me this particular one-armed bandit took $100 chips.

I was flabbergasted. I did not know such a thing existed.

It would be just as productive, I reasoned to the woman, to step outside of the casino and throw $100 bills in the Big Muddy.

She did not agree, but for the most part, I stand by my statement.

On occasions, I have ventured back to casinos during visits to my in-laws’ home in Helena, Arkansas, which is near to several Mississippi casinos.

On those visits, I have played mainly blackjack — with a $25 limit to lose. On most occasions, I have left $25 lighter in the wallet, but on a few special occasions — on one particularly lucky night — I did Bobby Harrison a fairly good job of growing that $25.

And I must confess, I occasionally play in a friendly poker game with a ridiculously low buy-in. Even if I lose all my chips, I literally still spend less than I would have spent on a movie with a coke and popcorn.

So, it is fairly cheap entertainment.

I say this to stress I am no prude on gambling. And while I seldom, if ever, drink alcohol, I am no prude on that either.

So, I am not trying to say it is good or bad, but the Republican super majority in the Mississippi Legislature and in the governor’s office have greatly expanded the vices available to Mississippians.

That is noteworthy because Republicans are considered — and tout themselves — as social conservatives.

And the folks who generally oppose gambling and drinking beer and alcohol normally support Republicans in large numbers in Mississippi.

But since Republicans gained control of both chambers of the Legislature and the Governor’s Mansion in 2012, they have passed a steady stream of legislation to make it easier to get a drink. They have made it easier for city folks to vote to legalize liquor without giving the people in the county a say in whether liquor or beer is sold in a particular county.

They have made it more attractive for beer makers to operate in the state. They have passed a law that allows people to drink outside in certain areas.

And it recently has come to light that during the 2017 session, legislation was quietly passed with nary a word spoken that See HARRISON, Page 7

PERSPECTIVE

July 28, 2017 I Mississippi Business Journal

CRAWFORD

» RICKY NOBILE

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Continued from Page 6

“It could be a game changer that could provide a huge injection of new investment similar to what we saw in the early 1990s (when dockside casinos were first legalized in Mississippi),” DeLano told Mississippi Today in July.

“If the Supreme Court clears the way, I think it would be a grave, grave mistake if we allowed other states to profit from sports betting,” Sen. Sean Tindell of Gulfport told the newspaper. “If we’re behind the 8-ball, it will be to the detriment and probably failure of the casino industry in Mississippi. This could save Mississippi’s casinos.”

“Save Mississippi casinos” is the telltale. Hard to imagine those in power weren’t knowingly acting on behalf of the casinos.

The great irony lost on us doofuses is we voted in 1992 to legalize the lottery, but we never voted to legalize casinos, fantasy sports betting, or even bingo parlors. These, and the pending Las Vegas style sports betting, are all products of our legislators and governors, most of whom say they are opposed to gambling.

The political reality is legislators tend to give casinos what they want, whether straight up or on the sly. Oh, and they don’t want a state lottery.

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

HARRISON

»UNDER THE CAPITOL DOME

Bureacratic backlog a problem

A

Mississippi agency that many people describe as a bureaucratic nightmare is getting a longneeded makeover.

The state Board of Cosmetology recently hired a new executive director who is working to clear up a backlog of licensing problems.

Technology workers have also finished the agency’s conversion to a new computer system to handle licensing applications for people who earn a living helping others look good.

The Board of Cosmetology regulates salons and the people who work there – cosmetologists, whose jobs include cutting and doing chemical processes to hair; manicurists, who do nails; estheticians, who do facials and other skin care; and wigologists, who, as the name suggests, specialize in wig care. The agency also regulates people who teach those skills and schools that provide the courses.

Several legislators say they have been inundated with complaints about slow licensing and horrid customer service from the Board of Cosmetology under two previous executive directors.

“We’ve had problems with them the past several years,” said Republican Sen. Dean Kirby of Pearl, who has oversight of the agency as chairman of the Public Health Committee.

Beauty industry professionals have complained that their applications for new licenses, license renewals or license transfers from other states into Mississippi have sunken into a bureaucratic morass at the Board of Cosmetology.

Lawmakers say many of their constituents’ calls and emails have been ignored by the agency – and calls from even some top lawmakers who are in charge of the state budget were not returned under previous directors.

Republican Sen. Michael Watson of Pascagoula said that starting early this year, he received several complaints from people who were unable to get their licenses, despite passing exams and submitting the proper paperwork. Watson said his calls were often not returned before the most recent director left in May.

“I’m nobody special,” Watson said. “But, when I’m trying to help a Mississippian, I expect you to respond because that’s your job.”

Emily W. Pettus Sharon Clark became the new executive director July 10 after a nearly 30-year career working in finance, marketing and licensing in the private sector and for other state government agencies. She told The Associated Press that with the new computer system now running at the Board of Cosmetology, she and others on staff are steadily working to clear a long list of license applications that have been in limbo.

Some cosmetologists have been working under temporary licenses while the problems are being resolved. Clark said her goal is for the agency to clear the licensing backlog by mid-August.

“We want things to stay on a positive note,” Clark said.

“Whatever has happened in the past – I can’t change that.”

One Mississippian affected by the red tape is 20-year-old Anna Claire Yount of Pascagoula, who completed coursework in May 2016 to become an esthetician. She said she passed her state exams in September and was initially told to expect her license from the Board of Cosmetology in six to eight weeks. That time passed with no sign of her license.

Unable to work in her field, Yount earned money by babysitting. She said the man who was then the Board of Cosmetology’s executive director returned one of her calls and told her that he “would not accept responsibility for all of the craziness” in the licensing delays.

Yount said after several months, she received a temporary license that enabled her to find a salon job. When Clark became the new board director, Yount contacted her for help.

“She emailed me on the 13th with my license,” Yount said.

“She’s been extremely helpful.”

Emily Wagster Pettus covers Capitol matters for the Mississippi Associated Press in Jackson.

Continued from Page 6

would make it possible for Mississippi casinos to offer sports betting pending a U.S. Supreme Court ruling. Now supporters of the sports betting legislation say that was an unintended consequence of legislation designed to legalize another form of gambling – fantasy sports.

