MBJ_Jun16_2017

INSIDE — Settlement shuts down payday lender, cuts fine nearly in half — Page 2 ENVIRONMENT

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June 16, 2017 • Vo. 39. No. 24 • 20 pages

RETAIL

MONEY

Rising sea levels pose challenges for the Gulf Coast

Mississippi manufacturing leads downturn in state economy

— Page 4

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Law & Accounting {Section begins P12}

» Cloud accounting software not expected to replace CPAs » Parental leave for moms AND dads » Chambers USA Lawyers

{The List P13} » Oldest Law Firms

» Ocean Springs growing with two new developments

{P5}

By JACK WEATHERLY jack.weatherly@msbusiness.com

FILE/MBJ

The 958,000-square-foot Northpark was built in 1984 and last underwent a major renovation in 1998.

Northpark faces brave new world of mall retailing

By JACK WEATHERLY jack.weatherly@msbusiness.com Credit Suisse predicted earlier this month that up to 25 percent of U.S. malls will be closed within five years. The Switzerland-based financial services giant’s outlook sent ripples across the world of malls, which have dominated the retail landscape for several decades.

Credit Suisse and other observers see an overbuilt market, not unlike the housing market of a decade ago.

Northpark Mall on County Line Road has been a local poster child for a troubled retail

center for the past few years, as it has lost a number of prestige tenants to new malls, such as the Renaissance at Colony Park in Ridgeland and Dogwood Festival in Flowood.

Built in 1984, it last underwent a major renovation in 1998. It was sold in SeptemKniffen ber by Simon Properties, the nation’s largest mall operator, to El Segundo, Calif.-based Pacific Retail Part-

Mississippi’s economy slipped again in April primarily because of manufacturing workers’ average workweek fell below 40 hours for the first time in six years.

The “manufacturing employment intensity index” is one of three indices that declined in April, sending the Leading Index of Economic Indicators (MLI) downward, according to a monthly report issued by the Institutions of Higher Learning’s University Research Center.

Mary Willoughby, chief of labor market information for the Mississippi Department of Employment Security, said in an email that the manufacturing “wage estimates are based on employer responses from a probability based survey. “ “We determined that the drop was not caused by a single event. In both durable and nondurable manufacturing there were numerous respondents in the sample that reported shorter workweeks for production workers. The data for most of those respondents was coded as “Shorter Scheduled Workweek”. We saw one respondent’s data coded “Temporary Shutdown.”

Mississippi Manufacturing Association See DOWNTURN, Page 8

See NORTHPARK, Page 8

http://msbusiness.com/events/50-leading-business-women/

2 Q Mississippi Business Journal Q June 16, 2017 BANKING & FINANCE

AGRICULTURE

Settlement shuts down payday lender, cuts fine nearly in half

By TED CARTER mbj@msbusiness.com

All American Check Cashing owner Michael Gray has settled with state banking regulators after years of failed legal appeals over charges his dozens of payday lending stores used illegal loan rollovers to trap borrowers in a cycle of debt.

In exchange for Gray dropping further appeals of a license revocation order and civil penalties from the Mississippi Department of Banking and Consumer Finance, the state cut a $1.6 million fine by nearly half. With the settlement, Gray gives up his licenses to operate his 75 payday lending stores across the state, refunds $135,000 to 703 victimized borrowers and pays $889,350 in civil fines.

Regulators calculated the civil penalty based on $275 for each of the 3,234 loan rollover violations investigators uncovered in a probe that began in June 2014, according to the settlement order filed with Hinds Chancery Court.

The Banking Department’s original order issued in January 2015 specified a $3 million fine.

Payday lenders make loans to borrowers who have a source of regular income.

The borrower leaves the lender a post dated check for which the lender can seek payment if the loan is not repaid within a specified time.

Regulators say their lengthy investigation found that Madison-based All American initiated a companywide scheme in which borrowers were encouraged to pay only the fees on their payday loans and get a new loan to replace the former one. This practice, regulators say, led to higher and higher debt for the borrowers and violated Mississippi’s ban on rollovers of the low-dollar short term loans.

Regulators say – and Gray does not deny – that his stores offered borrowers the option of paying the fees of $21.95 on each $100 of the loans and to take out a new loan to pay off the old one. The stores rolled over the loans every two weeks.

The settlement came a day after Chancery Judge Dewayne Thomas lifted a stay he granted May 12 of a Banking Department order for Gray to surrender his check cashing licenses, cover the $135,000 in refunds and pay the $1.6 million civil fine.

Thomas concluded “there is little likelihood that the plaintiffs will prevail on this matter on appeal” and ruled he thusly lacked authority to postpone the license

revocations and refunds.

However, Thomas left in place a stay on the $1.6 million fine. He set a $500,000 bond as a condition for Gray making further appeals of the fine.

Thomas said the absence of a challenge by Gray to the rollover violations during a recent administrative hearing all

A former executive of All American said he has received reports that Gray has sold some or all his 75 stores, including one in Canton housed in a building Gray owns.

but killed his chances of successfully appealing the state’s order to shut down his stores. “Such violations constitute a basis for revocation of the license,” Thomas wrote in his two-page ruling Until the June 5 order from Thomas, Gray managed through legal maneuvers to dodge Banking Department efforts to close his stores, force payment of refunds to hundreds of customers and the initial fine of $3 million.

Gray attorney Michael Cory vowed to appeal the ruling to the Mississippi Supreme Court. By the next day, Gray, Cory and Banking Department officials negotiated the settlement, however.

Gray failed two years ago to persuade the Chancery Court to toss out the Bank-

ing Department’s license revocations. He next turned to the federal courts, where the issue remained tied up until fall of this year. Both the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi in Jackson and the U.S. Court of Appeals for The Fifth Circuit in New Orleans rejected his appeals.

All American’s lawyers characterized actions of the banking regulators as “government thuggery” motivated by personal grudges against Gray. They argued that the state’s action will put nearly 200 people out of work and leave thousands of Mississippians without access to small, short-term loans.

A former executive of All American said he has received reports that Gray has sold some or all his 75 stores, including one in Canton housed in a building Gray owns.

Though Gray will not have state check cashing licenses to transfer to new owners, he can sell his payday customer loans to another company that could collect on them, the former executive said. As an example, he said Gray could sell $100 All American customer loans to another payday loan company for $40 apiece.

Mississippi Banking Commissioner Charlotte Corley and her staff have refused to answer questions from the Mississippi Business Journal about All American for nearly a year. The department has given no reason for this.

However, Corley, in a statement after her May 11 order, said: “I had no option but to permanently revoke all licenses held by All American or its owner, Mr. Michael Gray.”

Fault, Corley said, “lies with Michael Gray and those individuals that he placed in positions of authority within his company.”

Gray’s troubles do not stop with state regulators. The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is suing All American in federal court in Jackson, seeking to force refund payments to hundreds of customers. The CFPB says the refunds represent money customers were due but withheld by All American.

A federal magistrate judge in early May denied All American’s attempts to freeze that case on claims that the bureau is unconstitutional and ordered the company to submit documents the agency demanded.

Trial on the CFPB suit is scheduled for January.

STATE’S WHEAT CROP FORECAST IS A PLEASANT SURPRISE

By JACK WEATHERLY jack.weatherly@msbusiness.com Perhaps a fitting culmination to an erratic weather pattern is that Mississippi’s winter wheat yield is expected to rise by double digits.

Whether the state would even see a crop at all hinged on a drought that pushed planting to late in 2016.

A crop was planted, even though it was smaller than the previous year by about 10 percent.

However, an unusually dry early spring may have boosted the crop, said Dr. Brian Williams, agricultural economist for the MSU Extension Service, who added that the harvest began only last week.

Consequently, the forecast for this season’s crop is 2.7 million bushels, compared with the previous year’s 2.4 million, according to the USDA’s June 9 report.

That’s a yield of 60 bushels per acre, compared with the 2015-2016 yield of 48 bushels.

Dr. Erick Larson, corn and wheat specialist with the extension service, was quoted earlier in the year that “even though the wheat was planted very late, the warm winter allowed to grow rapidly. It caught up and passed normal growth growth points on the calendar.”

Still Larson expressed skepticism on Tuesday that the forecast will be borne out. The small crop is more vulnerable to swings in the weather.

July wheat futures were $4.44 per bushel on Tuesday, compared with the peak of 2012 when they reached $8.80 to $8.90. “We’ve had a steady downward trend since then,” Williams said.

Winter wheat, a small member of the Mississippi row crop family, offers a safety net because its winter-to-spring growing season and early harvest allow farmers to “double-crop” and diversify their efforts.

June 16, 2017

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ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Mississippi Main Street announces 2017 awards SPECIAL TO THE MBJ

The Mississippi Main Street Association celebrated achievements of Mississippi Main Street Communities at the 28th Annual Awards Luncheon June 8 at the Old Capitol Inn in downtown Jackson.

The annual awards luncheon honors Main Street directors, board members and volunteers and recognizes the most outstanding downtown development projects from Main Street communities in Mississippi.

The awards and their winners, program/ town and recipient are: Âť Outstanding Community Education Campaign: Bicycle Sculpture Project, Pontotoc County Chamber of Commerce/Main Street Assoc., Dr. Lee Waltress. Âť Outstanding Creative Fundraiser: West Point Pickers, West Point Main Street, Lisa Klutts. Âť Outstanding Marketing: Ocean Springs Main Street, Cynthia Dobbs Sutton. Âť Premier Partner: Wired for Sound, Team Cleveland, Tricia Walker. Âť Creative New Event: Home Grown: A Farm to Table Dinner, Main Street Clinton, Marsha Barham, and Night Market; Starkville Main Street Association, Jennifer Prather. Âť Outstanding Image Promotion: Team

Cleveland Main Street Branding, Team Cleveland, Lisa Cooley. Âť Outstanding Image Promotion Honorable Mention: Downtown Window Cling Campaign, Main Street Columbus, Barbara Bigelow. Âť Outstanding Retail Promotion: Shop Small Saturday, Historic Hattiesburg Downtown Association, Keenon Walker. Âť Outstanding Rehabilitation Project: Mantee Depot Restoration, Belinda Stewart Architects, Belinda Stewart. Âť Outstanding Visual Merchandising: H Squared, Team Cleveland, Eric Kelly. Âť Outstanding Public Improvement Project: 1st Choice Bank Gateway on the Trail, Pontotoc County Chamber of Commerce/ Main Street Assoc., Mayor Jeff Stafford. Âť Outstanding Adaptive Reuse Project: Slowboat Brewing Company, Laurel Main Street, Kenny Mann. Âť Outstanding Economic Impact Project: Pop Up Flea Market, Kosciusko Main Street, Mayor Jimmy Cockroft. Âť Outstanding New Business: Porter Pub-

lic House, Historic Hattiesburg Downtown Association, Roy Windham. Âť Outstanding New Business: The Thirsty Devil, Downtown Tupelo Main Street Association, Debbie Brangenberg. Âť Outstanding Community Transformation: City of Batesville, Batesville Main Street Program, Teddy Morrow. Âť Outstanding Community Transformation: Elivs Presley Birthplace Trail, Downtown Tupelo Main Street Association, Debbie Brangenberg. Âť Main Street Excellence in Design: Angela Clanton, Batesville Main Street Program. Âť Main Street Hero: Sam Jaynes, Aberdeen Main Street; Mother Goose, Main Street Columbus, Edwina Williams; Jeff Baldock, Main Street Pascagoula; Dr. Miriam Clark, Pontotoc County Chamber of Commerce/Main Street Assoc.; Mary Ayers, Senatoboia Main Street; The Reed Family, Downtown Tupelo Main Street Association; Laura Beth Strickland, Vicksburg Main Street Program. Âť Main Street Trailblazer: Kristen Stevens,

West Point Main Street. Âť Outstanding Main Street Director: Tara Lytal, Main Street Clinton. Âť Innovation on Main Street: Fishbone Alley, Gulfport Main Street, Laurie Toups.

