MBJ_Nov03_2017

INSIDE — Broadband – fast or faster – expanding across state — Page 3 ENERGY

www.msbusiness.com

Electricity from Texas wind farms could cross Mississippi — Page 6

Economic Development

» New director in Madison County ‘a tremendous hire’

{P2} Deason

November 3, 2017 • Vo. 39. No. 43 • 28 pages

2017

I P P I S MISSIS

0 0 1

A BREAKDOWN OF STATE’S TOP PRIVATELY OWNED COMPANIES DINING {P6}

» Restaurant meal delivery service launches in Jackson area

» About the Mississippi 100, Page 15 » Cooperative Energy: Moving toward a cleaner future, Page 14 » KLLM: Driving Academy gives deaf applicant a chance, Page 16 » Columbia: A small town with big businesses, Page 18 » The complete Top 100 list, Pages 22-26

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

2 Q Mississippi Business Journal Q November 3, 2017 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

BANKING

New economic development director in Madison County ‘a tremendous hire’

First Bancshares to buy Ala. bank; acquisitions double income

By BECKY GILLETTE mbj@msbusiness.com

Joseph P. Deason plans to take some of the best tactics learned working for General Motors (GM)-Delphi for 17 years, serving as chief financial officer of the Mississippi Development Authority for four years and his past four and one-half years as chief operating officer for the Golden Triangle Development LINK to his role as the new executive director of the Madison County Economic Development Authority (MCEDA).

“God bless the governor, the Mississippi Development Authority, and the State of Mississippi, but projects are won and lost at the local level because it is the locals who have the land, water, power, sewer and work force, and they are the ones who have to sell that to a prospect,” Deason said.

“The state incentives help push those projects over the goal line. During the years at the LINK, I learned more in detail how to build a winning community and how to structure deals, be a problem solver not a problem creator, and be innovative.”

Deason, hired after a nationwide search, started work Oct. 1. MCEDA Board of Directors Chairman Lanny Slaughter said they are very excited hiring Deason.

“Joey’s experience in economic development at both a regional and state level combined with his level of leadership will ensure that MCEDA is both focused and accountable in working with industry and community leaders,” Slaughter said.

Madison County Board of Supervisors President David Bishop called it a “tremendous hire.”

Deason worked for MDA from 2006 to 2010, busy post-Katrina years that saw large economic development projects such as Toyota Blue Springs, Severstal Columbus, PACCAR and GE Aviation.

Following the MDA job, Deason worked for Schulz Xtruded Products based in Germany, which specializes in stainless steel pipes and extrusions for the aerospace industry. Then he got a call from Joe Max Higgins asking if Deason was interested in working putting together a regional alliance with Oktibbeha, Clay and Lowndes counties.

“I knew Joe Max as a stellar name in economic development work, plus I was getting to live in Starkville where I went to college,” Deason said. “I worked at the LINK for 4.5 years. That was my first foray into local economic development though I had done that kind of work at the state and private investment side levels. It was invaluable.”

One of the things he finds attractive about Madison County is that it has assets most of Mississippi struggles to attain.

“The school district is one of the top in the state, and the quality of life is phenomenal,” Deason Deason said. “My vision includes building and developing product for Madison County--land, water, sewer, gas, electric--all the infrastructure items a company expects to have in place when considering a development.”

Deason said he plans to work to represent every citizen of Madison County.

“We are here to make your community a better place,” Deason said. “We want to create jobs so that you, your family and friends can live here and find quality jobs instead of moving out of state and creating the brain drain. When you think of Madison County, you think of Nissan and all the suppliers that came along with Nissan. Obviously, I do believe there is a great opportunity for existing industries and for our automotive suppliers. But we are interested in creating new product not just for automotive suppliers, but for advanced manufacturing as a whole.”

Each economic development prospect is different, but one common factor is the need to be able to hire a trained, educated work force. To help meet that demand, Deason wants Madison County to strive for being a Work Ready Community.

“One of the goals I want to accomplish is to create a Work Ready Community here and have people prepared and tested for a Career Readiness Certificate (CRC),” he said. “One of the takeaways I’m probably going to steal from the LINK is to work with the local schools to figure out a way to test all the juniors in high school who want to participate for the CRC. Not every person who graduates from high school is going to a two-year or four-year college.

If we can work with local school districts to have those students prepped and tested as juniors, and figure out a way for them to take the basic manufacturing skills course at Holmes Community College, when they graduate from high school have they will those options in front of them.”

Just through natural attrition at Nissan Canton, the plant is hiring about 100 people a month. “There are opportunities out there that exist and they are good paying opportunities,” Deason said.

Deason said another focus will be to make sure that the MCEDA is transparent and open.

“Over the last year, the MCEDA board has focused on reinvigorating the organization and its success in job creation efforts,” said a press release announcing Deason’s appointment. “Cornerstones of this effort are strict fiduciary standards and increased communication with elected officials and the community regarding its activities. This is a priority of the board and staff. Moving forward with a new executive director, MCEDA is steadfast in its commitment to the strictest ethical standards and implementing the recommendations outlined in the organizational assessment providing a value proposition not only to industry but to the community as a whole.”

Deason said there have been some issues in the past including one with an airport study that caused some concerns. He plans to lead the organization with a focus on trust and communication to strengthen the community efforts and competitive position.

“A small example is beginning with the October meeting, once the minutes are approved the following month, they will be posted to our website for all to see,” Deason said.

Mississippi has seen some large industrial development project flops in recent years including the Stion solar panel manufacturing plant in Hattiesburg and the KiOR renewable fuels plant in Columbus.

Both closed owning about $70 million in loans from the State of Mississippi. There are claw back provisions that may help reduce the state’s losses, but the failure of projects like those raises questions about public economic development financing.

Deason said it is important to make sure that deals are structured to protect the local investment.

“The locals being Lowndes County, Columbus and Port of Lowndes ended up making approximately $1.8. to $2 million on KiOR,” Deason said. “They didn’t lose in the deal and they got their land back.

The way the deal was structured, you can protect the local investment. Locals have no control over the state contract, but what locals do have control over is the way the deal is structured locally. One of the things I learned was how to structure a deal that protects your local assets.”

Deason sees Madison County continuing to grow and prosper. “Right now, our future is bright and the sky is the limit,” he said.

For more information visit www.madisoncountyeda.com.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

The First Bancshares Inc. of Hattiesburg announced that it will buy an Alabama bank for $60 million, expanding its footprint in southwest Alabama.

First Bancshares says it will acquire Southwest Banc Shares Inc. of Chatom, Ala., paying $36 million in stock and $24 million in cash.

The Mississippi bank seeks to sell $45 million in stock, in part to raise cash for the purchase. The current owners of Southwest would own about 11 percent of the combined company, assuming those shareholders approve the merger.

First Bancshares announced in January that it had acquired Gulf Coast Community Bank, based in Pensacola, Fla., and Iberville Bank, based in Plaquemine, La. First Bancshares operates as Iberville Bank in parts of Louisiana. Southwest operates as First Community Bank at nine branches in Alabama’s Washington, Mobile and Baldwin counties.

First Bancshares also announced Oct. 24 that its third quarter net income doubled — to $4.7 million over $2.2 million for the year-earlier period.

Earnings per share were 51 cents, compared with 45 cents for the third quarter of 2016. Its shares on the NasdaqGM stock market closed down 20 cents at $30.40 Wednesday, nearing their 52-week high of $30.95. The 52week low ws $21.50.

The First says it expects the latest merger to add to profits in 2019, and says it will improve overall business because there are more small and midsized businesses to lend to along Alabama’s Gulf Coast than in nearby Mississippi areas.

The acquirer expects to spend $6 million on merger costs, but says it will be able to cut 40 percent of First Community’s non-interest expenses.

It’s the seventh acquisition for The First since 2011. The deal would push The First over $2 billion in assets and give the bank about 5 percent of the deposit market in the three Alabama counties.

The deal is expected to be completed early next year.

November 3, 2017

Q

Mississippi Business Journal

Q

3

TECHNOLOGY

Broadband – fast or faster – expanding across state

By JACK WEATHERLY jack.weatherly@msbusiness.com Mississippi ranks at or near the bottom in broadband Internet service in the United States.

Recently, two providers have expanded their service to parts of the state that are underserved, or depending the assumptions, unserved by high-speed broadband connections.

Most recently, AT&T announced it is offering its service in parts of 46 counties in Mississippi.

Based on 2015 data gathered by Mississippi State University, it appears that the expansion means that all but four counties now can get broadband service.

That apparently would leave residents in Humphreys, Sharkey, Noxubee and Issaquena counties, already among the poorest in a poor state, with a decided handicap.

But the 2015 data used the benchmark speeds of 25 megabits per second (Mbps) for downloads and 3 Mbps for uploads.

That’s because in that year the Federal Communications Commission voted to increase the deďŹ nition of benchmark broadband speeds to 25 Mbps and 3 Mbps.

Thanks to the federal Connect America Fund, AT&T is putting in wireless towers sending signals to antennae on homes and businesses, though those four counties are not on its list at this point.

The expansion counties will have speeds of at least 10 Mbps and an upload speed on 1 Mbps, according to AT&T. The Connect America Fund, an outgrowth of the old universal service fund, a minimal charge to phone users to provide service for those in isolated areas, is providing $10.8 billion over a six-year period to do what AT&T is doing in Mississippi and 17 other states.

Current FCC Chairman Ajit Pai dissented from the 2015 majority, stating that “just last month, the agency voted to spend $10.8 billion over the next six years to deploy what it called 10 Mbps ‘broadband’ so that millions of rural Americans could enjoy ‘access to advanced telecommunications and information services.’�

But then the panel voted to “arbitrarilyâ€? set the speeds at 25 and 3 Mbps, Pai said. “At 10 Mbps,â€? Pai wrote in his dissent, “one family member could stream a super HD movie, another could make an HD video call, and yet another could deliver ďŹ les to and retrieve them from the cloud, all while everyone in the house sends emails, gets alerts, and checks the weather.â€?

Pai’s position is that the higher speeds are futuristic, catering to the latest version

of high-deďŹ nition streaming called 4K. Meantime, for those who are in the areas selected by AT&T, there is a $99 installation fee and $60 a month for a one-year contract.