Now, I think the supporters of the fantasy sports bill are being truthful when they say they were not focused on sports betting in casinos when they passed the bill during the 2017 session. But by the same token, the same supporters of the legislation say it would be a mistake for Mississippi casinos not to offer sports betting if the U.S Supreme Court strikes down a federal law, as expected, preventing most states from allowing sports betting.

To be fair, it is true that Republicans were in a distinct minority in the Legislature when casino gambling first was approved on the Gulf Coast and along the Mississippi River in the early 1990s.

But in the 2000s, it was Republican Gov. Haley Barbour who led the charge to allow the Gulf Coast casinos to move off the water after the devastation they suffered from Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

And it is Republican Gov. Phil Bryant who now has at least broached the possibility of allowing gambling statewide in the form of a lottery.

As stated earlier, this is not to say the expansion of the so-called vice laws is a good thing or a bad thing. It is just what it is.

For me, I might still spend an evening playing poker.

And I might even walk into a casino with $25 in my pocket.

But there is absolutely no possibility I will expand my thinking enough to put $100 in a slot machine.

Bobby Harrison has been covering Mississippi politics for more than 20 years. Contact him at (601) 946-9931 or bobby.harrison@journalinc.com .

Newsmakers

8 Q Mississippi Business Journal Q July 28, 2017

2 SMSH workers certified

Karl Hess and Dr. Scott Willoughby, employees of South Mississippi State Hospital, were among almost 50 government employees representing numerous Mississippi agencies who recently graduated from the Certified Public Manager program offered by the Mississippi State Personnel Hess Board.

Hess, of Pearl River County, is the Risk Management Director at SMSH. He was initially hired in May 2006 and left briefly in 2012 only to return in 2013.

Willoughby, a native of south Louisiana, has served as the hospital’s Psychologist and Program Willoughby Director since September 2003.

He lives in Hattiesburg.

The two presented a project entitled, “Streamlining the Formal Debriefing Process,” that was awarded model project designation.

MSU Alumni Association leaders

Trace employee honored Lana Lollar, Budget Analyst for the Natchez Trace Parkway, recently received the Department of the Interior’s prestigious Superior Service Award. Lollar received the Award in recognition of the contributions she made to the Department through her service to the National Park Service’s budget Lollar program.

She has been Budget Analyst since 1988, and she frequently assists National Park Service Southeast Regional Office and other parks with year-end budget closeouts.

She helped to account for charges incurred during the Gulf Oil spill response, which enabled the government to recover millions of dollars in costs. She also plans and manages the Parkway’s $11 million budget across five divisions of the Parkway.

Russ Houston / Courtesy of Mississippi State University

Mississippi State University Alumni Association has selected new leaders of the national board of directors for a two-year term for fiscal years 2017-2019. They are, from left: Ronald E. Black of Meridian, immediate former national president; Sherri Carr Bevis of Gulfport, vice president; Brad M. Reeves of Jackson, president; and Jerry L. Toney of Starkville, treasurer. Reeves previously served a two-year term as vice president. Reeves, a partner at the law firm of Randall, Segrest, Weeks, Reeves and Sones PLLC, graduated from MSU in 2002 with a degree in management and construction of land development and later earned a law degree at the University of Mississippi. Bevis earned a communication degree from MSU in 1986. She works in the Mississippi Secretary of State’s office as Assistant Secretary of State for External Marketing. Toney is a 1996 graduate with a degree in real estate, mortgage finance and economics. He is president of Cadence Bank for Mississippi. He is a former MSU Alumni Association national president. Black, a 1980 marketing graduate, is director of human resources for Southern Pipe and Supply Company Inc. For MSU, he has been on the association’s executive committee for seven years. Along with a just-ended two-year stint as national president.

Schraeder (Highlights Sports Lounge) and Emmalee Winston (Senses Spa & Salon); and back-of-house team members Jesse Necaise (Security), Molly Olier (Hotel) and Bryan Styron (Food & Beverage).

In addition, one team member is recognized each month for his or her commitment to working safely with the Safety Spotlight Award. May’s recipient was Brittany Smith (Infusions Coffee Bar).

Waggoner welcomes Wolfe Starks elected secretary Lynn Wolfe has joined Waggoner Engineering, Inc., as senior project manager. In this role, Wolfe will be responsible for managing a portfolio of Waggoner’s client accounts and ensuring their success.

Prior to joining Waggoner, Wolfe served as a civil engineering Wolfe manager for BAE Systems, Inc., where he consulted for the U.S. Air Force. He has also held positions at Neel Schaffer and globally for Stanley Consultants, CACI, STG, Inc., the U.S. Department of State and other projects throughout the Middle East.

Wolfe has more than 30 years experience. He received a B.S. in Construction Engineering Technology from Mississippi State University. He also is a licensed professional engineer and surveyor intern.

IP recognizes top workers Six IP Casino Resort Spa employees were recently honored for dedication to customer service in May. Honorees included front-of-house team members Linda Livingston (Table Games), Savanah

Eugene Starks of Benefit Administration Services, Ltd., in Ridgeland has been elected Secretary to the National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU) Board of Trustees.

Starks’ mission is to give individual members the tools they need to build strong local chapters that will create the solid foundation NAHU needs to deliver on national issues.

Starks is a partner with BAS, a full-service employee benefits TPA, consulting, and brokerage company.

Starks most recently served as the national chairman of NAHU’s nonpartisan political action committee, HUPAC, where he was responsible for raising over a million dollars in the last election cycle. Starks also served as president of the Mississippi Association of Health Underwriters and president of the Jackson Association of Health Underwriters. He was also the chairman of the Mississippi Association of Self-Insurers where he runs CSIHP, a training and certification program for self-funded health plan administrators and brokers.

Starks attained his bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Southern Mississippi, and is a graduate of the United States Chamber of Commerce Institute of Organization Management.

Hancock, Whitney rated Hancock and Whitney Bank has again earned top ratings from BauerFinancial, Inc., as one of America’s strongest, safest financial institutions. This most recent 4-Star Excellent rating, based on the quarter ending March 31, marks the 111th consecutive quarter — almost 28 years in a row — the Gulfport-based bank has earned BauerFinancial’s recommendation, securing its place among the elite top 20 percent all U.S. banks and credit unions.