Awards were presented by MMSA Board President Allison Beasley, MMSA Past President Suzanne Smith, and staff. “This is the Mississippi Main Street Association’s most important event of the year,� said Allison Beasley, association president. “It gives us an opportunity to meet with and celebrate the local directors and investors throughout the state that are doing the hard work of making our downtown districts more competitive, successful and sustainable.�

Since 1993, Mississippi Main Street Association has generated more than $5 billion in private and public investment (including more than $1.2 billion in public investment).

In 2016, Mississippi Main Street programs generated 234 net new businesses, 68 business expansions to existing businesses, 1,811 net new jobs, 104 façade rehabilitations and 366 downtown residential units.

MMSA has 50 active Main Street cities throughout the state, seven Downtown Network members, and numerous Associate, Allied professional members, and Friends of Main Street.

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4 Q Mississippi Business Journal Q June 16, 2017 ENVIRONMENT AND BUSINESS

Rising sea levels pose challenges for the Mississippi Gulf Coast

By BECKY GILLETTE mbj@msbusiness.com

Sea levels around the world are rising at greater rates that were initially predicted.

What does that mean for coastal areas like the Gulf Coast?

Rising sea levels make the Gulf Coast more vulnerable to storm surge associated with hurricanes, said Dr. Torbjorn Tornqvist, chairman of the Tulane University Department of Earth and Environmental Science, who has published research on sea level rise and abrupt climate change. “Even if the hurricane climate wouldn’t change, the impact of hurricanes will become increasingly severe because higher sea levels have made the region more vulnerable.”

Tornqvist said negative impacts from sea level rise are already occurring; this is not just something expected to happen in some point in the distant future.

“Of course, it is very likely that the impacts in the future (i.e., the next couple of decades and beyond) will get worse,” Tornqvist said.

Looking back at predictions of global sea-level rise made a few decades ago, the actual rate of sea-level rise that has happened since is following the more pessimistic scenario, Tornqvist said. Globally averaged rates are currently about 3 millimeters per year.

“Along the U.S. Gulf Coast, the rate of sea-level rise in the past century has already been four times higher than during the previous millennium (i.e., before the industrial revolution),” he said.

Dr. Ed Cake, a biological oceanographer with Gulf Environmental Associates, Ocean Springs, said there could be many negative consequences to sea level rise including the loss of vegetated estuarine wetlands and all of the ecological benefits derived therefrom, including, but not limited to, native shellfish and finfish production.

He has concerns that the Mississippi coastal barrier islands could disappear due to erosion, leaving the mainland without the islands that provide protection from hurricanes. Cake said the Coast could also lose transportation corridors such as Highway 90 and Interstate 10 and the CSX Rail Line.

“There is also concern about the increased flooding vulnerability of shoreline and near shore infrastructures, including household dwellings, businesses, schools, and other public facilities,” Cake said. “We

face the loss of commercial and recreational fishing resources and the revenues as the result of the conversion of our section of the ‘Fertile Fisheries Crescent’ from estuarine to open-Gulf habitats. And coastal erosion will result in the loss of shoreline and backwater communities from Waveland to Pascagoula that will require billions of dollars to replace and relocate in upland/ inland sites.”

Cake said the Coast could also see the loss of Jackson County’s shipbuilding industries, including Ingalls, one of the state’s largest employers, and the Chevron Pascagoula oil refinery complex in eastern Jackson County, one of the nation’s largest refinery facilities.

Alan Sudduth, Chevron public and government affairs manager for Mississippi, said the refinery is continually investing in new equipment and technology to further its goal to operate safely and reliably.

“At our Pascagoula Refinery, this includes investments to mitigate the threat of rising water from threats like hurricanes,” Sudduth said. “A protective dike stretches more than six miles around the perimeter of the refinery and reaches 20 feet at its highest point.”

While President Donald Trump has made the decision to remove the U.S. from the Paris Agreement to limit greenhouse gas emissions contributing to a warming

climate and rising sea levels, many industries—including Chevron—still support the agreement. Chevron has said that the Paris Agreement is a good initial step, but it is important to fully understand the details associated with meeting the commitments made under the accord, including potential policies and their impacts.

William “Monty” Graham, director, School of Ocean Science and Technology, University of Southern Mississippi, said the latest climate change models show the sea level is increasing faster than anticipated a couple decades ago.

“The climate models are so much better now than they were 20 years ago,” Graham said. “The models are very sophisticated and good. They are predicting an acceleration of changes like sea level rise rather than a simple straight-line increase. We may be seeing that acceleration start.”

Graham said different industries are taking steps to deal with continuing to do business as the sea levels rise.

“It is on everyone’s radar and it should be at the point,” Graham said. “But it certainly doesn’t mean we should be anti-coastal living or anti-coastal development. On the business side, I’m getting more and more tied in to how do we take what we know about the coastal environment and apply it in a way that we can optimize the opportunities for living and working on the

Coast. A large portion of Mississippi’s economy relies on a healthy, vibrant Coast, what is being called the ‘Blue Economy’ linked to maritime industries.

It could be as much as 50 percent of the state’s GDP is tied back to the presence of major indus- Cake tries on the Coast.”

Graham said the government is already taking steps in other areas to harden or armor shipyards to deal with increasing sea levels. An example is what the Navy is doing in Norfolk, Va. “Those installations Sudduth there are of such value to this nation’s security that they are already making those investments,” Graham said. “Here, enhancing our protections against storms is also helping us to prepare for down-the-road effects we are going to see more and more frequently from sea Törnqvist level rise.”

Graham said about a half meter of sea level rise is expected along the northern Gulf in the next 100 years.

“Probably one of the more striking effects we are going to see is in terms of flooding events,” Graham said. “If the sea level comes up a half meter, it will change how water flows off the land. We recently had a lot of rain that flooded Highway 90 in Biloxi. We’re are going to see a lot more of that kind of thing. People will have to deal with more localized flooding effects.”

The threats are considerable and real.

But Graham said if humans can’t stop the march of climate change, then they must step up the march of adapting to it.

“That means making sure the environmental risks are mitigated,” Graham said.

“The point is, all this is going to cost money and effort. I hope something happens with a federal infrastructure bill soon. We have to be prepared on the front end to maintain our infrastructure, and be as resilient as possible on the other side. In a developing economy, we need to keep our eye on that ball.”

June 16, 2017

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GULF COAST

Ocean Springs growing with two new developments

By ALEXIS WILLIAMS mbj@msbusiness.com

Ocean Springs is poised for two new developments, both located on Highway 90, which will bring more jobs, more housing options and more retail to the Gulf Coast city.

In east Ocean Springs, Tractor Supply Co. is currently under construction and plans to open in August. A nationally known brand, Tractor Supply Co. is the largest operator of rural lifestyle retail stores in the country. Its new Ocean Springs store will sell lawn and garden equipment, riding mowers, clothing, footwear, tools, trailers and other accessories.

Fulcrum Construction of Daphne, Ala., is building the new retail space at an estimated construction cost of $1.6 million.

Tractor Supply Co. is taking direct advantage of new water and sewer improvements that Ocean Springs was able to secure using Community Development Block Grants. After Hurricane Katrina, Ocean Springs Mayor Connie Moran and city officials worked with then-Gov. Haley Barbour to secure the CDBG funding.

The city received CDBG funding for the water and sewer implementation in east Ocean Springs — $2.7 million for sewer system engineering, acquisition and construction, and $1.5 million for water.

According to Carolyn Martin, planning and grants administrator for the city of Ocean Springs, Tractor Supply Co. chose this site because of these water and sewer improvements and will benefit directly from the new services.

“The water/sewer project included taps for each property of the new lines, a significant cost savings for future development,” added Martin. Another reason this site was chosen, she says, was because the location is easily accessible to large vehicles, yet also directly adjacent to different businesses and residential areas.

Moran is hoping that Tractor Supply will spur more development in east Ocean Springs. “The reason for slow growth on the eastern part of Highway 90 for years has been lack of water and sewer, and the difficulty of getting permits to build in pine savanna wetlands,” said Moran. “The financial crisis of 2008 slowed development nationwide, but now we are starting to see growth in Ocean Springs.”

In the middle of town, the Inlet, a $10 million retail and condominium space being developed by The Thrash Group of Hattiesburg, just broke ground and construction will begin soon.

According to Moran, The Inlet will include 95 condominiums with one-bedroom options starting just below $200,000 and up to three bedroom units that will sell for $290,000 and above.

Special to the MBJ

The Inlet (top) will be a mix of condominiums and retail space. Middle: ground was ceremonially broken recently for the $10 million project. Above: Tractor Supply Co. was attracted to Ocean Springs because of the city’s water and sewer improvements.

The Thrash Group wants to bring amenities to its residents and their plans include a clubhouse, resort-style swimming pool, 24-hour state-of-the-art fitness center, dog park and water views. In addition, there is about 12,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space available that can be

configured to meet proprietor’s needs.

The Thrash Group is hoping to find retail and services that will enhance the lifestyle of Inlet residents such as a coffee shop, hair and nail salon, restaurant and possibly a dry cleaners.

The new development is located on ap-

proximately eight acres, just north of Highway 90 and adjacent to Old Fort Bayou.

The Thrash Group donated the adjoining 17 acres to The Land Trust, which hopes will add walking trails.

“The project, at $10 million, is the most significant private investment in Ocean Springs since Hurricane Katrina,” said Moran. “Thrash Development has been active in several states, and we are pleased they chose Ocean Springs for this mixeduse development. We are especially enthusiastic about their partnership with the Land Trust.”

Moran adds that The Land Trust intends to build walking trails as well as a public green space, dependent on available funding. “This is a great example of coupling conservation programs with economic development, and it is perfectly suited to sustainable growth in Ocean Springs,” said Moran.

Although shovels of dirt were ceremonially turned on June 1, Moran expects dirt work to begin at the end of June and construction to take about 18 months.

Moran and Ocean Springs are working to increase development throughout the city, as they rezoned all property along Ocean Springs Road as commercial and extended the Commercial Business District there. This rezoning is so new and expanding businesses could take advantage of property tax abatement as an economic development incentive.

“My plan for growth on the east side of town would include creating a Master Wetlands Permit plan for undeveloped areas, which would be pre-approved by the seven federal and state agencies that currently sign off on any wetlands permit,” said Moran. “It would ensure sustainable development and protection of the watersheds in the area. We must develop a vision, work with the property owners and create a plan for future growth.”

