MBJ_Jun08_2018

INSIDE — $11.5 million Madison County distribution center announced — Page 4 MBJ FOCUS

HEALTH CARE {Section begins P15}

» Pathway Healthcre reaching more people across state » Tupelo native Ellen Leake at helm of JDRF International » LAW ELEVATED: Blue Cross policy dispute battle revisited

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June 8, 2018 • Vo. 40 No. 23 • 24 pages

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

{The Lists P20-21}

» Sports Medicine & Orthopedic Clinics » Stroke Care Centers

HEALTH CARE

Courtesy of HORNE/Special to the MBJ

Hattiesburg Clinic starts work on facilities — Page 4

» EPA chief defends agency approach {P4}

Horne LLC will occupy more than 70,000 square feet of the building expected to be completed in early 2020.

Horne headquarters moving in Ridgeland

» UA Northpark 14 building to go on auction block {P5}

— Page 2

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

2 Q Mississippi Business Journal Q June 8, 2018 LAW ELEVATED

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Regulatory burden reduction legislation poised to become law B

HORNE ACCOUNTING FIRM TO MOVE HEADQUARTERS IN RIDGELAND

ank regulatory relief legislation appears poised to be enacted. The U.S. Senate passed S.2155 with substantial bipartisan support and sent the Bill to the House of Representatives for consideration. While S.2155 contains several significant regulatory burden reduction provisions, many in the House of Representatives wanted additional burden reduction measures added.

The Senate was clear that any attempts to expand on S.2155 would result in a loss of bipartisan support and defeat of any amended bill.

As of this writing, the House appears willing to pass S.2155 in its original form, thus securing at least some legislative relief for banks of all sizes. So, what are the most significant areas of regulatory burden reduction?

Ability to repay

Banks of all sizes – but smaller banks in particular – have cited the provisions of the Truth in Lending Act and Regulation Z referred to as the “Ability to Repay Rule” as an impediment to the making of residential mortgage loans.

Senate Bill 2155 creates a “safe harbor” in the form of a “qualified mortgage” available to banks with less than $10 billion in total consolidated assets. To avail itself of that safe harbor, an eligible bank must originate and retain the mortgage loan in its portfolio, or only transfer the loan to another bank that will hold the loan in portfolio. These loans must comply with limitations on prepayment penalties and cannot provide for negative amortization or interest only features. Points and fees limits still apply, and the bank still must document the consumer’s debt, income and financial resources. The underwriting process still must be based on a payment schedule that fully amortizes the loan over the term, taking into account all applicable taxes, insurance and assessments.

To take advantage of this relief provision, a bank must consider how much appetite it has for amortized residential loans in its portfolio. Relationships with upstream correspondent banks will also be a factor. When all is said and done, the bank must still determine that the consumer has the ability to repay the loan, albeit without having to look to the guidance in Appendix Q of Regulation Z in order to do that. If a bank is larger than $10 billion in total assets, or exhausts its appetite for portfolio mortgage loans, these new provisions will not apply.

Home Mortgage Disclosure Act adjustments.

A second potentially beneficial provision in S.2155 involves an exemption available to banks that originate fewer than 500 closed-end mortgage loans and fewer than 500 open-end lines of credit in each of the preceding two calendar years. These banks that qualify by virtue of the 500 loan limit for each category are exempt from the recently expanded data collection requirements imposed by the CFPB. The prior Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) reporting requirements still apply, so there will still be a HMDA LAR to document, scrub and report. The regulators will still have HMDA data to review.

In an ironic twist, S.2155 is touted as increasing the availability of credit, but may have the counterintuitive effect of seeing certain banks limit the number of closed-end and/or open-end loans they make to avoid triggering enhanced HMDA reporting requirements in future years.

Exemptions from appraisal requirements

Appraisal requirements, particularly appraisals of property in rural settings, have frequently been cited as an impediment to mortgage loan origination. A provision of S.2155 seeks to address this problem. If the property is located in a “rural area,” as defined by federal regulations, and the transaction is less than $400,000, a lender supervised by a federal financial institution’s regulatory agency can make the loan without obtaining an appraisal, provided the mortgage originator has contacted at least three state-certified appraisers within three days of providing the TRID-related Closing Disclosure Form – and has documented that no state-certified appraiser was available within five business days beyond customary fee and timeliness standards for appraisal assignments.

The resulting loan must be held in the bank’s loan portfolio or transferred to another lender that will hold the loan in portfolio. The bank must still perform its own evaluation of the property value.

This regulatory relief provision seems problematical. First, is it ever wise to make a loan without an appraisal? Second, how much complication will be added when a lender has to contact three appraisers and document their response that says they can’t perform the engagement? And then, similar to the exemption to the Ability to Repay Rule discussed above, the lender or its transferee must be willing to hold the loan in

Edward A. Wilmesherr

portfolio. The steps necessary to avail itself of this relief may prove more difficult for a bank and riskier as well, than simply waiting to get an appraisal.

By JACK WEATHERLY jack.weatherly@msbusiness.com

Other provisions.

Years ago, Congress would occasionally pass “Christmas Tree” legislation at the end of a congressional term that contained a wide array of “ornaments,” some related to banks and banking. S.2155 has something of that flavor. A succinct way to look at the Bill’s additional provisions is to approach it based on asset size of the bank.

For the appraisal waiver provision and HMDA exemptions discussed above, there is no asset restriction. These measures are available to banks of all sizes.

For banks of $3 billion or less, S.2155 raises from $1 billion to $3 billion the applicability of the Federal Reserve Board’s small bank holding company policy statement. Well-managed, well-capitalized banks in this asset range will also be eligible for an 18-month exam cycle, an increase from the present $1 billion threshold.

Banks under $5 billion in assets will be allowed to file first and third quarter reports to their regulators using a shortened format. Second and fourth quarter reports must follow the present guidelines.

Banks under $10 billion in assets receive the qualified mortgage relief under the ability to repay rule and also receive and exemption from escrow requirements under the truth in lending act if they make no more than 1,000 first lien mortgages annually secured by principal dwellings. Banks in this category will be subject to a tangible equity leverage ratio of 8 percent - 10 percent which, when achieved, will constitute the bank “well-capitalized.” Also, banks that have trading assets and liabilities that do not exceed 5 percent of total assets would be exempt from the so-called “Volker Rule.”

Banks with assets between $10 billion and $50 billion will no longer have to engage in stress testing mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act and will not have to have a separate Risk Committee of the Board of Directors.

Finally, S.2155 contains a hodge-podge of provisions that have limited applicability to the broad scope of a bank’s compliance program. Certain of these issues are listed below with a very brief explanation: See WILMESHERR, Page 5

Horne LLP will relocate into a building bearing its name to be developed by The Cress Group and Rogers & Associates.

A ground-breaking ceremony is scheduled for June 15, with completion expected in January 2020. Horne will occupy 70,885 square feet of the three-story, 95,712-squarefoot building bearing its name, with the Cress Group occupying 3,200 square feet, leaving 21,000 square feet available for lease on the first floor.

The building will be located on 6.24 acres on the corners of Interstate 55, Colony Park Boulevard and Sunnybrook Road. Dean and Dean Associates Architects is the architect. White Construction Co. is the general contractor. Construction financing for the building is through Trustmark National Bank.

Horne moved from downtown Jackson in 2010 to the 200 Renaissance Building north of the Renaissance at Colony Park.

“With this move, we are positioned for the anticipated growth of our teams which means better service to our clients. The building itself will be a wonderful reflection of the innovation we value as a firm,” Horne Executive Partner Joe D. Havens said in a release.Horne is a CPA and business advisory firm.

“The innovative design of the [Horne] building is like no other in the Jackson Metro area,” said J. Alan Grant, vice president of Dean and Dean Associates Architects. The building will be extremely energy efficient.”

Co-developer and co-owner Gary B. Cress said: “It has been a true pleasure working with such a professional organization as [Horne] to plan and now deliver their stunning firm headquarters.” The Cress Group is a developer and manager of commercial property. It has offices in Jackson as well as Destin, Fla. “We are extremely pleased that [Horne LLP] selected us to build and own their new headquarters building. The combination of the innovative design, striking visibility from I-55, and very efficient systems will place the building among the very top in the region,” says co-developer and co-owner Steven G. Rogers.

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4 Q Mississippi Business Journal Q June 8, 2018 AGRIBUSINESS

EPA chief defends agency approach

By JACK WEATHERLY jack.weatherly@msbusiness.com After withholding the name of the keynote speaker for the Delta Council’s annual meeting last Friday, the group’s president revealed the day before that Environmental Protection Agency Director Scott Pruitt was to be the speaker.

The council initially said that it was going to honor the White House request to keep the speaker’s identity secret.

But the Mississippi Business Journal and perhaps other news organizations may have altered the thinking of the group that promotes agriculture and commerce in the Delta.

The Bolivar Commercial, which is located in Cleveland, where Pruitt spoke at Delta State University, posted a statement by council President George King.

“In his one year tenure as Administrator, Scott Pruitt has taken bold and decisive actions to reduce the overreaching regulations that have been dictated by the agency over the past two decades. In doing so, he has brought back common sense and balance to the intersection of natural resource conservation and the economy,” added King, a producer from Chatham, Mississippi.

Pruitt and the EPA under Trump have been roundly criticized for their position, which they say is a loosening of unnecessary and costly regulations on air and water quality.

Some reports have stated that Pruitt has sought increased security for himself.

Chip Morgan, executive vice president of the council, said before the meeting in an interview that the White House “just told us that our keynote gets protection about anywhere he goes.”

Another Trump administration official, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, was the featured speaker last year.

Subsequently, Morgan said that the White House gave its permission to reveal this year’s speaker’s identity because it told “a group” about it before the council meeting.

The meeting was held June 1 on the campus of Delta State University at the Bologna Performing Arts Center in Cleveland.

The Commercial on Monday published statements from Pruitt made at the meeting.

“We are making tremendous progress for our communities all over the country for air, land and water quality while also reducing regulatory burden on American business to save over a billion dollars,” Pruitt is quoted as saying.

Under previous administrations, the EPA and other agencies have faced numerous lawsuits, followed by a settlement and a consent decree “and say to the rest of the country, ‘This is what you are required to do’ and they would bypass rulemaking altogether.”

“That’s an example of abuse. Stakeholders all over the country and in the Delta of Mississippi did not have any opportunity to participate in the rulemaking process, so we ended that practice.”

Morgan’s long career at the council will come to a close at the end of the year. He has been in his current position for 39 years, and with the council for 44 years.

Frank Howell, who has been with the council for 23 years and is the former director of the economic development department, will succeed Morgan.

Morgan said that one of the highlights during the nearly 50 years he has been employed by the council is the state four-lane highway system, approved and funded by the Legislature in 1987, which he said put a four-lane highway no more than 30 minutes away anywhere in the state.

Roads and bridges are still a priority, and the council has taken its position on that.

The council favors increasing the gasoline and diesel tax to raise the money for the state’s roads and bridges. He said that tax is in effect a “dedicated” fund and cannot be used for any other purpose.

“For 22 years, we had one of the top 5 highway programs in the United States after that program was passed.”

“Unfortunately, we’ve passed up some opportunities to reinvigorate roads and bridges. We’ve got more wooden bridges than any state in the nation.”

The Mississippi Economic Council, which is the state chamber of commerce, has maintained that the state needs $375 million a year to improve and maintain roads and bridges.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

$11.5 MILLION MADISON COUNTY DISTRIBUTION CENTER ANNOUNCED

By JACK WEATHERLY jack.weatherly@msbusiness.com The Fastenal Co. will build a $11.5 million distribution center in Madison County and expects to create 60 jobs over the next three years.