C Spire, the Ridgeland-based company, is taking the higher-speed road.

It announced in September that it will be

extending high-speed service – 25 Mbps to select towns in the Delta and as fast as 100 Mbps in other communities and even 1 gigabit per second for small businesses. A gigabit is 1,000 times faster than a megabit.

Its position reects one member of the majority in the 2015 FCC vote.

“We are never satisďŹ ed with the status quo. We want better. We continue to push the limit, and that is notable when it comes to technology,â€? FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn said.

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4 Q Mississippi Business Journal Q November 3, 2017 CONSTRUCTION

Fondren hotel developers turn dirt, hope to turn around attitudes

By JACK WEATHERLY jack.weatherly@msbusiness.com

Dirt has been literally and ceremonially turned for the Hilton Homewood Suites hotel and the developers continue to work on winning over the Fondren community in north Jackson.

About 100 people, including neighbors, and city and state officials, gathered beneath a white pavilion on a brisk sunny Oct. 24 morning on the two-acre State Street site.

A community normally welcomes investment, but the Ridgeland-based Heritage Hospitality Group, has had to win its way into the hearts and minds of the Fondren downtown district after the fact.

Some in the district with its strong arts flavor fear the loss of identity with a major corporate presence.

To sweeten the pot, Heritage Hospital-

ity awarded on Tuesday a $10,000 check to the Friends of Children’s Hospital and $2,500 to the Fondren Renaissance Foundation.

Ali Bhatti, chief financial officer and general counsel for Heritage, said the gathering was an “opportunity to give the community a chance to come together and share the project.”

One of the houses on the two-acre site will be moved elsewhere in the neighborhood, Bhatti said, while others — including one historically dubbed “The Fondren House” — were demolished and the hill on which they sat was leveled to make way for the hotel.

Windows, doors and air-conditioning units were salvaged and donated to charities, Bhatti said.

One shop owner, Robert Whitley, owner of Whitley’s Flowers, was on hand with his 25-year-old macaw, Poco.

JACK WEATHERLY/MBJ

Shovels await groundbreaking ceremony at Homewood Suites hotel in Fondren.

He said he has “mixed feelings” about the hotel. “It takes away from the atmosphere of Fondren.“ Still, he said, “I can’t stop change, so I guess I’ll embrace it.”

Some Fondren businesses – La Brioche Patisserie, Campbell’s Bakery and Rooster’s – provided breakfast food and Sneaky Beans brought the coffee.

Competition from Homewood Suites, which will have 4,000 square feet of retail space, has upset the Fondren shop owners.

Chico Patel, president of Heritage Hospitality, said the developers are considering a restaurant among its tenants.

Two other hotels are in the works for the Fondren business district – The Fondren, a Starwood Aloft brand, and the Hampton Inn, both of which will have retail space.

Patel said that Homewood Suites should be complete by early spring of 2019. The other two hotel projects, both also on State

Street, have encountered obstacles, but developers say they are moving forward even though plans were announced nearly two years ago and no dirt has been turned.

A number of years ago, the Fondren district was granted a rezoning to Town Center Mixed Use, allowing such construction.

Previously, it had been an overlay district, which is usually more restrictive, according the city Planning Director Mukesh Kumar.

Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, who took office in July, acknowledged to the crowd there had been “challenges” in doing business with the city in previous administrations.

He said that under his administration Jackson will be “business friendly.”

“We want you to be rich, we want you to be very rich, but we also want you to give back to the community,” Lumumba said.

BANKING

Trustmark net income up for third quarter

By JACK WEATHERLY jack.weatherly@msbusiness.com Trustmark Corp. announced net income of $34.57 million, or 51 cents per share for the third quarter, compared with $30.98 million, or 46 cents per share, a year earlier.

The results, which were released after market on Oct. 24, beat Wall Street expectations, according to the Associated Press. The average estimate of four analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 48 cents per share.

The holding company for Trustmark National Bank posted revenue of $165.6 million in the period. Its adjusted revenue was $153.4 million.

Three analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $154.4 million.

Trustmark shares were down six cents at $33.52 in Nasdaq trading on Oct. 24. They have fallen roughly 6 percent since the beginning of

the year.

Gerald R. Host, president and chief executive of the Jackson-based bank noted in the release Trustmark’s continuing loan growth and “strong credit quality.”

Net interest income reached $108.89 million, compared with $102.18 million in the third quarter of 2016.

Nonperforming (90 days or more in arrears) assets totaled $118.64 million, down from $119.4 million a year earlier.

The company increased its allowance for loan losses due to Hurricane Harvey on the Texas Gulf Coast by $1.1 million, reducing the quarterly net income by $687,000, or one cent per share.

“None of Trustmark’s facilities sustained damaged and reopened as soon as practical,” the release stated.

Trustmark provides banking and financial services through 198 offices in Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee and Texas.

November 3, 2017

Q

Mississippi Business Journal

Q

5

ENERGY

Latest failure from Barbour years: Stion to shut down plant in Hattiesburg

By JACK WEATHERLY jack.weatherly@msbusiness.com

Stion Corp., the solar panel maker in Hattiesburg, will shut down, the company said in a letter.

The San Jose, Calif.-based company’s Hattiesburg facility has been operating since 2012, said in the letter it would “discontinue operations,” Greentech Media, an industry publication, reported on Monday.

Stion was one of five alternative-energy projects begun during the administration of Gov. Haley Barbour between 2004 and 2012 – all failed or failing.

As in the past, Stion said it has suffered from “intense, non-market competition from foreign solar manufacturers.”

In 2011, the state of Mississippi lent the company $75 million and local government agreed to accept fees in lieu of ad valorem taxes.

Stion promised to create 1,000 jobs by the end of 2017.

However, in a renegotiated memorandum of understanding in November 2015 with state and local government it agreed to create 500 averaging $42,000 by the

end of 2022.

Vice President Frank Yang told the Mississippi Business Journal in July that the manufacturing operation had added 40 jobs in the past year, bringing the total to 150.

The statement about closure comes when the U.S. Trade Commission is drafting tariffs to level the international playing field to present to President Donald Trump.

“The company plans to execute an assignment for the benefit of creditors soon to sells its assets,” according to the letter.

“The Hattiesburg . . . plant will initially be maintained as a turnkey solar manufacturing facility in hopes that a new owner can step in and operate the facility.”

Greentech Media quoted unnamed sources as saying that the last work day would be Oct. 27, but it said that Vice President Frank Yang would not confirm that the company announced later that the last day is Dec. 13.

Among other projects launched with support from Barbour was Twin Creeks Technologies in Senatobia, in which the state invested $27.7 million but which never produced marketable solar panels and

did did not come close to its commitment to create 1,500 jobs. It closed in late 2012.

The state leased the facility to ABB Low Voltage in December 2015. ABB, a Swiss firm, plans to hire 300 people over the next five years. Mississippi gave ABB $3.5 million for infrastructure and training. Senatobia resumed making payments to the Mississippi Development Authority on $18 million it borrowed to build the structure.

KiOR, which said it would create 1,000 direct and indirect jobs in exchange for a $75 million loan from the Mississippi Development Authority, shut down in January 2014, laying off its work force of 100 without attaining acceptable levels and quality of fuel derived from wood chips. The state agency filed suit in Hinds County Circuit Court, alleging fraud and conspiracy.

Mississippi Power Co.’s Kemper County power plant, intended to operate on a first-of-its-kind lignite-coal derived gas, has suspended that effort, under pressure from the Mississippi Public Service Commission, and is currently operating on natural gas.

The concept was that the “syngas” would be cheaper in the long run than natural gas,

though the nation is awash in natural gas now, thanks to breakthroughs in hydrofracturing, or fracking, which has lowered the cost of the fossil fuel.

Efforts by Mississippi Power to perfect the technology of the plant were plagued from the beginning, pushing costs from the original $2.9 billion estimate to $7.5 billion, and missing the projected completion date by more than three years.

The Kemper facility has been operating on natural gas and producing electricity since August of 2014, and sporadically on syngas. That was not clear in an earlier version of this story.

The PSC plans to make a ruling on the case by January.

In another green-technology project, Mississippi’s state auditor, Stacy Pickering, demanded in July that troubled electric car maker GreenTech Automotive repay $4.9 million in state and local aid the company received, plus $1.5 million of interest.

Pickering said the company has failed to live up to pledges made in July 2011 to invest $60 million and create 350 jobs in Tunica County.

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6 Q Mississippi Business Journal Q November 3, 2017 ENERGY

DINING

Restaurant meal delivery service launches in Jackson area

By JACK WEATHERLY jack.weatherly@msbusiness.com

Electricity from Texas wind farms could cross Mississippi

By JACK WEATHERLY jack.weatherly@msbusiness.com Green energy is eyeing Mississippi again.

But this project is not another experiment that offers the state ground-floor entry into a new market.

Such as the failed cellulose-to-fuel KiOR plant or Mississippi Power’s idled coal-gas fuel-powered electricity generation plant.

Or the failure of two solar-panel manufacturing plants.

The taxpayer was left holding the bag in the failed solar plants, as well as the cellulose-to-fuel facility.

But the Southern Cross Transmission project would not rely on government funding – just its approval.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has found that the interconnection of the Southern Cross Project to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas system, which manages the flow of about 90 percent of the state’s electricity, is in the public interest.

The Mississippi Public Service Commission is expected to schedule hearings soon on a proposed certificate of convenience and necessity for a 200-mile transmission line that would cross 12 counties, carrying electricity generated by wind farms in Texas to Alabama and beyond, as well as Mississippi.

The Mississippi Chapter of the Sierra Club has given its blessing to the project.

“This cutting edge project will revolutionize the electric grid to deliver cost-competitive, clean, Texas wind energy to Mississippi and other Southeastern states by providing electricity to power

Mississippi’s homes and businesses,” it said in a release.

“Wind energy is now recognized as the cheapest form of ‘fuel’ for generating electricity in the United States, and this project will bring this economic advantage to Mississippi electric customers.”

There’s plenty of interest from the vendor side in wanting the Southern Cross Transmission project to be built.