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

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MBJPERSPECTIVE June 16, 2017 • www.msbusiness.com • Page 6

LEGISLATURE

» THE OUTSIDE WORLD

House special session gambit ends in failure

Website: www.msbusiness.com June 16 2017 Volume 39, Number 24

ALAN TURNER Publisher alan.turner@msbusiness.com • 364-1021 TAMI JONES Associate Publisher tami.jones@msbusiness.com • 364-1011 ROSS REILY Editor ross.reily@msbusiness.com • 364-1018 FRANK BROWN Staff Writer/Special Projects frank.brown@msbusiness.com • 364-1022

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bling, and, just recently, fantasy sports betting?

And, there’s that special committee Speaker of the House Philip Gunn appointed to get the facts about a lottery.

Surely similarly sized Arkansas generating about $85 million in state revenue from its lottery would dominate discussion. However, the committee, chaired by Rep. Richard Bennett of Long Beach, seems not too interested in Arkansas, but very interested in how much money Mississippi loses from residents traveling to neighboring states to purchase tickets. Bobby Harrison with the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reported Bennett has the Legislature’s PEER Committee “trying to figure that out,” along with how much Mississippians may be spending on gasoline and other items while they buy the tickets.

Legislators’ thinking on the lottery is peculiar at best.

Maybe that’s because Mississippi casinos don’t want a lottery and they have great sway with legislators. Yes, the Mississippi Gaming and Hospitality Association, as Geoff Pender with

t the end of the 2017 legislative session, House Transportation Chairman Charles Busby, RPascagoula, boldly went to the well of the chamber to proclaim, “There is a lot of give and take in politics. Some people seem more intent on doing the taking and never doing any giving.

“We are going to take a little back.”

Busby, then made the surprise motion to reject the Department of Transportation budget bills that had been agreed to by key House and Senate negotiators, including himself.

The full House, in near unanimity, followed his lead.

The result of rejecting the conference report was a special session, which is what Busby, Speaker Philip Gunn, R-Clinton, and other members of the House leadership said they wanted to force the Bobby Harrison Senate leadership “to the table” to consider options to provide more funds for transportation needs.

That special session came and went last week in one long day.

The result was that the Department of Transportation budgets were passed at the amount agreed to during the regular session.

The House leaders had no success in forcing the Senate leadership to the table. Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves, who presides over the Senate, made it clear from the onset that he only wanted to pass the budget bills at the amount agreed to during the regular session.

The House did get a few minor concessions, removing specified projects from the appropriations bill. But it did not get any serious discussions about finding additional revenue for infrastructure.

The tactic of forcing a special session to garner a concession or a different result is not new in the Mississippi Legislature. It has worked famously at times in the past (see changes to the civil justice system to provide more protections from lawsuits for businesses) and gloriously failed at other times (see forcing an agreement on congressional redistricting in the 1990s.)

In this particular instance, the House leaders seemed destined to fail from almost the beginning in their quest.

In reality, they had no weapon to force the Senate leaders to the table. Almost immediately after forcing the special session, House leaders made it clear that if they were unsuccessful in garnering more money for transportation they would pass the budget bill as it was agreed to during the regular session.

They did not threaten to hold the budget bills hostage to force more money for transportation.

After all, it is a tough position to take to say, “give me more money for transportation or transportation will not get any money.”

So in the end, they passed the budget bills at the agreed-tolower amounts and went home.

If House leaders felt that Reeves, fearing political repercussions, would negotiate, they were wrong.

See CRAWFORD, Page 7

See HARRISON, Page 7

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» INSIDE MISSISSIPPI

Voters sovereign except when they are not

S

trong words from Gov. Phil Bryant in his state-ofthe-state address back in January: To the taxpayers who hear this message, rest assured your governor recognizes that you are sovereign. You, by the power of your vote, grant us the authority to govern. The Mississippi Constitution makes clear that, ‘All power is vested in and derived from the people.'”

Hmmm.

In this vein many legislators cite the 2001 public vote as good reason to retain Mississippi’s controversial state flag. “The people have spoken,” they say.

So, people are sovereign and speak through their votes.

Hmmm.

How, then, can legislators ignore the people’s vote in 1992 in favor of a state lottery?

Just one of several examples suggesting most legislators’ thinking on the lottery isn’t terribly rational.

There are those who sincerely contend that gambling is bad. Okay, then how does Mississippi justify having legalized casino gambling, bingo gam-

Bill Crawford

PERSPECTIVE

June 16, 2017 I Mississippi Business Journal

» RICKY NOBILE

CRAWFORD

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Continued from Page 6

the Clarion-Ledger wrote, is not, as yet, actively opposing a lottery as they have in the past. But, (it’s always the “but” that matters) MGHA wrote Bryant a letter that said, “In addition to avoiding unintended and potentially harmful consequences, our members would like to ensure there is ample time to study the economic impact (of a lottery).”

Oh, they also want to make sure casinos can sell lottery tickets should one be approved.

The governor had considered adding the lottery to last week’s special session, but after the MGHA letter and other push back, he decided not to.

In his January state-of-the-state address, the governor suggested it might be time to institute a lottery. Referring to heavy traffic on the Mississippi River bridge, such as that headed to Delta, La, he said, “We can no longer contain the people’s desire for a lottery; we can only force them to travel.” Then in February, as he made one of his many mid-year cuts to the state budget, he again spoke up in favor of a lottery as a way to boost revenue.

Interestingly, most Republican legislators don’t seem inclined to listen to their governor, much less to sovereign voters.

There are exceptions, like Rep. Mark Baker of Brandon. Read his lottery guidance here: http://yallpolitics.com/index.php/yp/post/47002.

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

»UNDER THE CAPITOL DOME

Rep’s silence after lynch remark strains relations

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n 2015, a white Mississippi lawmaker went to the front of the state House chamber and apologized for saying in an interview that black people in his town were getting food stamps and what he called “welfare crazy checks.”

The apology by a deflated-looking Republican Rep. Gene Alday of Walls lasted only about 30 seconds. It was received by tepid applause, but critics gave him credit for taking responsibility for his own words.

Fast forward to 2017: Another white lawmaker, Republican Rep. Karl Oliver of Winona, said May 20 on Facebook that people should be “LYNCHED” — in all caps — for taking down Confederate monuments. The post was prompted by the removal of statues in New Orleans. Oliver’s words attracted swift and widespread criticism, as well as some support, from inside and outside Mississippi. Republican House Speaker Philip Gunn condemned Oliver’s post and stripped the freshman lawmaker of a committee vice chairmanship.

Oliver wrote an apology on Facebook after his original post had remained online more than a day and a half. Legislators met in special session last week for the first time since his inflammatory post, and Oliver chose not to give a speech to explain himself to his colleagues or the general public.

Oliver also declined to speak to reporters the day of the special session, telling The Associated Press that he had already said what he wanted in his online apology and that he had made one-on-one apologies to some black colleagues.

Operating rules of the Mississippi House and Senate allow any member to make a “personal privilege” speech about any matter that affects the “safety, dignity and the integrity” of the Legislature or the “rights, reputation and conduct” of individual lawmakers.

Although Oliver didn’t speak, 11 black representatives did.

The personal privilege speeches came late in the evening of a one-day session to finish the state budget. It had been a

Emily W. Pettus hurry-up-and-wait sort of day, with long delays between debates. Members were tired and ready to go home.

Oliver sat poker-faced as black lawmakers talked about more than 600 lynchings that took place in Mississippi from 1877 to 1950. Democratic Rep. Kathy Sykes of Jackson said one of her relatives had been lynched in Mississippi in the 1940s.

Several seats in the House chamber were empty during the speeches. Black and white lawmakers who remained sat silently, and most appeared to listen. Democratic Rep. Adrienne Wooten of Jackson said she saw “smirks” on some faces while she spoke.

“I’m of the mindset that the gentleman was fully aware of what he was typing,” Wooten said of Oliver. “He may not have thought that somebody who looks like me would read it. I’m sure it was for a particular audience, but it stretched across the line and you can’t take it back.”

Democratic Rep. Robert Johnson of Natchez said Oliver had reinforced stubborn stereotypes about Mississippi being stupid and backward.

Rep. Chris Bell, a Democrat from Jackson, said he and Oliver were both first elected in 2015, and Oliver has never spoken to him. Bell rejected Oliver’s online apology: “It’s garbage to me. It was garbage to a lot of people around this world and this nation.”

Alday lost his bid for re-election months after he offended a broad swath of the population. More than two years remain in the current term, and Oliver shows no inclination to resign.

But his words online and his decision not to give a speech apologizing to the House will limit his effectiveness in a chamber, where relationships matter.

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

... in most instances, a new source of revenue means a tax increase for somebody or at least a reduction in funds for some other agency to provide additional money for transportation.

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Thus far Reeves has conceded, like the House leadership, that more money is needed for transportation. But he has offered no options, saying only that thus far there is no consensus on a source for that additional money.

At this point, it is hard to ascertain what Reeves’ ultimate goal is as it relates to transportation funding.

Will he advocate a source of revenue as it gets closer to the 2019 state elections where he most assuredly will run for governor?

Or has he decided, despite the advocacy for additional transportation spending by powerful groups like the Mississippi Economic Council, that he believes the best course for political reasons or other reasons is not to support a new source of revenue?

After all, in most instances, a new source of revenue means a tax increase for somebody or at least a reduction in funds for some other agency to provide additional money for transportation.

The bottom line is that the House members failed in its special session gambit and in reality they never really had a chance.

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

8 Q Mississippi Business Journal Q June 16, 2017 SALES MOVES

What’s your ‘type’? mine is ‘sales successful’

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verybody talks about “types” of people, in order to try and figure them out.

Salespeople are all taught to mirror, model, and type their prospective customers. Big mistake. My opinion: total manipulation. Total joke. Total waste of time.

The key word is harmonize. Not mirror or model. Harmonize is sincere. Mirror or model is manipulative. Get to know them as a person, not a personality type.

But that’s not what I am writing about.

Instead of “typing” customers and prospects, let’s talk about types of salespeople.

What’s your type?

“Eh, wait a second Jeffrey,” you stammer.

“I may not want to know what type I am.”

Too bad. This won’t hurt – it will help you see yourself the way others do.

At the top of my list is the “non-conformist and high performer.” You know the type. Makes all the sales. Breaks all the records. Breaks all the rules. Ruffles management. Does it “his way.” The boss doesn’t know how to handle him. Half the sales team loves him. Half the sales team hates him.

Then you have “conformist, compliant, high performer.” The model salesperson.

People who get the job done, make big sales, exceed their sales-plan, and follow the rules. You wish you had a hundred people like this. In my experience, they’re predominantly women. Not to say that men are not conformist/compliant — but men tend to step outside the lines a lot more

than women in the selling process.

Then you have conformist compliant non-producer. For whatever reason, cannot make the goal. Darn nice guy. Everybody likes him. Customers love him. Only problem is, he can’t close a sale. Often referred to as “the visitor.”

Finally you have the non-compliant non-performer. He whines about everything. Blames everybody else. Is an accident waiting to happen. Always the victim.

The word responsibility is usually as painful as the word accountability to him.