BauerFinancial, Inc. — the nation’s leading independent bank rating firm — applies a proprietary rating system to consider capital adequacy, asset quality, management quality, earnings, liquidity, and sensitivity to market risk. No institutions can pay for or opt out of a BauerFinancial rating.

MSU researcher recognized Michael R. Nadorff, an assistant professor of psychology at Mississippi State University, was recently recognized nationally for significant contributions to the field of behavioral sleep medicine.

Nadorff, who oversees the university’s Sleep, Suicide and Aging Nardorff Laboratory, is a 2017 recipient of the Art Spielman Early Career Distinguished Achievement Award from the Society of Behavioral Sleep Medicine.

At the group’s conference, Nadorff gave a poster presentation on sleep and suicide, showing that insomnia is a proximal risk factor of suicidal behavior and thus may be particularly helpful in judging current

clinical risk.

Nadorff holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and computer applications from the University of Notre Dame, along with master’s and doctoral degrees in clinical psychology from West Virginia University.

He also completed a doctoral internship at the Baylor College of Medicine.

Nadorff’s research interests also include the etiology, assessment and treatment of suicidal behavior, clinical geropsychology, and the use of technology for psychological treatment.

Since 2014, Nadorff has served as a co-principal investigator for “Substance Perception of Positive Information, Psychopathology and Impaired Functioning,” a project funded through the end of the year by a $416,388 R15 AREA Grant from the National Institutes of Health.

Nadorff is a licensed psychologist on the Behavioral Sleep Medicine roster of practitioners in Mississippi.

EMBDC pair advance Debby Delshad, Membership Director at East Mississippi Development Corp., and Casey Holladay, Events Coordinator at EMBDC, recently completed their first and third year respectively at Institute for Organization Management, a four-year nonprofit leadership training program at Athens, Ga. Institute for Organization Management, the professional development program of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation.

Since its commencement in 1921, the Institute program educated thousands of association, chamber, and other nonprofit leaders on how to build stronger organizations, better serve their members and become strong business advocates.

Newsmakers King joins Dale Partners

Kenny King has joined Dale Partners Architects, P.A., as an Interior Designer. King is a graduate of Delta State University, and has more than three decades of national and international interior design experience.

Having recently lived and practiced commercial and residential King interior design in the San Francisco Bay Area for 28 years, King was exposed to diverse sectors of design and acquired strong interior design philosophies and practical knowledge. Some favorite past projects include commercial developments located in Beijing, China, a corporate facility for Silicon Valley Startup Hot Wire, and campus wayfinding for Google.

Outside of work, Kenny holds a black belt ranking in two traditional Kung Fu styles of martial arts, and enjoys spending time with his wife Laura, and Elizabeth and Tuptos, two Lionhead Rabbits.

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USM Business grads post top CPA scores

MSU alum successful in ND Mississippi State alumni Jeremy Straub was recently named as the founding associate director of the North Dakota State University’s new Institute for Cyber Security Education and Research.

The institute will coordinate efforts at NDSU and across the Straub North Dakota University System related to network, infrastructure, software and other computer security education and research.

Straub’s role is integral in kicking off institute activities. He will be teaching a course related to cyber-physical system (such as robots, UAVs and spacecraft) cyber security in the Fall, one of the first courses taught that qualifies towards the new cyber security student recognition within the NDSU Department of Computer Science’s bachelor’s degrees.

Straub leads projects related to securing the systems and software used for 3D printing and the development of intrusion detection technologies for self-driving cars. He has also worked on satellite intrusion detection and cryptography.

Straub also directs work on spacecraft development, robotics and autonomous systems. He received a MBA from Mississippi State in 2010, before going on to complete his Ph.D. in Scientific Computing at the University of North Dakota.

Sanderson Farms awarded Sanderson Farms’ Corporate Communication Department recently won three awards, including a Judge’s Choice award, during the Public Relations Association of Mississippi’s Prism Awards competition in Hattiesburg.

The poultry producer received PRAM’s Judge’s Choice award and a PRism Award for the publication of the annual Sanderson Farms Corporate Responsibility Report. In addition, Sanderson Farms won a second PRism Award for the company’s publication of the Sanderson Farms Newsletter, a monthly magazine reaching more than 600,000 annual readers across 42 states.

Both of Sanderson Farms’ award-winning publications were created by the two founding members of the company’s Corporate Communication Department,

Submitted photo /Courtesy of USM

University of Southern Mississippi alums Bradley Floore (second from right), and Stephen Broome (second from left) recently received the Gold and Silver honors respectively from the Mississippi Society of Certified Public Accountants. Floore, who graduated in 2016 with a double major in finance and accounting was awarded the 2016 Fred T. Neely Gold Medal for the highest scores on the CPA exam of candidates who completed all four parts of the exam during the 2016 calendar year. Stephen Broome, who earned his undergraduate degree in accounting in 2014 and MPA in 2015, received the 2016 T.E. Lott Silver Medal for the second-highest score.. Floore, a native of Gautier,, is an Investment and Credit Analyst for the Office of the State Treasurer of Georgia. Broome, a Jackson native, is an accountant for Robert Donnell CPA in Hattiesburg, and as an auctioneer for several dealers-only automobile auctions. Also pictured are Amber Hatten (left).

Director of the MPA program, and Dr. Gwen Pate (right), Chair, School of Accountancy.

Ashley Rea, Communication Manager, and Lorin McAlpin Pugh, Graphic Designer. Rea served as Managing Editor and Copywriter for both publications while Pugh served as the Graphic Designer and Contributing Photographer.

Other contributors from Sanderson Farms included Robin Robinson, Director of Organization Development and Corporate Communication; Hilary Burroughs, Director of Marketing; Pic Billingsley, Director of Development and Engineering; Brenda Flick, former Manager of Environmental Services; Dwayne Holifield, Manager of Environmental Services; and Stephanie Shoemaker, Manager of Environmental Services.

