MBJ_Nov28_2014

INSIDE — Smart Year-End Financial Moves, Page 19 MBJ FOCUS

1979

www.msbusiness.com

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35 YEARS

Banking & Finance

2014

November 28, 2014 • Vol. 36, No. 48 • $1 • 20 pages

REAL ESTATE

FINANCE

» High stock market values are at odds with nation’s lackluster economy » Mobile deposits gaining popularity among customers, banks

Regulators dump down payment requirement from new Qualified Mortgage rules

The List {P 14} » State Registered Investment Advisors

» Mississippi bankers seek to get home loans kept on their books exempted from QM regs

» Future home of Biloxi ‘Shuckers’ going up quickly {P 3}

A BIG CHANGE » New mortgage rules seen bringing increase in pricey mobile home loans

By TED CARTER ted.carter@msbusiness.com

Love of the water leads to Ocean Springs SUP business for Coast native More, P 2

National lenders who make loans on new manufactured homes appear to be a growing option for Mississippi borrowers with credit histories too risky for traditional banks in today's stringent regulatory climate.

While credit-challenged borrowers are buying the dwellings at about half the square-foot cost of site built homes, financing them takes a much larger bite out of the household budget.

Until last January’s implementation of new mortgage standards set by the 2010 DoddFrank financial reform law, many of these borrowers could buy conventional homes with the help of local community bankers and other home lenders willing to do balloon mortgages and other non-traditional mortgage loans.

The local bankers can still make the loans, but expose themselves to later claims by borrowers that they lent the money without ensuring that the loan could be repaid.

“Qualified mortgages”, on the other hand, give lenders protection against such claims.

The safe harbor comes with a list of conditions, however.

A waiver on QM rules the Dodd-Frank created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau See

CHANGE, Page 4

By TED CARTER ted.carter@msbusiness.com

Federal regulators have finally given bankers something to cheer about.

After sending bankers a train load of new regulations in the rule writing that followed the 2010 passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, government officials in late October lifted a down payment requirement that had been proposed as a key component of socalled “Qualified Residential Mortgages.”

Frank Keating, president and CEO of the American Bankers Association, hailed elimination of the down payment rule as a way “to ensure that the largest number of credit-worthy borrowers are able to access safe, quality loan products at competitive prices.”

See

RULES, Page 4

http://msbusiness.com/events/50-women-nomination-form/

2 I Mississippi Business Journal I November 28, 2014 OUTDOORS

Love of the water leads to Ocean Springs SUP business for Coast native

By TAMMY LEYTHAM mbj@msbusiness.com

It’s almost like walking on water” is how Mississippi Gulf Coast native Amanda Mavar-Schmidt describes standup paddleboarding, a cross between surfing and paddling.

She’s enjoyed the waters of the region her whole life and says it’s in her blood to be on the water.

After Hurricane Katrina, MavarSchmidt moved to the Florida Panhandle where she saw the sport of paddle boarding “explode.” The popularity of the sport she now calls her passion wasn’t lost on her, so when she returned to Mississippi, she opened Paddles Up Paddleboards and More in Ocean Springs in July 2013.

At first a mobile business, she bought eight paddle boards, rented them out and

She particularly enjoys paddling along Front Beach in Ocean Springs where she frequently sees dolphins. She also likes to put in across from the yacht club in Biloxi and paddle over to Deer Island.

“We take a cooler, lunch, snacks. We have a lot of fun,” she said. “You can paddle to the south side of Deer Island and it’s beautiful. It’s a nice place to get away for the day.”

Mavar-Schmidt says she sees a lot of wildlife while on the paddle board, almost like sneak-ing up on them when you’re paddling quietly. Though, one paddler fell in while watching a four-foot alligator, scaring the gator off.

“She got back on her board very quickly,” Mavar-Schmidt said.

Stand up paddling is growing in popularity across the country. Paddlers have been participating in stand up paddling, or SUP, since

Courtesy of Paddles Up / Special to the MBJ

TOP LEFT: Amanda Mavar-Schmidt opened Paddles Up in Ocean Springs in July 2013 after getting started in the sport while living in the Florida Panhandle.

ABOVE: Mavar-Schmidt opened Paddles Up in Ocean Springs in July 2013 after getting started in the sport while living in the Florida Panhandle.

LEFT: Paddles Up Paddleboards and More in Ocean Springs sells boards, gear and clothing.

Outdoor Industry Foundation showed it was the most popular outdoor activity among first-time participants in 2012. That may be because it’s easy to learn.

“When people are interested in it, they are determined to get on the board and stay up,” Mavar-Schmidt said. “Once you get it, it’s like riding a bike.

You can’t unlearn it.”

She puts first timers on a board that’s 11 to 12 feet long and 32 to 34 inches wide, depending on their size and height. The boards weigh about half what a kayak weighs and, like a kayak, can hold coolers

It’s considered to be a great workout... gave lessons. Then, she began selling her boards, basically “out of my garage.”

She opened a location at 1018 Washington Street in Ocean Springs in July 2014.

And business is good.

“People get on those boards and fall in love with it,” she said. “It’s a great way to get out on the water.”

the 1940s in Hawaii. It’s similar to surfing, but can be done anywhere there’s water.

It’s considered to be a great workout for the legs, arms and core, and it’s a sport people can enjoy at any age.

In the past decade, the popularity has grown significantly. A report from the

or fishing equipment.

Paddles Up rents boards, dropping them off and picking them up at designated locations. The business also takes on average three guided trips a week, though it is now entering a slower season.

They offer lessons, and for the Christmas season have layaway for purchase of the boards. A good quality board and paddle costs about $1,100, though soft tops can be purchased for about $800.

Like any other industry, “you get what you pay for,” Amanda said. “It’s worth it, if you really like paddle boarding, to get a good board.”

She also sells used boards throughout the season, she said, as well as longboard skate boards and Penny boards, the smaller skate boards similar to those sold in the 1970s, that are gaining popularity.

For more information, check out the company’s website at www.paddlesup.com or call 850-687-3023.

November 28, 2014

LEGAL

Jail kitchen supervisor pleads guilty to stealing food HATTIESBURG — The former kitchen supervisor at the Forrest County Detention Center has pleaded guilty to conspiracy for his role in illegally diverting food for the jail for personal use.

WDAM-TV reports Allen Haralson, 61, entered the plea Monday before U.S. District Judge Keith Starrett. He remains free on bond. Sentencing was set for Feb. 5 at 2:15 p.m.

The case stems from an investigation first reported in June when the FBI and state auditor’s office requested copies of jail expenses dating back to the early 2000s.

The Hattiesburg American reports the diversion of food and food-related items for personal use by Haralson and “others known and unknown to the United States Attorney” allegedly had taken place between 2002 and 2014.

Haralson became the first to appear in federal court in the case but was not expected to be the last.

“By definition, it takes at least two to conspire, so there will be more,” U.S. Assistant Attorney Michael Hurst said.

According to a bill of information, various items — including foods not on the center’s menu like ribs, shrimp, beef brisket, steak and clam strips — were ordered through the detention center, and then transported directly to the conspirators’ personal residences and businesses “for their personal benefit and use.”

Court documents show Haralson and his court-appointed attorney, Marcus Evans, signed off on a plea agreement Nov. 11. Hurst signed the document yesterday. Starrett is not bound by the arrangement.

Haralson told the court that Monday had been his final day of employment with the county, and that he no longer had a job.

It was not revealed what sentencing recommendation the U.S. Attorney’s Office had made, but the conspiracy

charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison with an additional three years of parole and a $250,000 fine.

The case is the first brought forward after state and federal investigators asked this summer for expense records connected to the Forrest County jail. Those expenses were submitted to and approved by the Forrest County Board of Supervisors.

SPORTS

Top 10 finalists chosen for C Spire Conerly Trophy ACROSS MISSISSIPPI — Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott and Mississippi cornerback Senquez Golson are among the 10 finalists for the C Spire Conerly Trophy, which is awarded to the state’s top college football player.

Each state school is allowed to nominate one player for the annual sports award.

The other nominees are: Mississippi Valley State receiver Julian Stafford, Alcorn State quarterback John Gibbs Jr., Millsaps defensive end Zach Bell, Delta State quarterback Tyler Sullivan, Southern Miss defensive end Dasman McCullum, Jackson State receiver Daniel Williams, Mississippi College defensive back Dylan Klibert and Belhaven receiver Greg Livingston.

The winner will be announced Dec. 2 at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame.

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Mississippi Business Journal

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COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE

Court hits David Watkins with $600K order over Retro Metro issues Jackson developer David Watkins must pay more than $600,000 in restitution and penalties for diverting money from a bond issue for converting the Metrocenter Mall’s former Belk’s store into City of Jackson office space.

Chancery Judge Hollis McGehee ruled that Watkins had no authority to divert any of the $2.5 million in bond money intended for the Belk’s redevelopment to a law enforcement center his company, Watkins Development, was building in Meridian.

Watkins created a development company, Retro Metro, for the Belk’s project.

McGehee’s ruling reversed portions of an order by Secretary of State Delbert Hoseman while upholding other parts.

The ruling reversed Hoseman’s finding that Watkins failed to disclose “significant and material liabilities” of Retro Metro in a development agreement and thus Watkins did not violated the Mississippi Securities Act. However, McGehee upheld Hoseman’s finding that failing to disclose intentions to use a portion of the bond proceeds for the Retro Metro project to finance “activities” of the Mississippi Law Enforcement Center in Meridian is a material omission and a violation of the Mississippi Securities Act. Further, McGehee upheld Hoseman’s finding that Watkins’ misuse of the Retro Metro bond proceeds was an act and course of business that “operated to mislead or deceive.”

The Court found this since this was in connection with the offer and the sale of securities, it violated the Mississippi Securities Act. According to court documents, Watkins recruited an investment banking firm, Duncan Williams, to buy the bond with a promise that the 20-year lease of the Belk property to the City would bring in $9.47 million while the construction costs for converting the Belk space was capped at $2.5 million.

Watkins, a principal of Retro Metro, was to oversee the total design and construction of the Belk conversion in exchange for a $500,000 development fee and “mobilization fee” equal to 25 percent of the project the project costs “otherwise expended.” McGehee found no evidence the fee would be out of line.

— from staff and MBJ wire services

— from staff and MBJ wire services

SPORTS BUISINESS

Future home of Biloxi ‘Shuckers’ going up quickly

FRANK BROWN / The Mississippi Business Journal

BILOXI — They will be known as the “Shuckers,” and their future home has reached a milestone in its construction.

Owners of Biloxi’s Southern League baseball team unveiled its new nickname and logo Monday night at the Saenger Theater, selecting “Shuckers” from a list of finalists that included Shrimpers, Black Jacks, Beacon, Mullets and Schooners. The name chosen through an online vote.

Meanwhile, last week the 6,000-seat, $36 million stadium reach a milestone with its “topping-out” ceremony — the point when all of the structural steel is in place.

MGM Park at the Beau Rivage will likely not be completed when the starts in April, but the is still on schedule for completion before Aug. 4. Some earlyseason games may have to be played in Huntsville, which was last year’s home for the Double-A minor league team.

Construction is progessing quickly, however.

Biloxi Mayor A.J. Holloway signed his name last week to the last major steel beam being erected on the building, marking a topping-out point in the.

“It’s called ‘topping out,’ and what this means for this type building is that the last piece of structural steel has been installed,” said Jason Wold of Yates Construction Co., which is constructing the stadium. “This piece of steel marks one of the highest and last piece of major steel. It’s not the completion of all structural components, but it does complete the major steel beams of the building structure.”

Wold said the next milestone will be the installation of precast concrete, which is concrete that is cast off site and delivered to the site ready toi install “to speed up the process.”

– Frank Brown

4 I Mississippi Business Journal I November 28, 2014

CHANGE

Continued from Page 1

gave community banks of below $2 billion in assets that do fewer than 500 residential mortgages has another year and a half left.