Well, those are the big four. And obviously there are people who fall between each of these sales types. And their personality plays a role with respect to each persons aggressiveness, assertiveness, self-starting ability, enthusiasm, and attitude. But all of these elements are part and parcel of their result – they “type” the person and their character – as well as their level of performance.

You would think a positive attitude would be part of every salesperson’s makeup. But you would be thinking incorrectly. Many salespeople, especially seasoned salespeople, can be highly productive, yet somewhat cynical.

The reason I’m putting these descriptions in front of you for these types of salespeople, is for you to see yourself.

Your manager, your coworkers, your fellow salespeople, and your customers already see you. And “type” you. They see

NORTHPARK Continued from, Page 1

ners.

The new owners said at the time of the sale that they would develop plans to reinvigorate the 958,000-square-foot regional mall.

Pacific Retail expects to release its plans within the next 30 days, said Najla Kayyem, executive vice president of marketing.

“The conceptual plans that I’ve seen, we’re really excited about [them],” Kayyem said. “We think that the community will be very happy and thrilled.”

As for the gloomy Credit Suisse outlook, she said, “My philosophy in general is that good real estate doesn’t go out of style. We’ve got to constantly invest and reinvest in our assets . . . and have a reason to be a part of the community.”

Kayyem said Pacific Retail has done one survey at Northpark and will probably do a followup in about six months.

Jan Kniffen, chief executive of J. Rogers Kniffen Worldwide Enterprises LLC, an equity research and financial consulting firm for the retail sector, made a prediction similar to Credit Suisse’s a year ago.

Of the current number of malls ranging from 1,000 to 1,200, roughly 400 will be either closed or “restructured” by 2030, Kniffen said in an interview with the Mississippi Business Journal on Monday.

As malls continue to lose sales to the Internet, many will turn to lower-rent tenants as retailers downsize to deal with the on-

the way you dress. They see the way you act. They see your character. They see your personality, and your style. They see how you perform. But rarely do you get to see or evaluate yourself.

So, I am asking you to do that now. I’m asking how close to “compliant, competent, high performer” can you rate yourself?

I’m gonna throw some other words at you: friendly, helpful, sincere, value-driven, truthful, ethical, and grateful. These are areas of your personality and character that will lead you closer to sales success.

It’s not just a matter of making more sales. It’s a matter of building more relationships — so that one sale, turns into many. It’s a matter of building your reputation, so that when people talk about you behind your back, they say things that you would like to hear to your face (or that your children would be proud to hear, if they overheard the conversation).

Sales success is not about your performance as of this moment. It’s about the strength of your character that will earn you any success that you desire – over time.

In my sales career, I’ve had many sales prima-donnas that made big sales, and broke all the rules. I fired every one of them – and every time I did, the rest of the team picked up the slack, and sales always increased.

You see, if you’re the leader (the boss, the owner, the entrepreneur), people are looking at your actions, and will often

slaught. Otherwise, those malls won’t be able to pay the debt incurred when things were going better, Kniffen said.

By 2030, Kniffen foresees “the biggest debt writedown since the 2008 crash in the housing market. It will be much smaller, but it will be big.” The United States has twice as many retail square feet per capita than the next country, Great Britain, Kniffen said.

Malls’ prevalence in retailing grew until Internet sales started in 1999, Kniffen said. Mall foot traffic is falling by 6 percent to 8 percent per year, Kniffen said.

Kniffen said that while the number of malls is greater than ever, “replacements” are not on the horizon.

The good news for the surviving malls, including the restructured ones, is that they will get a shot at a larger piece of the retail pie, Kniffen said.

The top surviving malls will be able to divide up what he projects as 50 percent the retail market that will be left after online giant Amazon and others devour more and more of the business, Kniffen said.

“What everyone wants to do is make their shopping malls more experiential. You want to put things in that can’t be done on the Internet” ranging from hair salons, to restaurants to “skydiving tubes.”

“The CEO of a major REIT [real estate investment trust] said to me one day: ‘Jan, when we built these centers, we had to put in a place for people to rest and we put in food courts. Now we build all this stuff for them to do and hope they’ll buy something on the way out.’

“He was only half-kidding.”

judge your character as permission to evolve their own, “The boss did it. I don’t see anything wrong with me doing it.” self-judgment is difficult. And if you ask someone else to judge you, they probGitomer ably won’t be truthful for fear of hurting your feelings, or their relationship with you.

So, what’s your type? What’s your character? What are you known as? What are you known for? If you can answer all those questions, and are willing to expose yourself to the opportunities that your shortcomings reveal, then you are ready to take the quantum leap – to the type of salesperson that would make your mother, your customers, your boss, and your banker, proud.

Editor’s note: Jeffrey Gitomer is on sabbatical — This column originally appeared in the MBJ on Sept. 1, 2016

Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of 12 books. His real-world ideas and content also are available as online courses at gitomerlearningacademy.com. For information about training and seminars, visit gitomer. com or gitomercertifiedadvisors.com, or email Jeffrey at salesman@gitomer.com.

DOWNTURN Continued from, Page 1

President and Chief Executive Jay Moon said he was not familiar with the data and that a month did not constitute a trend.

The employment index is 7.7 percent lower than it was a year earlier, the University Research Center reported.

Another contributor to the drop in the MLI was residential building permits, which declined 4.7 percent, the second straight month of decrease.

Still, the MLI in April was 2.3 percent higher than a year earlier, but that is the smallest year-over-year increase since September.

Manufacturing employment stood at more than 142,000 in April, making it the second-largest sector in the state’s economy, which employed more than 1.2 million that month. Trade, transportation and utilities was the largest at more than 230,000.

New Businesses

June 16, 2017

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EAST BRANDON COFFEE FACTORY: The Rankin County Chamber of Commerce recently held a ribbon-cutting for East Brandon Coffee Factory, 143 W. Government St. in Brandon.

Courtesy of Rankin County Chamber of Commerce

Courtesy of MCS Insulation

MCS INSULATION: MCS Insulation recently held a grand opening and ribbon cutting for its new location at 14321 Seaway Road, Suite C5 in Gulfport. MCS Insulation sells and installs ďŹ berglass and spray foam insulation.

Courtesy of Greater Starkville Development Partnership

DAIRY QUEEN: The Greater Starkville Development Partnership recently held a ribbon-cutting for Jilll Walz and Dairy Queen, 1001 Louisville St. in Starkville.

FRINGE & COMPANY: The Alliance recently held a ribbon cutting for Fringe & Company and salon owner Jessica Qualls, cutting the ribbon with friends, family and other stylists. It is located at 406 Franklin St. in Corinth.

Courtesy of The Alliance

Newsmakers

10 Q Mississippi Business Journal Q June 16, 2017

Bobbie K. Ware named new CEO of Baptist Medical Center Bobbie K. Ware, has been named chief executive officer of Baptist Medical Center in Jackson. In 2007, Ware was promoted to Mississippi Baptist Health Systems chief nursing officer. Along with those duties, she was promoted to the Baptist Medical Center chief operating officer in 2016.

Ware’s newly created position mirrors the leadership structure of hospitals affiliated with Memphis, Tennessee-based Baptist Memorial Health Care, the organization that merged with Baptist Medical Center’s parent organization Mississippi Baptist Health Systems on May 1.

For the first time, a registered nurse will serve as Baptist Medical Center’s top executive, and Anderson points to Ware’s nursing skills and leadership experi-

2 elected to HORNE board Joel Bobo, CPA, and John Scott, CPA, have been elected to HORNE LLP’s Board of Directors.

Bobo, also elected to serve as the chair of the board, is the partner in charge of construction services where he provides assurance and advisory services to Bobo large privately owned companies. He also serves on HORNE’s technology steering committee and as a financial advisor to several other boards across the state. Bobo joined the firm in 1992 and has more than 35 years of public accounting experience including specific knowledge of construction, nonprofits and small Scott businesses. He earned a Bachelor of Accountancy from the University of Mississippi.

Scott is a partner in tax services and joined the firm in 2002. He has more than 25 years of public accounting experience serving as a tax advisor to corporate, flow-through and individual clients. He has participated in providing value-added tax services to clients including: tax compliance and planning, state and local tax restructuring, IRS practice, acquisition planning and structuring of transactions. Scott applies his specific knowledge of banking, manufacturing, agribusiness, retailing, real estate, telecommunications, and insurance to bring solutions to his clients.

Scott received his Bachelor of Accountancy from Mississippi State University.

IP honors team members IP Casino Resort Spa recognized team members for their service, dedication and work ethic in a joint ceremony honoring the Team Members of the Month of March, as well as the honorees for Team Leader and Part-Time Team Member of the First Quarter 2017.

March’s honorees included team members Lindsey “Drew” Dixon (Food & Beverage), Chris Shelton (Finance), Ha Vu (Table Games), Nancy Hough (Hotel Sales), Kyle Quinn (Food & Beverage) and Tracy Finerman (Human Resources). One team member is recognized each month for his or her commitment to working safely with the Safety Spotlight Award.

March’s recipient was Jeremy Olier (Security).

First Quarter honorees included Team Leaders David Brown (Food & Beverage), Brenda Casey (Hotel) and Nicole Miller (Special Events and Promotions).

ence as significant benefits to the hospital.

Ware,MHSA, BSN, RN, NEA-BC, FACHE, an Oxford native, began her career in 1987 as a critical care staff nurse at the Oxford-Lafayette County Hospital. While in nursing school, she conducted her clinical rotations at Baptist Medical Cen- Ware ter and returned there to become an operating room nurse in 1989. Since 1991, she has served in leadership positions at Baptist Medical Center, including director of home care, director of Baptist Cancer Services and vice president of patient care operations.

Under Ware’s leadership, in March 2017, Baptist Medical Center received the nation’s top honor for nursing excellence, called Magnet. Only 7 percent of hospitals in America have been granted Magnet recognition, and Baptist is the only hospital in Mississippi to receive this designation.

In addition, Healthgrades, an online resource for information about physicians and hospitals, placed Baptist Medical Center in the top 2 percent of all hospitals nationally for patient safety and outstanding patient experience.

In 2000, Ware became director of Baptist Cancer Services and began working with physicians, staff, community members, patients and Baptist Medical Center’s Board of Trustees to create a comprehensive

EMBDC recognizes ambassadors

cancer center. Baptist opened the Hederman Cancer Center in May 2002.

Ware has a master’s degree in health care administration and is a Fellow of the American College of HealthCare Executives, a Board-Certified Advanced Nurse Executive and a Six Sigma Green Belt. She was inducted into the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society and has been recognized as one of Mississippi Business Journal’s Top 40 under 40, American Cancer Society Volunteer of the Year, Mississippi Nurses Association Administrator of the Year, Mississippi College Graduate Program Alumni of the Year, Mississippi Business Journal Healthcare Hero and Girl Scouts Women of Distinction.

Small Business Advocate of the Year for the state of Mississippi.

Oxford schools names Ryals

Suzanne Ryals has been named Director of Early Childhood and Reading Development for the Oxford School Districts’ Lafayette-Oxford-University community. Ryals begins her new position on July 1, leaving her position as Bramlett Elementary School principal, a position being Ryals filled by Keri Jo Finnie.