Fastenal provides companies with fasteners, tools and supplies needed to manufacture products, build structures and maintain facilities and equipment. The 129,000-square-foot Madison County distribution center, the company’s 15th in North America, will be located off Sowell Road.

The Mississippi Development Authority is providing $350,000 for site preparations and $150,000 for private infrastructure. Madison County is providing $115,000 for public infrastructure and also a property tax break of approximately $80,000 a year for 10 years, pending Board of Supervisors approval.

“This project allows us to strengthen the distribution network, which in turn supports our branch and on-site network and ultimately supports our customer,” CEO Dan Florness of Winona, Minn.-based Fastenal, said in a release.

“Mississippi’s advantageous tax structure and logistical infrastructure coupled with Madison County’s appeal and its existing industries were key factors in Fastenal’s decision to locate in our state,” MDA Executive Director Glenn McCullough Jr. said in the release.

Construction of the distribution center will begin this fall and is expected to be complete by fall of 2019.

Fastenal announced on May 25 plans to build a 90,000-square-foot office complex expansion in downtown Winona, Minn. with room for 400 to 600 employees, according to the Minneappolis/St. Paul Business Journal.

Fastenal is traded on the NasdaqGS stock market. Its shares have ranged from $39.79 to $58.74 in the past 52 months. They closed Monday at $53.47, down 16 cents.

HEALTH CARE

HATTIESBURG CLINIC STARTS WORK ON FACILITIES

By JACK WEATHERLY jack.weatherly@msbusiness.com The Hattiesburg Clinic broke ground Wednesday for two facilities at its Tatum Park campus, located off Veterans Memorial Highway, Highway 11, in Hattiesburg.

One is a two-story, 57,221-square-foot orthopedics and sports medicine building that will house clinical practice space for 14 orthopedic providers, a 9,000-square-foot physical therapy suite, community conference center and an imaging suite.

The facility will also include a connected 14,310-square-foot indoor sports performance center with weight systems, a half-court basketball floor, a baseball batting cage and an indoor turf football field, which will open to an exterior natural turf field to accommodate football, soccer, volleyball and other sports training activities.

Other specialty services will relocate to the new facility, including ortho-

pedics, sports medicine and physical and occupational therapy.

An additional groundbreaking ceremony immediately followed for the development of an office building that will house Hattiesburg Clinic Connections and Psychology and Counseling.

That facility will measure a total of 20,190 square feet with separate wings for each practice.

The ceremonies were attended by Hattiesburg Clinic administration and

the respective departments’ physicians and staff.

Both facilities are tentatively slated to open in 2019.

Founded in 1963, the clinic has grown to more than 300 physicians and providers, caring for patients in more than 18 counties in south Mississippi.

Along with almost 2,000 professional staff employees, physicians and providers serve 500,000 residents in south Mississippi.

June 8, 2018

Q

Mississippi Business Journal

Q

5

REAL ESTATE

UA Northpark 14 building to go on auction block

By JACK WEATHERLY jack.weatherly@msbusiness.com The UA Northpark 14 movie theater in Ridgeland will go on the auction block June 28.

Regal Entertainment Group notiďŹ ed the movie house’s owner, United Development Co. Global in early 2016 that it was not renewing the lease.

But it did. And as of Tuesday, Regal was still operating the theater.

Now United Development wants to ďŹ nd a different way to shed itself of the property, which it bought in 2015 as part of a portfolio of properties.

William McGuire, chief executive and managing partner of United, said Tuesday that the Southlake, Texas ďŹ rm wants its portfolio to be geographically closer.

“We just decided to sell our interest and move on,� McGuire said.

The opening bid will be $250,000, he said. Asked if the auction is “absolute,� meaning it will be sold at the auction, McGuire said that the company expects to get a good price for the 36,000-squarefoot building on the Ring Road north of Northpark Mall.

The on-site auction will be at 4 p.m. on

June 28. Bids may be placed on auctionetwork.com during a live telecast. Williams and Williams of Tulsa, Okla., will conduct the auction.

The theater building had been for sale since its purchase, McGuire said.

Speed Commercial Real Estate was the listing agent.

A phone message left with Regal Entertainment on Tuesday was not returned.

WILMESHERR Continued from, Page 2

 Credit Freezes – Must be available to consumers free of charge.  Elder Abuse – Provides protections when bank employees report to a regulator or to law enforcement the suspected abuse of an elderly person.  Identity Fraud – Allows the Social Security Administration to accept electronic consent when verifying a customer’s identity.  Veteran’s Medical Debts – Will be excluded from reporting under the Fair Credit Regulatory Act.  Service Member Foreclosures – Foreclosure relief for service members is made permanent.  SAFE Act – Temporary authority is granted licensed/registered Mortgage Loan Originators to originate loans after changing employers.  Student Loans – Private lenders are prohibited from accelerating student loan debt upon death or bankruptcy of a co-signer, and co-signers are released from their obligation upon the death of a student.

Obviously, everyone could have hoped for more, but S.2155 was deemed the most feasible form of regulatory relief that can be passed by Congress and signed by President Trump now. There is talk of a second round of legislation that might add further regulatory burden reduction measures, but those chances seem very small.

If there is a bright spot to the limited burden reduction available in S.2155, it is that with this legislation the pendulum doesn’t swing so far towards deregulation that it invites a drastic swing in the opposite direction (think Dodd-Frank Act) when the present administration changes and/or a new time of ďŹ nancial stress comes along.

Those who represent banks of all sizes in the halls of Congress will continue to look for ways to reduce regulatory burdens. In all, S.2155 represents a good start.

Edward A. Wilmesherr is an attorney at Butler Snow’s Ridgeland office whose practice focuses on banking and bank regulatory matters. He is the founder of the Mississippi Regulatory Compliance Group and the Mid-South Regulatory Compliance Group.

About the Women’s Foundation of Mississippi As the only grant making entity in Mississippi focused entirely on women and girls. We provide ďŹ nancial and other resource to cultivate social change that will create longterm opportunity for personal stability and stronger families. We provide funding to community partners, commission and share credible research, and advocate for breaking systemic barriers standing between women and their economic security.

When women thrive, Mississippi thrives. œˆ˜ ĂŒÂ…i 7œ“iÂ˜ÂżĂƒ ÂœĂ•Â˜`>ĂŒÂˆÂœÂ˜ Âœv ÂˆĂƒĂƒÂˆĂƒĂƒÂˆÂŤÂŤÂˆ œ˜ Ă•Â?Ăž ĂŽÂŁ] n >ĂŒ ĂŒÂ…i >VÂŽĂƒÂœÂ˜ ÂœÂ˜Ă›iÂ˜ĂŒÂˆÂœÂ˜ iÂ˜ĂŒiĂ€ >Ăƒ Ăœi ĂƒÂ…ÂœĂœV>Ăƒi LĂ•ĂƒÂˆÂ˜iĂƒĂƒiĂƒ ĂœÂˆĂŒÂ… ÂˆÂ˜Ă›iÂ˜ĂŒÂˆĂ›i ĂœÂœĂ€ÂŽÂŤÂ?>Vi ÂŤÂœÂ?ˆVˆiĂƒ >˜` `ÂˆĂƒVĂ•ĂƒĂƒ ĂŒÂ…iÂˆĂ€ ÂŤÂœĂƒÂˆĂŒÂˆĂ›i ÂˆÂ“ÂŤ>VĂŒ vÂœĂ€ i“Â?ÂœĂžiiĂƒ >˜` ĂŒÂ…i i“Â?ÂœĂžiÀ° i>Ă€ >LÂœĂ•ĂŒ iĂ?VÂˆĂŒi` >`Ă›>˜ViĂƒ ˆ˜ >˜ i˜…>˜Vi` ÂŤ>Ă€iÂ˜ĂŒ>Â? Â?i>Ă›i ÂŤÂœÂ?ˆVĂž] i“Â?ÂœĂžii‡vÂœVĂ•Ăƒi` ĂœÂœĂ€ÂŽ VĂ•Â?ĂŒĂ•Ă€i] >˜` Â…i>Â?ĂŒÂ… >˜` ĂœiÂ?Â?˜iĂƒĂƒ ÂŤĂ€Âœ}Ă€>“°Č

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MBJPERSPECTIVE June 8 2018 • www.msbusiness.com • Page 6

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#THE OUTSIDE WORLD

Online sales hurt Mississippi cities

Website: www.msbusiness.com June 8, 2018 Volume 40, Number 23

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» INSIDE MISSISSIPPI

Koch had eyes on Mississippi

W

hen it comes to government, Charles and David Koch want to influence, some say control, the political thoughts of all Americans. Yes, including Mississippians.

The Koch brothers and their super wealthy compatriots are spending billions of dollars to inform, many say indoctrinate, Americans on how to think about government, how to vote, and how to take down contrary elected officials.

The sprawling, sophisticated Koch network ranges from its grassroots army, Americans for Prosperity founded by David Koch in 2004, to its funding arm, Freedom Partners founded in 2011, which funnels money Koch network ventures, to its affiliated conservative think tanks like the Cato Institute, Fraser Institute, and Heritage Foundation, to its higher education ventures funded by various Koch family charities, to its like-minded coalition of billionaires who pump hundreds of millions of dollars into political campaigns across the country.

And that’s not all. Indeed, the pervasiveness of the Koch thought machine across America is mind boggling, some say frightening, even reaching deep into Mississippi politics.

A foundation Charles Koch created (now defunct) spent millions over decades to fund groups advocating the Koch agenda, including conservative

Bill Crawford state-based think tanks affiliated with the national State Policy Network, e.g., the Mississippi Center for Public Policy. The Koch network has continued funding the State Policy Network and its affiliated American Legislative Exchange Council of which Mississippi Speaker of the House Philip Gunn is a board member. School choice advocate Empower Mississippi is the latest link in this network.

The Charles Koch Foundation has spent millions to push Koch thinking onto college campuses, including Mississippi State University. In 2015 the university announced formation of its Institute for Market Studies to be funded with nearly $2.5 million of Koch money over six years. Since then, MSU associate professor Claudia Williamson, co-director of the Institute, has been an active voice for economic policies aligned with Koch thinking.

The Mississippi chapter of Americans for Prosperity has risen in power to dominate thinking on many legislative issues. The chapter has strongly touted Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves for promoting its agenda. It is expected to play a dominant role in next year’s legislative elections.

As they infiltrate American politics, See CRAWFORD, Page 7

ississippi is seeing a tax shift as its residents gravitate toward more online purchases.

Use tax collections are growing steadily. Sales tax collections are relatively flat. And the distinction has a significant impact upon the state’s municipalities.

Mississippi law mandates that the state collect a 7-percent tax on the sale of most retail items, regardless of whether the item is purchased in a traditional brick-and-mortar store or over the Internet.

When that transaction is made in a store, the retailer is required to collect the tax and send it to the state. That is classified as a sales tax, and the state then sends 18.5 percent back to the city where the purchase was made.

When the sale happens online, the consumer is expected to voluntarily report the tax and send it to the state, although a growing number of online retailers have begun to collect it themselves. That tax collection is classified as a use tax, and it is not shared with municipal governments.

With two months left in the fiscal year, Mississippi’s use tax revenue is up $30.4 million, or 16.12 percent, according to a recent report by Mississippi Today’s Bobby Harrison.

Meanwhile, sales tax collections are up $11.2 million, a mere .7 percent.

At a time when the state has found a growing source of revenue, many cities are seeing flat or declining sales tax collections. That trend will be sharpened as the movement toward online sales continues to grow.