Vendor fairs held in Columbus and Ridgeland last week attracted about 120 potential contractors, bringing the total to about 500 when earlier fairs are included, said Adam Renz, director of government relations for the eastern region of the Pattern Energy Group.

Renz said that the construction phase would need about 650 workers and that there would be 30 full-time, permanent jobs when a $300 million station is built in Lowndes County to convert the direct power to indirect power.

A similar facility would be built in Louisiana near the Texas border in addition to 200 miles of transmission lines. Benefits for the Mississippi and Louisiana economy would be about $1.9 billion each over 30 years, according to Renz.

Any suspicions that the project is an effort to take advantage of the idled coal-gasification plant constructed by Mississippi Power are misguided, according to Denton Gibbes, Ridgeland-based, public relations man.

Gibbes said the Southern Cross project was first discussed in 2010, about the time that the Kemper plant was approved by the PSC, and thus could not have anticipated the troubles the coal-fired plant would encounter.

The preferred route would cross the Mississippi River and enter Issaquena County, then Washington, Sharkey, Humphreys, Holmes, Carroll, Montgomery, Choctaw, Oktibbeha, Clay and Monroe counties, ending in Lowndes County.

Boards of supervisors in all those counties have passed resolutions in favor of the project, according to Renz.

“The Southern Cross Transmission project will have a significant impact on our county tax revenues,” Bill Newsom, president of the Sharkey County Board of Supervisors, said in a prepared statement.

The lines would cross land owned by 1,500 individuals.

Out of that number, fewer than a dozen have voiced opposition the project, Renz said, adding that Pattern interviewd hundreds of them.

Denise Gatlin, who lives in Batesville, Ark., and is a second-generation owner of a Lowndes County farm, wrote in a letter on file with the PSC: “The proposed route would place the line directly over a approximate two acre pond. I had hoped to build a family cabin near this pond for weekend trips . . . or a catfish restaurant.”

Charles “Bert’ Darnell of Glen Allan wrote Southern Cross a letter dated May 22 that the route “would result in he loss of agriculture production, wildlife habitat and timber production.” Darnell said he is a third generation owner of the land where he lives and farms.

Should the PSC approve the project, landowners would face the possibility of their land being taken under eminent domain if an agreement on a price cannot be reached with the utility.

Delivery is in the forefront of the U.S. economy it seems.

Whether its Amazon buying up Whole Foods and getting groceries to the doorstep, or Wal-Mart and Kroger making deliveries to homes, the “last mile” seems to be the watchword.

Enter Waitr into the Jackson area market.

Starting Thursday, about 40 restaurants will deliver meals for a fee of $5.

And at least 150 will be hired to make the deliveries, according to Dean Turcol, public relations director for the Louisiana-based company.

Job applicants can apply at waitrapp.com/become-a-driver.

The fee is the same, whether the delivery is for one or 20 meals, Turcol said.

Menu prices are the same on the Waitr app as they are at the restaurants, Turcol said. Further information is available at waitr.com.

Among the Jackson restaurants that have signed up for the service are Sal and Mookie’s, Surin, The Manship, Jackson, Cups and Papito’s.

Also, Cici’s Pizza, Flowood; Newk’s in Ridgeland on Lake Harbour and Township and on Old Canton in Jackson; Surin of Thailand, Jackson; Firehouse Subs in Madison and Flowood; Babalu Tapas and Tacos, Jackson; McAlister’s Deli, on Amite Street and Northside Drive in Jackson; Mellow Mushroom, Flowood; Piccadilly, in Lefleur’s Gallery, Robinson Road and Jackson Mall; Mr. Chen’s, TY Bowls, Pig and Pint; Donut Planet; Dunkin’ Donuts; Lost Pizza, Quizno’s, Jackson; McB’s Bar and Grill; Mugshots on Lake Harbour; Papito’s on Colony Crossing; Izzo’s Illegal Burrito; Pizza Shack; Cups on East Capitol, Lakeland Drive, on Main in Clinton, and Old Canton in Ridgeland; Frisco Deli; Drago’s Seafood; Burgers and Blues; Athenos Greek and Lebanese Cafe and Great American Cookies in Ridgeland.

The service is offered in Gulfport and across the Southeast and in Texas.

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Inside charter school rankings

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» INSIDE MISSISSIPPI

Big contributors aggresively pursuing (buying) tax cuts

S

teve Bannon recently met with mega Republican political contributor Bernie Marcus and heard him complain “for hours about the lack of return on his investment,” reported Politico.com, A decade before becoming Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, whose family has helped bankroll Republican issues and candidates, wrote in Roll Call, “I have decided to stop taking offense at the suggestion that we are buying influence. Now I simply concede the point. They are right. We do expect something in return.”

Koch brothers ally Doug Deason told OpenSecrets.org in September that “he and other big-donor Texans are fed up and have stopped hosting high-dollar fundraisers until Republicans make good on the money.”

The major make good return these and other billionaire contributors want most of all appears to be tax cuts.

“The powerful political network overseen by conservative billionaire Charles Koch is launching a multimillion-dollar campaign to drive Trump’s tax plan through Congress,” USA Today reported earlier this year. In early October the news organization said the Koch network, “already has spent more than $10 million this year on its campaign to pass the tax plan” and is “sending activists door-to-door

Bill Crawford

in key states and having donors dial Republicans on the Capitol Hill, pressuring them to speed a tax plan through Congress this year.”

So, are these and many other billionaires spending big because tax cuts will be good for America, or because tax cuts will be especially good for them?

Buying influence is common to American politics. Buying direct government benefits is something most conservatives have strenuously opposed.

The biggest benefit in the pending Republican tax plan, $1.5 trillion, comes from the proposed corporate tax rate reduction from 35 percent to 20 percent. (Trump wants 15 percent.)

There is near universal agreement that the current corporate tax rate is too high, anti-competitive, and should be reduced. However, the rate at which U.S. taxes become internationally competitive is different from the rate at which major corporations receive an excessive windfall.

Experts suggest a corporate tax rate of 24 percent to 25 percent would make U.S. rates competitive. The average rate for the 35-nation Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), of which the See CRAWFORD, Page 8

here may have been some smirking recently among charter-school opponents when the accountability grades came out from the Mississippi Department of Education.

The state's first three charter schools, all located in Jackson, showed up toward the bottom of the rankings.

Two had the same accountability grades that they received the year before — a D and an F. The third, after its first year, received a D. "See," we could imagine charter opponents saying, "we told you charter schools were a waste of time and only take precious financial resources from already underserved public schools."

Not so fast.

A closer look at the numbers shows that, although the charters have not performed any miracles in their first year or two of operation, at least two of them are doing a whole lot better than their peer middle schools in the failing Jackson School District.

Of the 13 traditional middle schools, 11 of them received F's, including 10 of them for the second year in a row. The students in these 11 most closely match the demographics from which the three charter schools draw — low-income, mostly African-American.

Two of the charters — both operated by the Nashville-based Republic Schools — not only were a grade higher, but the percentage of their students who scored proficient or better on state tests in reading and math were two to three times higher than the 11 failing traditional middle schools.

Meanwhile, the one F-rated charter, Midtown Public, was indistinguishable in its dismal performance after two years than the failing traditional schools. If you were to judge it today, you'd have to shut it down.

To do so, though, might also be premature. Even state Superintendent of Education Carey Wright, no cheerleader for charter schools, says it takes three to five years to see what if any difference they are making, since most of the students who enroll in them start off two grades or more behind academically.

So, let's not give charter schools a pass, but let's not rush to judgment either. This experiment in education has only just begun in Mississippi. The first rural charter school has yet to open. That comes next school year with one in Clarksdale.

Like a lot of experiments — including the state Department of Education's own two decades of trying to turn around failing schools and districts by taking them over — some are going to work out better than others.

In the next couple of years, it will be clear which charters schools are successes and which are failures. Those that are not operating at least at a C level by the time their five-year charter comes up for review should be closed. There's no purpose in having charter schools if they're as mediocre or dysfunctional as the schools to which the charters are supposed to provide an alternative.

It would be wrongheaded, however, to root for their failure. Successful charter schools are not just good for the children who patronize them. They can also help children who stay in traditional schools by spurring these schools to get better and by providing examples of how to do it.

— The Greenwood Commonwealth

PERSPECTIVE

8 I Mississippi Business Journal I November 3 2017 » RICKY NOBILE

CRAWFORD

Continued from Page 7

U.S. is a member, is 24.7 percent. China’s rate is 25 percent.

So, pushing for 20 percent or lower rates does open the door to arguments the big contributors are trying to buy a huge benefit.

Additional proposals to eliminate the inheritance tax, eliminate the alternative minimum tax, provide a 25 percent pass-through rate for partnerships and sole proprietorships, and lower the top personal income tax rate – all beneficial to the wealthy – only make the arguments stronger.

Meanwhile, average taxpayers will be asked to help pay the tab. Republican tax writers are looking at changes to 401(k) plans, eliminating mortgage interest and state and local tax deductions, eliminating personal exemptions and raising the low-end tax rate from 10 percent to 12 percent (somewhat offset by doubling the standard deduction). There is also a provision that the national debt may be increased up to $1.5 trillion, an indirect but real cost to average taxpayers.

“Wall Street is expecting to see a tax reform package by the end of the year,” reported CNBC. Big contributors are demanding it.

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

»FROM THE GROUND UP

An interview with Knox Ross

I

t’s been a while since I had a chance to visit with former Pelahatchie Mayor Knox Ross so I reached out to him online. Here’s my interview with the personable and accomplished Ross.

1. What are you doing these days?

I am completing an 11-month assignment as the CEO of the Coordinating and Development Corporation in Shreveport. The CDC is an economic development and workforce training organization that serves the ten parishes of Northwest Louisiana and coordinates efforts in Arkansas and Texas. Most of my time here has been spent restructuring the organization and placing it on firm financial footing for the future. I am returning to Mississippi after the end of my assignment here, but I will remain associated with the organization as a consultant for the next year. It has been a great experience to learn how other states and other local governments operate. It certainly makes me appreciate some things that Mississippi does better, but also makes me aware of areas for improvement.