Ryals will work to improve outcomes for all students by developing, organizing, implementing, coordinating and evaluating the new early childhood and literacy development program for the LOU community.

MSU wins PRAM honors Courtesy of EMBDC

The East Mississippi Business Development Corporation recently presented its May Ambassadors of the Month awards. They are from left, first place, Derron Radcliff, MSU Riley Center; second place, Stacey Thompson, City of Meridian; third place, Mary Atterberry, Rush Health Systems; and red ticket drawing winner, Terry Watkins, Lala Enterprises. The red ticket drawing is from the pool of ambassadors who have attended EMBDC events over the past month.

Chicot Irrigation hires Ayles Warren Ayles has joined the sales team at Chicot Irrigation and will work out of the Greenwood headquarters.

Except for a seven-year stint working in the oil industry in Louisiana, Ayles has been in the irrigation business since 1987. The Clarksdale native started in the industry by installing and servicing center pivots.

Chicot Irrigation is a full service irrigation company with five locations throughout the Mississippi, Arkansas and the Louisiana Delta.

SBA presents 2 awards The U.S. Small Business Administration Mississippi District Office has named Mary Jennifer Russell, president and founder of Sugaree’s Bakery of New Albany, the 2017 SBA Mississippi Small Business Person of the Year and honored Three Rivers Planning and Development District Executive Director Vernon R. “Randy” Kelley III with a lifetime achievement award.

Sugaree’s Bakery is a small batch bakery that since 1997 has been focusing on its classic Southern layer cakes.

It now employs 35 people and bakes 1,000 cakes weekly which are sold online, retail, wholesale and for fundraising purposes.

Kelley was honored with a lifetime achievement distinction as “an individual who has worked hard to enhance small business, economic development and jobs creation in Mississippi for decades,” said Juanita R. Stewart, SBA Mississippi District Director.

For nearly four decades Kelley has assisted Northeast Mississippians in expanding their horizons and improving their lot in life whether from the recruitment of industries providing skilled, high paying jobs to collecting and billing for the garbage they create.

Under Kelley’s direction Three Rivers has the largest small business lending program in the state. Since inception, that arm of Three Rivers has helped regional industry create more than 15,000 jobs and includes more than $680 million in total project investments.

Kelley is a previous winner of the Mississippi SBA

Mississippi State University’s Office of Public Affairs’s “We Ring True” branding initiative won seven awards, including Best of Show, during the recent Public Relations Association of Mississippi’s PRism Awards competition.

MSU’s Office of Public Affairs received PRAM’s Best of Show award for external communications by having the highest-scored entry in the 2017 competition. In addition, OPA won two PRism Awards for reputation and brand management and for community/corporate relations; an Award of Excellence for integrated social media programs; and two Certificates of Merit for an MSU Alumnus magazine feature by Sasha Steinberg and for one-time celebration #StateProud Week.

OPA staff members making contributions to these award-winning projects include Sid Salter, chief communications officer; Harriet Laird, associate director; Checky Herrington; Jim Laird, research and executive support editor; Heather M. Rowe, digital design editor; Susan Lassetter, publications editor; Erin Brown, marketing and communications coordinator; Camille Carskadon, social media coordinator; writers Allison Matthews, James Carskadon, Sammy McDavid and Steinberg; photographers Megan Bean, Russ Houston and Beth Wynn; graphic designers Eric Abbott, Hayley Gilmore and Tim Myers; Nick Wilson, information technology coordinator; and office manager Courtney Honnoll.

Other contributors included Anthony Craven, manager of MSU’s noncommercial, community radio station WMSV 91.1 FM, and David Garraway, University Television Center director.

Newsmakers Mitchell joins Haddox Reid

Travis Mitchell recently joined the audit division of the CPA firm of Haddox Reid Eubank Betts PLLC. He is a graduate of The University of Southern Mississippi where he received his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in December of 2006 with majors in Accounting and Human Mitchell Resource Management. Travis is a Certified Public Accountant licensed in Mississippi and Texas with six years of experience in public accounting and five years of experience in the mental healthcare industry.

June 16, 2017

Leadership class graduates

Credit Union board elected

The Mississippi Credit Union Association recently re-elected four board members to a three-year term: Betty Barrett, Magnolia Federal Credit Union (Jackson); Billy Bridges, Mutual Credit Union (Vicksburg); Elmer Dickens, Gulf Coast Community Federal Credit Union (Gulfport); Barrett and Brig. Gen. Richard Moss (Retired), Keesler Federal Credit Union (Biloxi).

The MSCUA board officers are Chairman James B. Smith, Jr., Singing River Federal Credit Union (Moss Point); Vice Chairman Billy Bridges, Mutual Credit Union (Vicksburg); Treasurer Ray Scott, B. Bridges Southern Mississippi Federal Credit Union (Hattiesburg); and Past Chairman John Gibbons, Triangle Federal Credit Union (Columbus).

Board members are Shelia Bridges, CommFirst Federal Credit Union (Jackson); Elmer Dickens, Gulf Coast Community Federal Credit Union (Gulfport); Dickens Bo Pittman, MUNA Federal Credit Union (Meridian); Chris Hammond, Central Sunbelt Federal Credit Union (Laurel); Brig. Gen. Richard Moss (Retired), Keesler Federal Credit Union (Biloxi); Katie Nelson, Eagle Express Federal Credit Union (Jackson); Betty Barrett, Magnolia Federal Moss Credit Union (Jackson); and Kathy Scarbrough, Navigator Credit Union (Pascagoula).

Alcorn recognized at PRAM The Division of Marketing and Communication at Alcorn State University were big winners at the 2017 College Public Relations Association of Mississippi Awards Ceremony in the senior division, which includes the state’s public and private 4-year colleges and universities.

Alcorn, The University Magazine won the CPRAM Grand Award in the Print and Electronic Media Category. The magazine also won first place in the Special Publications Category. The “Be Brave. Go Further.” Brochure won first place in the Admissions and Recruitment Piece Category, and the “Alcorn Give 5 Campaign” won third place in the Multi-Media Presentation Category.

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Transcript reaccredited Transcript Pharmacy has been reaccredited for an additional three-year period by URAC, an independent, nonprofit healthcare accrediting organization that establishes quality standards for the health care industry. This second term of accreditation falls under URAC’s Specialty Pharmacy 3.0 standards.

Transcript Pharmacy was recognized by Inc. Magazine as one of country’s 5,000 fastest growing private companies.

Transcript Pharmacy is a specialty pharmacy providing services for patients with long-term medical needs. These include patients with solid organ or bone marrow transplants; hepatitis C; rheumatoid arthritis; Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis; psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis; multiple sclerosis; patients being treated with oral oncolytics for various cancers; and other conditions.

Roberts joins Neel-Schaffer

Courtesy of Madison County Chamber of Congress

The Leadership Madison County Class of 2017 recently completed its program. Graduates are, alphabetically: Jonathan Ashley, Lightheart Sanders and Assoc.; Kristy Daniels, Regions; Kara Davis, Madison County Schools; Sheila Harkins, The Eye Group; Lindsey Herr, Herr Law Firm; Paul Hopper, Hopper Properties; Jess King, Regions Insurance Group; Dana Marsalis, Mad Genius; Shane McLendon, Shane McLendon Builders; Vickie Miller, Madison County; Stephen Pruitt, Kudzu CrossFit; Thomas Robb Jr., BankPlus; Casey Smith, Reunion; Jonathan Varney, Security Card Services,

Otto

Adams

Lizana

BMA earns UAS certification Mark Otto, P.S., and Tim Adams from Brown, Mitchell & Alexander, Inc.’s survey team and Lucas Lizana, Project Engineer, have each obtained the Part 107 Remote Pilot Certification from the Federal Aviation Administration for flying a Unmanned Aircraft System, (also known as a drone) for commercial purposes, allowing BMA to add Drone services to the engineering firm’s technologies offered.

BMA has used drone technology for a variety of project applications for both public and private sector clients, including topographic and boundary mapping, volumetric surveying, orthoimagery and inspection imagery (site development, erosion monitoring and erosion control inspection), and others.

Charleston joins Main Street Mississippi Main Street Association has recognized Charleston as a Downtown Network Member of the statewide association.

The MMSA Downtown Network membership

affords the town training and technical services from MMSA with the opportunity to progress to the Certified Main Street Membership within three years.

As a Downtown Network Member of MMSA, Charleston is also joining the National Main Street Center as an Affiliate Member. MMSA is a coordinating state progam of the National Main Street Center and every local Main Street program in Mississippi is required to be a member for nationally accredited or affiliate status.

Crye-Leike ranked in Top 5 Crye-Leike, Inc. is now ranked as the fifth largest independently-owned real estate firm in the nation, according to the 2017 REAL Trends 500 ranking based on Crye-Leike’s 2016 sales results.

Established in 1977 in Memphis, Crye-Leike began expanding in 1992, and now operates in nine states, including Mississippi, where it has a regional office in Jackson. Crye-Leike’s more than 3,100 sales associates, 800 employees and 126 company-owned and franchise offices generated $6.36 billion in sales volume in 2016.

REAL Trends 500 is an annual research report produced by REAL Trends (www.realtrends.com), the source for news, research and information about the real estate brokerage industry. Its report is an independently verified compilation of the nation’s leading residential real estate companies which identifies the largest and most successful residential firms in the country.

Randy Roberts, PE, has joined Neel-Schaffer, Inc., and will lead the engineering firm’s South Carolina roadway design efforts, in Columbia, S.C. He has 15 years of experience providing design and project management services for state departments of transportaRoberts tion, and municipal, residential, commercial, and institutional clients in the Southeast. Roberts holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of South Carolina.

Raby is managing counsel Tianna H. Raby, who joined Entergy Mississippi, Inc. as senior counsel in the legal department in 2014, has been named managing counsel. Raby previously was a partner in the Jackson office of a civil litigation defense firm.

Raby obtained her Juris Doctorate from Vanderbilt University Raby in Nashville, Tenn., and graduated magna cum laude from Howard University in Washington, D.C. with a degree in Human Communications Studies. Raby was recognized in Mississippi Business Journal’s Top 40 Under 40 in 2014.

The Meridian native volunteers with the Mississippi Volunteer Lawyer Program and the Magnolia Bar Foundation’s annual law camp. She also is a member of the Junior League of Jackson. She and her husband, Malcolm, live in Madison with their daughter, Ava.

MacKenzie recognized Robert S. MacKenzie, a CFP, CRPC, Private Wealth Advisor/Certified Financial Planner professional with MacKenzie & Associates, a private wealth advisory practice of Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc. in Kosciusko has qualified for the company’s Circle of Success recognition program and was recently MacKenzie honored for this achievement.

To earn this achievement, MacKenzie established himself as one of the company’s top advisors.

MacKenzie & Associates has operated in the Kosciusko area since 1993

June 16, 2017 • MISSISSIPPI BUSINESS JOURNAL • www.msbusiness.com

AN MBJ FOCUS: Law & Accounting

Cloud accounting software not expected to replace CPAs

By BECKY GILLETTE mbj@msbusiness.com Is cloud accounting software going to put a big hurt on CPAs and accountants? There are some predictions that by the end of 2017, more than 90 percent of small and medium-sized businesses will be using cloud accounting software. It’s convenient, it’s inexpensive and user-friendly. But Dr. Shawn Mauldin, CPA, director of the Mississippi State University Adkerson School of Accountancy, said he doesn’t foresee cloud accounting leading to a decline in the job market for CPAs and accountants in tax and other areas.