The tax shift comes at a time when cities are finding their coffers stretched to make needed infrastructure repairs. Sales tax collections are one of the largest sources of revenues for Mississippi’s cities, along with property tax. In some cities, sales taxes outstrip property taxes.

The decline of such a key source of revenue will hit cities hard.

We urge state leaders to carefully consider the impact new technologies are having on Mississippi’s tax code. This would be a good time to craft ways to send a portion of use tax revenue back to cities to replace the money they are losing in sales tax.

It’s also a good time to remind consumers of the benefits of shopping locally, rather than making purchases online. It’s easy to get caught up in the bells-and-whistles and the convenience of online shopping. But don’t forget that every dollar you spend in brick-andmortar stores is helping your local economy and supporting jobs, right here at home.

And nearly 20 percent of the sales taxes you pay at brick-and-mortar stores is also staying in your local community – supporting services, roads and schools in your hometown.

That’s not the case when you shop online.

With two months left in the fiscal year, Mississippi’s use tax revenue is up $30.4 million, or 16.12 percent ...

— Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal

PERSPECTIVE

June 8, 2018 I Mississippi Business Journal

» RICKY NOBILE

CRAWFORD

I

7

Continued from Page 6

the Koch brothers, owners of the second largest private company in America, have used populist themes to pursue extremist policies beneficial to their vast business interests. Many of these anti-government policies, such as sweeping deregulation and big tax cuts, harken to David Koch’s 1980 run for vice president on the Libertarian Party ticket. Among other issues, the party platform called for abolition of the FBI, Securities and Exchange Commission, and Department of Energy and the end of Social Security and all personal and corporate income taxes.

“Average Americans are realizing that they are being cheated a fair shot at building a better life,” wrote David Koch in a fundraising letter last month for Americans for Prosperity. He, again, pitched “economic freedom and opportunity” as the alternative.

This siren call of personal freedom lures many while shrewdly obscuring the real goal – freedom for corporate titans to do as they please.

Yes, the deliberate, relentless Koch brothers have deeply rooted their thought machine into American politics. Its machinations will greatly influence Mississippi state politics and elections next year.

Bill Crawford can be reached at crawfolk@gmail.com.

»INSIDE MISSISSIPPI

Wicker pushes fight for cell service subsidies

T

f a U.S. senator and a public service commissioner get their way, many Mississippians will spend the next six months trying to prove how bad their local cellphone service is.

It’s all part of an effort to make Mississippi eligible for as big of a slice of $4.5 billion as possible.

What the Federal Communications Commission calls the Mobility Fund II will be spent throughout the decade of the 2020s to enhance fast mobile service in areas that currently lack such service.

Here’s the hitch, though. The federal regulatory agency will only offer money in areas where its maps show there’s no service, or where there’s only one currently subsidized provider. For each map area, a provider will be allowed to bid on how much subsidy is needed over 10 years to provide the service. The lowest bids will win.

The idea, said Michel Janson, the assistant bureau chief for the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, is to maximize the new areas served using the money.

Preliminary maps produced for the FCC by wireless carriers shows most of Mississippi is adequately covered by fast mobile service. Areas likely to get most of the money would be in the West or the northern Great Plains.

U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker isn’t buying it, though.

“We think, just based on everyday experience, that we’re one of the states that needs it the most,” the Republican from Tupelo said after a meeting on the subject Thursday in Jackson.

The FCC says local and state government agencies and other groups can challenge its map, by running a speed test on a specified phone that shows no broadband service in an area. After pressure from Wicker and other lawmakers, the

FCC has agreed to extend the period for challenges through the end of November.

“There’s money there, there’s a bad map, there’s a way to challenge it,” Wicker said.

“Now we just need a room full of people from all across the state of Mississippi to help us make this work so we don’t get left out.”

Wicker, for example, said he would like to get county supervisors, the Mississippi Development Authority and the regional planning and development districts involved.

The room Thursday was mostly empty, though, with only representatives of the Public Service Commission and the Mississippi Farm Bureau attending.

Farm Bureau officials say they’re still figuring out if they will join farm lobbies in other states in challenging local maps. But Northern District Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley said in a phone interview Friday that he’s ready to go. Presley said he’s collected thousands of complaints in recent years about bad wireless service from constituents through what he calls Zap the Gap .

Presley, a Democrat who represents the northern third of the state, said it’s unfair that rural residents pay for cellphone and data plans but can’t use them because of a lack of cover-

Jeff Amy

age. He and his staffers plan to buy the phones specified by the carriers and start making speed tests in areas where they’ve gotten complaints.

The federal regulatory agency will only offer money in areas where its maps show there’s no service, or where there’s only one currently subsidized provider.

Presley said he’ll be headed to an area near Tremont in Itawamba County.

“That area, you can’t find a cellphone signal with a SWAT team or a search warrant,” Presley said.

Wicker and Presley, although members of different parties, both agree that improving cellphone service is a key issue in the rural parts of Mississippi, which is in turn a very rural state.

“This is going to mean better agriculture, better health care,” Wicker said. “People’s lives are going to be saved if we can get this right.”

JEFF AMY has covered politics and government for The Associated Press in Mississippi since 2011. Follow him at http://twitter.com/jeffamy . Read his work at https://www.apnews.com/By%20Jeff%20Amy .

8 Q Mississippi Business Journal Q June 8, 2018 EDUCATION

School choice is not a new entitlement. But Pre-K is.

E arlier this week, columnist Bill Crawford penned a piece arguing that school choice proposals authored in recent legislative sessions are not conservative because they represent a “new entitlement.” Instead, Crawford favors publicly funded Pre-K as the best fix for Mississippi’s education woes.

Here’s why he’s wrong.

To be a new entitlement the Legislature would have to appropriate more money for

school choice than it already does for K-12 education. Yet school choice does not require more money – it simply proposes that taxpayers get more bang for their buck with existing funds.

Choice proposals transfer decision-making power to parents and subscribe to the conservative principle that people closest to a problem are the best people to fix it.

Many happily choose traditional public

schools, but that choice is largely reserved for those who can afford it. Low-income families who lack the resources to move to neighborhoods with better schools or pay for private school tuition are often trapped in a school someone else chose for them.

School choice levels the playing field, promoting equality of opportunity for all.

What could be more appealing to political conservatives…or liberals…than that?

School choice also introduces a healthy dose of competition into a system with all the problems of a monopoly, namely that overwhelmed operators can get away with offering a mediocre, poor, or even Grant Callen abysmal education because many of their customers can’t go elsewhere.

Crawford argues that increased funding won’t fix public education. On this point we agree. This debate is all about who can spend tax dollars already earmarked for your child’s education more thoughtfully – you or someone tasked with serving every child? About who deserves the freedom to pivot and make a different choice when necessary – you or someone who doesn’t know your child at all?

The idea that public school students will lose in a competitive environment is not only ludicrous but handily disproven by the evidence. An expansive body of gold standard empirical research demonstrates that school choice programs not only benefit the students who opt out of public school, but also those students who stay.

School choice programs across the nation and here in Mississippi are producing more satisfied parents, more successful students, and higher expectations for all schools, both private and public. Yes, students perform better academically, but they also persist and graduate at higher rates, find good jobs, and stay out of prison.

For them, the American dream looks attainable. Why not give all students the same hope, regardless of socioeconomic status or zip code?

Furthermore, in a choice-friendly environment, everyone – students, parents, administrators, teachers, and innovators – benefits from the increased interest in quality and focus on true accountability.

Now, what about Crawford’s preference for public Pre-K? Whether or not you agree with his claims about its advantages, one fact remains: Creating a public Pre-K program in Mississippi would cost millions and millions of new tax dollars while ignoring altogether the issues plaguing K-12 public education. And if that’s not a new entitlement, I don’t know what is.

School choice is not a silver bullet, but it offers the most promise for the least money and the least amount of effort. It relies on the money, decisionmakers, entrepreneurial spirit, and market forces already in place and has the potential to make a difference in the lives of young Americans from day one.

GRANT CALLEN is the Founder and President of Empower Mississippi, an independent, nonprofit advocacy organization.

Shining more light on solar.

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

The Mississippi Public Service Commission is making it easier to understand how solar can work for you. “A Consumer’s Guide to Solar Power in Mississippi” provides information on how solar and net metering work, and the details you need to consider before purchasing or leasing hardware.

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

A message from Entergy Mississippi, Inc. ©2018 Entergy Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Newsmakers

10 Q Mississippi Business Journal Q June 8, 2018

Holland elected president of the Association of Defense Trial Attorneys

Page Kruger & Holland attorney James D. Holland has been elected President of the Association of Defense Trial Attorneys (ADTA). The ADTA is an organization of defense lawyers which accepts members by invitation only, with only one prime member in any city with a population of less than 1 million. Holland Holland is a trial attorney with experience litigating and trying commercial, wrongful death and traumatic injury cases in state and federal courts. He carries an AV rating with Martindale-Hubbell and was named again this year as one of the Best Lawyers in America in both Commercial and Products Liability litigation.

He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the DRI, The Voice of the Defense Bar where he is board liaison for DRI’s Products Liability Committee.

He has received invitations to join the International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC) and the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel (FDCC). He is past President of the Mississippi Defense Lawyers Association. He served on the Mississippi Supreme Court’s Civil Jury Instruction Committee as Vice Chair and as the Vice Chair of the Business Courts Study Committee, appointed by Mississippi’s Secretary of State. He is a Life Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and Fellow of the Mississippi Bar Foundation.

Meador honored with by national accounting group

Dr. Gwen Meador, an instructor of accountancy at Delta State University, is a recipient of the 2018 KPMG Outstanding Dissertation Award from the Gender Issues and Worklife Balance (GIWB) Section of the American Accounting Association. KPMG is an international company providing audit, tax and advisory Meador services. Meador’s dissertation, “Ethical Decision-Making Accounting Competencies: Practitioners’ Perspectives,” examines ethical competencies necessary for a career in accounting.

Meador is also a graduate of The University of Southern Mississippi’s Human Capital Development Doctoral Program In addition to being recognized with the KPMG award, Meador will also receive a cash prize of $1,000 at the American Accounting Association’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C. in August.

Eley|Barkley|Dale in Oxford Eley|Barkley|Dale, an association of Eley Barkley Engineering & Architecture and Dale Partners Architects, is now open in Oxford.

“Having worked together on the GRAMMY Museum® MISSISSIPPI in Cleveland, MS,” commented Ross Barkley, AIA, “it was an easy decision to form this association.”

Eley|Barkley|Dale (EBD) offers architecture, engineering, planning and interior design services. With offices in Oxford, Cleveland and Jackson, EBD will

Hainsey named Mississippi Airports Association Professional of the Year

of Mississippi College of Law, Mr. Kidd is a member of the Mississippi Bar Association. Prior to arriving at Baker Donelson, Mr. Kidd clerked for his professional mentor, Judge E. Grady Jolly.

“Nakimuli and Sterling are dynamic professionals who are truly committed to their clients, and I look forward to seeing their continued success as shareholders,” said Scott W. Pedigo, managing shareholder of Baker Donelson’s Jackson office.

Maddox joins Kerioth Corp.

Courtesy of Mississippi Airport Association

The Mississippi Airports Association reccently named Michael P. (Mike) Hainsey (left) as its Professional of the Year. Hainsey has been the Executive Director of the Golden Triangle Regional Airport for 12 years.