After that, small banks in 34 Mississippi counties designated by the CFPB as rural and under-served can continue to do nonQM loans and receive safe harbor. However, that extended waiver is not permanent and can be removed later by the CFPB. Bankers and their lawyers say the waiver is unlikely to keep lending for non-conforming mortgages at pre-Dodd-Frank levels because lenders will not want to risk having the waivers expire while the loans are still out, thus leaving them unprotected.

Federal regulators for now have also removed a requirement that borrowers on qualified mortgages make down payments of up to 20 percent, they have kept rules that specify a debt-to-income ratio no higher than 43 percent, a 3 percent cap on points and fees and an interest cap of 1.5 percent over the Average Prime Offer Rate.

At the start of this decade, a borrower with a limited credit score and less-thanstellar repayment history could walk into a bank and expect to receive a balloon mortgage that would give him three to seven years to establish a credit record and perhaps roll the balloon into a conventional fixed-rate mortgage. Alternatively, the balloon could be refinanced.

That expectation no longer exists, Mississippi bankers say.

RULES

“I know it’s impacting our state...”

“Unfortunately, some of the new regulations put banks at risk for continuing to serve customers as they have in the past,” said Mac Deaver, president of the Mississippi Bankers Association, in an email this month.

Magee's PriorityOne Bank, a $550 million community bank with 11 locations from Rankin to Lamar counties, in the last seven months has cut total mortgage lending by 10 percent to 15 percent. That percentage range mirrors what the American Bankers Association says is occurring nationwide.

“Before, we could be flexible on some of our terms and requirements,” said CEO Robert J. Barnes, in a recent interview, explaining the practice has been to make the non-conforming loans and keep them on the bank's books.

“We can't qualify nearly as many people,” he added, and lamented that “many of these are still good borrowers” but do not entirely match the new ability-to-repay standards.

As they are edged out of the credit market, some Mississippi borrowers turn to manufactured homes, a name given to mobile homes built after safety codes went into effect in 1976.

For mortgages, they go to a handful of national lenders willing to lend for a manufactured home, said Jennifer Hall, director of the Mississippi Manufactured Home Asso-

Continued from Page 1

Borrowers had been faced with having to put down up to 20 percent of a home’s purchase price, a requirement regulators had seen as necessary to ensure loans sold on the secondary markets do not turn toxic as the ones sold in the banking and real estate crisis of the last decade did.

Still, for loans to enjoy protection as “Qualified Mortgages,” lenders will have to ensure borrowers’ debt-to-income ratio is not above 43 percent.

Lenders will also have points and fees capped at 3 percent and interest rates capped at 1.5 percent over the Average Prime Offer Rate.

The payoff for getting “Qualified Mortgage” status is the legal protection the designation carries. Through issuing Qualified Mortgages, lenders are presumed to have ensured the borrower has the ability repay the loan, and thus are protected from future lawsuits by borrowers.

Further, the Dodd-Frank Act’s provisions on Qualified Mortgages are designed to help ensure loans sold into the secondary market are properly underwritten, a key requirement being the borrower’s ability to repay. Federally backed loans, such as those from the Federal Housing Administration and Freddie and Fannie Mae, will retain their down payment rules.

Adopting the no-down-payment rule were the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Not everyone was pleased with the demise of the down payment requirement. “This is unfortunate,” Sheila C. Bair, former chair of the FDIC, told the New York Times. “If the risk goes bad,” she said in the Times report, “you have much bigger losses with zero percent down than 20

ciation, who says figures show manufactured home sales are up 8 percent in Mississippi and the rest of the country this year.

Long a popular option in Mississippi, they accounted for one of every four new home starts in the state in the 2010 census, though Hall noted the state's manufactured home retailers have dropped to about 75 from a high of 200 just 20 years ago. Most are independent retailers, which she believes has helped to keep the industry here strong.

National lenders such as Triad, Cascade and Clayton Homes subsidiaries 21st Mortgage Corp. and Vanderbilt Mortgage are making over 90 percent of the manufactured home mortgages in Mississippi, Hall said.

Clayton Homes, a division of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, is a builder of manufactured homes.

The lenders are making both qualified and non-qualified mortgage loans, according to Hall, who said the Federal Housing Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs and U.S. Department of Agriculture sponsor the bulk of the qualified manufactured home mortgages.

Loans on the manufactured home minus the land it sits on have become rare in Mississippi, according to Hall. She cited Renasant Bank and First National Bank of Pontotoc as the only two Mississippi banks

percent down.”

In Mississippi, bankers are meeting with congressional representatives on a proposal to grant qualified status to non-traditional mortgages such as balloon loans that are kept on the lending bank’s books for the duration of the loan. Robert Barnes, president of PriorityOne Bank in Magee, and other bankers around the state say ending such loans will seriously handicap home mortgage lending in rural areas, where the practice has been common for decades.

“They could fix this problem simply by exempting portfolio loans” from Qualified Mortgage rules, Barnes said in a recent interview. “The banks are going to hold them on their books. The secondary market can be all qualified loans. We wouldn’t be putting the banking industry at risk.”

For now, the answer the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau gives community bankers: “You don’t have to do Qualified Mortgage loans,” Barnes said.

The catch, however, is that the non-QM loans won’t have protection from future lawsuits.

The CFPB says it does not have authority to exempt the nonconforming loans from QM rules. “They say Congress can do that,” Barnes said, and noted an exemption proposal received bi-partisan passage in the U.S. House last year but could not get a hearing in the Senate.

“We’re going to continue to push this,” Barnes said, holding out hope the proposal will get more favorable consideration in the new Republican-controlled Senate.

Meanwhile, PriorityOne’s overall mortgage lending is down 10 percent to 15 percent for the past seven months, according to Barnes, who said the bank ceased making non-conforming home mortgage loans after the QM rules went into effect Jan. 10.

About one-third of the nation’s community banks either can’t or won’t

continuing to make such loans, known in the industry as chattel loans.

Hall acknowledged the rates on the nonQM mortgages can be a few percentage points higher than qualified ones made for site built homes. “If my lenders are going to take a risk they have to charge a higher rate,” she said. “State banks don't take those risks.”

However, they did not too long ago, PriorityOne's Barnes said.

Dodd-Frank's qualified mortgage rules “have almost single-handedly put the banks out of the mobile home industry,” he said. “I don't know of any banks that are doing mobile home lending.

“I know it is impacting our state,” Barnes added.

Hall said the national lenders are lending at from 5 percent to 8 percent on 20-year to 25-year mortgages, a rate that covers fixed servicing and origination costs, in addition to the higher risk of default.

In 2012, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, lenders typically charged 6.79 percent on manufactured home loans.

Only one lender that Hall knows of – Vanderbilt Mortgage – will lend on previously owned manufactured homes or ones valued below $25,000. “That's going to be more like 9 percent” or more, depending on the borrower's credit, she said.

“Thank goodness they are out there and willing to take that risk,” she said of the national lenders. “You can't believe the number of people looking for homes under $30,000.”

make QM rules, said Bob Davis, an executive VP in the American Bankers Association’s Mortgage Policy Division.

Further, Davis added, “A federal survey found that half will not make the loan. The survey queried banks with assets of $20 billion and below, he noted.

Federal regulators gave the nation’s small banks – those with assets below $2 billion and make fewer than 500 home mortgages annually -a two-year waiver to make non-conforming loans. The waiver expires Jan. 1, 2016.

The waiver provides legal protection to the loans, but Barnes and other bankers say they are reluctant to continue making the loans because they could become unprotected before they are paid off.

Bankers also worry they won’t be able to roll the non-QM balloon loans into a qualified conforming loan after the balloon comes due, said the ABA’s Davis.

Before the blanket two-year waiver, the government exempted small banks in 34 Mississippi counties from QM rules for a yet-tobe-determined period. The 34 counties won the open-ended waiver through the federal government’s classification of them as rural and underserved. Like the two-year waiver, this waiver is limited to banks of less than $2 billion in assets and fewer than 500 home mortgages a year.

Barnes’ PriorityOne Bank in Simpson County, tucked in between the metro areas of Jackson and Hattiesburg, did not get the initial waiver.

Jackson banking lawyer Ben Sones said his banking clients are still trying to navigate the new Qualified Mortgage rules to determine the course they should follow.

“Even with all the time that has gone by (since Dodd-Frank’s passage), the biggest result is just continued uncertainty,” Sones said. “Banks aren’t sure what the new normal will be.”

November 28, 2014

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Mississippi Business Journal

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RETAIL Courtesy of Ocean Springs Chamber of Commerce

Tato Nut is a popular spot on Government Street in Ocean Springs.

Jackson County small businesses prepare for busy shopping season

By TAMMY LEYTHAM mbj@msbusiness.com

On a recent November day, Ashley Knecht was preparing her store, Gourmet Gurl, in Pascagoula for its one-year anniversary followed by the Christmas shopping season.

She has give-a-ways and food samples planned and has shelves stocked with big sellers — like Captain Rodney’s Boucan Glaze, coffees and teas. And a new item is on the list this year: A pepper mill personalized with Pascagoula’s Round Island Lighthouse.

Gourmet Gurl is one of many small, locally owned businesses in Jackson County that will participate in Shop Small Saturday on Nov. 29, a nationwide effort sponsored

by American Express.

About half of the businesses in downtown Pascagoula participated last year, said Rebecca Davis, director of Main Street Pascagoula.

“We’re seeing a trend of shopping local, especially with businesses that have grown out of Anchor Square,” said Davis, referring to the city’s business incubator where Gourmet Gurl and more than a dozen other boutiques, restaurants and businesses are located. “You’re seeing people proud to shop local. For whatever reason — whether they get the best price or like their merchandise.”

Pascagoula’s downtown business district

TAMMY LEYTHAM / For the MBJ

Gourmet Gurl at Anchor Square in Pascagoula is participating in Shop Small Saturday on Nov. 29

that includes Anchor Square and the Delmas Avenue area is home to several boutiques, restaurants, art galleries, children’s stores and gift shops.

Shopping local is a trend that small businesses across the Coast hope will pay off this holiday season.

And that’s good for the community, too.

On average, of every $100 spent in a local, independent businesses, $48 is recirculated locally, compared to about $14 of purchases at chain stores, according to a study by the American Independent Business Alliance.

Just to the west of Pascagoula in Ocean Springs, it’s also all about locally owned shops and restaurants, said Cynthia Sutton

of the Ocean Springs Chamber of Commerce-Main Street-Tourism Bureau.

“The majority of our shops and restaurants are locally owned,” she said. “Shopping locally is our business. We make sure to provide our downtown walking maps and Ocean Springs guides to all area hotels, businesses, welcome centers, etc. to encourage not only travelers but also locals to shop and dine locally.”

The Ocean Springs Chamber uses its website and social media to share posts and specials from the local businesses and hosts monthly events to encourage locals and visitors to check out downtown.

That emphasis pays off in the economic impact to the city.

For example, the Peter Anderson Arts & Crafts Festival held each November in downtown Ocean Springs has an economic impact of more than $23 million to local businesses, Sutton said.

Last year on Shop Small Saturday, shoppers spent about $5.7 billion at independent businesses across the country, according to the National Federation of Independent Business. Held just after Black Friday and before Cyber Monday, Shop Small Saturday encourages shoppers to step away from the computer and big box retailers and trade with their neighbors and local store owners.

But what will keep bringing customers back to shop?

The No. 1 attraction for small businesses, is customer service, Davis said. “Customer service is what brings a person back, even if it’s just greeting the customer or being available to answer questions.”

Davis said Pascagoula retailers are catering to customers, stocking clothing for all ages and sizes, and special ordering items for customers with the attitude of “If we don’t have it, we’ll get it.”

Knecht has followed the lead of what customers want. Last year was her first for Gourmet Gurl so it was a trial and error experience. “Now I know what people are buying and not buying. You have a better idea of what to order,” she said. The Boucan Glaze, for example, “I can not keep it in.”

Gourmet gift baskets have also proven to be a big hit with industries and other businesses, as well as individuals looking for something special and unique, she said.

Ocean Springs won the 2013 Great American Main Street Award “because of all our partners,” Sutton said, referring to the businesses that make up downtown that work to make the shopping experience unique for its customers.