“Tax preparation is just one thing that accountants and CPAs do,” Mauldin said. “A lot of our graduates are employed in other areas such as auditing and business consulting and, now, cybersecurity. And the way I look at that, a certain

segment of the population will use programs like QuickBooks and TurboTax for tax returns. But once you get beyond the individual taxpayer, it gets quite complex for businesses. I can’t imagine businesses would ever want to, or have the expertise to, prepare their own tax returns.”

Mauldin said it is important for businesses to know their tax returns are being prepared correctly and that the businesses are legally paying the least amount of taxes possible.

Mauldin is all in favor of cloud accounting programs or other technology being used for record keeping functions. If some of the minimum level tasks are done

Mauldin

Moore

with technology assistance, that just relieves the accountant and CPA to find more ways to help clients grow their businesses and become more efficient and profitable.

“We will be training students a little differently in the future to keep up with the pace of technology,” Mauldin said. “The big discussion now is on the impact that disruptive technologies (e.g., machine learning, artificial intelligence) may have on accounting. Advanced automation will have an impact on some of the entry-level tasks performed by students, but I don’t think it will be eliminating jobs.

“In fact, I think it creates tremendous opportunities for students and CPAs. In the Adkerson School of Accountancy, we are working on integrating ‘data analytics and big data technologies’ into our undergraduate and graduate programs See CLOUD ACCOUNTING, Page 14

Law & Accounting

June 16, 2017

Q

Mississippi Business Journal

Q

13

OLDEST LAW FIRMS

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Law & Accounting

14 Q Mississippi Business Journal Q June 16, 2017

CLOUD ACCOUNTING Continued from, Page 12

to ensure that students have the necessary skill set to meet employer demands. I suspect we will continue to have 100 percent placement of our accounting students.”

Simplification of the U.S. tax code has been under discussion. Mauldin is skeptical.

“In the past, any simplification of the tax code becomes a full employment act for CPAs and tax attorneys,” Mauldin said. “Simplification never seems to happen. So, I think graduates of tax programs are going to be doing things a little differently than in the past because of the technology, but I think the hiring demand is going to continue to be there.”

Norman Moore, CPA, public and middle market partners, HORNE LLP, Jackson, can recall working early in his career with “portable” computers than looked more like sewing machines than today’s ultralight laptops and tablets.

“Today, the technological revolution continues,” Moore said. “Businesses and their advisers are working more closely than ever using cloud-based systems to prepare and share accounting data needed to support informed decision-making.

And we hear increasing discussions about applying artificial intelligence, or ‘AI,’ to the accounting function.”

Moore said it is clear from advertisements by tax preparation professionals, and articles in publications like Forbes and Accounting Today, that technology will continue to change the way accountants and clients work together.

Moore said at this point, AI is all about improving the productivity of the accounting function by automating many of the more labor-intensive tasks that businesses and accountants perform. Example he gives include the following: *Cloud-based general ledger systems give real-time access to updated account information from remote locations. *Accounting and administrative functions are becoming more automated. For example, AI technology can be programmed to recognize standard forms and to “learn” how to intuit information from non-standard forms. *AI systems can process huge amounts of data quickly and efficiently to support decision making for a variety of different scenarios. Depending on the system, it may even be able to search databases of different case studies and business strategies to identify what similarly situated

businesses have done previously.

But Moore said while AI has automated some bookkeeping functions and greatly improved the process of preparing and presenting information to decision makers, it’s a challenge to get AI to understand the entire landscape surrounding a decision.

“The decision to merge with or acquire another business may involve intangibles that even the most talented programmers can’t explain to the system,” Moore said.

“Succession planning at a closely held business should certainly involve financial analysis, but final decisions are often driven as much or more by the personalities and skills of the people involved.”

Moore said taking into consideration that AI’s influence in the business world is expanding rapidly, business owners should think about how to position their business to take full advantage of new technology.

“Think in terms of shifting resources from processing documents to reviewing and analyzing results,” Moore said. “Challenge your team to do the kind of thinking computers can’t. Focus on developing future-focused skills that add value and make us distinctive.”

Moore said skills that help a business adapt more quickly to AI include:

#CFAdifference

Ask firms why they employ investment managers with the CFA® designation and they’ll tell you that those letters represent a proven understanding of investment management, commitment to ethics, and always putting clients’ interests first. All of which contribute to the integrity and credibility of their organizations. Because, for our charterholders and their employers, those three letters are making a real difference every day.

© 2017 CFA Institute. All rights reserved.

MY INVESTMENT PERFORMANCE IS A RESULT OF YEARS OF EXPERIENCE

AND A DEEP KNOWLEDGE OF MARKETS. Christine Phillpotts, CFA

cfamississippi.org

*Technology/IT IQ. You need enthusiasm for these advancements throughout the organization, not just in your IT department. Your accounting team needs to be comfortable with change and enjoy the idea of being early adopters. *Data management and security. The more accessible your data is from remote locations, the more vulnerable it can be to cyber-attack. *Data mining. One downside to AI technology that can access an infinite universe of business information is that it can return an infinite amount of useless information. Your team needs to know how to use the system to get relevant information.

“I enjoy the challenge of integrating new technology into our practice here at HORNE,” Moore said. “We know that the pace of change will continue to accelerate and the future will present a host of new opportunities to improve business efficiency and productivity for those who embrace it. But there’s no doubt that the strategic and anticipatory insights that executives count on from their advisers to make informed and agile decisions will continue to be at a premium.”

Law & Accounting

June 16, 2017

Q

Mississippi Business Journal

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15

Parental leave for moms AND dads

By NASH NUNNERY mbj@msbusiness.com

W

endy Huff Ellard was ecstatic the day she informed her husband she was pregnant with their first child.

But Ellard’s joy soon turned to worry.

Now a shareholder with Baker Donelson, Ellard was a rising star with one of the South’s most powerful law firms in the fall of 2014. Her unique and complex practice, which includes compliance issues under the Stafford Disaster Recovery and Emergency Assistance Act, was thriving.

To borrow a phrase from Dickens, it was the best of times and the worst of times for Ellard.

“I was so happy that I was pregnant but worried at the same time,” she said. “All I could think about was the time away from my job before, during and after our son was born. It was a very stressful time.”

However, Ellard’s fears were soon put to rest.

“The new (parental leave) policy came out right before I officially announced my pregnancy to the firm,” she said. “I was relieved and no longer worried.”

In February 2015, Baker Donelson launched an enhanced parental leave policy, expanding from 12 to 16 weeks the amount of paid leave that both male and female attorneys are eligible to take as primary caregivers. The updated policy includes birth, adoption or foster placement of a child under the age of six. Additionally, the new policy added intermittent leave, allowing both primary and non-primary caregiver attorneys to continue work during leave and transition back to full-time practice at their own pace.

Christy Tosh Crider, chairwoman of Baker Donelson’s Women’s Initiatives, said the firm has seen a significant increase in the number of non-primary caregivers taking leave in the last two years.

“In fact, we’ve actually had more men

“When parental leave is no longer perceived as something that is just for women, it is no longer an obstacle to a woman’s career.”

Wendy Huff Ellard Baker Donelson shareholder

than women take advantage of the policy,” she said. “We’ve not only made parental leave more accessible for both male and female attorneys, we’re also achieving our goal of continued growth in the number of women shareholders, as evidenced by the fact that more than half of our newly elected shareholders this year are women.

“When parental leave is no longer perceived as something that is just for women, it is no longer an obstacle to a woman’s career.”

Considered one of the most generous in the legal community, Baker Donelson’s new and improved parental leave policy was spearheaded by Caldwell Collins, an attorney in the firm’s Nashville office.

Collins conducted exhaustive research on leave policies at law firms across the nation.

“Our goal was to create a program that allowed new parents to tailor their leaves to their lives and individual practices, and

that was competitive both within and outside the legal industry,” she said. “The result is a policy that offers greater flexibility to our attorneys.”

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A spokesperson for another large Mississippi-based firm said in an e-mail statement that Butler Snow’s parental leave policies apply to both men and women, and include both biological and adopted children.

However, the spokesperson added that for competitive reasons, the firm would be unable to share more detailed information about Butler Snow’s policy.

“We view our parental leave policies as one of many key firm benefits aimed at sustaining (an appropriate and healthy) work/ life balance,” they wrote.

For Ellard, she sees a cultural shift in attitudes about parental leave in the legal industry.

“In the past, female lawyers were viewed as being less committed to their careers,” she said. “There were a lot of assumptions that we wouldn’t work late or travel if we had children.

“I think it’s turning around, as everyone (at Baker Donelson) has been so supportive.”

Last month, the cum laude graduate of the University of Mississippi Law School was elected one of the firm’s 13 new shareholders.

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Law & Accounting

16 Q Mississippi Business Journal Q June 16, 2017

Chambers USA Lawyers Adams & Reese

» MISSISSIPPI FIRM RECOGNITION: Energy & Natural Resources (Band 2). » MISSISSIPPI INDIVIDUAL RECOGNITION: James Keith, Labor & Employment (Band 3); Powell Ogletree, Real Estate (Band 1); Jerry Sheldon, Energy & Natural Resources (Senior Statesman); Jeffrey Trotter, Energy & Natural Resources (Band 2).

Baker Donelson

» NATIONAL INDIVIDUAL RECOGNITION: Dan M. McDaniel Jr., Gaming and Licensing (Band 3). » MISSISSIPPI FIRM RECOGNITION: Corporate & Commercial (Band 1); General Commercial Litigation (Band 1); Labor & Employment (Band 3); Real Estate (Band 3) » MISSISSIPPI INDIVIDUAL RECOGNITION: William S. Painter, Corporate and Commercial (Band 1); Dan M. McDaniel Jr., Corporate and Commercial: Gaming and Licensing (Band 1); William N. “Bill” Reed and J. Carter Thompson Jr., General Commercial Litigation (Band 2); Brooks Eason and J. Randall Patterson, Brooks Eason and J. Randall Patterson, Labor and Employment (Band 2); Michael Dawkins, Environment (Band 3); William Mendenhall, David A. Rueff Jr. and Ginger Weaver, Real

Estate (Band 3); Sheryl Bey, General Commercial Litigation (Band 4).

Morgan Bondurant, Energy and Natural Resources (Band 1)

Balch & Bingham

Bradley Arant

JACKSON » MISSISSIPPI FIRM RECOGNITION: Labor & Employment (Band 1); Litigation: General Commercial (Band 2); Energy & Natural Resources (Band 1); Environment (Band 2); Real Estate (Band 3). » MISSISSIPPI INDIVIDUAL RECOGNITION: Scott Andress, Corporate/Commercial: Gaming & Licensing; (Band 1); William L. Smith Sr., Energy and Natural Resources (Band 2); Robert Pepper Crutcher Jr., Labor and Employment (Band 1); Armin J Moeller Jr., Labor and Employment (Star Individual); Ricky Cox, Energy and Natural Resources (Band 3); Ben H. Stone, Energy and Natural Resources (Band 2); Bradley Ennis, Environment (Up and Coming); Teri Wyly, Environment (Band 1); Jonathan Dyal, Litigation: General Commercial (Band 4); John Rice, Real Estate (Band 3).