I also spend a good bit of time doing my work with the Southern Rail Commission, principally promoting the reestablishment of Amtrak service east of New Orleans and on the I-20 corridor. I am also doing work as a consultant for turnaround situations and for government related interests. I enjoy serving as a “fixer” of sorts.

2. What is the Southern Rail Commission?

The SRC is a commission created by an act of Congress to engage and inform public and private rail interests to support and influence Southeast rail initiatives. It consists of the states of Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi, and our commissioners are appointed by our respective Governors. Our commission has been in existence since 1982, and was instrumental in not only establishing Amtrak service on the Gulf Coast, but served as the operator of the daily service between New Orleans and Mobile in the 1990’s. We work closely with Amtrak, our host freight railroad partners, and our federal, state, and local elected officials to improve existing Amtrak services and to work toward new service on the

Gulf Coast, I-20, and Baton Rouge/New Orleans corridors.

We worked closely with Senators Cochran and Wicker to form the Gulf Coast Working Group that recently reported to Congress on the requirements to restart Amtrak service on the Gulf Coast. We also worked with Senator Cochran to provide assistance to our Coast cities to prepare their stations to receive the new service. We keep an ongoing record of our work on our website at www.southernrailcommission.org 3. How did you get involved in it?

Kay Kell, the former City Manager of Pascagoula, a commissioner and former Chairman, asked Governor Barbour to appoint me. She sees the economic benefit of transportation choices, especially one like passenger rail that would bring people to the hearts of the cities along the coast. I shared her vision, and she continues to be a champion of passenger rail in this state and I remain grateful to her for the opportunity. My involvement with the SRC has allowed me to tell our story and work closely with leaders from around the country who are at the forefront of providing transportation choices to their citizens and positioning their areas to be competitive in the fast evolving world economy.

4. What spurred you interest in railroading?

I have always been fascinated with trains and transportation in general. After becoming mayor, and being able to learn more about the interaction of economic development and transportation, I began to pay more attention to it. I had the privilege of serving as Chair of the Transportation Advocacy Committee for the Greater Jackson Chamber Partnership, and as Chair of the Metropolitan Planning Organization for the Jackson Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Senator Wicker has been a great supporter of transportation, especially coordinating the multiple forms to make it easier and more efficient for people and goods to move from place to place. The SRC’s work with him and his staff has opened several doors for me to learn more about passenger and freight rail and its role in our transportation system. The more I learn, the more interesting it becomes.

5. As a former mayor of a successful Phil Hardwick small town what advice would you give to a new small town mayor?

Make friends with other successful mayors. They are delighted to share their knowledge, many times because they are also looking for new ideas. Take advantage of the educational and networking opportunities provided by the Mississippi Municipal League. These relationships have been invaluable to me. Participate in your Planning and Development District. The Central PDD, especially Mitzi Stubbs, did more to help our town prosper than anyone. Principally, just listen. I have so many people that have given me good, sound advice. I find that, so many times, there is a great temptation when in elected office, to think you are all of the sudden very smart and know all the answers. Just always remember one never knows all the answers and there is always an opportunity to learn a new, better way. Also, be able to admit when you are wrong. A rare thing in elective office, but necessary nonetheless.

6. What was your proudest accomplishment as Mayor?

Changing the perception of our town. Working with a great team of Aldermen and employees to make Pelahatchie a town it citizens could be proud of.

7. Do you miss politics?

I miss my mayor friends and the interaction with them. I miss working on and thinking about the opportunities and problems that Pelahatchie faces. I still operate in the political world with regard to the SRC and working with local governments. The rest of it? No. 8. What are your future plans?

I am now back in Pelahatchie full time. I am working on our SRC projects and pursuing opportunities to work with business and government entities to make them more efficient and responsive. I plan to put the unique knowledge I have gained in both the business and government sectors to work helping others. » Phil Hardwick can be reached at phil@philhardwick. com.

September 2017

November 3, 2017

Q

Mississippi 4.7 Q Mississippi Business Journal U.S.

4.1

DeSoto 3.5

9 Tunica 5.4

MISSISSIPPI’S SEPT. UNEMPLOYMENT FIGURES

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

Tate 4.9

Aug ‘17 1,275,900 64,800 5.1 1,211,100

Sept ‘16 1,282,200 72,800 5.7 1,209,400

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

Coahoma 6.4

Yalobusha 5.3

Aug ‘17 160,863,000 7,287,000 4.5 153,576,000

Sept 2017 4,660 40,320 $5,677,110 28,072 1,672 579 $202.23

Sept ‘16 159,636,000 7,658,000 4.8 151,977,000

Aug 2017 5,498 53,876 $7,692,730 38,613 2,633 621 $199.23

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

Sept 2016 5,823 48,664 $6,419,992 31,809 2,121 702 $201.83

Calhoun 4.0

Tishomingo 4.3

Leflore 7.0

Carroll 5.6

Montgomery 4.6

Holmes 8.4

Moving Avg.** 160,102,000 7,222,000 4.5 152,880,000

Yazoo 5.6

Issaquena 7.7

Lowndes 4.9

Oktibbeha 4.3

Choctaw 4.6

Winston 5.5

Attala 6.0

Sharkey 6.2

Monroe 4.8

Clay 6.1

Webster 4.9

Washington 6.4

Itawamba 3.8

Chickasaw 5.0

Grenada 4.3

Sunflower 7.0

Lee 3.8

Pontotoc 3.7

Bolivar 5.5

Moving Avg.** 1,289,400 68,000 5.3 1,221,400

Lafayette 3.9

Quitman 7.0

Humphreys 7.6

Sept ‘17 161,049,000 6,556,000 4.1 154,494,000

Alcorn 4.3

Tippah 4.1

Union 3.4

Tallahatchie 4.3

Sept ‘17 1,277,500 59,800 4.7 1,217,700

Benton 5.0

Prentiss 4.4

Panola 6.6

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

Marshall 4.7

Leake 5.1

Neshoba 4.8

Scott 3.7

Newton 4.9

Noxubee 7.1

Kemper 7.1

Madison 3.6 Warren 5.1 Rankin 3.4

Hinds 4.6

Claiborne 8.8

Copiah 5.2

Jefferson 11.3 Adams 6.3

Wilkinson 8.2

Franklin 6.0

Amite 6.0

Lincoln 4.7

Pike 5.5

Covington Jones 4.4 4.8

Walthall 5.7

Marion 4.8

— Mississippi Department of Employment Security5.3 - 7.6 7.7 - 11.3

5.3 - 7.6 7.7 - 11.3

Lamar 3.5

Pearl River 4.9

Hancock 5.0

Clarke 5.6

Wayne 5.5

Lawrence Jeff Davis 5.9 6.2

Unemployment Rates

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

3.4 - 3.8 3.4 - 3.8 Labor force amounts are produced in cooperation with the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

3.9 - 5.2 3.9 - 5.2 Note: Unless indicated state and county data presented are not seasonally adjusted.

Jasper 5.6

Smith 4.4

Simpson 4.3

Lauderdale 5.2

Forrest 4.4

Perry 5.6

Stone 5.4

Harrison 4.4

Greene 6.7

George 6.4

Jackson 5.4

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

Newsmakers

10 Q Mississippi Business Journal Q November 3, 2017

Gold Strike promotes GM

MGM Resorts International recently promoted Melonie Johnson to president and COO at Gold Strike Casino Resort in Tunica.

In June 2015, Johnson joined the company as general manager of Gold Strike. Previously, she M. Johnson served in leadership roles with Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races in West Virginia, Penn National Gaming and Caesars Entertainment, among others. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from University of New Orleans.

Leadership Jackson County class graduates

Planters promotes Nelson Trent Nelson was recently appointed Assistant Vice President/ Loan Officer at the Washington Avenue location of Planters Bank & Trust-Greenville.

A graduate of The Mississippi School for Banking and Holmes Community College in Ridgeland with an Associate Degree in Nelson Business Administration, Nelson began his banking career in 2008 at BankPlus, where he in several roles, including teller, customer service representative and lending assistant before becoming branch manager and loan officer at the bank’s Madison location. As branch manager, among other duties, he directed and supervised staff while identifying and developing new business and generating, approving and servicing a personal loan portfolio.

In Madison, Nelson was active in the Chamber of Commerce, serving on the Board of Directors as well as with Leadership Madison County, and for his service he was accorded the Rising Star Award in 2015.

He was also an active volunteer for Our Daily Bread and graduated from the Mississippi Federal Bureau of Investigation Citizen’s Academy.

Corps names Dyer Counsel

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Vicksburg District recently selected David Dyer as its District Counsel.

Dyer will serve as the senior attorney adviser to the Commander and provide legal advice to all district division chiefs, supervisors Dyer and leaders on areas such as: regulatory guidance, environmental law, real estate law, contract law, claims, Freedom of Information Act requests, ethics and litigation processing. He will also as the primary liaison between Mississippi Valley Division senior counsel and the District Commander.

In 2007, Dyer joined the Corps, working for the New Orleans District as Assistant District Counsel. He has also served with the Army Geospatial Center and the Afghanistan Engineer District South. He previously worked in Vicksburg for a developmental assignment in 2012, as Deputy District Counsel.

Dyer has received numerous awards including the E. Manning Seltzer Award, Commanders’ Awards for Civilian Service, Achievement Medals for Civilian Service, the Civilian Combat Service Pin, the Secretary of Defense Global War on Terrorism Medal, and a Non-Article 5 NATO medal.