Along the Coast, shops are preparing for the shopping season with special events schedules - Ocean Springs will host its Holiday Open House on Dec. 5-6 and Pascagoula’s Downtown for the Holidays is set Dec. 5.

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

200 North Congress, Suite 400 Jackson, MS 39201-1902 Main: (601) 364-1000 Faxes: Advertising (601) 364-1007; Circulation (601) 364-1035 E-mails: mbj@msbusiness.com, ads@msbusiness.com, photos@msbusiness.com, research@msbusiness.com, events@msbusiness.com

Website: www.msbusiness.com November 28, 2014 Volume 36, Number 48

ALAN TURNER Publisher alan.turner@msbusiness.com • 364-1021 ROSS REILY Editor ross.reily@msbusiness.com • 364-1018 WALLY NORTHWAY Senior Writer wally.northway@msbusiness.com • 364-1016 FRANK BROWN Staff Writer/Special Projects frank.brown@msbusiness.com • 364-1022 TED CARTER Staff Writer ted.carter@msbusiness.com • 364-1017 JACK WEATHERLY Staff Writer jack.weatherly@msbusiness.com • 364-1015 BECKY GILLETTE Contributing Writer mbj@msbusiness.com • 364-1018 LYNN LOFTON Contributing Writer mbj@msbusiness.com • 364-1018

MBJPERSPECTIVE November 28, 2014 • www.msbusiness.com • Page 6

OTHER VIEWS

Examine budget proposals in light of real state need

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Both the Joint Legislative Budget Committee and Gov. Phil Bryant have settled on at least projected budgets and revenue figures for Mississippi in Fiscal Year 2016, which begins in July but will be decided in the 2015 session.

The budgets differ in some substance but not in their generally conservative spirit, which is not unexpected given the key players in the Legislature and Bryant himself.

Bryant proposes an income tax credit for Mississippians with household incomes of $50,000 or less, and he proposes a $52 million increase in education funding.

Supporters and critics of both the budgets

and their proposals have wasted no time in lobbying for their positions, even with the legislative session more than a month from convening.

Bryant’s tax credit won’t be refundable but it would allow tax relief for qualified filers.

“I believe the additional money Mississippians will save on taxes will be reinvested in the state’s economy,” Gov. Bryant said. “I look forward to working with the Legislature in providing tax relief to working families, as well as finding ways to reduce the tax burden on small businesses and corporations.”

The caveat was not in the story lead: The tax credit will only be available in years when the “Rainy Day Fund” is full and revenue es-

» THE OUTSIDE WORLD

» PERCOLATIN’ WITH BILL

LISA MONTI Contributing Writer mbj@msbusiness.com • 364-1018

Bryant’s tax cut won’t stop spending growth

TAMI JONES Advertising Director tami.jones@msbusiness.com • 364-1011 MELISSA KILLINGSWORTH Sr. Account Executive

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melissa.harrison@msbusiness.com • 364-1030 VIRGINIA HODGES Account Executive virginia.hodges@msbusiness.com • 364-1012 TACY RAYBURN Production Manager tacy.rayburn@msbusiness.com • 364-1019 CHARINA RHODES Circulation Manager charina.rhodes@msbusiness.com • 364-1045 MARCIA THOMPSON-KELLY Business Assistant marcia.kelly@msbusiness.com • 364-1044 SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES (601) 364-1000 subscriptions@msbusiness.com Mississippi Business Journal (USPS 000-222) is published weekly with one annual issue by MSBJ 200 N. Congress St., Suite 400, Jackson, MS 39201. Periodicals postage paid at Jackson, MS. Subscription rates: 1 year $109; 2 years $168; and 3 years $214.

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Entire contents copyrighted © 2014 by Journal Inc. All rights reserved.

timates meet or exceed 3 percent growth.

Bryant’s $6.2 billion projected budget does not spend one-time funds on recurring expenses. ...

However, MAEP in the 2015 budget is underfunded from what’s required by state law by $257 million; the total since 2008 is $1.5 billion under the legal mandate.

Sufficient time remains to focus the Legislature’s resources and the good minds of progress-focused Mississippians to more sharply refine the 2016 budget, moving it away from election-year politics and toward real-world needs.

— Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal

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id you catch the drift of the news stories about the extra money the Legislature expects to have for next year?

Andrea Williams, WTOK-TV, “Next year Mississippi lawmakers will have more money to spend.”

Bobby Harrison, the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, “The Mississippi Legislature will have $170 million more to spend during the 2015 session.”

Iris Barnes, SuperTalk NewsMS, “The Mississippi Legislature will spend $5.63 billion on state services during the 2015 session. That’s $170 million, or 3 percent, more than it did last year.”

Got more, spend more, that was the message.

Gov. Phil Bryant had a different message… sort of.

He proposed to give $79 million back to taxpayers. Like some Bill Crawford other Republican governors, he modeled his tax cut after the federal Earned Income Tax Credit. The benefit would vary with family size and income. Families with three or more children making up to $52,427 would get the maximum. A single childless person making less than $14,590 a year would get the minimum. The average benefit would be about $250. In years when state revenue grows less than 3 percent or the state’s rainy day fund is less than full, there would be no tax benefit.

"We believe now it is time to give tax relief to the working men and women of Mississippi,” said Bryant.

Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves has also called for a tax cut, so expect something like Bryant’s proposal to pass next year.

Still, even with Bryant’s tax cut, state spending would go up. Like kudzu, it just grows and grows.

How ironic is it that virtually every Republican in See CRAWFORD, Page 7

PERSPECTIVE

November 28, 2014 I Mississippi Business Journal

» RICKY NOBILE

CRAWFORD

I

7

Continued from Page 6

the statewide office and the Mississippi Legislature wants, no demands, that the federal government cut spending, but has no problem increasing state spending year after year?

Since rebounding from the 2008 to 2010 recession, state general fund appropriations have increased every year as shown below: » FY2011 General Fund Budget $4,490,653,122 » FY 2012 General Fund Budget $4,628,263,060 » FY 2013 General Fund Budget $4,751,849,038 » FY 2014 General Fund Budget $5,050,081,966 Indeed, over the past nine years general fund appropriations have increased 37 percent, from $3,697,728,630 in FY 2005 to $5,050,081,966 in FY 2014.

In comparison the national Consumer Price Index increased just 22 percent. Per capita personal income in Mississippi increased only 26 percent. Meanwhile, Mississippi’s poverty rate increased from 21 percent to 24 percent. You would think there would be a closer correlation between these numbers and state spending.

If state appropriations were linked to the growth rate of per capita personal income (26 percent), the state would have to give back to taxpayers $560 million of the FY 2015 revenue projection.

Compared to that, Bryant’s tax cut is a drop in the bucket. But, while modest, such a law would provide a vehicle for more significant tax cuts in the future.

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

»INSIDE MISSISSIPPI

Savor this Thanksgiving and be grateful for what you have

C

ould we be more thankful?

Thanksgiving is the greatest of American holidays. Its initial observance is older than the nation itself. The Pilgrims, of course, viewed it more as a time of prayer and reflection, than today's feasting and football frenzy. But let's just admit it, with the Egg Bowl approaching most of us are thankful for the NCAA Playoff Selection Committee's SEC bias and are hopeful a team from Mississippi ends up competing for the National Championship.

Abraham Lincoln actually proclaimed a national holiday of Thanksgiving back in 1863. Our annual celebration goes beyond football and a federally-recognized day to be nebulously thankful for all the stuff we've ended up with. As it was for those early Pilgrims, Thanksgiving is an opportunity to collectively show our gratitude to our Creator for our shared experience. In this way, Thanksgiving is more spiritually-centered than America's mega-marketed Christmas, with or without the “Christ.”

Thanksgiving allows us to reflect on the experiences that have brought us to this point and be mindful of who we are, what we believe and where we hope to go together.

For many of us gratitude is ingrained. I was raised by firm and loving parents. Our family was active in a church community. I was subjected, not too harshly I might add, to Christian teaching. I am grateful for that church upbringing

and it's why my family and I still attend church.

Those vitally important pieces of my young life helped shaped an empathy for those suffering and in need. It helped me to reflect, pray, and to count my blessings.

Having a grateful heart has created my more hopeful view of the world. It takes work and sometimes it means looking beyond the problems and singing a happy tune, even if you are composing the music on the fly. I make up a lot of silly songs. It keeps me happy and upbeat. My wife refers to it as my “La-la-la-la-Life.”

Things often seem more difficult and more problematic than they are. Taking the time to be grateful can help put them in perspective.

Contrary to what you see on television, the United States is not quite as broken as it was in the fall of 1863. Still, it is worth considering some of Abraham Lincoln's reasons for setting aside our national day of Thanksgiving. With citizens dying and the Civil War raging, Lincoln hoped for “the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union."

That must have seemed ridiculously optimistic for Lincoln's time, but the old country lawyer born in a log cabin understood the value of a grateful heart and he wanted to remind his broken nation.

Now, some people do not seem to mind going through life broken, mad, and downright indignant. They seem to relish in it. That's why they don't vote or David Dallas don't vote Democrat or don't vote Republican. It's why they refuse to attend church with all of those hypocrites. It's why they are right and everybody else is forever wrong. It's why they view the world as a whole lot of hooey.

Have you ever noticed how pessimism and ingratitude seem to walk hand-in-hand?

Being thankful and finding ways to demonstrate and exercise your gratitude will improve your life.

Take the time to be thankful not just this week, but every day. It will magnify your experience of the good things in life and will allow you to enjoy them more fully. Being thankful helps us all to endure the hard things in life with dignity, perhaps even with a little humor.

Life, like a good Thanksgiving Dinner, is a great big feast.

There are lots of fine sweet and savory flavors with perhaps too many Brussels sprouts and other stuff that doesn't taste so great thrown in, but no one should try to rush it. Enjoy every bite and be truly grateful for the meal. » David Dallas is a political writer. He worked for former U.S. Sen. John Stennis and authored Barking Dawgs and A Gentleman from Mississippi.

8 I Mississippi Business Journal I November 28, 2014 October 2014 sales tax receipts/year to date, July 1 MISSISSIPPI STATE TAX COMMISSION Here are cities’ earnings through sales tax collections. Sales tax has a three-month cycle. Month 1 — Tax is collected by the retailer. Month 2 — Tax is reported/paid to the Tax Commission by the retailer.

Month 3 — Sales tax diversion is paid by the Tax Commission to the cities. This report is based on the month the tax is collected at the Tax Commission (Month 2).