Hainsey is the Chair of the American Association of Airport Executives’ Air Service Committee. He also chaired the Aviation Cooperative Research Program’s Panel on Unmanned Aircraft Systems Operations at Airports; the ACRP is part of the National Academy of Science. In 2008, Hainsey was named the FAA Commercial Air Service Airport Manager of the Year. Presenting the award is board member Nick Ardillo. have a great service area, but the main focus will be North Mississippi and Tennessee. Dale Partners works nationwide on hospitality, commercial and historical preservation projects.

“Prior to joining Eley Barkley Engineering & Architecture, Ross worked in our Jackson office,” commented Doug Dale, President, Dale Partners Architects.

“He was an integral part of many successful projects for the hospitality industry, as well as civic and higher education institutions. When he asked our partners to consider this joint venture, it was an easy yes.”

EBD will be led by Ross Barkley, AIA with a staff of 38 across Mississippi.

Trustmark promotes Hart to senior vice president Trustmark is pleased to announce the promotion of Allen Hart to Senior Vice President at its corporate headquarters in Jackson, where she serves as Underwriting Manager.

Allen has 34 years of banking experience and is a graduate of the Mississippi School of Banking. She earned a Master’s Hart degree and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Mississippi.

Allen is active in her community, where she is a member of Saint Matthew’s United Methodist Church and serves as the church pianist.

Baker Donelson announces elected shareholders Baker Donelson has elected 11 new shareholders across the Firm, including two attorneys in its Jackson office: Nakimuli O. Davis-Primer and Sterling Kidd.

This year’s class of new shareholders is comprised of more than 50 percent women, making it the fourth

consecutive year women have made up nearly or more than half of the Firm’s newly elected shareholders.

Additionally, nearly half of the new shareholders, including men and women, have taken advantage of Baker Donelson’s industry-leading parental leave policy during their time at the Firm.

Ms. Davis-Primer is a member of Baker Donelson’s Labor & Employment and Business Litigation Groups.

As part of her employment practice, she counsels and advises clients on employment issues, trains management and supervisory level employees; conducts internal investigations, and defends employers in a wide range of single and multi-plaintiff employment litigation, including litigation brought by the EEOC. A magna cum laude graduate of the University of Mississippi School of Law and former Fifth Circuit law clerk for Judge Leslie Southwick, Ms. Davis-Primer has been recognized as a “Rising Star” by Mid-South Super Lawyers since 2014 and was recognized by the National Black Lawyers as a Top 100 Attorney in 2015.

She was named a Fellow of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity in 2017, a fellow in the American Bar Foundation in 2016, and was named to PORTICO 10

by Portico Magazine in 2015. Ms. Davis-Primer has received a number of awards for her service to the bar and her community including recently being awarded the 2018 Outstanding Service Award by the Capital Area Bar Association, where she currently serves as Chair of the Diversity Committee. She also regularly speaks and presents on employment related issues as well as on diversity and inclusion in the workplace and the practice of law.

Mr. Kidd, a member of the Firm’s Product Liability & Mass Tort Group, is an experienced litigator with a diverse practice that includes personal injury defense, commercial litigation, healthcare litigation, and creditor’s rights. He represents clients ranging from large, multi-national companies, to small, Mississippi-based entities. Mr. Kidd has tried and arbitrated numerous cases to verdict and has also litigated numerous cases in preparation for trial and positioned them for favorable settlements. A graduate of the University

Kerioth Corporation, Inc., a commercial real estate planning, building and development company is pleased to announce Keith Maddox has joined their team as Director of Facilities.

He is responsible for overseeing Kerioth’s properties including The Township at Colony Park Maddox in Ridgeland, Meadowbrook Office Park in Jackson, Magnolia Marketplace in Flowood and many others.

Maddox has 12 years of experience in property management and 19 years as a business owner, having owned two businesses in the flooring industry in Magee.

Maddox received his B.S. in Business Administration from Liberty University. He also served as staff sergeant in the United States Air Force where he received the Humanitarian Medal.

He is married to Joanna Maddox and they have five children—Chris Barnes (Flowood), Brandon Maddox (Hattiesburg), Dylan Maddox (Hattiesburg) and twins, still at home, Scott and Megan Maddox. (Magee) Maddox is a member of First Baptist Church of Magee where he serves in the praise band as a guitarist/vocalist and a small group leader in the youth department. He is an active member of the USTA where he plays tennis on a men’s doubles league. He has coached youth baseball, basketball and tennis for the past 26 years.

Singing River Health System selects new CEO The Singing River Health System Board of Trustees has selected Lee Bond as the system’s new Chief Executive Officer.

Bond joined Singing River in 2013 in the Finance Department, later becoming Chief Financial Officer where he was instrumental in helping lead the system’s Bond financial turnaround. He has served as the health system’s Chief Operating Officer since 2016.

Prior to joining Singing River, Bond held leadership roles in operations and finance in the hospitality and gaming industry. A native of Jackson County, Bond graduated summa cum laude from the University of South Alabama in 1992 and has served as a Certified Public Accountant and a Past President of the Gulf Coast Chapter of the Mississippi Society of CPA’s. His community leadership roles include the Board of Directors for the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce, the Bacot-McCarty Foundation, and the Pascagoula River Audubon Center. In addition, Bond is a graduate of Leadership Jackson County and was recognized as a Top 10 Outstanding Community Leader for South Mississippi.

Newsmakers Who’s Who Legal recognizes Butler Snow attorneys

Butler Snow has anounce that 10 of its attorneys have been recognized by Who’s Who Legal. Christy D. Jones has also been named to Who’s Who Legal: Thought Leaders 2018, ranking third in the Americas by the publication in the categories of life sciences and product liability.

Who’s Who Legal: Thought Leaders 2018 includes individuals who received the highest number of nominations from peers, corporate counsel and other market sources this year.

The Butler Snow’s Ridgeland attorneys named to Who’s Who Legal are: William M. Gage – Product Liability Defence; Christy D. Jones – Litigation: Lawyers, Legal Life Sciences: Product Liability; Michael E. McWilliams – Product Liability Defence; Robert A. Miller – Product Liability Defence; Meade W. Mitchell – Product Liability Defence; and Orlando R. Richmond, Sr. – Product Liability Defence.

Other Butler Snow lawyers are Kurt G. Rademacher – Private Client: Lawyers, Singapore; Martin A. Sosland – Legal Restructuring & Insolvency, Lawyers, Dallas, Texas.; James C. Barton, Jr. – Product Liability, Birmingham, Ala.; Brad F. Westerfield – Private Client: Lawyers, London.

McComb real estate office ranks top in the nation United Country Real Estate, headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., recently announced that United Country Real Estate-Gibson Realty and Land Company in McComb, ranked first in the nation out of more than 400 UCRE offices nationally for its sales in 2017.

Owners/Brokers Scott Lindsey and Patrick Gibson accepted the award during UCRE’s Annual Training and Awards Convention in Nashville. Many of their team members also accepted numerous Pinnacle Awards as well at the Convention for their sales achievements in the 2017 year. The franchise continues to grow, closing more than 200 deals each year. It also has offices in Hattiesburg and Shreveport, La.

McCalla Raymer Leibert Pierce announces new leadership

McCalla Raymer Leibert Pierce, LLC has announced that Kerry McInerney has joined the firm as Managing Partner of the firm’s Alabama and Mississippi Litigation & Trial Practice Group.

Kerry McInerney brings a stellar reputation and over twenty-two years of litigation experience with him to the firm. McInerney Before joining McCalla, Kerry was a shareholder with Sirote & Permutt, P.C., where he handled complex lender and servicer liability cases and served as co-chair of that firm’s Mortgage Litigation Group. He will be based out of the firm’s Birmingham office and will oversee all litigation matters in both Alabama and Mississippi.

McCalla Raymer Leibert Pierce, LLC’s has a dozen offices nationwide, including one in Oxford.

June 8, 2018

Hinds Diesel Tech program achieves accreditation

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Greenville.

Small Business Journalist: Nell L. Floyd, Freelance Writer, Clarion-Ledger, Ridgeland.

District Office Award: SCORE Mississippi, Jackson.

Lenders: Community Bank of Mississippi, Live Oak Banking, Trustmark National Bank, Regions, BankPlus, Covington County Bank, First Financial Bank, The Bancorp Bank, Central Mississippi Development Company, Inc., Three Rivers Local Development Company, Inc.

Mississippi communities receive National Accreditation

Courtesy of Hinds Community College

The Hinds Community College Diesel Equipment Technology program has been accredited by the Associated Equipment Distributors Foundation. In 2017, the state modified requirements for graduating career-tech students by adopting the use of a nationally recognized credential. In 2016, the program expanded the second half of its degree plan to a facility on Old Highway 49 in Richland. Pictured, from left, are Dr. Chad Stocks, vice president of Workforce Development at Hinds, Dr. Andrea Mayfield, executive director of the Mississippi Community College Board, Paul Breazeale, executive director of the Hinds CC Board of Trustees, Dr. Clyde Muse, president of Hinds Community College, Robert Henderson, president emeritus of the AED Foundation.

Hattiesburg Clinic’s names Employee of the Quarter Christopher Loveless, a patient representative at Hattiesburg Clinic, has been named Employee of the Quarter for Hattiesburg Clinic’s first quarter of 2018.

Loveless was selected from more than 200 nominations. As a patient representative, Loveless’ Loveless job includes assisting patients to and from their vehicles and running errands for various departments, among other duties.

Alcorn ranked No. 7 on College Consensus’ list The College Consensus has ranked Alcorn State University No. 7 on its 2018 Best Historically Black Colleges and Universities list.

Alcorn is the list’s top public HBCU in the nation, top-ranked Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) school, and top-ranked Mississippi HBCU. The College Consensus ranking of the Best Historically Black Colleges and Universities is a tool for students looking for a college or university to fit their needs.

City of Biloxi recognizes IP IP Casino Resort Spa has been recognized by the City of Biloxi as the Adult Volunteer Group of the Year at its Volunteer Recognition Ceremony.

In February 2017, IP awarded over $1 million in support to various agencies and programs. Those included in the city are the Biloxi Chamber of Commerce, Gulf Coast Center for Nonviolence, Second

Liners Mardi Gras Club, St. Vincent de Paul Community Pharmacy, Biloxi First, Biloxi Excel By 5, NAACP Biloxi Branch, Friends of Hiller Park, Biloxi Little Theater, Salvation Army Kroc Center and Junior Auxiliary of Biloxi-Ocean Springs.

IP team members supported and raised funds for United Way of South Mississippi, Habitat for Humanity, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, IP’s Annual Christmas Toy Drive, IP’s Disaster Relief Drive, March of Dime, American Red Cross, and Gulf Coast Public Safety Feed the Needy campaign.

Many team members serve on various boards and committees, including the Mississippi Gulf Coast Tourism Commission, Gulf Coast Community Foundation, Bacot McCarty Foundation, United Way of South Mississippi, Boys and Girls Club of the Gulf Coast, Coast Young Professionals, PRAM, Rotary Club of Biloxi, Biloxi Chamber of Commerce, Gulf Coast Women’s Center for Nonviolence, Biloxi Bay Chamber of Commerce, and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College Foundation.

SBA names Small Business Persons of the Year, The Mississippi U.S. Small Business Administration recently recognized its 2018 Small Business Persons of the Year, Tim and Barbara Alamsha, owners of Rock U 2 in Ocean Springs.

In addition, the SBA recognize six other award winners and 10 lenders: Generational Family-Owned: Edwin M. Smith, Staffing Solutions LTD, Vicksburg.

Financial Services Champion: Ralph K. Hall, Community Bank of Mississippi, Brandon.

Minority Small Business Champion: Barbara Mayfield-Coatney, PhD, Coatney Consultants LLC, Waveland.