Courtesy of Jackson County Chamber of Commerce

The Leadership Jackson County class of 2017 recently held its graduation ceremonies. Included in this year’s class were: David J. Venus V., Bancorp South Bank; Gregory G. Capranica, Cable ONE Business; Melissa Nell Ceasar, Charter Bank; Stephanie Christine Bitowski Barthes, Chevron; Melanie Phillips Landsiedel, Chevron; Kenneth Eugene Taylor, Jr., Chevron; Derek McCoy, City of Gautier - Fire Department; Stephanie Levet Coleman, City of Moss Point; Suzanne Steinberger Kinsey, City of Pascagoula; Michael Randall Harper, City of Pascagoula - Police Department; Jamie Danielle Redding, City of Pascagoula - Police Department; William Andrew Douglass, Compton Engineering, Inc.; Adam Joseph Haygood, First Federal Savings & Loan; Samuel Travis Stauter, First Federal Savings & Loan; James Lawrence Skrmetta, Gulf Coast Research Laboratory; Adam Powell Askew, Hancock Bank; Kristy Sargent, HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital of Gulfport; Fatina Charnette Brave, Ingalls Shipbuilding; Edgar Roberto Santos, Ingalls Shipbuilding; Joseph Glenn Barlow, Jackson County Animal Shelter; Claude Randell Bosarge, Jackson County Board of Supervisors; Brenda Minyard Lancaster, Jackson County CASA, Inc.; Randy Todd Carney, Jackson County Circuit Clerk; Anthony D. Johnson, Jackson County Fire District; Michael David Wright, Jackson County Sheriff’s Department; Christian E. Hartley, Keesler Federal Credit Union; James Riece Fleming, Merchants & Marine Bank; Dr. Terri Lea Sasser, Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College; Michelle Diane Sekul, Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College; Cedrick Arnez Hurd, Mississippi Power Company; Nicky Wayne Maxwell, Mississippi Security Police, Inc.; Dr. Shannon M. Vincent, Moss Point School District; Patrick A. Whelan, NASA/ Shared Services Center; Paricia Ann Coleman, Navigator Credit Union; Hannah Elaine Hughes, Mississippi Gulf Coast YMCA; Victoria Rosetti Applewhite, Ocean Springs LIVE, LLC; Jerald Lee Twiggs, Ocean Springs School District; Erin Suzanne Parker, Pascagoula River Audubon Center; Belinda Lee Dammen, Pascagoula-Gautier School District; Susan S. Russell, Singing River Health System; Laura Dianne Sessum, Singing River Health System Foundation; John Jay Fletcher Jr., The First - A National Banking Association; Erin Rosetti, Visit Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Johnson joins JSU board Brian Johnson, a Senior Vice President at Fisher Brown Bottrell Insurance, Inc., a subsidiary of Trustmark, has been appointed to serve on the Jackson State University Development Foundation Board, which attracts, invests and manages private resources to raise funds for student scholarships and B. Johnson campus enhancements.

Johnson has 12 years of experience in the insurance industry. He earned a Master of Business Administration from JSU and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Alcorn State University. Johnson has completed both Leadership Mississippi and Leadership Greater Jackson programs. He was recently recognized as one of the 2017 Top 100 Producers in the country by Insurance Business America Magazine.

Johnson is involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation – Mississippi Chapter, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., 100 Black Men of Jackson, Inc., the Mississippi Road Builders Association, the Mississippi Minority Contractors Association of Mississippi, the National Association of Surety Bond Producers and the Mississippi Minority Business Alliance, Inc.

Fuse.Cloud growing fast Fuse.Cloud, a Jackson-based business technology provider, was recently recognized in Fortune Magazine as one of the fastest-growing companies in America’s inner cities. The list, known as the Inner City 100, is

organized by the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC). The winners were chosen based on growth revenue over a five-year period. Fuse.Cloud was ranked 85th on the list with a five-year growth rate of 78.33 percent.

ICIC is a non-profit organization founded in 1995

by Harvard professor Michael E. Porter. This award places Fuse.Cloud among a group of America’s most promising businesses leading efforts to contribute to the local economy by growing their businesses inside the city. Since 2006, Fuse.Cloud has grown to serve thousands of businesses throughout the United States by providing voice over IP (VoIP), high-speed fiber internet and other cloud-based services.

Taylor named Fellow Edward C. Taylor has become a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, one of the premier legal associations in North America.

Fellowship in the College is extended by invitation, after careful investigation, to experienced trial lawyers of diverse backgrounds who have mastered the art of advocacy and whose professional careers have been marked by the highest standards of ethical conduct, professionalism, civility and collegiality. Lawyers must have a minimum of 15 years trial experience before they can be considered for Fellowship.

The College maintains and seeks to improve the standards of trial practice, professionalism, ethics, and the administration of justice through education and public statements on independence of the judiciary, trial by jury, respect for the rule of law, access to justice, and fair and just representation of all parties to

legal proceedings.

Taylor is a partner in the firm of Daniel Coker Horton & Bell, P.A. and has been practicing law in Mississippi for 27 years, and in the firm’s Gulfport Office for 17 years. He is an alumnus Mississippi College School of Law. Taylor joins Wilton V. Byars III of the firm’s Oxford office as a Fellow in the College.

Giachelli named fire chief

Randy Giachelli was recently named new Fire Chief for the Mississippi Forestry Commission.

Giachelli began his career with the agency as a Forestry Technician before moving to Assistant Regional Forester, Region 3.

Giachelli has served on multiple Giachelli federal detail deployments as a single-resource. Some of his job titles on federal detail have included Crew Boss, Heavy Equipment Boss, Engine Boss, and Strike Team Leader Trainee. He has responded to wildfire incidents in Texas, Minnesota, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, California, Oregon, Wyoming, and Montana. Giachelli also serves as the Incident Commander for Mississippi’s All-Hazard Incident Management Response Team.

Giachelli will monitor and coordinate Mississippi’s wildland firefighting response activities, supervise federal deployments, and oversee the protection of our state’s natural resources to ensure healthy and productive forests for the people of Mississippi.

Newsmakers Madison group elects board The Madison County Business League & Foundation recently elected six new board members.

Elected were: Doug Hederman (2017-2021), Hederman Brothers, Gold Sponsor; Wesley Goings, (2017-2021), C Spire, Pillar Sponsor; Renee Rice, (2017-2021), First Commercial Bank, Silver Sponsor; Johnny Brunini (2017-2020), Butler Snow, Pillar Sponsor; Cecil Harper (2017-2019), Harper Rains Knight & Co., Gold Sponsor; Bill Senter (2017-2019) Atmos Energy, Platinum Sponsor.

Hederman, a native of Jackson, is President and Chief Executive Officer of Hederman Brothers Printing and Direct Mail. He has been with Hederman Brothers since 1999 and is the fourth-generation owner. Hederman is on the Mississippi Baptist Hospital Hederman Foundation, Greater Jackson Partnership, Belhaven University, Powers and Lake Foundation, Jackson Heart Foundation, Young Life of Mississippi, University of Mississippi Foundation, Jackson Preparatory School and Lantern Medical Clinic.

Rice is Senior Vice President in the Ridgeland office of First Commercial Bank. She is a Columbus, native and a graduate of Mississippi State University, earning a BBA in Banking and Finance. She is a 2004 Graduate of Leadership Mississippi and a Rice graduate of Leadership Madison County. Rice is a board member of the Madison County Community Trust. She is on the Finance and Economics Advisory Board at MSU and on the Jackson Academy Board of Trustees.

Goings has been President of Telapex, Inc., in Ridgeland, since 2012 and has been with Telapex since 1996 in numerous roles. Goings has an undergraduate degree from Washington and Lee University and a Masters in Management from Birmingham-Southern College. He is a 2003 graduate of Goings Leadership Mississippi. He previously served on the St. Andrew’s Episcopal School Board as a trustee and treasurer. He has served as a director of other organizations, including the Jackson Zoo and the Madison County Foundation.

Senter is Division Vice President of Rates and Regulatory Affairs for Atmos Energy Corporation Mississippi. Senter earned a Bachelor of Arts and a Master in Business Administration from Wake Forest University. He has 39 years of investor-owned utility Senter experience, including the last 22 with Atmos. He has appeared as an expert witness before state regulatory agencies on utility rate and financial matters.

He is a past chairman of the American Gas Association’s State Regulatory Committee. He is also a 2013 graduate of Leadership Madison County.

Brunini is a partner with the Butler Snow law firm in Ridgeland.

He graduated from Millsaps Brunini

November 3, 2017

Madison County Youth Leadership class

Courtesy of Madison County Business League & Foundation

The Madison County Business League & Foundation and the Madison County Economic Development Authority recently named their 2017-18 Madison County Youth Leadership Class. The three-day program will teach students about local, county and state governments as well as Madison County’s quality of life. Students are, front row, from left, Jacob Carter, Canton Academy; Jessica Hamer, Ridgeland High School; Madisyn Nichols, Germantown High School; Anna Kump, Tri-County Academy; Leeyah Hughes, New Summit School; Preston McWilliams, Jackson Academy. Second row, Wendalyn Towner, Velma Jackson High School; Jack Ferguson, St. Andrew’s Episcopal School; Morgan Williams, Canton High School; Tyler Welch, Germantown High School; Olivia Osborne, St. Joseph’s Catholic School; Robert Jordan, Jackson Prep. Third row, Haaris Patel, Madison Central High School; Jacob Harkins, St. Joseph’s Catholic School; Justin Kelly, Velma Jackson High School; Morgan McCray, Ridgeland High School; Bonnie Hill, Madison Central High School; Ariel Cox, St. Andrew’s Episcopal School. Back row, Wyatt Butler, Tri-County Academy; Rucell Harris, Jr., Canton High School; Madeleine Blaylock, Madison Ridgeland Academy; Madeline Hughes, Jackson Prep; Elizabeth Pace, Canton Academy; Ridge Futral, Madison Ridgeland Academy. Not pictured: Gabrielle Morris, Jackson Academy.

College with a B.A. in 1996 and from Wake Forest University Law School with a J.D. in 2000. Burnini regularly appears and represents clients before the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the United States Army Corps of Engineers, and state and federal courts in Mississippi and Louisiana.

Harper is a Certified Public Accountant and President of the accounting firm of Harper, Rains, Knight & Company, P.A. in Madison County. Harper has over 40 years of experience and is the firm’s managing director.

Harper graduated with “Special Harper Distinction” from Mississippi College where he earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting. He was named Outstanding Alumnus of the Year in 2004 by the Mississippi College School of Business.

Gulf Council taps Lipscomb Marine Patrol Master Sgt. Roy Lipscomb was recently named the 2016 Law Enforcement Officer of the Year by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council.

The Council chose Lipscomb from nominees submitted by the five Gulf states’ law enforcement agencies, the U.S. Coast Guard and

Lipscomb

NOAA Fisheries’ Office for Law Enforcement.