October October Year to date YTD CITY 2014 2013 2014 2013 ABBEVILLE $13,109.13 $3,621.24 $27,043.78 $13,031.36 ABERDEEN 62,241.67 66,587.62 257,610.87 268,721.00 ACKERMAN 23,632.45 21,452.74 94,131.50 90,697.96 ALCORN STATE U 520.63 1,034.19 1,524.62 2,304.03 ALGOMA 2,499.28 2,154.43 9,431.10 9,023.14 ALLIGATOR 740.42 927.97 2,637.25 3,162.15 AMORY 150,981.53 142,737.42 616,663.05 597,621.62 ANGUILLA 2,689.66 2,609.47 11,167.56 10,680.37 ARCOLA 1,977.33 1,659.40 6,570.97 6,177.18 ARTESIA 1,202.22 842.70 4,595.91 4,050.79 ASHLAND 11,565.65 12,382.86 50,343.19 52,793.86 BALDWYN 30,432.66 41,122.72 157,097.48 179,121.75 BASSFIELD 16,041.15 10,604.80 47,421.42 47,780.10 BATESVILLE 326,886.22 316,313.92 1,345,263.35 1,316,470.45 BAY SPRINGS 49,940.21 52,869.96 212,038.36 209,798.32 BAY ST LOUIS 121,283.21 101,198.12 491,161.76 437,463.46 BEAUMONT 9,758.00 5,314.83 27,279.05 24,363.44 BEAUREGARD 219.57 221.81 896.14 916.84 BELMONT 17,355.22 24,214.47 87,923.99 98,133.27 BELZONI 27,034.40 41,526.08 131,430.81 173,006.11 BENOIT 6,562.26 6,319.07 27,519.37 26,153.02 BENTONIA 11,410.92 15,619.67 73,820.57 129,609.73 BEULAH 423.30 439.68 1,702.15 1,615.61 BIG CREEK 299.32 336.49 1,198.47 1,307.26 BILOXI 873,166.44 893,718.05 3,898,913.10 3,883,627.00 BLUE MOUNTAIN 11,908.48 11,292.30 41,792.66 39,513.74 BLUE SPRINGS 2,580.79 2,812.32 11,060.94 11,384.54 BOLTON 28,837.31 10,239.39 53,241.66 48,758.80 BOONEVILLE 145,254.13 143,033.56 595,259.54 592,777.75 BOYLE 28,987.41 16,259.29 74,322.48 76,771.38 BRANDON 346,393.05 376,267.02 1,573,319.45 1,689,315.09 BRAXTON 1,339.83 1,212.17 5,493.82 5,202.80 BROOKHAVEN 444,175.86 403,530.99 1,811,545.70 1,850,184.86 BROOKSVILLE 9,389.32 9,389.50 40,041.99 36,713.45 BRUCE 42,288.84 42,020.38 163,889.45 164,144.86 BUDE 11,454.60 11,398.36 43,876.62 49,426.61 BURNSVILLE 11,247.60 12,669.08 48,334.01 47,730.99 BYHALIA 67,542.94 53,993.60 267,309.54 247,670.01 BYRAM 122,277.33 155,633.70 508,576.06 654,434.40 CALEDONIA 11,196.59 12,437.42 50,244.81 49,117.34 CALHOUN CITY 27,971.33 23,124.31 105,279.31 98,288.68 CANTON 254,964.15 196,739.51 932,401.52 829,831.52 CARROLLTON 6,888.87 6,650.75 25,617.72 23,968.35 CARTHAGE 119,987.81 121,871.82 502,553.37 519,961.66 CARY 1,464.49 384.93 5,276.27 3,085.73 CENTREVILLE 16,309.37 18,480.60 69,971.73 74,081.67 CHARLESTON 29,559.46 25,948.99 118,177.23 112,196.62 CHUNKY 668.91 665.81 2,761.77 3,679.75 CLARKSDALE 226,783.69 206,851.17 896,458.96 876,730.93 CLEVELAND 248,527.51 269,950.84 991,247.87 1,113,314.56 CLINTON 248,995.53 337,184.77 1,247,353.08 1,437,359.44 COAHOMA 644.70 551.75 2,389.43 2,158.63 COAHOMA COLLEGE 718.73 1,431.98 1,912.30 1,486.19 COFFEEVILLE 9,438.67 9,051.17 38,138.83 38,050.45 COLDWATER 15,963.48 17,061.57 65,738.63 69,280.80 COLLINS 114,709.56 104,366.39 486,422.53 442,777.43 COLUMBIA 283,224.27 271,434.77 1,136,870.39 1,118,363.75 COLUMBUS 715,440.18 677,580.87 2,872,301.59 2,786,093.32 COMO 13,316.72 14,922.57 51,457.85 58,798.14 CORINTH 425,850.94 434,112.13 1,852,351.06 1,827,258.02 COURTLAND 1,371.63 1,250.86 5,788.33 4,687.00 CRAWFORD 1,348.61 1,399.64 5,073.76 6,396.66 CRENSHAW 4,462.57 4,378.72 18,714.11 17,499.35 CROSBY 1,146.31 822.41 13,075.47 8,242.01 CROWDER 1,874.63 1,556.60 7,339.24 6,307.67 CRUGER 782.69 497.00 2,131.31 2,191.16 CRYSTAL SPRINGS 55,359.53 58,939.11 228,900.23 250,869.87 D LO 3,261.67 3,423.17 992,975.11 13,100.56 D'IBERVILLE 484,568.29 461,655.54 1,012,495.76 1,960,957.47 DECATUR 16,015.69 13,408.20 56,981.28 50,819.59 DEKALB 20,761.09 22,755.46 79,478.73 82,753.86 DERMA 7,514.42 5,626.95 23,802.95 22,764.71 DIAMONDHEAD 39,519.23 35,011.67 167,775.38 149,229.63 DODDSVILLE 793.18 756.16 3,186.27 2,516.44 DREW 9,947.42 9,422.20 43,104.42 39,050.79 DUCK HILL 4,343.76 4,155.11 16,371.50 16,288.70 DUMAS 1,224.54 810.10 5,170.06 4,146.32 DUNCAN 362.85 319.77 1,671.08 4,361.52 DURANT 9,917.39 25,975.09 69,951.93 98,388.40 EAST MS COLLEGE 233.76 198.83 1,554.28 1,646.46 ECRU 11,722.26 12,272.56 58,661.17 50,192.05 EDEN 72.73 62.59 379.33 255.37 EDWARDS 6,354.99 5,900.34 24,839.84 33,055.25 ELLISVILLE 103,149.41 82,212.22 401,468.55 333,630.91 ENTERPRISE 5,589.74 5,346.82 19,910.20 20,497.92 ETHEL 996.14 1,065.67 5,764.46 4,361.82 EUPORA 34,796.66 32,369.25 143,234.89 139,005.41 FALCON 137.50 60.76 516.20 385.07 FARMINGTON 2,190.12 3,519.79 11,076.82 16,184.56 FAULKNER 4,772.72 21,697.86 20,450.36 34,852.92 FAYETTE 16,345.77 16,607.93 69,150.43 68,492.92 FLORA 26,040.46 25,775.04 103,956.25 101,414.18 FLORENCE 65,162.78 55,710.61 273,216.24 262,045.94 FLOWOOD 840,993.84 824,770.35 3,405,345.53 3,372,790.76 FOREST 183,258.80 183,119.55 731,137.44 730,121.42 FRENCH CAMP 663.01 824.61 3,718.43 3,808.93 FRIARS POINT 2,183.49 2,576.67 8,458.39 9,255.19

FULTON GATTMAN GAUTIER GEORGETOWN GLEN GLENDORA GLOSTER GOLDEN GOODMAN GREENVILLE GREENWOOD GRENADA GULFPORT GUNNISON GUNTOWN HATLEY HATTIESBURG HAZLEHURST HEIDELBERG HERNANDO HICKORY HICKORY FLAT HINDS COMMUNITY HOLLANDALE HOLLY SPRINGS HORN LAKE HOULKA HOUSTON INDIANOLA INVERNESS ISOLA ITTA BENA IUKA JACKSON JONESTOWN JUMPERTOWN KILMICHAEL KOSCIUSKO KOSSUTH LAKE LAMBERT LAUREL LEAKESVILLE LEARNED LELAND LENA LEXINGTON LIBERTY LONG BEACH LOUIN LOUISE LOUISVILLE LUCEDALE LULA LUMBERTON LYON MABEN MACON MADISON MAGEE MAGNOLIA MANTACHIE MANTEE MARIETTA MARION MARKS MATHISTON MAYERSVILLE MCCOMB MCCOOL MCLAIN MEADVILLE MENDENHALL MERIDIAN MERIGOLD METCALFE MIZE MONTICELLO MONTROSE MOORHEAD MORGAN CITY MORTON MOSS POINT MOUND BAYOU MS GULFCOAST MS STATE UNIV MS VALLEY ST MT OLIVE MYRTLE NATCHEZ NETTLETON NEW ALBANY NEW AUGUSTA NEW HEBRON NEWTON NO. CARROLLTON NOXAPATER OAKLAND OCEAN SPRINGS OKOLONA OLIVE BRANCH OSYKA OXFORD PACE PACHUTA PADEN

119,406.91 126.65 131,504.57 3,700.98 1,561.44 476.53 8,811.97 5,101.76 3,571.12 500,287.87 322,987.00 330,844.17 1,399,473.15 767.46 14,556.94 456.83 1,733,640.17 103,919.29 25,315.92 237,987.12 4,782.18 5,491.76 689.24 13,976.58 97,793.79 294,470.97 8,007.75 82,905.00 158,630.45 4,497.58 3,588.78 12,707.97 63,985.56 2,355,194.33 2,833.90 485.05 8,738.11 156,448.43 3,669.99 6,451.61 2,051.18 773,540.19 28,598.56 539.23 38,975.42 1,648.43 38,703.80 20,882.16 86,674.46 1,897.84 1,214.78 158,407.07 180,561.68 2,969.77 13,961.35 841.36 7,491.59 49,870.48 491,621.87 164,470.25 30,901.68 17,887.86 3,992.63 4,894.67 13,809.46 12,984.28 14,881.42 754.22 259,985.64 867.02 5,876.25 11,332.28 66,148.15 1,177,977.17 5,356.42 1,263.06 29,486.14 33,933.25 479.61 10,550.77 589.31 19,720.41 107,267.72 4,196.26 945.13 46,402.51 4,015.47 9,254.92 4,736.95 467,818.90 24,435.23 238,152.71 12,823.16 7,856.61 74,265.57 3,935.23 8,890.51 6,587.72 332,193.91 23,074.87 683,458.47 5,819.29 644,905.96 528.42 2,651.30 74.13

119,014.92 158.63 188,158.89 3,839.24 2,019.24 528.57 12,110.35 4,076.51 5,523.95 501,989.12 354,337.21 314,705.66 1,541,388.26 1,092.38 16,459.46 458.84 1,658,910.19 101,878.00 30,095.23 237,817.22 4,015.43 4,729.23 717.17 14,237.06 95,581.33 303,213.03 8,747.81 76,180.11 149,512.19 4,889.04 3,224.68 11,876.89 59,751.65 2,535,521.98 4,220.57 700.33 6,294.63 156,781.50 3,704.09 6,131.88 3,610.42 798,590.39 25,305.64 465.27 45,315.52 1,618.08 38,903.18 18,906.98 101,771.82 2,455.01 1,069.44 140,665.92 158,325.12 3,400.54 13,669.86 5,317.16 6,305.84 46,554.48 493,721.50 149,500.82 33,469.92 15,977.90 2,206.89 4,879.54 17,415.17 19,066.66 14,491.86 517.17 429,373.61 1,310.87 5,886.71 11,270.59 49,966.94 1,168,388.50 7,095.53 804.85 15,053.29 38,047.05 267.72 11,915.91 462.60 42,598.56 149,593.91 4,272.65 802.55 46,668.83 7,376.30 4,210.82 426,757.85 22,613.22 227,039.18 15,092.91 7,171.81 81,869.86 3,101.13 9,168.89 6,095.13 351,922.73 24,883.18 631,281.33 5,102.65 619,211.19 556.53 1,869.20 561.70

490,543.77 918.00 614,628.93 14,451.43 7,556.08 1,924.83 44,592.39 19,524.26 13,648.62 2,032,826.85 1,356,300.90 1,336,962.61 6,273,551.26 2,970.79 60,579.65 1,745.74 7,222,121.10 428,942.01 100,367.76 964,954.49 18,851.36 21,684.50 3,601.83 57,457.80 409,496.80 1,308,474.10 32,562.91 333,178.10 614,045.78 18,437.31 11,602.51 46,447.24 262,546.01 9,882,554.97 12,449.27 2,229.01 24,141.23 637,808.27 14,344.10 25,599.22 7,730.59 3,193,856.46 109,120.24 2,031.86 171,863.15 7,491.24 147,516.01 83,530.22 423,959.55 9,145.36 5,571.65 642,620.87 729,171.38 12,280.62 57,134.63 6,379.64 25,325.87 202,717.83 2,019,915.16 680,755.52 129,316.84 69,972.31 11,627.98 18,733.30 69,472.61 65,958.42 51,585.31 3,401.78 1,442,996.76 5,624.48 25,125.01 44,210.93 216,183.34 4,853,248.53 24,552.73 5,267.53 75,124.96 73,763.06 65,899.07 298,193.06 8,539.48 65,301.16 312,208.01 10,665.98 22,869.67 159,874.26 5,268.64 36,671.67 18,757.31 1,861,401.07 100,809.25 978,074.28 53,616.67 28,168.07 317,189.34 14,256.09 34,174.92 25,757.65 1,474,120.63 100,225.58 2,833,337.92 21,621.40 2,438,299.09 2,450.63 8,792.91 318.26