Veteran Small Business Champion: Terry J. Gales, Sr., Washington County Veterans Services Office,

The following Main Street communities in Mississippi have been designated as accredited Main Street America programs for meeting performance standards set by the National Main Street Center and the Mississippi Main Street Association (MMSA): Aberdeen, Amory, Baldwyn, Batesville, Belhaven, Biloxi, Booneville, Carthage/Leake County, Cleveland, Clinton, Columbus, Corinth, Crystal Springs, Greenville, Greenwood, Gulfport, Hattiesburg, Hernando, Holly Springs, Houston, Indianola, Kosciusko, Laurel, Louisville/Noxapater, Meridian, New Albany, Ocean Springs, Okolona, Olive Branch, Pascagoula, Pass Christian, Philadelphia, Picayune, Pontotoc County, Port Gibson, Ripley, Saltillo, Senatobia, Starkville, Tunica, Tupelo, Vicksburg, Water Valley, West Point and Woodville.

Each year, the National Main Street Center and its Coordinating Program partners announce the list of accredited Main Street America programs in recognition of their exemplary commitment to preservation-based economic development and community revitalization through the Main Street Approach.

In addition, several Mississippi communities were recognized for achieving meaningful improvements in downtowns and commercial districts across the country using the Main Street Approach. The are Byhalia, Charleston, Forest, Long Beach and Moss Point.

In 2017, Mississippi Main Street cities generated 325 net new businesses, 95 business expansions to existing businesses, 1,458 net new jobs, 109 facade rehabilitations and 86 downtown residential units.

More than 50,337 volunteer hours were recorded.

MMSA currently has 48 active Main Street programs throughout the state, five Downtown Network members, and numerous Association and Allied professional members.

Brown named loan officer at Community Bank Peyton Brown has recently been named Loan Officer. A native of Brandon, Mississippi, Brown has been a part of the Community Bank family for almost a year. He most recently served as a Credit Analyst.

Brown, is a graduate of Mississippi College with a Bachelor Brown of Business Administration in Finance.

In his new role, Brown will focus on growing loans and deposits through relational connections with businesses and individuals.

Active in his community, Brown serves as a member of Our Fondren Neighborhood Association, Team JXN, The Greater Jackson Chamber Ambassadors, and serves as a small group leader at Pinelake Church.

Newsmakers

12 Q Mississippi Business Journal Q June 8, 2018

Local dentists recognized most influential in U.S.

Dentists Dr. Wendy Hawkins-Lewis (The Winning Smile) and Dr. Jonathan Germany (Germany Dental) in Brandon and Dr. Kalil Abide (Harmony Dental) in Jackson have been selected winners in the the 2018 Most Influenti8al Dentists in America Program sponsored by Kleer. They were chosen for their demonstrated excellence as practitioners and thought leaders in dentistry.

Kleer selected influencers from each state by gauging their success across categories including the dentists’ social media footprint, positive patient ratings, overall media presence, and leadership and philanthropic efforts.

Kleer is a cloud-based platform that enables dentists to design and manage their own Membership Plan and offer it directly to their patients.

PRAM Central shines at 2018 State Conference

MCEE adds to its Board of Directors

The Mississippi Council on Economic Education (MCEE), which provides professional development for K-12 teachers and programming for K-12 students in economics, personal finance and entrepreneurship, has added to its 45-seat board of directors.

Beginning three-year terms are: John Boydston, VP Commerical Banking, Regions Bank; Brad Davis, Special Counsel, Jones Walker; Rachel De Vaughan, Director of Special Programs, MS Community College Board; Clare Hester, Partner and Founder, Capitol Resources; Yan Lee, Director of the Office of Research and Analytics, Mississippi Department of Education; John Oxford, Director of Corporate Communication and External Affairs, Renasant Bank; Dr. Sheila Porterfield, College of Business Interim Dean, Jackson State University; Adrienne Slack, Regional Executive, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, New Orleans Branch; Leslie Sorrell, Controller, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Mississippi; Jamie Vega, Manager of Business Development & Client Support, CSpire.

L. Lavon Gray Accepted Into Forbes Coaches Council

L. Lavon Gray Consulting Group, LLC, of Madison, a leadership development and consulting company, has announced that company founder L. Lavon Gray has been accepted into the Forbes Coaches Council, an invitation-only community for leading business consultants and Gray career coaches.

Forbes Coaches Council members are hand-selected to become part of a network that has access to a variety of exclusive benefits and resources, including the opportunity to contribute thought leadership articles and short tips on industry-related topics for publishing on Forbes.com.

Courtesy of PRAM Central

Members of the Public Relations Association of Mississippi (PRAM) Central Chapter took home the Professional Achievement Award, the Best in Show Award, three PRism awards, nine Award of Excellence recognitions and six Certificate of Merits at the recent State PRAM Conference. Lt. Christian Patterson, APR+M, public affairs director for the Mississippi Guard, won the Professional Achievement Award, which recognizes excellence in the field of public relations focusing on career accomplishments, professional achievements, accreditation/continuing education and community service. The Entergy Communications Department won two Prisms - PRAM’s highest honor - and Best in Show for its integrated social media program “Surviving the Social Storm: Entergy’s Response to Hurricane Harvey.” The Mississippi Department

Adams and Reese’s Ogletree elected a Fellow in ACREL Adams and Reese Jackson office partner Gee Ogletree has been elected as a Fellow of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers (ACREL).

Admission to the prestigious ACREL is by invitation only after a screening process with importance legal ability, experience, and high standards of professional and ethical conduct.

Ogletree joined Adams and Reese in 1997 as a founding member of the Jackson office and serves as the firm’s forestry team leader. He practices primarily in the areas of real estate, title insurance, economic development, forestry, natural resources, water, zoning, environmental and business matters.

Ogletree has published articles and spoken before bar, civic and public groups concerning real estate, title insurance, timber, water, agriculture issues and litigation. He also provides advice and title insurance services arising from the acquisition, development and financing of real property.

A 1977 graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi, Ogletree earned his J.D. from the University of Mississippi Law School in 1980. He is active in the American Bar Association, having served on the Council of the Section of Environment, Energy and Resources, and having served two terms as chair of the Forest Resources Committee that included development of a forestry educational tool for classroom teaching. He is counsel for the Mississippi Forestry Association and the Mississippi Manufactured Housing Association,

of Education also won a PRism. The Mississippi Department of Transportation won four of the nine Awards of Excellence – PRAM’s second highest honor.

Other Award of Excellence winners included Jackson Academy (which won two), Methodist Rehabilitation Center, the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce and the Woodward Hines Education Foundation. Certificate of Merits -- the third highest honor -- went to MDOT (three awards), the Mississippi Department of Mental Health (two awards) and Visit Mississippi of the Mississippi Development Authority took home one. PRAM Central member Matt Westerfield, associate communications officer for the Mississippi Division of Medicaid, was recognized for earning his Accreditation in Public Relations credential.

and also serves as an adjunct professor at Mississippi College School of Law, teaching real estate finance and development.

Oxford Treatment Center names new COO Oxford Treatment Center has named Mark Stovall, CAT, CMHT, the former statewide head of substance abuse treatment oversight as its first Chief Operating Officer (COO).

Stovall joined the center this spring with nearly 20 years experience in the coordination, development and management of Stovall inpatient chemical dependency and behavioral health programs.

Stovall is the former director of the Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Services for the Mississippi Department of Mental Health. During his eight years with the department, he led divisions including Adolescent Services, Clinical Services and Treatment Services.

His efforts at DMH included advancing the use of evidence-based programs in community treatment centers across Mississippi.

Stovall joins Oxford Treatment Center from Stonewater Adolescent Recovery Center, a private treatment facility located outside Oxford. As founding executive director, Stovall oversaw the development of the clinical program from the ground up.

A Mississippi native, Stovall holds a Master of Education degree in Community Counseling from Delta State University. He served as director of the Cleveland Crisis Intervention Center, an acute stabilization hospital for seriously mentally ill patients, and as director of adolescent treatment at Region I Mental Health Center-Sunflower Landing.

Stovall is a Certified Addictions Therapist and Certified Mental Health Therapist. He has served as director of the Mississippi School for Addiction Professionals.

Reunion names McCrimmon to Event Coordinator post Marleigh McCrimmon was recently appointed Event Coordinator at Reunion Golf & Country Club in Madison.

McCrimmon, a native of Greenwood, joins Reunion with an MBA from Mississippi State University. Most recently, she was Marketing and Community Liaison for Whole Foods Market. McCrimmon She also was Assistant Catering Director for Jackson’s Manship Wood Fired Kitchen.

Newsmakers Butler Snow adds four attorneys in Ridgeland

Butler Snow announced today that Andrea La’Verne Edney, W. Davis Frye, George Clanton (Clay) Gunn IV, and Adam D. Porter have joined the firm in its Ridgeland office. Edney and Porter will practice with the firm’s pharmaceutical, medical device and healthcare litigation Edney group. Frye and Gunn will practice with Butler Snow’s tort, transportation and specialized litigation group.

“We are fortunate to have such a great group of lawyers join Butler Snow,” said Donald Clark, Jr., chairman, Butler Snow.

“They are bringing a broad range of experience across several practice areas, which will provide Frye additional depth for our clients.”

With more than 22 years of litigation experience, Edney has significant trial experience in state and federal courts in Mississippi and other states, and has tried to verdict numerous cases, including medical negligence, premises liability, products liability, bad faith insurance, Gunn employment disputes and legal malpractice.

Edney serves on the board of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), is on the faculty of ABOTA’s Masters in Trial program and the ABOTA Trial Academy. She also served as co-chair of the ABA/ABOTA National Trial College. Edney has been named in Best Lawyers in Porter America® in the area of mass tort litigation/class actions - defendants, 2016 – 2018 and as one of the National Black Lawyers “Top 100 in the Country.” She was selected as “Outstanding Woman Lawyer of the Year” by the Mississippi Women Lawyers’ Association, and has been named one of “Mississippi’s Fifty Leaders in the Law” by the Mississippi Business Journal. Edney has received the Distinguished Service Awards from the Mississippi Bar Association, the Magnolia Bar Association, and the Capital Area Bar Association. She was selected as lawyer of the year by Mississippi College School of Law in 2018. Edney earned an undergraduate degree at Alcorn State University and her Juris Doctor from Mississippi College School of Law. Frye has more than 21 years of litigation and arbitration experience. His significant trial resume includes successfully defending clients in commercial disputes, health care/nursing home cases, premises liability suits and other tort litigation. He also has extensive experience in employment suits, antitrust litigation, contract disputes, and covenants not to compete.

Additionally, Frye routinely advises businesses, healthcare providers, and long term care companies concerning day-to-day

June 8, 2018

George McBride retires with 49 years of service

Courtesy of Natchez Trace Parkway

“After 49 years of service on the Natchez Trace Parkway, George McBride retires, and the Parkway loses a wealth of institutional knowledge,” stated Chief of Maintenance Barry Boyd. “For years, George’s goal was to retire with 50 years of service, but an opportunity that was just too good to pass up came George’s way, and he decided to leave us a year early.”

George began his career as many of National Park Service employees have – as a seasonal employee.

Not too many other National Park Service employees, however, share his first day’s experience. He was sent out to bury three Black Angus heifers that had been hit on the Parkway; the only piece of equipment he was given for the job was a shovel!

Despite that unpleasant welcome to the Natchez Trace Parkway and National Park Service, George has stuck with the Parkway as a tractor operator and then a tractor operator lead. His co-workers decided that the 1,000,000th John Deere tractor that came off their line should be assigned to him to use.