PRAM is a statewide organization consisting of nearly 600 of the greatest public relations professionals in Mississippi. Each year, the organization recognizes public relation efforts that rise above the rest with the prestigious PRism Award.

IRR offices in South merge Integra Realty Resources of Jackson and Gulfport, and Integra Realty Resources of Memphis have recently merged and made staffing changes.

IRR offices in Jackson, Gulfport and Memphis are commercial real estate consultation services.

The team now includes seven MAI-designated appraisal professionals, a mark of excellence in the field, and eight additional appraisal analysts on staff, along with experienced administrative support and industry-leading technology.

John R. Praytor, MAI, senior managing director in Jackson, J. Walter Allen, MAI, senior managing director in Memphis, and James “Jim” Turner, MAI, director of appraisal production for the combined offices, continue in their leadership roles.

Promotions include: Michelle Alexander, MAI and a HUD approved MAP appraiser, to managing director of multi-family residential valuations; Jonathan Stone, MAI, to director of industrial valuations; Eugene K. “Kenny” Owen Jr., Certified General Appraiser, to director of going concern business, hospitality, convenience store and self storage valuations.

Jennifer C. Rigby, MAI, will be director of quality control and appraisal review, and Leslie R. North, MAI, will be managing director in Gulfport and support quality control for the south Mississippi market.

MORA presents Speros The Mississippi Organ Recovery Agency (MORA) recently hosted its 4th Annual Spero Awards, which recognize hospital partners, medical professionals, corporate partners and donor ambassadors who work with MORA to promote organ, eye and tissue donations The highest honor, the Award of Distinction, went to Martha Fulcher of OCH Regional Hospital in Starkville.

Other Spero Award recipients: » Most Supportive Ancillary or Healthcare Staff – Leslye Bastos Ortega, University of Mississippi Medical Center » Nurse Champion of the Year- Brian Buckley, St. Dominic Hospital » Advanced Practice Nurse of the Year- Christy Barrick, University of Mississippi Medical Center SICU » Physician Champion of the Year- Dr. Edward Pellarano, Forest General Hospital » Hospital Leadership of the Year Award- Lisa Miller, North Sunflower County Medical Center » Most Supportive Tissue Hospital- Baptist Medical Center, Yazoo City

» Most Supportive Organ & Tissue Hospital- Forrest General Hospital, Hattiesburg » Most Supportive Mortuary Services- Marshall Funeral Home, Biloxi » Most Supportive Coroner- Clayton Cobler, Lauderdale County Coroner » Community Faith Leader of the Year- Fr. Ken Ramon-Landry, Sacred Heart Church » Volunteer of the Year- Adrian Murry, donor mom, Hattiesburg » Donation Advocate of the Year- Bert Turcotte, John C. Stennis Hospital » Red Heart Award- Picayune Department of Public Safety Station » Corporate Partner of the Year- Party City, Flowood » Most Supportive Surgical Staff – Forrest General Hospital, Hattiesburg » Most Supportive Critical Care Staff- Forrest General Hospital, Hattiesburg » Storyteller Award – Billy Watkins, Clarion-Ledger Mississippi Lions Eye Bank presented the Gift of Sight Award to the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, and the Partners in Vision Award to Garden Park Hospital in Gulfport and Mississippi Baptist Medical Center in Jackson.

Hospital Excellence Awards were awarded to 12 hospitals who have achieved national organ donation performance standards: Garden Park Medical Center; Greenwood Leflore Hospital; Hancock Medical Center; Merit Health Biloxi; Merit Health Central, Jackson; Mississippi Baptist Medical Center, Jackson; North Mississippi Medical Center; Anderson Regional Medical Center; Forrest General Hospital; Memorial Hospital at Gulfport; St. Dominic Hospital, Jackson; University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson.

Newsmakers

10 Q Mississippi Business Journal Q July 28, 2017

Siler inducted as fellow Tommy Siler, managing partner of Phelps Dunbar’s Jackson office who focuses his practice on labor and employment law, has been elected as a new Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers. Election as a Fellow is the highest recognition by one’s colleagues of s performance in the Siler profession, exemplifying integrity, dedication and excellence.

The 22nd installation of Fellows will be Nov. 11 in Washington, D.C. The College is represented by more than 1,400 members in 46 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and eight Canadian provinces.

Forrest General welcomes residents

Auto group selects leaders

Stephen Franks has been elected Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Mississippi Automobile Dealers Association (MADA). Franks is the dealer principal of Chevrolet–Buick–GMC in Kosciusko and Crowson Auto World in Louisville. As Chairman, Franks Franks will serve in the highest elected position for the Association.

Dwayne Blackmon was elected Chairman-Elect. Blackmon is the owner of Dwayne Blackmon Chevrolet in Tupelo. Michael Van Veckhoven has been elected Secretary-Treasurer. Van Veckhoven is the Dealer Principal of New South Blackmon Ford and Nissan of Meridian.

Members of the Board of Directors are Jonathan Allen, Allen Toyota, Gulfport; Lee Bullock, Bullock Toyota, Louisville; Michael Joe Cannon, Cannon Motors Of Mississippi, Oxford; Bobby Dalgo, Crown Dodge Chrysler Jeep, Van Veckhoven Pascagoula; Jeff Field, Landers Automotive Group, Southaven; Bill Griffis, Griffis Motors, Philadelphia; Neil Johnson, John O’Neil Johnson Toyota And Hyundai, Meridian; Todd Mixon, Courtesy Motors, Hattiesburg; Trudy Higginbotham Moody, Mercedes of Jackson, Jackson; Tony Petro, Petro Nissan, Hattiesburg; Doug Wilson, Wilson Auto Group, Ridgeland.

MADA represents new car and truck dealers in Mississippi.

MGCCC makes college list Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College has been named a 2017 Great College to Work For with an Honor Roll distinction by the Chronicle of Higher Education. MGCCC’s top-rated categories are Compensation and Benefits, Job Satisfaction, Professional/ Career Development Programs, Respect and Appreciation, Supervisor/Department Chair Relationship, and Teaching Environment.