476,837.37 508.47 767,738.56 14,375.18 8,172.49 1,766.20 48,247.94 16,058.92 15,989.60 2,015,257.78 1,433,310.11 1,356,505.50 6,546,904.36 3,293.32 63,933.04 1,789.44 6,985,991.91 407,066.09 127,133.16 970,625.20 15,978.81 21,071.53 3,530.66 57,453.67 407,866.93 1,313,724.44 32,622.65 318,654.21 642,241.08 19,788.41 9,176.37 45,476.40 266,656.08 10,634,579.04 15,819.14 2,546.41 23,357.51 655,710.93 14,609.50 26,698.72 17,240.01 3,186,472.80 107,946.44 1,890.66 195,676.31 6,950.22 159,783.52 76,750.35 453,366.39 9,620.16 4,028.24 597,352.39 646,617.85 13,472.95 58,783.62 19,249.70 23,099.85 192,797.07 2,065,761.52 647,356.62 136,564.10 68,240.63 9,346.77 19,176.69 71,766.95 80,002.57 61,285.40 2,534.82 1,784,324.07 12,482.65 24,415.64 41,351.76 231,704.52 4,945,967.32 27,933.44 4,208.47 66,211.68 153,279.41 1,967.17 34,376.65 2,475.32 165,068.40 590,180.45 16,458.49 2,346.93 87,023.10 689.68 29,940.62 17,975.70 1,750,512.16 104,815.87 945,917.33 61,193.52 30,292.16 339,067.14 13,305.01 34,968.72 22,958.35 1,472,372.07 99,827.53 2,628,225.28 21,132.51 2,357,298.01 2,252.62 7,619.27 1,145.20

PASCAGOULA 420,344.23 PASS CHRISTIAN 93,676.35 PAULDING 147.14 PEARL 737,228.06 PELAHATCHIE 30,405.24 PETAL 186,008.50 PHILADELPHIA 342,708.96 PICAYUNE 370,447.41 PICKENS 7,337.77 PITTSBORO 603.63 PLANTERSVILLE 4,092.30 POLKVILLE 188.06 PONTOTOC 161,401.50 POPE 1,883.75 POPLARVILLE 56,597.96 PORT GIBSON 2,926.67 POTTS CAMP 8,059.47 PRENTISS 35,973.45 PUCKETT 9,880.60 PURVIS 59,597.06 QUITMAN 47,272.91 RALEIGH 17,157.64 RAYMOND 17,301.64 RENOVA 2,701.50 RICHLAND 452,245.71 RICHTON 25,244.40 RIDGELAND 969,930.95 RIENZI 4,624.82 RIPLEY 102,367.74 ROLLING FORK 39,399.81 ROSEDALE 10,199.43 ROXIE 1,415.75 RULEVILLE 20,967.87 SALLIS 1,862.65 SALTILLO 48,249.83 SANDERSVILLE 162,868.12 SARDIS 24,041.38 SATARTIA 132.76 SCHLATER 1,072.36 SCOOBA 6,401.33 SEBASTAPOL 16,025.33 SEMINARY 12,665.86 SENATOBIA 173,091.83 SHANNON 11,931.07 SHAW 5,728.39 SHELBY 10,428.03 SHERMAN 13,904.63 SHUBUTA 3,831.18 SHUQUALAK 2,123.71 SIDON 729.98 SILVER CITY 513.16 SILVER CREEK 2,777.35 SLATE SPRINGS 695.54 SLEDGE 1,705.42 SMITHVILLE 6,729.59 SNOWLAKESHORES 408.36 SOSO 15,757.37 SOUTHAVEN 988,177.95 SOUTHWEST COMM 226.73 STARKVILLE 532,513.34 STATE LINE 11,860.94 STONEWALL 6,188.06 STURGIS 3,059.39 SUMMIT 39,879.47 SUMNER 4,798.19 SUMRALL 40,253.11 SUNFLOWER 2,106.85 SYLVARENA 211.77 TAYLOR 1,568.65 TAYLORSVILLE 25,313.37 TCHULA 5,225.40 TERRY 24,221.21 THAXTON 4,478.72 TISHOMINGO 10,133.34 TOCCOPOLA 305.05 TOWN OF WALLS 6,485.62 TREMONT 1,321.85 TUNICA 23,012.90 TUPELO 1,325,652.98 TUTWILER 5,018.19 TYLERTOWN 51,557.50 UNION 30,125.88 UNIV OF MISS 23,237.80 UTICA 11,112.17 VAIDEN 10,127.32 VARDAMAN 10,813.06 VERONA 18,786.23 VICKSBURG 540,574.64 WALNUT 16,765.99 WALNUT GROVE 6,851.68 WALTHALL 1,593.66 WATER VALLEY 40,339.37 WAVELAND 191,532.13 WAYNESBORO 171,706.34 WEBB 9,133.78 WEIR 1,688.54 WESSON 14,017.41 WEST 1,299.18 WEST POINT 145,567.32 WIGGINS 144,600.32 WINONA 79,057.33 WINSTONVILLE 245.76 WOODLAND 6,770.35 WOODVILLE 30,011.03 YAZOO CITY 156,374.41 TOTAL $32,050,161.77

448,441.98 88,596.29 149.06 673,910.25 27,281.20 182,128.10 338,221.61 312,906.88 7,785.96 377.21 3,868.20 197.42 172,077.23 2,474.55 52,155.76 19,160.71 7,017.41 31,747.44 10,049.23 58,967.30 45,251.56 17,337.87 16,992.09 3,929.10 398,757.93 27,437.09 936,551.98 3,562.79 96,480.96 41,484.63 9,244.26 1,549.72 20,694.27 1,983.72 46,835.89 91,500.77 24,262.34 372.95 1,706.95 6,429.60 16,198.19 11,783.76 161,608.42 11,688.22 6,715.81 9,040.44 12,848.90 3,934.32 2,152.95 791.37 371.69 2,893.39 178.08 1,983.37 6,067.78 413.52 12,571.99 945,370.17 96.72 496,970.22 11,463.44 6,947.05 2,727.56 31,637.80 5,690.45 34,657.16 2,518.30 240.68 2,231.31 25,885.34 7,082.75 24,156.57 3,442.61 8,481.45 528.58 6,273.94 1,984.87 46,467.34 1,373,972.61 4,082.96 51,206.77 29,047.22 32,791.47 13,842.61 10,360.51 10,253.36 17,352.58 581,813.99 16,388.28 6,489.55 1,811.06 37,978.59 163,734.86 164,874.51 9,232.89 2,146.41 14,351.91 2,110.28 188,587.91 131,383.33 79,833.28 313.62 4,930.02 30,260.82 136,640.67 $32,102,166.39

1,786,925.59 1,813,481.56 403,121.67 374,269.98 645.49 565.31 3,048,231.63 2,901,042.08 139,444.73 131,164.07 773,590.30 756,612.54 1,381,980.74 1,350,870.75 1,478,607.45 1,416,764.58 29,037.14 30,102.65 2,385.43 1,790.43 18,163.93 15,236.52 1,271.77 1,664.52 692,069.57 745,430.00 9,160.24 9,643.02 233,136.74 224,694.68 45,129.44 78,829.48 31,251.10 30,222.10 141,280.98 144,474.59 35,657.67 38,788.89 244,640.53 242,361.01 185,348.80 184,829.73 65,607.70 70,368.53 110,754.51 66,051.28 10,329.19 11,268.47 1,685,537.18 1,684,525.67 107,571.77 106,928.14 4,110,262.75 4,060,907.39 17,611.96 15,619.63 413,993.28 391,989.74 134,563.11 147,878.07 36,694.24 36,388.48 6,407.59 6,187.99 77,319.74 78,862.69 7,710.60 8,205.09 211,610.39 223,030.10 457,857.46 277,872.57 101,897.35 98,899.48 630.91 1,420.06 4,015.01 4,572.70 25,221.70 23,906.91 65,109.34 62,386.84 49,866.72 47,178.61 699,772.04 659,881.87 48,709.66 48,742.08 26,877.90 27,283.81 38,055.42 35,912.59 48,445.04 49,021.60 15,079.04 15,488.00 8,833.10 8,042.70 3,232.86 3,454.44 1,975.98 1,498.90 11,852.42 11,858.08 2,085.07 773.67 6,725.08 6,642.28 25,794.20 22,357.76 1,687.36 1,601.97 55,682.98 48,325.14 4,147,474.21 4,011,469.92 576.64 341.66 2,030,449.79 1,966,455.10 45,231.28 41,645.20 26,813.60 27,521.87 12,375.95 11,254.69 140,169.76 141,052.86 15,759.65 18,195.80 152,257.49 147,691.05 8,672.57 9,010.13 1,238.76 1,160.69 6,765.32 7,796.30 100,660.87 101,582.25 25,566.95 29,537.82 96,236.68 95,839.55 17,296.31 15,094.84 21,004.91 34,986.80 15,857.96 2,168.75 1,236,618.03 19,673.16 5,773.66 7,905.41 131,138.37 180,870.93 5,732,329.99 5,786,161.03 16,090.84 16,382.33 215,441.80 213,928.34 123,628.70 116,574.24 72,003.60 63,283.59 38,278.05 50,962.04 44,568.65 36,918.67 45,310.63 40,325.99 57,174.79 77,093.80 1,207,814.93 2,494,140.89 69,840.31 66,509.02 23,036.80 24,898.39 6,699.62 7,646.77 163,823.08 158,176.79 773,916.55 730,039.24 707,383.65 693,345.66 34,802.82 38,127.26 8,931.57 8,624.00 50,361.82 56,227.14 5,921.24 7,058.48 676,720.35 718,251.15 577,878.74 584,166.53 328,250.94 337,963.48 1,470.66 888.09 21,675.46 23,570.51 121,425.10 113,545.68 572,273.99 560,283.31 $133,374,426.34 $134,120,115.84

November 28, 2014

I

Mississippi Business Journal

I

ENERGY

Dropping gasoline prices a reason for giving thanks

By JACK WEATHERLY jack.weatherly@msbusiness.com

Thanksgiving travelers have one more reason to be thankful this year.

And Mississippians could have another gift at Christmas, if prices at the pump continue to fall, which is the consensus of observers.

That's because dropping crude-oil prices have driven retail gasoline prices to their lowest level in four years.

AAA projects that 46.3 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from home during Thanksgiving week, the highest volume for the holiday since 2007 and a 4.2 percent increase more than in 2013.

“Lower prices are increasing disposable income and enabling families to carve out more money from household budgets for travel this Thanksgiving,” Marshall L. Doney, AAA president and chief operating officer, said in a prepared statement.

Linda Hornsby, executive director of the Mississippi Hotel and Lodging Association, said Tuesday that “anytime gas goes down, it certainly helps us.”

Mississippi’s lodging sector is “a 90 percent drive-in market.”

The average price for regular on Monday reached $2.58 a gallon in the state, compared with $2.84 a month earlier and $3.13 a year earlier, according to AAA. Across the nation, the corresponding prices were $2.81, $3.07 and $3.28.

GasBuddy.com, which posts volunteer reports on prices at stations, showed a low-end range of $2.30 to $2.40 around the state.

The Energy Information Administration projects the national average for regular next year to be $2.94, compared with

$3.39 this year, according to Ben Brockwell of Gaithersburg, Md.-based Oil Price Information Service.

The price of benchmark oil has slid 30 percent from 2014 highs in June.

Coincidentally, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries scheduled a meeting in Vienna on Thanksgiving to see what it could do on the supply side to halt the crude oil slide.

The United States has been able to break the 12-nation oil cartel's stranglehold, thanks in recent years to unprecedented production of oil and natural gas due to hydraulic fracturing.

The United States has become one of

Pump prices » averages for regular

Mississippi

Monday

U.S.

$2.58

$2.81

Week earlier $2.67

$2.89

Month earlier $2.84

$3.07

Year earlier

$3.28

$3.13

Source: AAA

OPEC set a Thanksgiving Day meeting the world's largest oil producers, providing about 70 percent of its needs, said Mike Right, regional vice president for public affairs for AAA. OPEC could cut back on its output and bring an abrupt halt to the trend, though a reversal of the downward movement might not be immediate, Right said.