Lipscomb began working for the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources in 2003 as a fisheries technician in the agency’s Shellfish Bureau. He also served as a reserve officer for Marine Patrol. Lipscomb became a full-time Marine Patrol officer in 2014.

Lipscomb is a sergeant first class in the U.S. Army National Guard, where he has deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Scott joins MEC board HORNE LLP Tax Partner John Scott, CPA, recently joined the Mississippi Economic Council’s Board of Governors.

Scott will assist the MEC in its mission of building a sense of statewide business community while also providing perspective in the specific areas of tax legislation Scott and tax policies. The MEC is the state’s chamber of commerce, and its board of governors includes leading business people from industry groups spanning the state.

Scott is a partner in tax services at HORNE and a member of HORNE’s Board of Directors. 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 including: tax compliance and planning, state and local tax restructuring, IRS

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practice, acquisition planning and structuring of transactions.

USM wins Lantern Awards The University of Southern Mississippi has captured one of the top three awards at the Southern Public Relations Federation Lantern Awards program.

The University’s “My Southern Miss Story” campaign was selected for a “Judges Choice” award, one of eight overall awards collected by USM staff members from the Office of University Communications, the USM Foundation and the Department of Recreational Sports. The results included three Lantern Awards, representing the best work in each competition category. The “My Southern Miss Story” advertising campaign, which also won a Lantern Award in the “campaigns” category, helped raise brand awareness, support student recruitment and enhance the reputation of the University.

The Southern Public Relations Federation is a network of public relations professionals from Alabama, North Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi.

Additional USM Awards include: University Communications won a Lantern Award for “My Southern Miss Story” video series, an Award of Excellence for Bachelors of Science in ocean engineering and computer engineering campaign, and an Award of Excellence for “My Southern Miss Story” Instagram ads.

USM Foundation won a Lantern Award for “Your Gifts in Action” impact report, and an Award of Excellence for “Attitude of Gratitude.”

Recreational Sports won an Award of Excellence for House of Payne Haunted House.

MSU selects Breen Mississippi State alumnus Joseph J. “Dallas” Breen is the new director of the university’s John C. Stennis Institute of Government and Community Development.

Raised in Plano, Texas, he was an institute staff member who Breen became interim head after P. Edward “Eddie” French became head of the Department of Political Science and Public Administration.

Both the institute and department are units of MSU’s College of Arts and Sciences.

Breen holds three degrees from the land-grant institution: a 2001 bachelor’s in business administration, followed by a master’s and doctorate in public policy and administration awarded in 2008 and 2014, respectively. His dissertation research focused on public safety employee motivation and disaster management response and recovery efforts in rural areas of the U.S.

Butler Snow’s Wisor named Butler Snow’s Dee Wisor has been named president-elect of the National Association of Bond Lawyers.

Wisor concentrates his practice in the public finance economic development and public-private partnerships. He is a member of Wisor the Colorado Bar Association, Denver Bar Association and American Bar Association, and is admitted to practice in Colorado.

New Businesses

12 Q Mississippi Business Journal Q November 3, 2017

CORINTH JEWELERS: The Alliance recently held a ribbon-ceremony ceremony for Corinth Jewelers’ Grand Re-Opening, unveiling the new Pandora Shop-in-Shop at 1749 Virginia Lane, Corinth. Trish Parks cut the ribbon assisted by Brittney Parks and employees Marcia Wegmann, Lauren Killough, Callie Buntin and Sherry Gray. Also attending were Sen. Rita Potts Parks, city and county officials and family and friends.

Courtesy of The Alliance

Joey Brent/ Courtesy of Oxford-Lafayette County Chamber of Commerce

EXCITE OXFORD: The Oxford-Lafayette County Chamber of Commerce recently held a ribbon-cutting Manager Madison Chesshire and EXC!TE Oxford, a lifestyle space focused on dynamic Spinning and Pilates in Oxford.

Courtesy of Greater Starkville Development Partnership

HOPEFUL HOUSE: The Greater Starkville Development Partnership recently held a ribbon-cutting for Hopeful House, an Elder Day Care Center at 6056 Highway 182 in Starkville.

Courtesy of The Chamber of Flowood

CUDDLIST: The Chamber of Flowood recently held a ribbon-cutting for the Cuddlist, 232 Market St. , Building K, in Flowood,

Courtesy of EMBDC

KONA ICE: The East Mississippi Business Development Corporation recently held a ribbon-cutting for Brandon Jones and Kona Ice, a mobile shaved ice truck in Meridian.

New Businesses

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MUTUAL OF OMAHA: The Chamber of Flowood recently held a Ribbon Cutting for Mutual of Omaha Johnny Bland, 10 Canebrake Blvd., Suite 100, in Flowood.

Courtesy of The Chamber of Flowood

Courtesy of The Chamber of Flowood

JANI KING: The Chamber of Flowood recently held a ribbon-cutting for Jani King, 254 Katherine Drive, Suite B, in Flowood.

Courtesy of Oxford-Lafayette County Chamber of Commerce

MIDSOUTH PAIN TREATMENT CENTER: The Oxford-Lafayette County Chamber of Commerce recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for MidSouth Pain Treatment Center, 101 Ricky D. Britt Sr. Blvd. Ste 2.

April Garon/Courtesy of Hinds Community College

HINDS COMMUNITY COLLEGE: Hinds Community College broke ground recently on a 40,000-square-foot Academic & Career-Technical Building at the Vicksburg-Warren Campus. Pictured are, from left, Dr. Elmira Ratliff, assistant dean for post-secondary education; Marvin Moak, vice president for the Vicksburg-Warren Campus; Teressa Fulgham McCarty, assistant dean for secondary education. The two-story facility will house 10 classrooms, eight training labs, administrative offices, meeting space and a multipurpose room.

Courtesy of The Alliance

LOVE & A DOG: The Alliance recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Love & a Dog 105 Taylor Street in the SoCo District of Corinth. Owner Kayleigh Bode cut the ribbon along with husband, Andrew Bode and parents Mike and LeAnn Tucker. Assisting were Mayor Tommy Irwin, Rep. Bubba Carpenter, city and county officials, family, friends and guest.

AN MBJ FOCUS: LEADING PRIVATE COM

Moving toward a cl » Cooperative Energy prepares to open solar farm near Sumrall Coahoma Electric, Coast Electric and Singing River Electric.

“Each had small solar sites on the property so we could get into solar power generation and see how n recent years, customer surveys for the 11 rural it works,” Bishop said. “Then we went forward with electric cooperatives in Mississippi that purthe large project. I anticipate we will add more solar chase power from the not-for-profit Cooperative Energy (formerly South Mississippi Electric in the coming years. We are doing an economic analysis of that.”

Power Association) have indicated a higher Bishop said the solar projects add more diversiinterest in using “green” power — electricity generty to the generation mix for Cooperative Energy. ated from alternative energy sources such as wind, Right now, their power mix hydro-electric and solar. is 69.7 percent natural gas, Now one of the state’s 21.3 percent coal, 6.3 percent largest ever commercial sonuclear, and 2.7 percent lar projects is under way in renewables (includes hydro Sumrall where a 52-megaand solar power). Bishop watt solar farm encompasssaid with the addition of the ing 208,000 photovoltaic new solar generating facility, solar panels spread out over the renewables percentage 540 acres is expected to go will go up at that point. online for Cooperative EnThe Sumrall facility is ergy by the end of the year. being built and will be “The prices on solar conoperated by Origis Energy tinue to come down,” said Inc. Cooperative Energy Christa Bishop, senior vice will purchase the all elecpresident of communicatricity generated at the tions at Cooperative Energy, Christa Bishop facility, which is expected to which generates wholesale Senior VP Communications, Cooperative Energy provide power to more than electricity for the rural 10,000 homes and result electric cooperatives in 55 in a reduction in carbon counties in Mississippi. dioxide emissions of 54,672 “We continue to study the economics of solar power. As the cost decreases, kilograms per year.

“We are honored to be working with Cooperative we will likely add more solar in the future. We did a Energy as they power more homes and businesses survey of our end users asking what is important to them and what they want. Renewables have recently with solar every year,” said Johan Vanhee, managing director of business development for Origis Energy. become a consistent answer. That is why we looked “These utility and community leaders understand into the solar plants.” that solar provides clean, affordable power while Currently about 400 construction workers are employed building the new solar power facility near creating jobs, economic and environmental beneHattiesburg. Cooperative Energy made the decision fits.”

To celebrate the partnership, Origis and Cooperato purchase power from the new solar farm after the success of five pilot solar plants located at five of their member sites: Southern Pine, Delta Electric, See COOPERATIVE ENERGY, Page 20

By BECKY GILLETTE mbj@msbusiness.com

I

“We continue to study the economics of solar power. As the cost decreases, we will likely add more solar in the future.”

Johan Vanhee (left), managing director operations and business developmen ative Energy, install the first solar panel at the 52-MW solar energy facility near

November 3, 2017 • MISSISSIPPI BUSINESS JOURNAL • www.msbusiness.com

MPANIES

eaner future

2017

MISSISSIPPI

100

It’s a list you won’t find anywhere else

By FRANK BROWN frank.brown@msbusiness.com

Courtesy of Cooperative Energy

t, Origis Energy; Nathan Brown (center), senior vice president chief operating officer, Cooperative Energy; and Jim Compton, president and CEO, CooperSumrall. Upon completion in December 2017, the site will encompass approximately 200,000 panels.

Beginning on page 22, there’s a list you’ll be challenged to find anywhere else — our Missisippi 100, the list of the top 100 privately owned companies with headquarters in Mississippi.

This is the 29th year the Mississippi Business Journal has published the Mississippi 100.

We publish this list for a couple of reasons. It’s data that put Mississippi businesses in perspective, and it’s information that is hard to find in one source.

We use annual revenue as the list criteria because we feel it illustrates company activity better than profit and loss.

Information is more readily available today, but finding accurate information is more difficult. Some businesses cooperate and some see our Mississippi 100 list as prestigious. Others would rather protect their data, citing competition and security concerns.

This year, we sampled about 240 companies that we thought might qualify. Nearly 100 returned their surveys and provided information about their company. The other 150 did not return requests for various reasons — some technical, some forgetful, and some who just didn’t participate.