Through the survey conducted by ModernThink LLC and information compiled from the U.S. Department of Education, MGCCC was identified as excelling in six of 12 categories. The survey involved nearly 50,000 employees at 281 institutions, including almost 100 two-year colleges. All accredited institutions in the United States with an enrollment of at least 500 were invited to participate.

Courtesy of Forrest General Hospital

Forrest General Hospital in Hattiesburg recently welcomee its fourth class of 3-year residents into the Family Medicine Residency Program. These doctors will practice at the Forrest General Hospital Family Medicine Center on the first floor of Hattiesburg Clinic and will rotate through departments throughout the 3-year program. Residents have an inpatient service allowing them to admit patients into the hospital as necessary and continue to provide them care. The class is, from left, Brock Banks, M.D., Meagan Mathis, M.D., Cody Robertson, M.D., Sarah Hudson, D.O., Austin Worley, D.O., Joshua Spake, D.O.,

Baker Donelson hires 2

Turner chosen for program

Firm a Master Contractor

Sebastian Meis and Felix Faerber have joined Baker Donelson’s Atlanta office in the Firm’s Commercial Transactions and Business Counseling Practice Group. Sebastian joins as a shareholder, and Faerber is a member.

Meis is a cross-border transactional corporate attorney licensed in the U.S. and Germany.

Faerber represents domestic and international clients in areas including corporate and partnership law, cross-border transactions, mergers, acquisitions, foreign direct investment and intellectual property.

Dr. Courtney Turner, educational audiologist at The Children’s Center for Communication and Development at The University of Southern Mississippi, was recently selected for the American Speech Language Hearing Association (ASHA) 2017 Leadership DevelopTurner ment Program.

Each year, ASHA selects 30 professionals in the fields of speech-language pathology and audiology who demonstrate leadership potential to participate in the year-long Leadership Development Program. Throughout the year, participants across the country will work together to strengthen their leadership skills and complete an individual leadership project in their communities.

E. Cornell Malone Corp. has been named one of the winners of Firestone Building Products’ 2017 Gold Master Contractor award. The Jackson firm is in the top 2 percent of Firestone Building Products Red Shield Licensed Roofing Contractors This is the 30th year for the program that honors Firestone Building Products licensed roofing firms in the U.S., Canada and Mexico that meet the Master Contractor requirements.

Meis

Faerber

TEC appoints Foreman Henry “Chip” Foreman has been appointed to IT Systems Administrator at TEC in Jackson.

Foreman will be responsible for providing system-level support of server operating systems and related hardware and software, including installation, configuration, maintenance, and support of Foreman these systems.

Foreman graduated from the University of Phoenix with a Bachelor’s Degree in Information Technology/ Software Engineering.

Foreman is a Veteran with several years of experience in the Information Technology field.

MSU workplace recognized For the second year in a row, Mississippi State University has earned recognition as a “Great College to Work For” from The Chronicle of Higher Education for receiving top ratings from employees on workforce practices and policies.

The results are based on a survey of 232 colleges and universities. Only 79 program applicants achieved “Great College to Work For” recognition. MSU is included among large universities.

MSU earned honors in seven categories: collaborative governance; confidence in senior leadership; facilities, workspace and security; job satisfaction; professional/career development programs; respect and appreciation; and supervisor/department chair relationship. The university also was named to The Chronicle’s honor roll, a distinction for institutions that are cited most often across all recognition categories.

Community promotes Keith Kirby Keith has recently been promoted to Assistant Vice President at Community Bank of Mississippi. Keith, a native of Decatur, has been with Community Bank for four years. He previously was a loan officer and will continue to manage a loan portfolio as well as oversee daily operations of the Keith Ridgeland office.

Keith is a graduate of Mississippi State University, receiving his Bachelor of Business Administration.

He went on to complete The Mississippi School of Banking at Ole Miss in 2017. He is a member of the Phoenix Club of Jackson, SMART Chapter of BNI, and the Ridgeland Chamber of Commerce. Keith and his wife, Stephanie, live in Madison.

Alcorn magazine a winner Alcorn State University’s alumni publication, Alcorn: The Magazine, recently won the Best Alumni Publication Award at the 2017 HBCU Awards Ceremony.

Alcorn was also nominated in the Best Student Organization, Male Coach of the Year and Female Student of the Year categories.

July 28, 2017 • MISSISSIPPI BUSINESS JOURNAL • www.msbusiness.com

MBJ FOCUS: EDUCATION & TRAINING

Education budget cuts + junior college tuition hike =

Fewer in training classes » Changes will prevent junior colleges from hiring staffs, and students from affording tuition

By ALEX JACKS mbj@msbusiness.com

C

ommunity colleges across the state are taking a hit as Mississippi legislators make budget cuts in all sectors. To compensate for the budget cuts, all 15 junior colleges in Mississippi recently announced that tuition will be increased by an average of 13 percent this fall.

Hinds Community College in Jackson increased its tuition rates this year in order to balance the Fiscal 2018 budget, said Russell Shaw, Hinds vice president for business services.

“The Mississippi state appropriations were drastically cut during the last two fiscal years,” Shaw said. “Hinds Community College just implemented a 6 percent expense reduction to

the FY2018 budget. The tuition increase was a 9 percent increase year over year, and in conjunction with the expense reduction was needed to have a balanced budget.”

Hinds Community College Vice President of Workforce Development and Coordinator of Shaw Career/Technical Education Chad Stokes anticipates the burdens of increased tuition will affect the college’s enrollment numbers in traditional programs and through the amount of workforce training the college can administer.

“The tuition increase and budget cuts could hurt the level of work-force training that we conduct at Hinds Community College because some students may not be able to cover 100 percent of their tuition, tools and supplies needed to be successful in the training,” he said. “The tuition increase could keep prospective students from entering our formalized training.”

The budget cuts are also preventing Hinds Community College from adding faculty and

improving facilities in high growth workforce training programs, Stokes said.

“Work-force training at Hinds Community College could also be impacted because budget cuts could affect attracting and retaining good, qualified faculty,” he said.

Hinds Community College is dedicated to providing current and prospective businesses and industries in its district a well-trained, highly skilled workforce, Stokes said.