“OPEC is still a factor on what you and I pay at the pump, though not nearly as big as it once was,” Right said.

Canada, a close ally, is the United States' largest provider of oil, Right said.

Still, as recently as a year ago, experts were still talking of global “peak supply” of oil, meaning that production could no longer meet demand and that the world economy was susceptible to “continuous recession.”

http://www.msbusiness.com

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W h wa ic h yi s

AN MBJ FOCUS: BANKING & FINANCE

» High stock market

values are at odds with nation’s lackluster economy

By BECKY GILLETTE mbj@msbusiness.com

During the stock market crash of 2008-2009, Dow Jones investors lost on average half the value of their investments. But those who stuck with it have since seen stocks rebound about 270 percent since then.

“With the exception of the 17 percent decline in the summer of 2011, volatility has been very mild,” said Stacy Wall, CEO of Pinnacle Trust, Madison. “This has led to complacency among many investors and is a cause of concern. It’s amazing how forgetful many investors have become of the fear they experienced during the crash of 2008-09.”

A common mistake for investors is to let emotions control their investment decisions. They tend to tend to be too optimistic at market tops, and too pessimistic at market bottoms. “So, often times we are selling when we should be buying and buying when we should be selling,” Wall said.

The high stock values make some people queasy feeling the market could be overvalued. But there is good reason for the increased appetite for stocks over the past couple of years among retail investors. There are few other places to invest money that can make a decent return.

“With the Fed pursuing a zero interest rate policy, few alternatives exist for investors.”

Stacy Wall, CEO, Pinnacle Trust

“With the Fed pursuing a zero interest rate policy, few alternatives exist for investors,” Wall said. “Cash equivalents, such as CDs, are paying next to nothing, and bonds are not much better.

Additionally, one recent report indicated that 97 percent of baby boomers say they have not saved enough for retirement, and there are 10,000 baby boomers retiring every day.”

When you combine trying to play catch up in saving for retirement with low interest rates, many investors feel like they are forced to have a lot of exposure to the stock market. While that’s great when there are returns like those seen in the last five years, what happens when stocks turn down again? “And does anyone really believe that the returns in stocks over the next five years will be as good as they have the last five?” Wall asks.

There are many issues when it comes to plan-

ning for financial security w picture, and the answers do they once did.

“That’s why it’s critical th properly diversify our inve Wall said.

“If you’re heavily invested ting close to retirement, I w sider diversifying. If you exposure to stocks in your p consider chasing this market if you’re a young investor, be your retirement savings is o time to weather the storms.”

When things look too ros sure it is not an ambush, said dent of Vector Money Manag “For investors, I think y abreast and not get carried a or be too Pollyannaish about stock market has outperform the past several years. The okay, but no great shakes. T economy, but a booming sto kind of unusual. It gives pau

November 28, 2014 • MISSISSIPPI BUSINESS JOURNAL • www.msbusiness.com

E

p?

SPEED BANKING

11/28/14

Cash

100.00

One hundred

urity with today’s financial wers don’t come as easy as

For electronic deposit

John Doe

tical that we plan, save and ur investment portfolios,”

nvested in stocks and getnt, I would definitely conIf you don’t have much your portfolio, I wouldn’t market. On the other hand, estor, being aggressive with ngs is okay since you have torms.” too rosy, you want to make sh, said Ashby Foote, presiy Management Inc., Jackson. think you do need to be arried away from euphoria h about it,” Foote said. “The performed the economy for rs. The economy is doing akes. There is no booming ming stock market. That is ves pause for reflection.”

See

MARKET, Page 12

» Mobile deposits gaining popularity among customers, banks

By LISA MONTI mbj@msbusiness.com

You already use your smartphone camera to take snaps of the kids, the cat and dinner at a fancy restaurant. Now, more people are taking photos of checks that they want to deposit into their bank account instead of having to go to the bank to do it.

The mobile deposit service also is gaining favor among financial institutions that already have to physically handle stacks of paper checks the old-fashioned way.

Magee-based PriorityOne Bank introduced its version of the mobile deposit feature just over a year ago and it’s been steadily gaining users.

There are over 600 mobile deposits a month received for processing in Central

Operations in Magee, said Loralee Brinson, electronic banking supervisor. “We average 50 to 75 applicants each month,” she said. “Some customers use it every day.”

To get started taking advantage of a mobile deposit service, all you need is a phone with a camera, a bank account and the bank’s app downloaded on your device.

The process may vary depending on the bank but basically you endorse the check you want to deposit, open the app and follow the simple instructions. Typically you’ll type in the amount of the deposit and choose which account you want it to go to.

Then you take a photo of the front and back of the endorsed check and submit them. If the images are acceptable, the bank will let you know that the deposit was successful. If there’s a problem with the

images or the account information, the deposit will be held for review. When everything is approved, the bank will send you an email saying the deposit has been made.

The whole process takes just minutes when everything works properly. A common problem is a poor image that bank personnel can’t read. “Usually the front image is not clear if the check is too big or the print is not clear,” said Brinson. Overall, she said, things have been running smoothly in the Electronic Banking Department located in Magee.

There are rules that vary from bank to bank, so ask your bank or check its website for details.

See

DEPOSITS, Page 12

BANKING & FINANCE

12 I Mississippi Business Journal I November 28, 2014

DEPOSITS

Continued from Page 11

For example, not all bank customers may be eligible to use the mobile deposit service. PriorityOne requires customers have an account open for at least 30 days and they can’t have any loan losses with the bank.

It’s a good idea to void or somehow mark a check that’s been deposited so you or someone else doesn’t try to deposit it again.

Some banks including PriorityOne suggest customers keep a deposited check for 14 days and then destroy it.

safety of depositing checks with a smartphone. Experts say banks keep such transactions safe by encrypting the data. Also, no information is stored on the mobile devices.

At PriorityOne, employees in the Electronic Banking Department review every check image that is submitted, regardless of the amount. “We verify that the routing numbers look normal, that the check is completely written out to the person, all the lines are filled in, it’s not post dated and endorsed correctly. It’s the same things a teller would do standing in their window,� Brinson said.

Then, just like paper checks, the elec-

Some banks have limits on the amount and frequency of deposits, though those can be adjusted in special circumstances. PriorityOne, for example, has a per deposit limit of $2,000, a daily limit of $5,000 and a $10,000 monthly cap. “We take a proactive approach to try to limit fraud by setting limits on deposits,� Brinson said. The bank hasn’t experienced any fraudulent activity with the remote deposits, she said.

Fans of remote deposits are likely using their computers and mobile devices to check their bank accounts and move money from one account to another online. Some people, however, may worry about the

tronic images are submitted to the Federal Reserve Bank, which forwards them to the check writer's bank to debit the account.

The one drawback might be felt by the check writers, who will see shorter “float� times because the checks are processed faster than by the traditional drive-to-thebranch deposit.

Susan Herrington, PriorityOne senior vice president of operations in Magee, said, “It really is a convenience for our customers.� Her own son, who lives in Atlanta, uses the service, she said. “He used to have to mail checks to me to deposit. It’s wonderful for him.�

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Continued from Page 10

Foote said the zero interest rate policy from the Federal Reserve, have been very beneficial for investors, but not necessarily for the average person with a small business.

After the bailouts by the government of the large financial institutions, Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Act that made it more challenging for a lot of people to borrow money. “You end up with super cheap money, but you have to prove you don’t need it order to borrow it,� Foote said. “That is great for hedge funds and other institutional investors. A lot of the buying in the stock market is companies themselves buying back their own stock. They might have a three percent dividend obligation to shareholders. They can borrow money at two percent, buy back their own shares and actually save money. There are a shrinking the number of shares, so corporate earnings are divided by a smaller number of shares. That is a driver in the stock market.�

Foote is hopeful the recent election may produce more clarity on government policy going forward, which could lead to the type of new capital expenditures you would expect to see in a recovery. Until now there have been headwinds for business from Obamacare, Dodd-Frank, other new regulations, and new boards overseeing regulatory structures. A lot of rules haven’t been finalized, which lead to uncertainties for businesses. “The election improves the prospects for the economy,� Foote said. “We need some regulatory relief more than anything. With new structures in the House and Senate, we may see some things go forward that were held back. There will likely be a positive vote on the Keystone Pipeline that has been in limbo for six or seven years. The Keystone Pipeline would be good for economy, and is symbolic for the type of investment that creates jobs in the years ahead.�

Foote said the economy is improving gradually, and that there will be cheap money for some time. He said the economy may even come to outperform the stock market, but that is not to say you can’t make money investing in stocks. But if you have cash to invest, do it piecemeal. “I wouldn’t do it all at one time,� Foote said.

“Partnering with a bank that values flexibility, reliability and integrity was a real TURNING POINT for our business.”

Derek Starling Sr. & Willie A. O’Neal Jr.

SOL Engineering Services LLC - Jackson, MS

Get the whole story at regions.com/solengineering

Friends since engineering school, Derek Starling Sr. and Willie A. O’Neal Jr. are the owners of SOL Engineering Services LLC, a company that has steadily expanded beyond its municipal and civil engineering roots. After facing the initial challenges of starting a business, Derek and Willie quickly realized the importance of having a reliable banking relationship and turned to Regions Banker LoRose Hunter. LoRose delivers results for the business with reliability and integrity. While these business partners focus on navigating state and municipal contract bids and managing innovative projects, LoRose helps them aggressively pursue opportunities for growth.

Derek and Willie are thankful to have found a banking partner who not only shares their values, but also their vision for moving forward.

To see how we can help your business move forward when it’s at a turning point, turn to Regions.

Loans | Treasury Management | Can-Do Attitude © 2014 Regions Bank. All loans and lines subject to credit approval.

14 I Mississippi Business Journal I November 28, 2014 Business Name

STATE REGISTERED INVESTMENT ADVISORS

Office Address

City

ABRIDGE PARTNERS, LLC

124 One Madison Plaza, Suite 1200

Madison

MS

39110

AVL/WEALTHCARE, LLC

9490 Three Rivers Road

Gulfport

MS

39503

BALLEW RUSSELL INC

4800 I-55 North, Suite 21

Jackson

MS

39211

BARNES PETTEY FINANCIAL ADVISORS, LLC

252 Sunflower Avenue

Clarksdale

MS

38614

BERGLAND WEALTH MANAGEMENT, INC.

574 Highland Colony Pkwy, Ste 320a

Ridgeland

MS

39157-6073

BEYOND CAPITAL FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT GROUP, INC. 2211 5th Street, Suite 107

Meridian

MS

39301

BLACKSUMMIT FINANCIAL GROUP, INC.

Ridgeland

MS

39157

BLAKEMAN, BRISTER & PUTMAN FINANCIAL GROUP, P.A. 103 South Court Street

Cleveland

MS

38732

BROOKSHIRE ADVISORS

555 Howard Ave

Biloxi

MS

39530-4449

CCG ASSET MANAGEMENT, LLC

1880 Lakeland Drive, Suite C

jackson

MS

39216

CENTERPOINT ADVANTAGE, LLC

414 East Capitol Street

Jackson

MS

39201-2602

CHATHAM ASSET MANAGEMENT, LLC

6311 Ridgewood Road, Suite W 403

Jackson

MS

39211

COKER & PALMER

1667 Lelia Drive

Jackson

MS

39216

CROWN CAPITAL CORPORATION

104 Tremont Way

Madison

MS

39110-4505

DAVENPORT WATTS & DRAKE INVESTMENT ADVISORS, LLC

234 W. School Street

Ridgeland

MS

39157

DELTA HEDGE FINANCIAL

7114 emily lane

Olive branch

MS

38654

DUNBAR FINANCIAL STRATEGIES, LLC

300 Concourse Blvd., Ste. 102

Ridgeland

MS

39157

EFP ADVISORS

1501 Lakeland Drive, Suite 250

Jackson

MS

39216

ET GEORGE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT, LLC

102 South Jackson Street

Starkville

MS

39759

FAMILY WEALTH PRACTICES LLC

2084 Old Taylor Road, Suite 107, University Office Park

Oxford

MS

38655

FINANCIAL CONCEPTS

1121 Second Ave N

Columbus

MS

39701

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS, LLC

22 Doctor's Drive, Suite C

Ocean Springs

MS

39564

FORTENBERRY & BALLARD, PC

1929 Spillway Road

Brandon

MS

39047

GRANTHAM POOLE ADVISORS

1062 Highland Colony Parkway, Suite 201

Ridgeland

MS

39157

HARDY REED, LLC

101 S. Front Street

Tupelo

MS

38804

HARTMAN, WILLIAM DENTON

108 Sherwood Cove

Batesville

MS

38606

HORNE WEALTH ADVISORS, LLC

1020 Highland Colony Parkway, Suite 400

Ridgeland

MS

39157

HOWELL & ROMINES FINANCIAL SERVICES, LLC

310 Byram Place, Ste A

Byram

MS

39272

INSTITUTIONAL SERVICES GROUP, LLC

Suite 534, 248 East Capitol St.