» MISSISSIPPI FIRM RECOGNITION: Corporate/ Commercial (Band 2); Litigation: General Commercial (Band 1); Real Estate (Band 3) » MISSISSIPPI INDIVIDUAL RECOGNITION: Wendy R. Mullins, Corporate/Commercial (Band 3); Stephen M. Wilson, Corporate/Commercial (Band 1); Kelly Blackwood, Environment (Band 3); J. William Manuel, Labor & Employment (Band 3) and Litigation: General Commercial (Band 3); Roy Campbell, Litigation: General Commercial (Band 1); Wayne Drinkwater, Litigation: Appellate (Band 1) and Litigation: General Commercial (Star Individuals); Ralph Germany, Litigation: Construction (Band 3); J. Douglas Minor, Litigation: General Commercial (Band 3); Alan W. Perry Litigation: Appellate (Band 2) and Litigation: General Commercial (Star Individuals); William R. Purdy, Litigation: Construction (Band 1); Stephen L. Thomas, Litigation: General Commercial (Band 1); W. Rodney Clement Jr, Real Estate (Band 1).

Blair & Bondurant » MISSISSIPPI FIRM RECOGNITION: Energy & Natural Resources (Band 1). » MISSISSIPPI INDIVIDUAL RECOGNITION: William Blair, Energy and Natural Resources (Band 1); Si

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Brunini Grantham Grower & Hewes » MISSISSIPPI FIRM RECOGNITION: Corporate/ Commercial (Band 2); Energy & Natural Resources (Band 1); Environment (Band 2); Litigation: General Commercial (Band 2); Real Estate (Band 3). » MISSISSIPPI INDIVIDUAL RECOGNITION: Louis Fuller, Corporate/Commercial (Band 3); Walter S Weems, Corporate/Commercial (Band 2); James L Halford, Energy and Natural Resources (Band 2); Watts Ueltschey, Energy and Natural Resources (Band 1); John Milner, Environment (Band 1); Gene Wasson, Environment (Band 3); David Kaufman, Litigation: General Commercial (Star Individuals); Samuel Kelly, Litigation: Construction (Band 2); Ron Yarbrough, Litigation: Construction (Band 2); P. David Andress, Real Estate (Band 3)

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» MISSISSIPPI FIRM RECOGNITION: Litigation: General Commercial (Band 4). » MISSISSIPPI INDIVIDUAL RECOGNITION: Cheri Gatlin, Litigation: Construction (Band 2)

Butler Snow » NATIONAL FIRM RECOGNITION: Product Liability & Mass Torts (Band 2) ; » NATIONAL INDIVIDUAL RECOGNITION: Christy D. Jones, Litigation: Trial Lawyers (Band 1) and Products Liability & Mass Torts (Star Individual), Product Liability: Pharmaceutical (Spotlight Table); Martin A. Sosland, Bankruptcy/Restructuring; Orlando R. Richmond, Products Liability & Mass Torts (Band 4). » MISSISSIPPI FIRM RECOGNITION: Corporate/ Commercial (Band 1); Energy & Natural Resources (Band 2); Environment (Band 1); Labor & Employment (Band 2); Litigation: General Commercial (Band 1); Real Estate (Band 1)

» MISSISSIPPI INDIVIDUAL RECOGNITION: R. Barry Cannada, Corporate/Commercial, (Band 1); Donald Clark Jr., Corporate/Commercial: Municipal Finance (Eminent Practitioner); Steve Edds, Corporate/Commercial: Municipal Finance (Band 1); John F. England, Corporate/Commercial; Municipal Finance (Band 2); Sue Hicks Fairbank, Corporate/ Commercial: Municipal Finance (Band 2); J. Clifford Harrison, Corporate/Commercial: Banking & Finance (Band 1); Selby A. Ireland, Corporate/Commercial (Band 3); Christopher R. Maddux, Corporate/Commercial; Bankruptcy (Band 1); Stephen W. Rosenblatt, Corporate/Commercial; Bankruptcy (Band 1); Thad W. Varner, Corporate/Commercial; Municipal Finance (Band 2); Edward A Wilmesherr, Corporate Commercial: Banking & Finance (Band 1); R. Wilson Montjoy II, Energy and Natural Resources (Band 1); John Brunini, Environment (Band 2); Michael D. Caples, Environment (Band 2); Trudy D. Fisher, Environment (Band 1); Paula Graves Ardelean, Labor & Employment (Band 1); Timothy M. Threadgill, Labor & Employment (Band 1); Phil B. Abernethy, Litigation: Construction (Band 3) and Litigation: General Commercial (Band 3); Robert C. Galloway Litigation: General Commercial (Band 4); John C. Henegan Litigation: Appellate (Band 1); Christy D. Jones Litigation: General Commercial (Star Individual); Luther T. Munford Litigation: Appellate (Band 1); E. Barney Robinson III, Litigation: General Commercial (Band 2); Phillip S .Sykes, Litigation: General Commercial (Band 3); Don B. Cannada, Real Estate (Star Individual); Matthew H Grenfell, Real Estate (Band 3); Steven M Hendrix, Real Estate (Band 2); Robert Hutchison, Real Estate (Band 3).

Carroll Warren & Parker » MISSISSIPPI FIRM RECOGNITION: Litigation: General Commercial (Band 3). » MISSISSIPPI INDIVIDUAL RECOGNITION: Myles A. Parker, Litigation: General Commercial (Band 3); Jim Warren, Litigation: General Commercial (Band 2)

Copeland Cook Taylor & Bush » MISSISSIPPI FIRM RECOGNITION: Energy & Natural Resources (Band 1); Litigation: General Commercial (Band 3). » MISSISSIPPI INDIVIDUAL RECOGNITION: Glen Bush, Energy & Natural Resources (Band 1); Glenn Taylor, Energy & Natural Resources (Band 1); Greg Copeland, Litigation: General Commercial (Band 2).

Corlew Munford & Smith » MISSISSIPPI FIRM RECOGNITION: Litigation: General Commercial (Band 4). » MISSISSIPPI INDIVIDUAL RECOGNITION: Virginia Munford, Environment (Band 3); John Corlew, Litigation: General Commercial (Band 1).

Derek Henderson Attorney » MISSISSIPPI INDIVIDUAL RECOGNITION: Derek A. Henderson, Corporate/Commercial: Bankruptcy (Band 2)

Law & Accounting

June 16, 2017

Q

Mississippi Business Journal

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Chambers USA Lawyers Dove & Chill

Jones Walker

mercial (Band 2)

» MISSISSIPPI INDIVIDUAL RECOGNITION: Luke Dove, Litigation: General Commercial (Band 3).

» NATIONAL INDIVIDUAL RECOGNITION: Thomas B. Shepherd III, Gaming & Licensing (Band 3). » MISSISSIPPI FIRM RECOGNITION: Corporate/ Commercial (Band 1); Litigation: General Commercial (Band 3); Real Estate (Band 2) » MISSISSIPPI INDIVIDUAL RECOGNITION: Gina Jacobs, Corporate/Commercial (Band 2); Craig Landrum, Corporate/Commercial: Banking & Finance (Band 1); Robert Lazarus, Corporate/Commercial: Municipal Finance (Senior Statesman); Thomas B. Shepherd III, Corporate/Commercial: Gaming & Licensing (Band 1); Zachary Taylor, Corporate/ Commercial: Municipal Finance (Band 2); Aileen S. Thomas, Corporate/Commercial: Municipal Finance (Band 2); Neville H. Boschert, Litigation: General Commercial (Band 3); Mark Davis, Real Estate (Band 1); Ann Taylor, Real Estate (Band 3); Jim Tohill, Real Estate (Senior Statesman).

Law Offices of Craig Geno

McGlinchey Stafford

McDuff & Byrd

» MISSISSIPPI FIRM RECOGNITION: Litigation: General Commercial (Band 4). » MISSISSIPPI INDIVIDUAL RECOGNITION: G. Dewey Hembree, Litigation: General Commercial (Band 4); Hunter Twiford, Litigation: General Com-

» MISSISSIPPI INDIVIDUAL RECOGNITION: Robert McDuff, Litigation: Appellate (Band 2).

Fisher Phillips

» MISSISSIPPI INDIVIDUAL RECOGNITION: Steven R. Cupp, Labor & Employment Law.

Forman Watkins & Krutz

» MISSISSIPPI FIRM RECOGNITION: Litigation: General Commercial (Band 3). » MISSISSIPPI INDIVIDUAL RECOGNITION: Edwin S. Gault Jr., Litigation: General Commercial (Band 4); Fred Krutz, Litigation: General Commercial (Band 2); Walter G. Watkns Jr., Litigation: General Commercial (Band 3)

Jones & Nix

» MISSISSIPPI FIRM RECOGNITION: Energy & Natural Resources (Band 2) . » MISSISSIPPI INDIVIDUAL RECOGNITION: Roger Jones, Energy & Natural Resources (Band 2); James Nix, Energy & Natural Resources (Band 3).

» MISSISSIPPI INDIVIDUAL RECOGNITION: Craig M. Geno, Corporate/Commercial: Bankruptcy (Band 1).

Maron Marvel » MISSISSIPPI INDIVIDUAL RECOGNITION: Thomas W. Tardy III, Litigation: General Commercial (Band 3).

McCraney, Montagnet & Quin » MISSISSIPPI INDIVIDUAL RECOGNITION: Douglas C. Noble, Corporate/Commercial: Bankruptcy (Band 1); O. Stephen Montagnet III, Litigation: General Commercial (Band 4).

» MISSISSIPPI FIRM RECOGNITION: Litigation: General Commercial (Band 3). » MISSISSIPPI INDIVIDUAL RECOGNITION: L.F. Sams Jr., Litigation: General Commercial (Senior Statesman); John Wheeler, Litigation: General Commercial (Band 4); Mike Ferris, Real Estate (Band 3).

Mockbee Hall Drake & Hodge » MISSISSIPPI INDIVIDUAL RECOGNITION: David Mockbee, Litigation: Construction (Band 1).

Ogletree Deakins » MISSISSIPPI FIRM RECOGNITION: Labor & Employment (Band 2) . » MISSISSIPPI INDIVIDUAL RECOGNITION: Timothy Lindsay, Labor & Employment (Band 2) ; Robin Taylor, Labor & Employment (Up and Coming)

Owen, Galloway & Myers

Mitchell, McNutt & Sams

» MISSISSIPPI INDIVIDUAL RECOGNITION: Joe Sam Owen, Litigation: General Commercial (Band 2)

Chambers list continues on Page 18

We don’t just practice in this community

WE’RE A PART OF IT

Jones Walker LLP proudly acknowledges 10 attorneys in our Mississippi office that have been ranked in the 2017 edition of Chambers USA in the areas of Litigation: General Commercial; Real Estate; and Corporate/Commercial, with our Gaming & Licensing practice recognized nationally.