According to Chief of Maintenance Barry Boyd, “George is meticulous and diligent in helping to maintain 42 miles of the Parkway landscape in the Dancy subdistrict. George is one of those employees who you can always count on to keep maintenance needs covered. As you drive through the area, you can see the results of George’s work – landscape carefully mowed, hazard trees removed, and equipment properly maintained.”

“Although the work is the same, the equipment and people have changed over the years. Weather, such as tornados, hurricanes and ice storms, have caused some difficult days during George’s time here,” stated Superintendent Mary Risser. “Despite the challenges, I understand that George looks forward to coming to work each morning just as much as he did on his first day. George’s humble and self-less dedication to the National Park Service and our country is greatly appreciated.”

PHOTO CAPTION: George McBride (right) receives keys to the 1,000,000th John Deere tractor.

Carr elected to Tourism Association Executive Board Kelli Carr, Director of Tourism at the Cleveland/Bolivar County Chamber of Commerce, has been elected to the executive board of the Mississippi Tourism Association (MTA) to serve in the role of Secretary/Treasurer.

Carr has served on the statewide board as a representative of the Delta region for the past Carr 4 years.

“The Mississippi Tourism Association is an organization that focuses on advocating for and promoting travel and tourism in the state of Mississippi,” said Rochelle Hicks, Executive Director of MTA. “We are very excited to welcome Kelli Carr to our Executive

Board of Directors. Kelli has been involved in our association and our industry for many years and is a strong advocate for tourism not only in Cleveland, but also our state.”

Carr will serve on the executive board for 4 years, where she will eventually serve as President of the association.

“It is such an honor to be nominated and elected by my industry peers,” said Carr. “Tourism is such a vital industry not only on the state level, but the regional and local levels as well. We continue to welcome visitors from all over the world, and we recognize the economic impact tourists make on our communities. I am thrilled to be representing not only Cleveland, but our entire state.”

For more information on MTA, visit www.mstourism.com

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Baker Donelson achieves high rankings in Chambers USA Ten attorneys from the Jackson office of Baker Donelson have been ranked as leading practitioners in the recently released 2018 edition of Chambers USA, a highly regarded directory of America’s leading lawyers for business. Of these attorneys, two were included in Band 1, the top tier in Chambers USA. Across the Firm, 79 Baker Donelson attorneys were ranked as leading practitioners, with 19 of those attorneys ranked in Band 1. One attorney was ranked as a “Star Individual,” a ranking given to attorneys with exceptional recommendations in their field, and six attorneys also achieved a national ranking. Twenty-five of the Firm’s practice areas were recognized as leading statewide practices, with nine ranked in Band 1. The Firm’s health care practice was also ranked as a leading practice in the country.

In individual rankings, ten of the Firm’s Jackson attorneys were recognized in Chambers USA as among the leaders in their field: National Ranking Band 3 Gaming and Licensing: Dan M. McDaniel Jr. State Rankings Band 1 Corporate and Commercial: William S. Painter Corporate and Commercial (Gaming and Licensing): Dan M. McDaniel Jr. Band 2 General Commercial Litigation: William N. “Bill” Reed and J. Carter Thompson Jr. Labor and Employment: Brooks Eason Band 3 Environment: Michael Dawkins Real Estate: William Mendenhall, David A. Rueff Jr. and Ginger Weaver Band 4 General Commercial Litigation: Sheryl Bey Four of the Firm’s practices were recognized as leading practices in Mississippi: Band 1 General Commercial Litigation Band 2 Corporate and Commercial Real Estate Band 3 Labor and Employment

Crews honored as top Shelter Life Insurance agency Michael Crews, Shelter Insurance® agent at Brandon, Mississippi, has been honored among the top Shelter agencies, based on life insurance operations during 2017.

Crews has received the Life Star Award. The award is presented to the top 10 Shelter Insurance® agencies demonstrating the highest overall excellence in life insurance production and service during 2017.

Crews also qualified for Shelter’s Conference of Champions. The Champion designation recognizes members of a select group of Shelter agents who demonstrate the highest overall excellence in insurance services and meet corporate standards of sound agency operation during the previous year. He has represented Shelter since February 2000. Since then, he has earned the Champion designation 10 times.

Crews Agency LLC is located at 102 Town Square, Brandon

June 8, 2018 • MISSISSIPPI BUSINESS JOURNAL • www.msbusiness.com

AN MBJ FOCUS: HEALTH CARE

Pathway reaching more people across state

By CALLIE DANIELS BRYANT mbj@msbusiness.com

Nearly 20 years ago Dr. Brent Boyett established a medicine and dentistry practice in rural northwest Alabama. As years went by with countless patients Dr. Boyett realized he was in the middle of a catastrophic storm in rural South and across the nation: the opioid crisis.

Boyett changed his career path from dentistry to specialize in addiction medication. He then opened Pathway Healthcare in Madison, Ala. in October 2016.

Since then Pathway Healthcare expanded to nine locations across the South with three in Mississippi: Jackson, Vicksburg and Columbus.

Boyett explains he chose Columbus because he was most familiar with the needs of that area.

“The original location that we opened was developed out of my private practice in Hamilton, Ala., and I’m a native of Sulligent, Ala. across the state line from Columbus – maybe a half-hour away. I know people in that area and consider that my hometown area, so I know the great need for addiction patients in Columbus.

That was the outset of starting Pathway Healthcare. We wanted to establish a presence in Columbus to answer the need in that area,” said Boyett.

What makes his practice stand out is Boyett’s own experience in handling addictive patients in rural South. Where he once addressed addiction as a moral problem where he thought people could have simply said “no,” Boyett now sees and treats addiction successfully as a chronic disease that can be managed like diabetes

or hypertension.

“In many of patients who are addicted to opioids are being treated for chronic pain syndromes and the cause of physical pain is the most common symptom of opioid dependency,” Boyett said, “and it looks and feels like a chronic pain syndrome when it’s actually a chronic brain condition and the pain is a symptom of the opioid dependency itself.”

The scale of opioid crisis is alarming.

One statistic Boyett offered is that heroin overdose rates rose 300 percent between 2013 and 2016, a threefold increase in three years – and heroin and other illegal synthetic fentanyl is that it’s the tip of the iceberg with the massive scope of pill addiction in the South. Mississippi is the fifth highest number of opioid pain reliever prescriptions per person in 2015 as well as 563 reported overdoses from 2013 to 2016.

He noted that a nationwide problem in the opioid crisis is the scant access to qualified physicians and programs in addiction medicine. Though, the American Board of Medical Specialties addressed this in 2016 by recognizing addiction medicine as a subspecialty which led to a newly formed board in direction of preventative medicine against addiction. As a result there are 900 specially trained physicians in addiction medicine, and Dr. Boyett wants to use Pathway Healthcare to introduce more specialists to the rural South.

He said, “Our goal at Pathway is to increase the amount of physicians who are trained as addiction specialists and to integrate that in a hospital situation such as Baptist Medical Center in Jackson so patients can have access to addiction med-

icine care the same way they have access to cardiology, endocrinology and other specialists.”

Now serving as Chief Medical Officer, Boyett works with CEO Scott Olson to expand Pathway Healthcare across the rural South to help those most misunderstood and vulnerable in opioid addiction as well as other addictions such as alcoholism and smoking.

“The number one goal for this company is to build a culture that is really about helping people,” said Olson, “it sounds cliché but what we’re trying to do, the most important thing we can do every day, is helping our patients and helping the communities we serve.”

From a business angle Olson wants Pathway Healthcare to be known for providing highest quality care for addicts, and he wants to do it within healthcare system which is why it focuses on partnership with hospitals such as Baptist Medical Center where they are working on relocating its Jackson office to.

“We want to grow and expand, primarily in southeast United States in the near term,” Olson said, “providing access to this type of treatment where people don’t have it. The statistics are alarming: as few as one in 10 people suffer from addiction.

(Working in hospitals) make sense in how historically people have received care through hospitalization or inpatient care.

It serves very well for those who have a lot of money or those who have nothing.

There’s a group of people that don’t have the ability, the time, and the money to be in an inpatient facility but can go to their doctor’s office near a hospital so we have a huge goal of expanding our network providing more and more access with the highest quality healthcare.”

A part of that goal is to take some of the burden off hospitals like Baptist by helping them treat addiction as a chronic disease instead of detoxing and having patients then leave against medical advice.

Pathway Healthcare doesn’t yet have a formal arrangement with Baptist but they hope they will soon be able to assist Baptist in treating addictive patients by becoming its referral system in providing one on one care and outpatient treatment. “(Our) relationships revolve around training their doctors by providing consultations and sometime treatment working with their case management workers and being that referral for outpatient care that

can manage long-term cases. Hospitals aren’t set up to do that not because they don’t want to but just because (addiction is) something they weren’t focused on,” Olson said.

Pathway Healthcare’s first hospital partnership was with Ascension Hospital in Birmingham and it was through preferred provider agreement that they came to Baptist in Jackson where they eventually moved on hospital campus and became a referral system for its inpatient care and emergencies.

It also has a few partnerships with a few more in the works for hospitals in Tennessee and Louisiana.

Safe to say, Olson and Boyett have their hearts in rural Southeast where they feel the areas are underserved outside of cities and densely populated states.

“Combine that with the fact that across those states very few people get anyone who is offering medical treatment with behavioral counseling under a coordinated treatment plan in an office with an outpatient basis in the medical community – it really just doesn’t exist. We’re giving people an option to get evidence-based treatment and we’re just focused on a part of the country that’s underserved,” Olson said.

Pathway Healthcare is also reaching out to local doctors and outpatient clinics where patients seek treatment for substance abuse across Mississippi.

“We’ve partnered with some great doctors like Dr. (William) Aron in Jackson and Dr. (Sterling) Easterling in Vicksburg,” Boyett said. “We also partnered with Dr. Mike Turner and Dr. (Duke) Wood in Columbus. We are developing a network of clinics where patients come in to an outpatient setting to be treated for substance abuse of various kinds: tobacco, alcohol dependence as well as opiate dependency. Our goal is to establish a network of addiction medicine clinics in Mississippi that increases access to this kind of care.”

So far, Pathway Healthcare is treating 1,500 patients on a regular basis with a full-service platform that provides counseling for mental illnesses which can be one of many roots of addiction. Due to its dynamic counseling group, Olson said that Pathway Healthcare is qualified to give quality evidence-based care for addictions See PATHWAY, Page 17

Health Care

16 Q Mississippi Business Journal Q June 8, 2018

Mississippi resident takes over as chairwoman of largest type 1 diabetes nonprofit in world

By BECKY GILLETTE mbj@msbusiness.com

JDRF International, the largest non-profit dedicated to research into type 1 diabetes (T1D) in the world, now has Tupelo native Ellen Leake at the helm of its board of directors.

“We have been around for 48 years and we have never changed our mission, which is to cure diabetes,” said Leake, whose daughter, Elizabeth, contracted T1D 23 years ago. “I suspect we will be able to prevent the disease before we cure it. Near term prevention may be something that will get here before the ultimate cure for those living today with the disease. At JDRF, our commitment remains focused on improving the lives of those with T1D today, while advancing new research that will help the community tomorrow and prevent the disease for future generations.”

T1D is type of autoimmune disease

in which the pancreas stops producing insulin, a hormone that enables people to get energy from food. It occurs when the body’s immune system attacks and destroys the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. According Leake to JDRF, while its causes are not yet entirely understood, scientists believe that both genetic factors and environmental triggers are involved. Its onset has nothing to do with diet or lifestyle.

Leake first had a career in technology, working for IBM for 25 years before leaving to manage Splinter Creek Land Company.