Jackson

MS

39201

KUDZU GROWTH

300 Concourse Blvd. Suite 101

Ridgeland

MS

39157

LANGFORD INVESTMENT COMPANY

4418 Deercreek Drive

Jackson

MS

39211-6207

LEE-WAY FINANCIAL SERVICES, INC

6659 Hwy. 98 West

Hattiesburg

MS

39402

LEGACY FINANCIAL ADVISORS, LLC

8 Woodstone Plaza

Hattiesburg

MS

39402

LEWIS CAPITAL MANAGEMENT

1200 Mill Rd #137

Gulfport

MS

39507

LOGAN PARTNERS INCORPORATED

438 Forest Lake Place

Madison

MS

39110-9480

MASCAGNI WEALTH MANAGEMENT

205 E. Main Street

Clinton

MS

39056

MAY FINANCIAL GROUP, LLC

1240 Warrentown Road

Vicksburg

MS

39180

MCALLISTER CAPITAL MANAGEMENT

1907 Dunbarton Drive, Suite E

jackson

MS

39216

MEDLEY & BROWN

795 Woodlands Parkway Suite 104

Ridgeland

MS

39157

MILES FINANCIAL GROUP, LLC

535 Lincoln Drive

Starkville

MS

39759

MISSISSIPPI INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT COMPANY, LLC 2630 Ridgewood Road, Suite B

Jackson

MS

39216

NAVITAS INVESTMENT ADVISORY SERVICES, LLC

574 Highland Colony Parkway, Suite 120

Ridgeland

MS

39157

NEW PERSPECTIVES, INC.

303 Highland Park Cove, Suite B

Ridgeland

MS

39157

OPTIMUM FINANCIAL SERVICES INC

1817 Crane Ridge Drive, Suite 200

Jackson

MS

39216-4902

OXFORD INVESTMENT ADVISORS, LLC

2086 Old Taylor Road, Suite 1013

Oxford

MS

38655

602 Steed Road Suite 110

State

Postal Code

STATE REGISTERED INVESTMENT ADVISORS Business Name

November 28, 2014

I

Mississippi Business Journal

State

I

15

Office Address

City

Postal Code

PATHWAY PLANNING INC

123 South Railroad Avenue

Brookhaven

MS

39601

PEREGRINE INVESTMENT ADVISORS, LLC

101 Webster Circle, Suite 201

Madison

MS

39110

SECURITY CREDIT SERVICES, LLC

2653 West Oxford Loop, Suite 108

Oxford

MS

38655

SMITH SHELLNUT WILSON

150 Fountains Blvd, Suite A

Madison

MS

39110

STRATEGIC WEALTH MANAGEMENT GROUP, LLC

2506 Lakeland Drive, Suite 608

Flowood

MS

39232

SUNBELT WEALTH MANAGEMENT CONSULTANTS, LLC

198 Forest Lake Dr.

Madison

MS

39110

SURGO ASSETS MANAGEMENT, LLC

120 North Congress Street, Suite 610

jackson

MS

39201

THE MOLPUS WOODLANDS GROUP, LLC

654 North State Street

Jackson

MS

39202

THE PLANNING GROUP, LLC

996 Northpark Drive, Suite A

ridgeland

MS

39157

TRINITY CAPITAL INVESTORS

1675 Lakeland Drive, Ste 400

Jackson

MS

39216

TRUSTMARK INVESTMENT ADVISORS, INC.

1701 Lakeland Drive

Jackson

MS

39216

TSM MANAGEMENT GROUP, INC.

1707 Pat Dr

Gautier

MS

39553-7525

VARNER CPA, PA

325 Cotton Row

Cleveland

MS

38732

VECTOR MONEY MANAGEMENT INC

750 Woodlands Parkway, Suite 201

Ridgeland

MS

39157

W.A. WIMBERLY & ASSOCIATES, INC.

1650 Lelia Drive, Suite 105

jackson

MS

39216

WEALTH MANAGEMENT, LLC

6311 Ridgewood Rd., Suite W402

Jackson

MS

39211-2035

WEALTHVIEW CAPITAL, LLC

4500 i-55 North, Suite 263

Jackson

MS

39211

WEATHERLY & COMPANY

2133 Washington St.

Vicksburg

MS

39180

WOMACK ASSET MANAGEMENT

1667 Lelia Drive, Suite 101

Jackson

MS

39216

WOODMONT ADVISORY GROUP, INC.

501 Avalon Cir. Suite D

Brandon

MS

39047

WOODRIDGE CAPITAL PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT, LLC

800 Woodlands Pky, Suite 201

Ridgeland

MS

39157

Source: Mississippi Secretary of State’s Office. Please direct questions and comments to Frank Brown at research@msbusiness.com.

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NEWSMAKERS

16 I Mississippi Business Journal I November 28, 2014

for JMAA, and developed the largest (by acreage) airport industrial park in Mississippi.

Vanderleest holds a bachelor’s degree in Aviation Management from Auburn University and served as a member of Vistage International in the CEO peer group and as a board member for the Methodist Rehabilitation Center in Jackson.

JSU band director honored Jackson State University Band Director Dowell Taylor is being honored as a 2014 Mississippi Humanities Teacher Award winner.

The assistant professor of music and director of The Sonic Boom of the South marching band gave a speech recently in recognition of the Mississippi Humanities Council award.

“It’s up to us to keep artistic expression alive,” he said, to a standing ovation at the F.D. Hall Taylor Music Center Recital Hall.

Taylor has served as band director since 2012. He also served from 1984-1992.

Dr. Jean Chamberlain, chair of the Department of English and Modern Foreign Languages, represented the Humanities Council at the presentation.

Taylor will be recognized with 30 other honorees at a Humanities Council award ceremony later, she said.

Leaf Foundation honorees The Leaf Foundation recently announced its 2014-15 award winners. The following community activists were honored during The Leaf Foundation Pageant held recently at Hattiesburg High School.

Nedra Allgood, Dr. Kesia Pope – Volunteers of the Year: Allgood is a Gulf Coast representative on the Leaf Foundation’s Board of Directors. Responsible for fundraising and special projects, she is a former Miss GulfBlair port and Miss Biloxi who helps prepare Leaf contestants for state competition via mock interviews.

According to Leaf Foundation Chair Michael Marks, Hattiesburg High School Assistant Principal Dr. Kesia Pope is defined by a lifetime of community work, service to the arts and helping those in need. “The young people whose lives she has touched Pope have benefitted tremendously from her gift of caring. She is a true mentor.” Pope, who serves as an advertising representative to the board, was recently a part of the Foundation’s delegation to The Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City.

Randy Swan – Business Person of the Year: WDAM-TV An- Swan chor Randy Swan has covered The Leaf Foundation both locally and in state competition since its inception in 2005.

Sponsors of the Year – Pine Belt Trophies and Gifts, Southland Florist, and Lamar Times: “Without the help of community agencies that believe in scholarship programs, our efforts are in vain. Pine Belt Trophies, Southland Florist and The Lamar Times help us realize careers for young women in our state. We are proud to say we appreciate their support publicly,” says Board Member Carroll D. Pierce of Seminary.

Leaf Foundation was to honor past Miss Hattiesburg Director Brian Blair at its preliminary pageant at Hattiesburg High School.

For more information on The Leaf Foundation, visit leafrivervalley.com.

New dean at Alcorn State

Courtesy of Belhaven University

Stephanie Miracle.

Belhaven alum gains arts grant Stephanie Miracle was awarded a U.S. Fulbright Research Grant to study dance in Germany.

This prestigious grant enables her to spend a year at Folkwang University, studying the lineage and legacy of Pina Bausch. Bausch is one of Germany’s most influential choreographers of the 20th century and his dance company, Tanztheater Wuppertal, is world-renown.

Dancers at Folkwang University go through daily technique classes that are more traditional in form. Miracle believes this new training is broadening her education in dance, and she adds that the style of training “strongly contrasts” her experiences in working as a contemporary dancer in New York City and Washington, D.C. After Belhaven, Miracle and her husband Jimmy moved to New York City where she worked as a freelance dancer with many companies and choreographers including Deganit Shemy, Elizabeth Dishman, Ella Ben Aharon, Avodah Dance Ensemble, David Dorfman, Laura Peterson, Shannon Gillen, Susan Marshall and Deborah Hay. In 2011 she moved to Washington D.C. where she worked with the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange and then in 2014, she earned her MFA in Dance at University of Maryland. Along side graduate school she received several choreography commissions and was awarded travel grants to Mexico and Austria. For the past three years she also danced for Pearsonwidrig Dance Theatre and toured to various cities and internationally to Russia.

As a choreographer, she has created works for bus stops, women's prisons, hallways, staircases, gardens and traditional theaters as well as dance for camera. Stephanie's choreography has been presented at Rooftop Dances, 100 Grand, Triskelion Arts, Round House Theater, Dance Place, Clarice Smith Center, Supernova and Dance on Camera Festival at Lincoln Center.

“I am unbelievably grateful for the opportunities I have been given,” said Miracle. “Staying committed to my calling as an artist has lead me on difficult paths that don’t come with many material pleasures, but God has always provided for me and I am very thankful.”

Firm’s lawyers recognized Eighty-seven attorneys with Baker Donelson have been named to the 2014 edition of Mid-South Super Lawyers.

A total of 21 of the Firm's Mississippi attorneys were named to the list: Sheryl Bey, Jason R. Bush, Michael T. Dawkins, James K. Dossett Jr., Brooks Eason, Stephen C. Edds, Barry W. Ford, Davis Frye, Robert E. Hauberg Jr., Walker W. "Bill" Jones III, Leonard C. Martin, Dan M. McDaniel, J. Scott Newton, William S. Painter, J. Randall Patterson, William N. Reed, Alan L. Smith, J. Carter Thompson Jr., Robert F. Walker, W. Scott Welch III and Richard F. Yarborough Jr. Sheryl Bey, Walker W. "Bill" Jones and W. Scott Welch III were also named among the top 50 attorneys in Mississippi by Mid-South Super Lawyers. In addition, Bey was one of seven Baker Donelson attorneys named among the top 50 female attorneys in the Mid-South, making Baker Donelson one of two firms with the most honorees in the 2014 Mid-South Super Lawyers list.

The publication also honored 42 Baker Donelson attorneys in its 2014 list of Mid-South Rising Stars, in-

cluding 9 attorneys in the firm's Jackson office: Nakimuli Davis-Primer, Adam Gates, Jennifer G. Hall, Jon S. Kennedy, Matthew P. McLaughlin, Bradley C. Moody, Marlena P. Pickering, Frederick N. Salvo III and Everett White.

The selections for this list are made by the research team at Super Lawyers, which is a service of Thomson Reuters, Legal Division.

Vanderleest to Waggoner Dirk Vanderleest has joined Waggoner Engineering, a full service engineering firm based in Jackson, in a consulting role. He will work with Waggoner’s Strategic Services Team.

Vanderleest has more than 30 years of airport management experience, having most recently served as the CEO of the Jackson Municipal Airport Authority for Vanderleest 24 years. He co-founded the Jackson Greater Alliance, spearheaded the design of the Vision 2030 strategic plan

Alcorn State University School of Agriculture, Research, Extension and Applied Sciences in Lorman has added Dr. Ivory W. Lyles as interim dean and director of land-grant programs.