“This enables our community to retain and grow existing businesses and industries as well as to attract new ones,” he said. “The college works with industry partners to identify skills gaps in the workforce and then customize training programs to meet that demand.”

Hinds Community College has streamlined current and future work-force training in the following five sectors — Transportation, distribution and logistics; advanced manufacturing; cyber security; precision agriculture; and health care.

“Labor statistics and feedback from employSee TRAINING, Page 15

DOWNTOWN JACKSON

OFFICES AVAILABLE

Near Capitol Private offices Reception Conference room Storage Kitchen FOR INFORMATION CONTACT:

Alan Turner, alan.turner@msbusiness.com 601-364-1021

Education & Training

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Oh, those yearly work reviews

By CALLIE DANIELS BRYANT mbj@msbusiness.com

L

ike a valuable car, most businesses need a periodic engine tune-up, In most cases that includes the annual employee performance review.

These reviews — if executed properly — will help ensure that companies remain consistent in their services and values while providing an avenue for honest dialogue between management and employees.

“One of first things you need to do with a performance evaluation is the actual job description,” said Joel Jasper, compliance officer and agency manager with MWG Employer Services, a branch of Morgan White Group that specializes in human resources consulting. “The key to it is having a good job description on which you can build your performance evaluation.

“You may see people hired to do a certain job, and they’re doing another job they weren’t hired to do in the first place, and now you’re reviewing them on a job they weren’t hired to do. ... You don’t want it to get off track.”

Human Resources consultant for MWG Jennifer Thompson said: “Your

job review is simply that: a review of your job, and you’re evaluating the employee on their skill set. Do you need to train the employee? Do you need to re-evaluate their job level? Do they need to be moved to another division? You’re looking at everything that the employee does in regard to their job description.”

Thompson says keep the job description updated and design the evaluations around the company’s goals.

“Some people go out and get evaluations that are off-the-shelf evaluations not specifically designed about the business or job description,” Thompson said. “They’re not as valid as they could be because of that.

It’s an easy task to do: make sure the job description is up-to-date, that your evaluation process is about the business focus and the mission focus, and also that you’re consistent with doing the evaluations.” ”It’s important to train those who perform evaluations,” said Jasper. “A lot of times we know how people get promoted, and a lot of times people who are promoted are good at what they do, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re good at conducting interviews. And sometimes you have those who were co-workers who are now in a supervisory role and have to

perform evaluations, and they’ve never been actually trained on how to do so.”

If the employees are submitting self-evaluations, Jasper advises that management should ensure these evaluations have purposeful questions.

“The point is to get the employees’ feedback on what they think their job is, and that it matches up with the job description,” Jasper said. “That’s not

their problem. It’s a management problem. So when it comes around to doing performance evaluations – let’s face it, those evaluations are documentations for promotions, raises or lack thereof.”

“Another piece of proper performance evaluations is having a proper way to track any positives or negatives that happened

See REVIEWS, Page 14

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www.hindscc.edu 1.800.HINDSCC

Education & Training

14 Q Mississippi Business Journal Q July 28, 2017

REVIEWS Continued from Page 13

with that employee’s performance over the period of time,” Jasper said. “If you have to take disciplinary action such as them being consistently late, how are you tracking something like that? You have to have something in place. When it comes to disciplinary action it shouldn’t come as a surprise; they should know that something is coming because they did something wrong.”

Mary Ann Connell, an attorney with Mayo Mallette and University of Mississippi’s adjunct professor in employment

to-date performance and 90-day plans, which are designed to drive intended outcomes,” said Nancy Averwater, Corporate Vice President of Human Resources and Chief Human Resources Officer at Baptist Memorial Health Care. “Annually, all members of the team have a formal performance review.

“At Baptist Memorial Health Care, the performance review cycle should be an ongoing process whereby feedback and dialogue is happening year-round between team members and leaders.”

Factual honesty is important in employee performance reviews. To ensure smooth and fair evaluations, Thompson

law, said that a supervisor should document concerns when they arise and keep copies of pertinent information in the supervisor’s office personnel file.

“Do not wait for the annual performance evaluation to deal with problems and do not collect evidence without addressing the concerns with the employee,” Connell said. “Communicate expectations and provide feedback. An employee should never be surprised at an annual evaluation because he or she should have received feedback and constructive advice all through the year.”

“All of our leaders sit down once a month with their ‘one-up’ to discuss year-

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advises that the evaluations should focus solely on the job and not personal flaws.

Jasper added: “Most people get nervous about their evaluations because it’s personal to them. Not making it personal and keeping it about the job will alleviate any problems. The reason it gets personal is the person conducting the evaluation may not be trained correctly.”

From a legal sense of keeping evaluations strictly professional, Connell said: “Candor is crucial to a successful evaluation.

While it is difficult to call attention to a colleague’s shortcomings and point out areas in which he or she needs improvement, honesty in the evaluation cannot be overemphasized. The evaluation should be honest, straightforward and based upon objective criteria and measured against the expectations set forth in the job description. The evaluation should be carefully thought through ahead of time, written in plain, understandable language, using correct grammar and spelling.”

Connell said the supervisor should also avoid subjective comments such as “fails to measure up,” “lacks energy,” or “demonstrates a bad attitude.” Instead, the supervisor can state the employee has not met a requirement listed in the job description.

Renasant Bank follows this policy closely. Its HR representative, Leslie Berry, said: “It is important that supervisors provide truthful critiques and avoid giving inflated ratings. It is also important for supervisors to provide details on above or less than satisfactory ratings.”

Renasant Bank also allows employees to provide feedback on their job description and responsibilities, she said.

Todd Dalton of Regions Bank Human Resources notes that there is work to do before and after the actual review.

“First, I suggest providing a copy of the performance review to the associate before the in-person meeting because this allows time for the associate to process the review and begin generating questions or comments,” he said.

He also suggested setting in the months after the review to discuss goal progress and to remove obstacles that may block progress.

Dalton also says to meet in a place free of interruption: “If lack of attention or focus occurs, the associate leaves the meeting feeling like their manager doesn’t care about their career path.”Legally, this exchange can help management reiterate job responsibilities and guide employees within the company.