“It was great to be in technology in that period of time,” she said. “Today I’m managing Splinter Creek Land Company, which is doing an upscale residential community on about 750 acres around three big lakes in Oxford. It is brand new

development and we are really thrilled with the first phase of it. In fact, we just had a great article written about us in Garden and Gun magazine.”

Leake currently spends about half of her time in Oxford, and the other half either in Jackson or traveling for JDRF, which has offices in each state. JDRF has directly funded more than $2 billion in scientific research while generating an additional $3 billion in private and government research investments.

Leake said her goals as chair of JDRF include raising more money to fund more clinical trials.

“The idea of bringing new therapies and drugs to the patient is front and center,” she said. “In addition to fundraising, my other main goal is to engage more people living with T1D. That is why I travel so much. I think we have locations in every state and six countries outside of the U.S.” Her daughter, Elizabeth, was diagnosed with diabetes when she was only 10 years

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old.

“It was a shock,” Leake said. “It is the same for every family. About 85 percent of us have no family member with the disease, so it comes like a ball out of left field. There is no preparation. There is not much you can do about it but figure out what the new normal will be. It is painful. You think your child might not be able to do things. Elizabeth was a great athlete, and the first thing we wondered was if she could still play soccer. She loves to hike. But you have to get on with your life. It was that way for us and I’m sure for every other family who confronts the same thing.”

Although needle pricks to check blood sugar levels and insulin shots were part of the new normal, Leake said Elizabeth was able to be physically active and continue the activities she loves. Recently she even was able to have a baby.

See DIABETES, Page 20

Health Care PATHWAY Continued from, Page 15

from alcoholism to cocaine and methamphetamine to opioid dependency.

Pathway Healthcare also offers cognitive behavioral therapy where medication falls short. The organization keeps in stride with latest evidence-based healthcare and medication coming up on markets that can treat addiction and underlying mental issues into a manageable condition.

Pathway Healthcare focuses on the administration of evidence-based medicine in an outpatient setting, which makes it not a rehabilitation facility, but rather a doctor’s office with trained addiction specialists that can provide counseling and medication to help patients manage their addictions.

“What kind of impact we’ve had,” Boyett said, “I think you’ll see patients can access care more readily and being able to do so in offices that feel like doctor’s offices. That’s intentional to reduce the stigma with disease of addiction and also to treat this disease like a chronic condition.”

Dr. Boyett credits advancements in neuroscience that helps him understand that addiction is a chronic disease that cannot be cured.

“The idea of detox discharge has been shown to not be very effective, I would think,” Boyett said, “and most experts agree, detoxing a patient off opioids or benzodiazepine and say they’re cured is the same as bringing in a diabetic then controlling their blood sugar only to say they’re cured. It doesn’t work that way.

It’s a chronic relapsing condition and addiction in its various forms has periods of exacerbation and periods of remission.

That’s a better way of thinking about the disease of addiction. We find patients do much better when they’re managed through a long-term outpatient care that may sometime include medicative assistance, but the patients are never disease-free. They have to be vigilant to protect their recovery.”

The medical approach to addiction is dynamic but it needs to be on a national scale.

“The crisis has definitely gotten worse, and it’s getting worse as we speak,” Boyett said. “Legislators in all 50 states are scrambling to figure out how to deal with this, and if you do approach it (medically) people do get better. But if you look at the drug issues in the last few decades there are two schools of thought.”

There is the supply reduction approach which policy makers propose incarceration, regulation, and border control to cut off supply – the premise of the War on Drugs. The other approach is to provide education, early prevention and longterm disease management also known as treatment.

“Education is important,” Boyett said. “Doctors and healthcare providers understand how dangerous opioids and benzodiazepine are. The cavalier attitude since the 1990s has been a big part of what’s resulting in this epidemic. We

June 8, 2018

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need to reeducate dentists, physicians and other prescribers as well as educating the public that narcos, percocets, vicodins given by their physicians do have a risk of forming dependency. Doctors and providers need to be trained to identify all types of substance abuse and be comfortable with having a conversation with that patient about ways in scientific and evidence-based ways how they can reduce harmful use and remedy it altogether. And finally, the doctors and the public need to realize that when people become dependent on that substance is a medical condition and that there are treatments, but no cures. People can live a normal, healthy life. Especially in opioid use disorder they’ll have periods of their lives where they’ll go into remission and periods where they’ll have their disease exacerbated again.”

To grapple with the sprawling reach of addiction nationwide, Olson said the states need to address the crisis from all angles especially on public awareness.

“I’m still shocked at how many people don’t understand that addiction is a disease and should be treated as such,” Olson said. “There’s so much shame and stigma around it and people still don’t apply proper standard of care across different states and regions within. Continuing to educate doctors and medical professions educating the community, our youth, and college campuses, will help.

People need to understand the dangers of prescription pain medication. While the issue is in press more and more I’m surprised that people don’t understand that taking opioids for more than 30 days can make you addicted.”

Prevention is another component of what states could do to address the crisis.

Olson said the doctors should not prescribe pain medication when unnecessary but rather find alternative pain management practices such as physical therapy.

“And last we need treatment available,” Olson said, “(we) have to treat it as a disease and remove that shame and stigma. The medical community has to work and collaborate and we want to be a part of the healthcare system. This effort shouldn’t be done outside the community in a strip mall. The medical community will help alleviate the stigma and provide collaboration and cohesive treatment.”

Education, prevention and treatment are the best ways in tackling the ongoing crisis, Olson said. And it takes all levels of the government and society’s focus to remedy it.

While the public addresses the issue Pathway Healthcare offers cost-effective way to get treatment for addiction no matter the patients’ time and financial restraints.

“If you can’t afford it or don’t have time, you’re wrong,” Olson said, “you can’t afford to not get help. We can fit your schedule, and we won’t judge you.

We’re here to help you, serve you and care for you and we hope that you leave there knowing someone is on your side.”

Health Care

18 Q Mississippi Business Journal Q June 8, 2018 LAW ELEVATED

Blue Cross policy dispute battle revisited

I

n terms of governmental policy disputes, the 2013 battle between a private hospital chain, Health Management Associates, and Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi, was epic in proportions.

What began as a contract dispute between two major corporations quickly escalated, eventually involving the governor, the commissioner of insurance, the attorney general, the Legislature, and a federal district court. The dispute began in June of that year, when HMA sued Blue Cross for breach of contract, claiming the insurer had changed policy provisions in a way that violated the network contract that governed their relationship, costing the hospital chain millions of dollars. It took Blue Cross less than a week to respond.

In a move clearly designed to send a message not only to HMA, but also to other providers who might be contemplating anything similar: Blue Cross simply terminated HMA’s network provider contract, effectively throwing HMA’s 10 Mississippi hospitals out of the Blue Cross network, forcing doctors and their Blue Cross insured patients to consider other options.

That was a big deal then, and would be today, because Blue Cross has the largest

healthcare insurance footprint in our state. The Henry J. Kaiser Fa m i l y Fo u n d a tion, using 2016 data, lists Blue C r o s s atop the individual health insurance market (43 percent), the small group market (81 percent), and the large group market (82 percent) in Mississippi. It is estimated, nationwide, that one in three Americans – approximately 106 million – are beneficiaries of a Blue affiliate. Blue plans are the largest insurer in most states, and are considered enormously influential in political and health policy circles across the country.

The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, a nationwide organization, licenses

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one or both of the Blue Cross a n d B l u e Shield brands to operate in distinct markets across t h e country.

A Blue plan operates in every U.S. state, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Mississippi’s Blue Cross licensee has an interesting history. Organized pursuant to a statute passed by the Mississippi Legislature in 1947, Mississippi Hospital and Medical Service (the company’s original name) was converted to a non-profit hospital, medical and surgical service membership corporation the following year through a 1948 statute that apparently applied only to it. In 1973 the company changed its name to Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi, Inc. In 1994 the Mississippi legislature passed HB 989, a bill that allowed the company to convert to mutual insurance company status (a mutual insurance company is owned by its policyholders and any profits are either retained with the company or rebated to policyholders in the form of dividend distributions or reduced future premiums), and at the same time brought Blue Cross under the jurisdiction of the commissioner of insurance. The vote in the House of Representatives, where I served at the time, was unanimous. However, I am unsure whether many of us, myself included, were aware that the new Mississippi law was part of a larger unfolding story.

The nonprofit status of some Blues had become a point of contention by the 1990s.

Operating as charities for decades, many Blue plans had built up vast market shares, and associated good will and cash reserves.

A number of Blues announced plans to convert to for-profit status or merge with other insurers around that time, but some of these plans drew criticism on the grounds that a for-profit entity or other insurer ought not fall heir to the assets of a charity. Not all of these conversions went according to plan. For example, in 1998 Maryland’s legislature enacted a law giving the commissioner of insurance the authority to set-aside public or charitable assets possessed by health service plans. A 2001 amendment required that conversion assets be preserved in a trust, to be expended

only at the direction of the state legislature. In Mark W. Garriga 2002, the Maryland legislature passed even more stringent requirements for such conversions, including a requirement that the applicant must prove that the conversion is in the public interest.

It is worth noting, however, that the Mississippi legislation that provided the pathway for the conversion here did not require the company to part with any of its assets accumulated as a nonprofit entity.

Not surprisingly, more than two-thirds of the subscribers and the company’s board approved the conversion, the law requiring that it be “in the best interests of the subscribers and the corporation. . . .” The 1996 pro forma Blue Cross filed with its conversion plan showed accumulated assets of more than $200 million. With the way now clear, Blue Cross was free to transfer assets to the new insurance company, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi, a Mutual Insurance Company. In a form letter to customers, Blue Cross’s President and CEO stated at the time, “our conversion to a mutual insurance company will help us maintain our position as a leader.” His ambitions proved to be wildly understated.

Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi currently lists assets of $962 million, with more than $627 million of that sitting in reserves. Net premium revenues last year topped $1.3 billion.

The issue that drove the HMA/Blue Cross dispute has not gone away. In August of 2017 North Mississippi Medical Center filed suit against Blue Cross alleging that the insurer had made unilateral changes to reimbursement methodologies under their contract, costing the hospital system approximately $1 million per month since January of 2017. The University of Mississippi Medical Center recently announced its intention to terminate its network contract, in part because Blue Cross continues to make changes to rates and reimbursement methodologies at will, and refuses to renegotiate its 28-year-old contract with the state’s only academic medical center.

Full disclosure: our law firm is privileged to be one of those that represent UMMC. But it doesn’t take any particular insight or viewpoint to appreciate institutions like UMMC and North Mississippi Medical Center are extremely important to our state, its economic development, and the health of its people. Threats to their very existence, whatever the source, should concern us all.

Mark W. Garriga is an attorney at Butler Snow’s Ridgeland office whose practice focuses on health care regulatory and transaction matters, administrative law, disaster assistance and government relations.

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Health Care

20 Q Mississippi Business Journal Q June 8, 2018

SPORTS MEDICINE & ORTHOPEDIC CLINICS

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DIABETES Continued from, Page 16

When Elizabeth was diagnosed in 1994, the endocrinologist predicted T1D would be cured in 10 years. â&#x20AC;&#x153;In the 1990s, we thought a cure was just around the corner,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The more we have learned, the most complicated the disease is. But it is important to realize that we have technology now to ease the burden until the cure comes.

I can see Elizabeth has an easier life with the tools available today than I could ever have imagined during that ďŹ rst week or two of diagnosis.â&#x20AC;?