At that point, we turned to firms like Dun & Bradstreet, Forbes and Bloomberg, as well as company web pages and published articles, for help in determining estimates.

Is every estimate correct? We wish, but probably not. But the real wish for this list is that it represents firms that belong in the Mississippi 100, even if their estimated revenue is off a few dollars.

Companies on the list also change through mergers and acquistions. In the spirit of the list, we continue to acknowledge some companies owned by out-of-state equity firms that still have Mississippi headquarters and still meet the criteria. After all, it is about Mississippi business.

16 Q Mississippi Business Journal Q November 3, 2017

Leading Private Companies

Disability no detour for driver » Driving Academy gives deaf applicant a chance with KLLM

By CALLIE DANIELS BRYANT mbj@msbusiness.com

F

or many, schooling takes a quarter of a lifetime for a steady career path. For Byron Keith Davis, that timeline was two weeks.

The 38-year-old Southaven native said he heard about KLLM Driving Academy at Hinds Community College and knew right away that he should enroll.

He had dreamed of becoming a trucker.

“I wanted to travel to different states,” Davis said with a chuckle. “I want to drive more miles and get paid more money – that’s all I dream, for sure.”

He stands out among graduates of the KLLM Driving Academy – he is deaf with two hearing aids. Davis had lost his hearing to an illness when he was a child but this didn’t stop him from graduating high school. He worked various jobs in shipping and auto body shops but he wanted more.

When he heard about the KLLM Driving Academy he knew right away the career as a trucker is for him, especially now that he wants to become an owner operator who makes double the salary (at $141,000).

The director of KLLM Driving Acade-

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Byron Keith Davis is fulfilling his dream of become a truck driver with help from Hinds Community College and KLLM.

my, Josh Denson, told Hinds Community College news release: “Byron was determined to provide for his family and fulfill his dream of becoming a truck driver. He was able to accomplish all of these things through the opportunity provided by Hinds Community College and KLLM Transport Services.”

KLLM Driving Academy has had a partnership with Hinds Community College since 2012 where the academy provides training and the college handles coursework. For Davis, the KLLM Driving Academy collaborated with Hinds Community College’s Disability Support Services as well as Vocational Rehabilitation in the area to make sure that Bryon Davis had all his needs met as he trained at its facility in Richland.

Hinds Disability Support Services’ coordinator and interpreter, Loretta Sutton, said: “This process started when Hinds Community College Disability Support Services received a call about a young man interested in the KLLM Academy that is a part of Hinds. At first, I was like, ‘A deaf man wants to become a truck driver – how interesting.’”

Sutton had initial doubts about Davis enrolling in KLLM Driving Academy. She grew up with deaf parents and knew the deaf community.

See DAVIS, Page 17

Leading Private Companies

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Byron Keith Davis is grateful for the opportunity to build a successful career at KLLM, and he says he is determined to eventually own a truck.

Courtesy of Hinds Community College

DAVIS Continued from Page 16

“…I never witnessed anyone trying to become a truck driver,” Sutton said, “However, my whole perspective changed because Byron was persistent, and he had so much determination.”

She continued: “Yes, other deaf people can apply to work with my department to complete the training Byron had as long as they met the requirements of Hinds and KLLM.” Sutton presented the information to Hinds’ Disability Specialist, Mark Palmer, so they both could come up with a plan to accommodate Davis’ needs.

“Mark and I helped Mr. Davis by making sure the hotel and classrooms were accessible to his needs and made sure he had everything he needed such as transportation, food, interpreter service, etc.,” Sutton said.

Davis said he learned how to back trucks, off set parking, parallel park on city roads and how to operate a 10-speed shift.

He also learned the up-to-date, safest techniques for all truckers such as appropriate lane changes and safe transport of hazardous materials. He says he uses his hearing aids to listen for loud noises and keeps his eyes on the road at all times.

When asked what the best part of his training was, Davis said, “All.” Davis added that one of his teachers even learned basic sign language to teach him more easily.

Sutton said, “This was a long process but it was well worth the wait. I am so proud of this young man. He has set the tone for other deaf individuals who are interested in becoming truck drivers.”

After Davis completed the KLLM Driving Academy, the company hired him.

Since the first week of this September, Davis has driven in every direction all over the United States, earning as many miles as possible to support his family back home in Mississippi.

“I collect 3,500 to 4,000 miles per route,” Davis said, adding that it is great if asks his dispatchers for more miles. “I lease purchased my own tractors so I also provide unloading, load and drop and hook-do jobs.”

Davis said he is grateful for the opportunity to build a career, and he is determined to one day own a truck.

Celebrating 15 years and proudly announcing the opening of its St. Louis, Missouri office the launch of CS&B Sports, specializing in sports law, agency and management and the addition of its Strategic Business Solutions practice group.

NEW LOCATION IN ST. LOUIS Centrally Located for Multi-Jurisdiction Defense Cosmich Simmons & Brown has opened a St. Louis office to better serve its existing clients and to pursue new business opportunities.

Tom Orris, Matt Pelikan and Ross Titzer joined the firm as partners in St. Louis.

Their practice is concentrated on defense of personal injury lawsuits and mass and toxic torts. They represent major oil companies and manufacturing clients across the country.

In addition to Tom, Matt and Ross, the St. Louis office has over two dozen highly trained and experienced team members.

CS&B SPORTS Contract Negotiation, Endorsement Management, Athlete Representation Cosmich Simmons & Brown is pleased to announce the opening of CS&B Sports to represent and manage the interests of players and coaches. Two certified sports agents call CS&B Sports home: M. James Dempsey in Hattiesburg, Mississippi and Jason Elam in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Representation spans the entire duration of a player or coach’s career and is centered on their physical and financial protection.

This includes not only contract negotiation but also endorsements, sponsorships, professional and entrepreneurial ventures and media opportunities.

STRATEGIC BUSINESS SOLUTIONS (SBS) Managed Review, Contract Management, Risk Management, L-LPO Services Strategic Business Solutions was recently added to provide a low cost alternative to legal and related process services, including best in class managed review to support litigation, investigations, compliance and due-diligence matters. Our attorneys also provide a full suite of related legal services including key document summaries, witness and deposition binder development, chronology development, fact research, and real-time document management / deposition support. SBS provides additional legal and related services around contract management, cybersecurity, and corporate investigations.

With a diverse and sophisticated workforce of more than 100 staff attorneys with broad legal experience and with fluency in a variety of languages including English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, and German, SBS is available to deliver tailored global solutions to clients worldwide.

The office is located at 10 South Broadway, Suite 1100, St. Louis, Missouri 63102.

Who we are

What we do

Cosmich Simmons & Brown is a general civil litigation firm featuring:

At Cosmich Simmons & Brown, we practice more than law.

7 Offices with attorneys licensed in 14 states

155 Attorneys and 70 non-attorney employees across locations and practice groups, including its managed review group (Strategic Business Solutions)

Loyalty, integrity and professionalism are all trademarks of our commitment to each and every one of our clients. We develop comprehensive strategies to achieve results for our clients, and we have the staff and resources necessary to protect our clients’ interests efficiently and effectively with personalized attention.

Locations: Jackson, Mississippi | New Orleans, Louisiana | St. Louis, Missouri | Covington, Kentucky | Hattiesburg, Mississippi | Scottsdale, Arizona | Grand Rapids, Michigan

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18 Q Mississippi Business Journal Q November 3, 2017

Leading Private Companies

Small Big Town Business

Marion County Courthouse in Columbia

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By JULIA MILLER mbj@msbusiness.com

S

mall town living comes with its perks: lower cost of living, friendly neighbors and shorter commute times. However, a drawback can arise from a lack of employment opportunities. For Columbia, that problem has been avoided by a prolific business environment.

“We’ve got a small town atmosphere with big city dreams,” Mayor Justin McKenzie said.

Columbia is home to several large companies, including Dungan Engineering, Duff Capital Investors and Jones Com-

See COLUMBIA, Page 19

Leading Private Companies

November 3, 2017

COLUMBIA Continued from Page 18

panies, as well as an array of mid-range to small businesses throughout the Marion County area. The Duffs of Duff Capital Investors cited the many other corporate citizens who have contributed to Marion Country’s economic growth like Hubby and Mernice Griner (Griner Drilling), Bob Kemp (Kemp Companies), Thomas Wallace (T.L. Wallace Construction), Charles Rogers (Rogers Lumber) and Mike Riley, (MDR Construction).

“I think we’re just truly blessed to have these business start here and stay here,” McKenzie said. “All of our huge successes are homegrown, and I think that say a lot about our community.”

McKenzie credits the community for why these businesses have stayed in the area. Between a pro-growth and pro-business government and a loyal and reliable work force. The area also provides three public schools and one larger private school as well as unique transportation assets at the intersection of several state and federal highways. He also added that the city is constantly learning to recruit new businesses as well as focusing on retaining their current ones.

For the three largest companies, McKenzie said, the greatest reason for them staying rooted in Columbia is their family ties.

“Each one of them was started several years ago,” he said. “The optimistic attitude of the owners and executives have allowed them to grow.”

Jim and Thomas Duff, who co-own Duff Capital Investors, agree that Columbia provides a quality for their own families as well as those of their employees.

“We never take for granted how blessed we are to be able to work with neighbors and friends every day and to have the support of so many people across the state who have been instrumental in our success,” Thomas Duff said. “Jim and I understand that we have a sacred responsibility to be good stewards and we always want to see Marion County and Mississippi prosper and succeed.”

DCI’s first company established was Forest Products Transports in 1971 and then Southern Tire Mart in 1973. So, it was natural for the Duff brothers to headquarter their companies in their hometown and continue to grow their business enterprise from Columbia.

“Our companies have been a success because we care about our employees and customers, that’s our focus and it has led many of our companies to be the largest in their field,” Jim Duff said.

DCI credits there success on those who have come before them. Marion County has always had an economic base far greater than its population because of its entrepreneurial history, such as Bill’s Dollar Store which was headquartered in Columbia for 30 years.

Duff Capital Investors other subsidiaries in Columbia include T.L. Wallace

“All of our huge successes are homegrown, and I think that say a lot about our community.”