Connell said: “There should be a give and take discussion with an open exchange of ideas about the goals of the organization and how the employee can best contribute to those goals. The supervisor should listen to the employee and work with the employee to prepare an action plan or a road map for the upcoming year.

The ultimate goal of the performance appraisal is to foster the employee’s improvement and determine how he or she can best contribute to the organization.”

Education & Training

July 28, 2017

Q

Mississippi Business Journal

Q

15

MISSISSIPPI COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES

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TRAINING Continued from Page 11

er partners in the Hinds Community Collegeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s service area shows that these sectors consistently bring high growth and high demand with favorable wage scales,â&#x20AC;?

Stokes said.

Hinds Community Collegeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Commercial Truck Driving Academy serves as one example of the collegeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading edge, industry driven workforce training, he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;In an effort to train low-skilled adults for middle-skilled, self-sustaining employment, the Hinds Community College collaborated with KLLM Transport Services to develop the nationally recognized Academy,â&#x20AC;? Stokes said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The college starts a new, 22-day training program Stokes every Monday. After an internship, successful participants are trained for employment at a self-sustaining, living wage job. A recent evaluation of this program showed that 77 percent of the participants enter employment and 70 percent of the participants are retained in employment 9 months after training. This innovative model has improved the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s retention of employees and has been replicated in Dallas and Chicago.â&#x20AC;?

Despite the success of Hinds Community Collegeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s workforce training pro-

grams, Stokes fears that the budget cuts and tuition increases will hurt programs all around, but that is not stopping him from pushing forward. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Hinds Community College will continue to do all it can to keep tuition and fees as low as possible while maintaining a balanced budget,â&#x20AC;? he said.

Other junior colleges across the state expect tuition increases and budget cuts to affect their work-force training programs, as well. Here are the tuition rates each college has approved, as well as the percentage change from the 2016-2017 academic year, according to the Mississippi Community College Board: Âť Coahoma: $2,870, 7.5 percent Âť Copiah-Lincoln: $3,180, 16.5 percent Âť East Central: $2,790, 19.7 percent Âť East Mississippi: $3,240, 14.1 Âť Hinds: $3,080, 8.5 percent Âť Holmes: $3,110, 13.5 percent Âť Itawamba: $2,800, 7.7 percent Âť Jones: $3,480, 16 percent Âť Meridian: $2,914, 15.9 percent Âť Mississippi Delta: $3,060, 16.8 percent Âť Mississippi Gulf Coast: $3,220, 5.9 percent Âť Northeast Mississippi: $3,202, 18.5 percent Âť Northwest Mississippi: $3,000, 7.1 percent Âť Pearl River: $3,410, 14 percent Âť Southwest Mississippi: $3,200, 14.3 percent.

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New Businesses TOWNEPLACE SUITES: The Chamber of Flowood recently held a ground-breaking ceremony for TownePlace Suites

by Marriott, 160 East Metro Parkway in Flowood.

Courtesy of The Chamber of Flowood

Courtesy of Courtesy of Greater Jackson Chamber Partnership/Jackson Chamber of Commerce

WOMEN BUSINESS CENTER: The Greater Jackson Chamber Partnership and Jackson Chamber of Commerce recently held a ribbon-cutting for the opening of a satellite office for the Women Business Center of Mississippi. It is in the Greater Jackson Chamber building, 201 S. President St. in Jackson.

Courtesy of Courtesy of Courtesy of Greater Jackson Chamber Partnership/Jackson Chamber of Commerce

BANKPLUS: The Greater Jackson Chamber Partnership and Jackson Chamber of Commerce recently held a ribbon-cutting for Bank Plus at The District At Eastover.

NEW CREATIONS COUNSELING SERVICES: The Alliance recently held a red ribbon ceremony for the opening of New Creations Counseling Services, 307 E. Waldron St. in Corinth. Owner, David Carpenter, MS,NCC,LPC, wife Tanya, and their two children, Lizzie and Maddie cut the ribbon, assisted

by Mayor Tommy Irwin, other city and county officials, friends and family.

Also present were Chalet Kemp, Office Manager, Kassandra Decker, LPC, and Alan Dodd, CFO.

Courtesy of The Alliance

New Businesses

July 28, 2017

Q

Mississippi Business Journal

Q

17

STONEWATER ADDICTION RECOVERY CENTER: The Oxford-Lafayette County Chamber of Commerce recently held a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for Stonewater Addiction Recovery Center in Oxford. Among guests at the event was Sen. Roger Wicker.

Courtesy of Oxford-Lafayette County Chamber of Commerce

Courtesy of The Chamber of Flowood

MOSTLY MATTRESSES: The Chamber of Flowood recently held a ribbon-cutting for Mostly Mattresses, 5497 Lakeland Drive in Flowood.

Courtesy of The Chamber of Flowood

LAKELAND MUSIC: The Chamber of Flowood recently held a ribbon-cutting for Lakeland Music, 5200 Highway 25 in Flowood.

Courtesy of The Chamber of Flowood

SLEEP NUMBER: The Chamber of Flowood recently held a ribbon-cutting for Sleep Number, 105 Ridge Way, Suite A in Flowood.

New Businesses

18 Q Mississippi Business Journal Q July 28, 2017

DEEP SOUTH EQUIPMENT: The Chamber of Flowood recently held a ribbon-cutting for Deep South Equipment, 340 Airport Road in Jackson.

Courtesy of The Chamber of Flowood

Courtesy of The Chamber of Flowood

BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT: The Chamber of Flowood recently held a ribbon-cutting for Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, 273 Market St., 2nd floor, in Flowood,

Courtesy of EMBDC

SOUTHERN DUPLICATING: The East Mississippi Business Development Corporation recently held a ribbon-cutting for Southern Duplicating’s sixth Mississippi location, 1907 6th Street in Meridian.

RIGHT-WAY REALTY: The Oxford-Lafayette County Chamber of Commerce recently held a ribbon-cutting for RightWay Realty’s new office at 78 Hwy. 30 Ste. 102 in Oxford.

Oxford-Lafayette County Chamber of Commerce

July 28, 2017

Q

Mississippi Business Journal

Q

19

THE SPIN CYCLE

The state of local TV news continues to diminish

L

ocal television news has shed audience over the past decade, including this past year in most timeslots according to a new Pew Research Center study.