Of 30,000 people in the U.S. diagnosed with T1D each year, about half are diagnosed as adults. Leake said that is why they have tried to get away from the name Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and instead are known by the anacronym

JDRF. One device Elizabeth is using that has helped her better manage her disease is Medtronicâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s MiniMed 670G hybrid closed loop system, which consists of an insulin pump with tubing, a continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) sensor inserted under the skin, and a transmitter worn on the body. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The two devices have been connected through software that manages insulin delivery,â&#x20AC;? Leake said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Medtronic called this a hybrid closed loop because insulin injection is based on readings from the CGM. The pump calibrates based on glucose readings. It is not fully automatic. You still have to count your carbs when you eat and factor those in. But the CGM allows you to be more precise and helps avoid high and lows in blood sugar levels. Software helps automate that whole process.â&#x20AC;?

Leake said this has been a major advance

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for a couple of reasons. First of all, the U.S. has traditionally been behind Europe and Australia getting devices approved. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This time we leap frogged Europe, Australia and Canada,â&#x20AC;? Leake said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It was approved by the FDA in November 2016 and hit the market April 2017. The U.S. was the ďŹ rst. That was huge because it indicates the FDA really understands how important the technology is for people living with T1D. The other reason it is so important is it reduces the daily burden.

That is something front and center to families. That is a huge milestone.â&#x20AC;?

In addition to research, patient advocacy is also important. So, there is a whole group with JDRF that works on advocacy.

Congress has appropriated $150 million per year since 1998 into diabetes research.

Leake said the government has funded almost $2.6 billion in special diabetes programs.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;So, they have done some huge studies,â&#x20AC;?

Leake said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d like to see us supercharge the number of human clinical trials and the research that we are funding.â&#x20AC;?

Leake has held numerous volunteer roles with JDRF and for her many efforts received the Jim Tyree Chairmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Choice Award in 2015. She and her husband helped formed the JDRF Mississippi Chapter in 1998. At the national level, Leake is a member of the National Institute of Healthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s National Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases Advisory Council and has chaired the JDRF Development Committee (2013-2014), the Lay Review Committee (2011-2012) and the Information Technology Working Group (2009-2011).

To learn more, visit www.jdrf.org.

Health Care

June 8, 2018

Q

Mississippi Business Journal

Q

21

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April 2018

22 Q Mississippi Business Journal Q June 8, 2018

DeSoto 3.4

Mississippi 4.2 U.S. 3.7

Tunica 4.5

MISSISSIPPI’S APR. UNEMPLOYMENT FIGURES

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

Tate 4.4

Mar ‘18 1,272,700 54,600 4.3 1,218,100

Apr ‘17 1,279,400 58,600 4.6 1,220,800

‘17 Avg. 1,280,000 64,900 5.1 1,215,100

Yalobusha 4.4

Mar ‘18 161,548,000 6,671,000 4.1 154,877,000

Apr 2018 3,984 34,229 $4,750,879 23,194 1,385 538 $204.83

Apr ‘17 159,817,000 6,555,000 4.1 153,262,000

Mar 2018 4,269 34,609 $5,040,028 24,481 1,387 489 $205.88

‘17 Avg. 160,320,000 6,982,000 4.4 153,337,000

Leflore 6.1

Carroll 5.2

Holmes 7.9

Yazoo 4.8

Issaquena 8.4

Monroe 4.3

Clay 5.2 Lowndes 4.3

Oktibbeha 4.0

Choctaw 4.3

Winston 4.9

Attala 5.3

Leake 4.4

Neshoba 4.2

Scott 3.5

Newton 4.5

Noxubee 5.9

Kemper 6.9

Madison 3.3 Warren 4.7 Rankin 3.1

Hinds 4.1

Claiborne 7.8

Copiah 4.7

Jefferson 10.5 Adams 5.3

Franklin 5.0

Wilkinson 7.1

Lincoln 4.1

Amite 5.1

Pike 4.9

— Mississippi Department of Employment Security4.7 - 7.1 7.2 - 10.5

James A. Antinnes, M.D. Rocco A. Barbieri, M.D.

Lauderdale 4.5

Clarke 5.4

Jasper 5.3

Smith 3.8

Simpson 4.0

Covington Jones 4.2 4.5

Wayne 4.9

Lawrence Jeff Davis 4.9 5.5

Walthall 5.7

Marion 4.7

Unemployment Rates

F. Neal Gregg, D.O.

Montgomery 4.6

Sharkey 5.8

** 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.

3.1 - 3.5 3.1 - 3.5 Labor force amounts are produced in cooperation with the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

3.6 - 4.6 3.6 - 4.6 Note: Unless indicated state and county data presented are not seasonally adjusted.

Y. Susi Folse, M.D.

Tishomingo 4.1

Itawamba 3.7

Chickasaw 4.4

Webster 4.6

Washington 6.0

Moving Avg.** 160,859,000 6,733,000 4.2 154,126,000

Apr 2017 5,042 40,546 $5,172,775 25,346 1,606 598 $204.09

Calhoun 3.9

Grenada 3.8

Sunflower 6.7

Lee 3.4

Pontotoc 3.5

Bolivar 5.1

Moving Avg.** 1,277,000 61,300 4.8 1,215,700

Lafayette 3.6

Quitman 6.7

Coahoma 5.9

Humphreys 7.4

Apr ‘18 161,280,000 5,932,000 3.7 155,348,000

Alcorn 3.7

Tippah 3.9

Union 3.2

Tallahatchie 4.3

Apr ‘18 1,277,400 53,900 4.2 1,223,500

Benton 4.6

Prentiss 3.9

Panola 5.5

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

Marshall 4.3

Lamar 3.3

Pearl River 4.3

Hancock 4.4

4.7 - 7.1 7.2 - 10.5

Forrest 4.0

Perry 5.0

Greene 5.0

George 5.0

Stone 5.1

Harrison 4.1

Jackson 4.8

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

Hallie Bell, M.D.

J. Hunter Berry, M.D.

Constantine P. Charoglu, M.D.

Robert C. Dews, M.D.

John H. Kosko, M.D.

David C. Lee, M.D.

Lawrence L. Line, M.D.

Keith P. Melancon, M.D.

James N. Sikes, M.D.

Michael J. Stonnington, M.D.

D. Ross Ward, M.D.

Michael C. Patterson, M.D. George H. Robertson, M.D. Douglas W. Rouse, M.D.

June 8, 2018

Q

Mississippi Business Journal

Q

23

THE SPIN CYCLE

Former WPP head Martin Sorrell plans new ad empire F

ormer WPP CEO Martin Sorrell – one of the most innovative ad moguls of our time, who crashed amid a misconduct scandal – is prepping to launch a new branding empire.

Recently, Sorrell announced plans to build a new advertising, marketing services and ad-tech company.

Derriston Capital, a British firm whose website says it was created “to consider opportunities within the global medical technology industry,” reached an agreement to acquire S4 Capital, an investment vehicle backed by Sorrell, \a Derriston spokesman said to AdAge. S4 Capital was set up with $53.4 million of Sorrell’s own money and $14.7 million from institutional investors.

A spokesman for Sorrell said via email “we are not commenting on market speculation.”

The news of Sorrell’s move was first reported by Sky News.

The acquisition will be treated as a reverse takeover, which will involve Derriston changing its name and becoming S4 Capital Plc. Sorrell will become the entity’s executive chairman.

S4 will be a vehicle to create a global advertising, marketing services and ad-tech company by acquisition, the Derriston spokesman said. The news comes a monthand-a-half after Sorrell stepped down as CEO of WPP following an internal investigation into misconduct, ending a 33-year career at the world’s largest agency holding company.

Earlier in May, he said at a conference in New York he doesn’t plan to go into “voluntary or involuntary retirement” and plans to “start again.”

Roseanne Barr brand crashes, burns Just months after Roseanne Barr vaulted to stardom again and her show became the biggest new sitcom of the year for ABC, it all came crashing down in flames after and incendiary and racist tweet.

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Her sitcom “Roseanne” returned in March after a two-decade absence to enormous ratings on ABC. Network executives were celebrating their strategy of appealing to wider swaths of the country after Donald J. Trump’s surprising election win and the president himself called Ms. Barr to congratulate her on the show’s large audience.

But last week, that all came crashing down. ABC abruptly canceled “Roseanne” hours after Barr, the show’s star and co-creator, posted a racist tweet about Valerie Jarrett, an African-American woman who was a senior adviser to Barack Obama throughout his presidency and considered one of his most influential aides. Barr wrote if the “muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj.”

Barr later apologized, but it was too late.

In announcing the show’s cancellation, ABC’s entertainment president, Channing Dungey, said in a statement that “Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values.”

Barr has suffered from self-inflicted wounds her entire career, but this may kill her reputation – and brand – forever!

Atari, Intellivision reboot with retro games The retro video game trend is gaining extra life.

Just as a rebooted Atari began taking preorders Wednesday for a modern version of its classic ‘70s video game system, Atari’s old rival Intellivision started to reemerge, according to USA TODAY. Both are the latest veteran names to join in on the retro video gaming movement.

Nintendo jump-started the trend with the limited release two years ago of its NES Classic, a miniaturized $60 plug-and-play clone of the 1985 system with 30 on-board games including Super Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong Atari is planning to release its VCS system in spring 2019 but began taking

preorders on Wednesday on Indiegogo. com (prices starting at $199). Among the classic games that will be preloaded on the system: Asteroids, Centipede and Missile Command.

Intellivision did not say what games would be playable or whether they would be modern-day resurrections of classics such as Armor Battle and Utopia on its rebooted system.

In interviews, officials said there would be 10 games available at launch, and consumers can download games onto an SD memory card. Details about the console will be released Oct. 1.

Caffeinated Mic | Starbucks sensitivity training For reputation repair, Starbucks’ recent shutting down of 8,000 stores across North America to train some 175,000 employees about racial insensitivity may be considered a Chai Crème Frappuccino Blended Crème for its brand.

In the golden rule of crisis communications, the coffee king admitted its egregious mistake and announced what it was going to do to fix the situation.

The mistake: an incident that happened in April and prompted this “emergency training.” Two African-American men were wrongly arrested, for the crime of nothing more than just sitting in a Starbucks. When the manager asked them to leave because they weren’t buying anything, they said that they were waiting for a colleague to arrive. Not satisfied by their explanation, the manager called the police and had them arrested, which began a PR crisis for the entire company.

Starbucks responded quickly – one of the tenets of effective crisis management – with a sincere apology and a plan to respond to the incident, which included the closing of its stores for the training.

And it put its money where its mouth is!

The training cost the company an estimated $12 million+ in lost profit alone.

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Chief of Staff - Office of the Chancellor.

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Howard Schultz, Starbucks’ chairman, realizes that a fourhour training session on racial bias is not the final answer. But, it is a start – and a good start.

In Schultz’s words: “We Todd Smith realize that four hours of training is not going to solve racial inequity… but we have to start the conversation.” The message is clear. Starbucks wants to be inclusive and create a safe environment for its customers regardless of race, religion, etc. It wants to be a part of its customers’ lives, and that can’t happen unless everyone feels comfortable and appreciated.

The training was video-based. After watching videos, managers facilitated discussions around the topic. Next steps in the plan are to have follow-up discussions and training on the topic. In other words, this is not “one and done.” It’s an ongoing effort to keep the topic at the forefront for employees and consumers alike.

In addition employees were shown a documentary film on public racial discrimination, You’re Welcome, by award-winning filmmaker Stanley Nelson, which was commissioned by Starbucks, although the company didn’t have editorial input.

Starbucks’ PR crisis, and its swift and apparently sincere response could create positive changes for many companies throughout the country, and maybe even across the globe.

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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