Justin McKenzie, Mayor of Columbia

Construction, DeepWell Energy Services, Southern Insurance Group, Magnolia Grille and Magnolia Inn & Suites. DCI

also owns KLLM, the state’s largest trucking firm in Jackson.

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20 Q Mississippi Business Journal Q November 3, 2017

COOPERATIVE ENERGY Continued from Page 14

tive Energy recently made a joint donation to the Mississippi Economic Council’s Mississippi Scholars and Tech Masters programs. Mississippi Scholars provides a focus on a STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) curriculum and is offered in 118 school districts. Tech Master is designed to provide technical skills to help students have the ability to thrive in the workplace.

Vanhee said there is an enormous nationwide demand for technical expertise

Leading Private Companies

“We have been impressed with the quality of the work force in Mississippi, but we need to increase the quantity.”

Johan Vanhee, managing director of business development, Origis Energy in many industries.

“We are seeing a high demand for many skilled, technical positions in the energy industry alone, but there are a multitude of other industry sectors where high-paying jobs are available,” he said.

“We have been impressed with the quality of the work force in Mississippi, but we need to increase the quantity. Origis Energy is a strong supporter of education, and Mississippi Scholars and Tech Master were the ideals vehicles for that support

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through their STEM-based education initiatives.”

The donation also reflects an interest in supporting a trained work force in Mississippi to help keep companies and communities strong.

“The Mississippi Scholars and Tech Master programs are helping Mississippi students by providing the coursework and training for successful jobs,” said Jim Compton, CEO of Cooperative Energy.

“The Mississippi Scholars and Tech Master programs are of special interest to our company as they will provide pathways for students to great careers with very good incomes, and at the same time Cooperative Energy and its members will benefit via a trained workforce. Everybody wins.

These programs are in schools located throughout Mississippi, so the entire state benefits – not just one geographic region.

This was especially attractive to our board and instrumental in our decision to donate to these particular programs.”

Bishop said STEM education is important not just to meet the workforce demands from the solar plants, but throughout their system.

“We do a lot of things in support of STEM education,” she said. “It is important to us because these are the students we hope will someday be potential employees for Cooperative Energy or for our 11 members we serve power to. We employ control center operators, chemists and chemical, mechanical, civil, telecommunications and electrical engineers. We currently have 447 employees across the state.

We have a headquarters in Hattiesburg, natural gas generating plants in Moselle and Batesville, and a coal-fired generating plant in Purvis. Cooperative Energy also owns 10 percent of the Grand Gulf Nuclear Station located in Port Gibson.”

Bishop said other STEM-related efforts by the company include working within local schools to teach students about energy, where electricity comes from, the electric utility industry and possible careers.

They provide power-plant tours, including tours of the solar facilities, for students and teachers, sponsor local robotics programs and a co-op engineering program for college students that gives real world job experiences for college students.

After 75 years being known as the South Mississippi Electric Power Association, the name was changed in November 2016 to better reflect the territory covered.

“We serve about 423,000 members in 55 counties and nearly a million Mississippians,” she said. “Politically, the name change was helpful because in addition to members in the southern part of the state, we have members in the northern and Delta areas of the state. Our 11 member cooperatives are located from the Gulf Coast all the way up to the western part of the state through the Mississippi Delta to the Tennessee state line.”

For more information, go online www. cooperativenergy.com.

22 Q Mississippi Business Journal Q November 3, 2017

Leading Private Companies

MISSISSIPPI 100

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November 3, 2017

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23

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November 3, 2017

Q

Mississippi Business Journal

Q

27

THE SPIN CYCLE

National Publicist Day was Oct. 30

W

e celebrated National Publicist Day earlier this week – on Monday, Oct. 30 It honors the date in 1906 when the New York Times printed the very first press release written by Ivy Lee, considered by many to be “The Father of Modern PR.” The Pennsylvania Railroad was Lee’s client. On Oct. 28, 1906, 50 people tragically lost their lives when a three-car train jumped a trestle in New Jersey and plunged into the creek below.

In response to this disaster, Lee wrote his first press release that afternoon. He not only persuaded the railroad to distribute this public statement, he also successfully lobbied his client to provide a special train to transport reporters to the scene of the accident.

The New York Times was so impressed with this innovative approach to corporate communications that it printed the first press release—verbatim—on Oct. 30 as “A Statement from the Road.”

Pew forecasts future of truth & misinformation online Americans worry about fake news and information – and are pondering what will happen to the online world in the next decade.

A Pew Research Center study – conducted just after the 2016 election found 64 percent of adults believe fake news stories cause a great deal of confusion and 23 percent said they had shared fabricated political stories themselves – sometimes by mistake and sometimes intentionally.

The question arises, then: What will happen to the online information environment in the coming decade? This past summer, Pew Research Center and Elon University’s Imagining the Internet Center conducted a large canvassing of technologists, scholars, practitioners, strategic thinkers and others, asking them to react to this framing of the issue: The rise of “fake news” and the proliferation of doctored narratives that are spread by humans and bots online are challenging publishers and platforms. Those trying to stop the spread of false information are working to design technical and human systems that can weed it out and minimize the ways in which bots and other schemes spread lies and misinformation.

The question: In the next 10 years, will trusted methods emerge to block false narratives and allow the most accurate information to prevail in the overall information ecosystem? Or will the quality and veracity of information online deteriorate due to

the spread of unreliable, sometimes even dangerous, socially destabilizing ideas?

Respondents were then asked to choose one of the following answer options: » The information environment will improve – In the next 10 years, on balance, the information environment will be IMPROVED by changes that reduce the spread of lies and other misinformation online. » The information environment will not improve – In the next 10 years, on balance, the information environment will NOT BE improved by changes designed to reduce the spread of lies and other misinformation online.

Some 1,116 responded to this canvassing: 51 percent chose the option that the information environment will not improve, and 49 percent said the information environment will improve. (See “About this canvassing of experts” for details about this sample.) Participants were next asked to explain their answers. This report concentrates on these follow-up responses.

Their reasoning revealed a wide range of opinions about the nature of these threats and the most likely solutions required to resolve them. But the overarching and competing themes were clear: Those who do not think things will improve felt that humans mostly shape technology advances to their own, not-fully-noble purposes and that bad actors with bad motives will thwart the best efforts of technology innovators to remedy today’s problems.

And those who are most hopeful believed that technological fixes can be implemented to bring out the better angels guiding human nature.

More specifically, the 51 percent of these experts who expect things will not improve generally cited two reasons: The fake news ecosystem preys on some of our deepest human instincts: respondents said humans’ primal quest for success and power – their “survival” instinct – will continue to degrade the online information environment in the next decade. They predicted that manipulative actors will use new digital tools to take advantage of humans’ inbred preference for comfort and convenience and their craving for the answers they find in reinforcing echo chambers.

Our brains are not wired to contend with the pace of technological change: these respondents said the rising speed, reach and efficiencies of the internet and emerging online applications will magnify these human tendencies and that technology-based solutions will not be able to

overcome them. They predicted a future information landscape in which fake information crowds out reliable information.

Some even foresaw a world in which widespread information scams and mass manipulation cause broad swathes of public to simply give up on being informed participants in civic life.

The 49 percent of these experts who expect things to improve generally inverted that reasoning: Technology can help fix these problems: These more hopeful experts said the rising speed, reach and efficiencies of the internet, apps and platforms can be harnessed to rein in fake news and misinformation campaigns. Some predicted better methods will arise to create and promote trusted, fact-based news sources.

It is also human nature to come together and fix problems: The hopeful experts in this canvassing took the view that people have always adapted to change and that this current wave of challenges will also be overcome. They noted that misinformation and bad actors have always existed but have eventually been marginalized by smart people and processes. They expect well-meaning actors will work together to find ways to enhance the information environment. They also believe better information literacy among citizens will enable people to judge the veracity of material content and eventually raise the tone of discourse.

The majority of participants in this canvassing wrote detailed elaborations on their views. Some chose to have their names connected to their answers; others opted to respond anonymously. These findings do not represent all possible points of view, but they do reveal a wide range of striking observations.

Inexcusable Mic: Harvey Weinstein’s sexual predatory ways pathetic Harvey Weinstein’s absolutely pathetic and inexcusable sexual predatory ways has spotlighted blight on our society that has gone on far too long.

The revelations – first reported by The New York Times and the New Yorker – paint a harrowing picture of a pathological movie mogul whose grip on famous actresses thrust them into years of hiding in fear. Now, numerous Hollywood A-listers are coming forward to bring much needed awareness, and justice to this celluloid cancer.

And the brave action of these women – and of the general public – have brought swift results. Perhaps no other entertain-

ment guru has fallen Todd Smith faster. He was fired as the head of his film conglomerate, which is on the brink of imploding under the dark cloud.

Dozens of women have now alleged behavior ranging from harassment to rape and everything in between. Countless actresses and other Hollywood insiders have joined the chorus, while the world has reacted to the scandal.

And this incident could be the tip of the sexual abuse iceberg that needs to bring much needed climate change.

Famous actresses Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, Ashley Judd, Mira Sorvino, Rosanna Arquette, Jessica Barth, Lauren O’Conner, Romola Garai, Lauren Sivan, Heather Graham, Kate Beckinsale, Claire Forlani, Minka Kelly, Eva Green, Lena Headey, Dawn Dunning and many more have come forward publicly to make a stand.

The bombshell from The Times outlined three decades of sexual harassment allegations against Weinstein – including interviews with at least eight current and past employees – that continues to explode.

At least three women who talked with the New Yorker said Weinstein had raped them.

Many of the encounters follow similar patterns: major work appointments or meetings turn out to be in Weinstein’s hotel room. He offers massages or is naked or barely dressed. The women said they felt uncomfortable and wanted to leave. Some did. Others felt pressure to stay.

This behavior needs to stop, and perhaps this putrid affair will serve as a wake-up call to a world that needs to strip naked this illegal and inexcusable culture that exists behind walls and inside boardrooms!

Each week, The Spin Cycle will bestow a Golden Mic Award to the person, group or company in the court of public opinion that best exemplifies the tenets of solid PR, marketing and advertising – and those who don’t. Stay tuned – and step-up to the mic! And remember … Amplify Your Brand!

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

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