Even with these viewership losses, local TV news still garners more viewers on average than cable and network news programs. However, for election news in particular – a big part of last year’s news agenda – cable news brands were named as the main news source by a greater portion of voters than local TV news programming.

Financially, local TV companies have generated increasing revenue, though in a cyclical pattern tied to election years.

In 2016, viewership for network local affiliate news stations (ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC) declined in key time slots – morning, early evening and late night, according to Pew Research Center analysis of Nielsen Media Research data. Since 2007, the average audience for late night newscasts has declined 31 percent, while morning audience declined 12 percent and early evening audience fell 19 percent. Local TV noon and 7 p.m. news viewership also declined.

Local TV station revenue typically follows a cyclical pattern: increasing in election years and decreasing in non-election years. In 2016, an election year, local TV over-the-air advertising revenue totaled $20.6 billion, an 11 percent increase over 2015, according to BIA/Kelsey data. By comparison with other election years, local TV advertising revenue in 2014 was $20 billion and in 2012, it was $20.3 billion.

Total digital advertising revenue for local TV stations increased 10 percent in 2016 (reaching a total of about $1 billion). Digital advertising revenue accounts for a small portion of total ad revenue.

Advertising revenue for 832 local TV stations defined as “news-producing stations” (i.e. stations that have a news director and are viable, commercial and English-language affiliates) was estimated at $17.3 billion, which is 84 percent of the total $20.6 billion revenue for the industry overall, according to BIA/Kelsey data.

Staff salaries in the local TV sector were up for most newsroom positions in 2015, the last year data are available for local TV staff salaries, according to the annual RTDNA/Hofstra University survey. The survey finds that the median salary for a news director position at local TV newsrooms rose 7 percent in 2015, while the median news reporter salary rose 11 percent.

The average amount of weekday local TV news programming increased somewhat in 2016, according to the RTDNA/ Hofstra University survey. Local TV sta-

tions dedicated an average of 5.7 hours to news programming per weekday in 2016 – up from 5.5 in 2015.

In 2016, 98 local TV stations changed hands at a cost of about $5 billion, as annually reported by BIA/Kelsey. This is up from $670 million across 86 stations that experienced changes in ownership in 2015.

Google launches news feed Google has rolled out its take on the news feed, a personalized stream of articles, videos, and other content. The feed will appear in its flagship app for Android and iOS, simply called Google. The feed, which includes items drawn from your search history and topics you choose to follow, is designed to turn Google’s app into a destination for browsing as well as search.

Google is hoping you’ll begin opening its app the way you do Facebook or Twitter, checking it reflexively throughout the day for quick hits of news and information.

Google previewed its new feed in December, when it introduced the feature to its Android app. Previously, the space below the search bar was reserved for Google Now, the company’s predictive search feature, which displayed personalized weather, traffic, sports scores, and other information.

With the introduction of the feed, the Google Now brand is going away, and the updates it used to contain are moving to a secondary tab called “updates.” The main space underneath the search bar will now contain a stream of cards related to your interests. In a demo at Google’s offices in San Francisco recently, a product manager’s feed included articles about the Oakland Athletics, a trending article about the Tour de France, and a 10-month-old blog post about a classical musician who she had previously seen in concert.

In most feeds, a 10-month-old blog post would appear stale and unwelcome.

Google says it’s a sign of the company’s strengths – it can reach into the long tail of articles on the web, and surface them to audiences that missed them the first time around. Facebook and Twitter give priority to latest updates; Google says it’s working to prioritize relevance.

When you perform searches in the app, a subset of results will now show a “follow” button alongside results. News, sports, and entertainment stories are among the categories where you can expect to see follow buttons to start. Tap them and Google will work to bring you related content into the feed.

You can customize the feed by tapping the three dots on top of each card. From

there, you can follow a subject or share the item on other social networks. You can also tell Google you’re “done with this story” and avoid seeing future updates, or tell it you don’t want to see any more articles from a particular publisher. You can’t follow individual publishers today, but publishers will surely clamor for it, and Google said it will consider adding that feature eventually.

For now, Google says there won’t be ads in the feed, although I’m sure that’s an eventuality, too. Google is an ad business, after all, and it’s running out of places to put new ads on mobile devices. Earlier this year, it added a fourth advertising unit to search results in its mobile app, making you scroll down three screens before you see unpaid search results for some queries.

Open Mic | Jordon Spieth makes history as British Open champ Jordan Spieth made history with one of the most entertaining winning rounds in Open Championship history last week.

He took the third leg of the career Grand Slam before his 24th birthday, became the youngest American to win The Open, and enhanced his legend as one the alltime greats who will continue to succeed

through major championships for decades to come.

But the legend will always include the incredible turnaround at the 13th hole at Royal Birkdale. Spieth looked Todd Smithũ lost on the greens and had just knocked his tee shot 2)'(4, forced to take an unplayable drop and fired a shot from the practice tee to the 2)'(4 side of the green. Matt Kuchar became the new favorite to win, and Spieth needed a bogey save to keep the wheels from total-ly falling off.

Now, you know what happened next: birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie – championship!

Spieth came in with 32 after going out in 37 for as epic a 69 as you’ll find in major championship golf. He joins Tiger Woods (2005) and Rory McIlroy (2014) as the only players to go wire-to-wire for the win at The Open in the last four decades. Spieth is forging a golden era of golfing greatness, and for that takes the Golden Mic to go with his shiny silver Claret Jug. Each week, The Spin Cycle will bestow a Golden Mic Award to the person, group or company in the court of public opinion that best exemplifies the tenets of solid PR, marketing and advertising – and those who don’t. Stay tuned – and step-up to the mic! And remember … Amplify Your Brand!

Todd Smith is president and chief communications officer of Deane, Smith & Partners, a full-service branding, PR, marketing and advertising firm with offices in Jackson. The firm — based in Nashville, Tenn.

— is also affiliated with Mad Genius. Contact him at todd@deanesmithpartners.com, and follow him @ spinsurgeon.

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