• Neville H. Boschert, Litigation: General Commercial • Mark T. Davis, Real Estate • Gina M. Jacobs, Corporate/Commercial • Craig N. Landrum, Corporate/Commercial: Banking & Finance • Robert S. Lazarus, Corporate/Commercial: Municipal Finance

• Thomas B. Shepherd, III, Corporate/ Commercial: Gaming & Licensing • Ann Corso Taylor, Real Estate • Zachary Taylor, III, Corporate/Commercial: Municipal Finance • Aileen S. Thomas, Corporate/Commercial: Municipal Finance • Jim B. Tohill, Real Estate

Jeffrey R. Barber 190 E Capitol St | Suite 800 601.949.4765 Jackson, MS 39201 jbarber@joneswalker.com www.joneswalker.com

ALABAMA | ARIZONA | DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA | FLORIDA GEORGIA | LOUISIANA | MISSISSIPPI | NEW YORK | OHIO | TEXAS Attorney Advertising. No representation is made that the quality of legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other attorneys.

Law & Accounting

18 Q Mississippi Business Journal Q June 16, 2017

Chambers USA Lawyers Continued from Page 17

Phelps Dunbar

» MISSISSIPPI FIRM RECOGNITION: Corporate/ Commercial (Band 3); Labor & Employment (Band 1); Litigation: General Commercial (Band 3). » MISSISSIPPI INDIVIDUAL RECOGNITION: F.M. Bush III, Corporate/Commercial (Band 3); James W. O’Mara, Corporate/Commercial: Bankruptcy (Band

1); Gary E. Friedman, Labor & Employment (Band 1); LaToya Merritt, Labor & Employment (Band 3); W. Thomas Siler Jr., Labor & Employment (Band 1); Fred L. Banks Jr., Litigation: Appellate (Band 2); James Shelson, Litigation: General Commercial (Band 4); Bridgforth Rutledge, Real Estate (Band 3)

Shows, Real Estate (Band 2)

The Kullman Firm » MISSISSIPPI FIRM RECOGNITION: Labor & Employment (Band 2).

Waide & Associates Tupelo

Shows & Smith Law Firm » MISSISSIPPI INDIVIDUAL RECOGNITION: John

» MISSISSIPPI INDIVIDUAL RECOGNITION: James

Waide, Labor & Employment (Star Individuals); Rachel Waide, Labor & Employment (Band 3)

Watson & Norris » MISSISSIPPI INDIVIDUAL RECOGNITION: Louis H. Watson, Labor & Employment (Band 2)

Watkins & Eager » NATIONAL FIRM RECOGNITION: Product Liability & Mass Torts (Band 4). » NATIONAL INDIVIDUAL RECOGNITION: Walter T. Johnson, Products Liability & Mass Torts (Band 4); Michael Ulmer, Products Liability & Mass Torts (Recognized Practitioner). » MISSISSIPPI FIRM RECOGNITION: Corporate/ Commercial (Band 2); Environment (Band 2); Labor & Employment (Band 3); Litigation: General Commercial (Band 1); Real Estate (Band 1). » MISSISSIPPI INDIVIDUAL RECOGNITION: George R. Fair, Corporate/Commercial (Band 2); Joyce Hall, Corporate/Commercial: Banking & Finance (Band 1); Jamie G. Houston III, Corporate/ Commercial (Band 2); Jim Spencer, Corporate/ Commercial: Bankruptcy (Band 2); Betty Ruth Fox, Environment (Band 2); Keith Turner, Environment (Band 1); Walter J. Brand, Labor & Employment (Band 2); Kenneth E. Milam, Labor & Employment (Band 3); David L. Ayers, Litigation: General Commercial (Band 2); William F. Goodman Jr., Litigation: General Commercial (Senior Statesman); Michael Gwin, Litigation: General Commercial (Band 3); William F. Ray, Litigation: General Commercial (Band 3); Stephanie Rippee, Litigation: General Commercial (Band 4); Paul H. Stephenson III, Litigation: General Commercial (Band 1); Michael Ulmer, Litigation: General Commercial (Band 1); Paul L. Gunn, Real Estate (Band 1); Molly Jeffcoat Moody, Real Estate (Up and Coming); William C. Smith III, Real Estate (Band 1); Roger W. Williams, Real Estate (Band 3); M. Binford Williams Jr., Real Estate (Band 2).

Wells Marble & Hurst » MISSISSIPPI FIRM RECOGNITION: Litigation: General Commercial (Band 4).

Williams, Nichols & Ash » MISSISSIPPI INDIVIDUAL RECOGNITION: David Ash, Real Estate (Band 3)

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» MISSISSIPPI FIRM RECOGNITION: Energy & Natural Resources (Band 2); Litigation: General Commercial (Band 2). » MISSISSIPPI INDIVIDUAL RECOGNITION: Henderson Hall, Energy & Natural Resources (Band 3); Douglas E. Levanway, Energy & Natural Resources (Band 3); Barbara C. Wallace, Labor & Employment (Band 2); George H. Ritter, Litigation: General Commercial (Band 4); Michael B. Wallace, Litigation: General Commercial (Band 1) and Litigation: Appellate (Band 1).

Young Wells » MISSISSIPPI INDIVIDUAL RECOGNITION: James Neeld, Corporate/Commercial (Band 3)

June 16, 2017

Q

Mississippi Business Journal

Q

19

THE SPIN CYCLE

Google, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook most valuable brands

T

echnology giants Google, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook have been named the Top 5 companies in the 2017 Brandz top 100 most valuable global brands ranking, carried out by WPP and Kantar Millward Brown.

Now in its 12th year, the study combines measures of brand equity, based on interviews with more than 3 million consumers about thousands of global brands, with analysis of the financial performance of each company to determine the brands overall value, taking into account regional differences and customer perceptions. Here’s the Top 5: 1. Google Despite hitting a major low among advertisers after The Times of London’s exposé earlier this year, it appears Google’s brand value remains buoyant among consumers.

The advertising ‘duopoly’ of Google and Facebook also appears to show no signs of slowing, as combined they attracted onefifth of global ad spend across all media in 2016, with Google pulling in the lion’s share of $79.4 billion, versus its rival’s total of $26.9 billion.

2. Apple Apple’s stratospheric growth rate appears set to continue for some time yet – despite an apparent stall in sales of its flagship i-Phone – with its valuation topping $800 billion for the first time this year.

As well as WPP’s most valuable brands survey, Apple also made it into Forbes’ valuable brands list last month, for the seventh year in a row.

In March the tech giant launched a video platform called Clips, a camera and social video-editing app that is reminiscent of Twitter’s recently shuttered Vine. More product launches, across both software and hardware, are expected to be announced at Apple’s major annual event, the Worldwide Developers Conference, which kicks off this week, 3. Microsoft After calling the recent NHS cyber attack a ‘wake-up’ call for governments and customers to take security seriously, the tech giant has been criticized for its own failings when it comes to security this year. In a letter to The Times’ Sir David Omand, for-

mer British Government Communications Headquarters director, pinned the blame squarely on the technology firm for failing to maintain support for its ageing Windows XP platform.

Nevertheless, next week the software giant will embark on the largest global launch of Apple-rivalling slick hardware in its history. Microsoft’s new Surface Pro tablet, laptop and desktop are set to launch across a multitude of countries, after being quietly developed for the past few years.

4. Amazon This year the e-commerce giant has continued to hone its tech ecosystem to improve consumer experience across online shopping, delivery and entertainment, as well as developing AI-enabled services including grocery delivery and personal assistant Alexa. And in April, Amazon confirmed that advertising is to become a ‘meaningful’ aspect of its business, after looming quietly in the digital media space for some time.

The online platform is also looking to diversify from books, entertainment and consumer products into the lucrative pharmaceuticals sector 5. Facebook Although the social media behemoth has come under serious fire for its role in the fake news phenomenon and the spread of misinformation during times of political significance, user growth doesn’t appear as if it’s about to curb any time soon. Now approaching the two billion-user mark, its advertising business continues to go from strength to strength as the social network reported revenue growth of 51% year-over-year in Q1.

Rounding out the Top 10: 6.

AT&T 7.

Visa 8.

Tencent 9.

IBM 10.

Mc Donald’s.

“The superstar technology brands in the BrandZ global top 100 are capable of abundant innovation, using their platforms to create connected ecosystems that meet multiple needs and make our lives easier,” said Jane Bloomfield, Kantar Millward Brown’s head of UK marketing.

http://www.msbusiness.com

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“They also have great elasticity, confidently playing in new territories and categories to expand their customer bases.”

NBC News Rolls Out Custom Display Ads NBC News is rolling out two new kinds of display ads that are designed to meet advertisers’ demands for viewability, according to DigiDay The ads, which NBC developed in-house and are initially visible on two verticals, Mach and Better, are a custom display unit and a “ping pong” unit, which rolls through a sequence of images as a user scrolls down the page. Both remain in reader view for longer than the IAB-required one second, at a time when many publishers are doing the bare minimum when it comes to viewability.

The custom units resize themselves for any device and are part of a trend toward custom display units. So far a major advertiser has bought some of the ping-pong units, though a company spokesman declined to specify which one.

The idea is to make the ads more distinct and hence more valuable to advertisers. “Marketers are looking to publishers to help them find interesting ways to tell their stories,” said Nick Ascheim, NBC News’s senior vice president of digital. “And because the new design provides such a visually rich environment, we expect to see higher engagement with both the ads and the content, which is a win for us and for our advertising partners.”

Those new units are part of redesigns meant to get people to engage with both sites for longer periods of time. That meant including features like a video player that allows visitors to watch an unlimited number of videos with just one pre-roll ad and a front page that will let readers see an entire story on the site’s homepage without having to click through on an article page.

Where an early version of the site presented readers with a wall of article options, the newer versions of Mach and Better give editors the flexibility to show visitors a lot of information from one story right away.

The designs, which NBC News did with Code and Theory, were made using a template that will also allow NBC News to roll

out additional vertical sites more quickly. A third vertical, Think, is Todd Smith slated for launch in a few weeks, and additional, not-yet-named sites are in the works.

Golden Mic | Smashville is Center of Sports, Music Universe What do you get when you combine the best hockey teams, the biggest country music festival in the world and one of the largest music festivals in the land?

Smashville!

The Nashville Predators and the epic battle with Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins brought more than 70,000 frenzied fans to downtown for Game 6 of the NHL championship. Add some 100,000 country music fans catching the final night of CMA Fest – featuring superstars Brad Paisley and Keith Urban. And for good measure shake it all up with the Bonnaroo music festival, where U2, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Weekend jammed with fans from around the globe in a rural mecca south of Music City.

Music and hockey fans have gone a bit mad – tossing catfish, a signature Nashville Predators tradition onto the ice – while blowing decibel levels through the roof at Bridgestone Arena, cementing the city as the one-andonly Hockey Tonk. The stars have aligned to sing the national anthem at the games to bring more electricity, including Carrie Underwood, Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town, Keith Urban, Luke Bryan, Trisha Yearwood, Martina McBride, Vince Gill and Faith Hill.

All along the way, big-time artists have played free concerts for the fans crowded into downtown. Allen Jackson, Luke Bryan and more have made Nashville – and its brand – the center of the sports and music universe.

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.