Lyles arrives with administrative and leadership experience from previous assignments in higher education. As a resource developer and supervisor of finances at the University of Arkansas, he raised more than $25 million in 8 1/2 years. He managed operating budgets in excess of $75 million and utilized his skills to help organizations face financial challenges head on.

Lyles started his career with Mississippi State University Extension Service as a county agent in Philadelphia, Miss. He has worked for The Ohio State University as a professor teaching agricultural and extension education, University of Tennessee as district director of extension, Tennessee State University as extension administrator, and retired from the University of Arkansas as associate vice president for agriculture/director of extension.

Lyles graduated from Alcorn in 1980 with a bachelor’s degree in agriculture economics. He completed his master’s degree in agriculture economics and extension education at Mississippi State University in 1984. He earned his doctorate in agriculture education at The Ohio State University in 1991.

Health workers recognized Longtime Mississippi State Department of Health employee Ann Jackson has been awarded the Carol Pozsik TB Nurse Award by The National Tuberculosis Controllers’ Association and the TB Educator of the Year award by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

These national awards recognize Jackson’s accomplishments and efforts to eliminate tuberculosis in Mississippi. The Carol Pozsik TB Nurse Award is the highest award that can be received from the NTCA and honors nurses who have demonstrated extraordinary skills in educating and increasing awareness of tuberculosis at the local, state and national levels.

“This is a wonderful vote of confidence in the teaching I’ve been doing over the years,” said Jackson.

She said she has no intention of changing the way she teaches, but only wants to improve the effectiveness of it.

Jackson has dedicated the past 15 years to tuberculosis prevention and education. In the last four years Jackson completed an average of 78 day-long classroom training sessions, certifying over 2,500 individuals per year, mostly nurses, and training them to identify, treat and properly care for those living with tuberculosis. Course participants consistently praise Jackson’s teaching practices.

For more information on tuberculosis and the certification courses offered, visit ww.HealthyMS.com/tb.

For announcements in Newsmakers; Contact: Frank Brown (601) 364-1022 • frank.bown@msbusiness.com

November 28, 2014

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» MISSISSIPPI LEADERS by Martin Willoughby

From law to lumber Sulser Jr. follows father

B

etween 2008 and 2010, the United States had a loss of over 200,000 businesses and 3 million jobs. This period of the “Great Recession” was particularly challenging for those businesses in the housing sector. For those that survived, many found themselves in a better position with fewer competitors and leaner operations. I had the opportunity this week to interview Floyd M. Sulser Jr., chairman of Southern Lumber Company, whose team persevered though the tough times and rebounded to have their best year in history in 2013. Sulser’s father, Floyd Sulser Sr., retired from his first lumber career, and in 1983, he co-founded Southern Lumber with Bill Dearman. They acquired two sawmills and launched a very successful business. Sulser Jr., a Jackson native, joined the company full time in 1996 when his father decided to retire for good.

Sulser, a Jackson native, had his own career before going into the lumber business.

After obtaining his undergraduate and law degrees from Ole Miss, Sulser went on to serve four years in the military with the JAG Corps. In 1974, he moved back to Jackson and began his law career. In 1981, Sulser along with Dick Bennett, Joe Lotterhos and Marcus Wilson formed the law firm of Bennett, Lotterhos, Sulser, and Wilson, P.A.,

Up Close With ... Floyd M. Sulser Jr. Title: Chairman, Southern Lumber Company Favorite Books: “I am a collector of books in the first edition, mostly mainstream fiction. One of my favorite authors is Cormac McCarthy.”

First Job: “I taught tennis lessons at Battlefield Park.”

Proudest Moment as a Leader: “I was so proud of our team’s perseverance during the challenging down years.”

Hobbies/Interests: “I enjoy hunting, fishing, playing tennis, reading and book collecting.”

which continues to this day. Sulser had provided legal services to Southern Lumber and held a seat on the board, but he still faced a major life decision when his father asked him to consider taking over the company.

He explained, “I had grown up around the lumber business, and I felt this was an opportunity I could not pass up.” His father’s partner Bill Dearman retired the same year and his son-in-law, Jerry Lee, joined Sulser in making a career transition that same year.

Making a successful family leadership change is never easy, but Sulser shared that his father was great through the process and allowed him room to lead and develop his own leadership style. Sulser noted, “I worked very hard to really learn the business and to earn the trust and respect of the employees.” He continued, “It was an interesting change coming from the law and abstract ideas to the practical realities of the importance of numbers and metrics in our

“...I felt this was an opportunity I could not pass up.”

Floyd M. Sulser Jr.

business.” In addition to succeeding his father, Sulser was essentially learning to work with a new partner in Jerry Lee. The Sulser and Dearman families own the business 5050, and so Sulser and Martin Willoughby Lee continued the successful tradition of their predecessors in learning to run a business cooperatively as equals.

Sulser candidly shared that he learned some powerful lessons in survival during the Great Recession years. Their business, like many others tied to housing, took a major hit. He noted, “Our industry had always been cyclical, but the challenges we faced in 2008 and the years following were unlike anything we had ever experienced.” The owners cut and eventually eliminated their salaries; hard decisions were made; and they obtained creative financing to survive.

However, out of those hard times came opportunity. As the economy slowly returned, they were a lean and highly efficient organization and began to have record growth and profits. This rebound has now culminated in the acquisition of the company by Canfor, a publicly traded Canadian lumber company, which is scheduled to close in April. I was inspired by Sulser and his team’s story of perseverance and resilience, and I am excited for the owners to have achieved the feat of exiting on a real high note.

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

Chairman, Southern Lumber Company

This book of essays contains something for everyone S ometimes you love a book so much that you feel like it’s a travesty if everyone you know doesn’t read it right away. That’s exactly how I felt about Ann Patchett’s collection of essays, This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage.

Ann Patchett, is, of course, perhaps best known for her best-selling fiction, including Bel Canto, which won both the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Orange Prize in 2002. Here, though, she brings together an assortment of nonfiction published throughout her career, spanning from the Atlantic Monthly to the Wall Street Journal to Outside Magazine to Vogue and beyond. You get a real sense for who she is, both as a person and a writer — and she’s absolutely mesmerizing and entertaining.

In addition to writing with such wit and clarity that you feel » This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage like she’s right in the room next to you, just telling you stories about her life, the breadth of this collection makes it so comBy Ann Patchett pelling. You learn about, for instance, her deep devotion to her Published by Harper Perennial grandmother as well as her childhood growing up in Nashville $15.99 softback

after her mother divorced her father and moved the family there from California. She also tackles a controversy over one of her books after it was made assigned reading for all freshmen entering Clemson University, and in another couple of essays, you learn about her sweet dog, Rose. And yes, obviously (given the title essay), you hear about her marriage to her husband Karl.

The surprises for me, though, were a trio of essays about topics I wouldn’t ordinarily have thought I’d be interested in.

In one, Patchett tries out for the Los Angeles Police Department, as both as homage to her cop father and as potential fodder for a book. In another, she writes so lovingly about opera and how she developed a passion for it that I felt I understood something about opera for the first time ever. And in the third essay, she and her husband take a Winnebago out for a trip in Montana that turns out in a much different way than she’d anticipated.

In addition to being a writer, Patchett is also the co-owner of the independent bookstore, Parnassus Books, in Nashville.

One of the most fascinating essays in this collection talks about the power and importance of bookstores and how she ended up opening one. As well, one of the earliest pieces in the book discusses her philosophy on writing and contains valuable gifts for any writer or aspiring writer.

Simply put, you should read this book.

— LouAnn Lofton, mbj@msbusiness.com

18 I Mississippi Business Journal I November 28, 2014 THE SPIN CYCLE

Habits of Highly Successful Marketing Execs he most successful marketing executives are, above all, people persons who can advance their company’s brand experience with diverse – and ever-changing – audiences.

They’re savvy. They keep a finger on the pulse of a rapidly transforming digital society – with a keen eye to the future. And, they understand how to harness data to appeal to an evolving marketplace that spans the generations. They are brand thought leaders blazing a trail across the digital frontier.

Are you on the fast track to becoming the next chief marketing officer in your company? It's a good idea to learn from, read up on, and follow in the footsteps of the greats.

You can be a fantastic CMO, a mediocre one, or a total failure – and it's all up to you.

Check out these 12 common habits of successful CMOs, according to Inc. and make sure you're on the right path: 1. They keep their eyes on the future Marketing is an industry that's evolving at lightning speed. A successful CMO knows where marketing stands today, how the company is dominating it, and where the company wants to be every day in the next 12 months.

2. They revere native advertising Consumers don't want hard sells or pitches – they want native advertising that looks like regular content, is entertaining and informative, and has nary a sell in sight.

A successful CMO knows what the consumer wants and how to dish it up.

3. They're people persons Obviously, right? Marketing is based on the ability to work with people, read people, and deliver to people. However, not all CMOs are natural social butterflies. Socializing (well) is a skill that can be learned, faked perfectly, and always improved on.

Successful CEOs practice.

4. They're fantastic mediators Not all CMOs are actual marketers coming up with new campaigns or choosing a brand's motto. Much of a CMO's job is making sure the marketing team is working as a unit and handling issues that come up between departments. For natural parents, teachers, or mediators, this will be much easier. Otherwise, some CMOs may need a coach.

5. They're totally on the digital bandwagon There's certainly still space for traditional marketing techniques, but the reality is that the digital realm is king. Ideally, a CMO has a background in classical marketing but also plenty of experience in digital marketing.

They know how sales funnels work in a virtual landscape, and words like mobile readiness don't scare them off.

6. They're not stuck in ruts Humans are creatures of habit, but that's a death sentence for a marketing team. The marketing landscape is evolving, customers

T

are evolving, and CMOs need to keep up.

Just because a marketing tactic worked last year (or even last month) doesn't mean it will now.

7. They're all over big data The management and analysis of big data should be dictating any marketing team's next moves. However, if the CMO doesn't revere the importance of data, don't know

been about innovation opportunities. A great CMO is innovative and always forward-thinking.

12. They're committed to the company Loyalty can go a long way in business, and it's unfortunately becoming less and less common. A fantastic CMO is committed to the company and his or her employees, and will watch for ways to lift them up.

Loyalty can go a long way in business and it’s unfortunately become less and less common. A fantastic CMO is committed to the company and his or her employees, and will watch for ways to lift them up. how to wrangle it, or can't translate it into actionable tasks, it's worthless. Successful CMOs find a means of data collection that works for them.

8. They're leaders This one should be a given, but not everyone whose title includes chief is a natural leader. This skill can certainly be honed, sometimes with the help of a consultant.

But successful CMOs don't say yes to a promotion or job offer just because it sounds impressive or because of the pay, or because a consultant says to. They make sure they understand the issues. CMOs need to be leaders to ensure the company's success.

9. They're on the thought-leader track CMOs are experts in their industry and ideally on track to becoming thought leaders. This means focusing on personal branding, sharing expertise, and making a name for themselves (and their company).

10. They have just the right amount of experience In rare cases, there are highly successful CMOs in their early 20s or late 70s. However, too little experience or unbending, rigid experience can be detrimental. There's no magic number, but somewhere in the middle may be ideal.

11. They have the ability to innovate and think outside the box There's no one-size-fits-all formula for being a flawless CMO and mistakes will be made. However, marketing has always

Whole Foods Launches National Marketing Campaign The country's largest organic and natural foods chain, Whole Foods, is running its first national marketing campaign. The push now appearing on billboards, magazines, on TV and online marks a major departure for a company long focused on regional marketing.

Its goal is to make the Whole Foods brand stand out among increasing competition in the organic market. The ads carry the tagline "Values Matter" and feature images of livestock and farms bathed in golden light. They were designed by Partners & Spade, which has created campaigns for Warby Parker, Target and AOL. The campaign aims to make the $14.2 billion chain's name synonymous with humanely and sustainably grown food and fair labor practices. The company is already known for its food and high prices, but the organic goods it sells are close to becoming ubiquitous at supermarket chains and corner grocers. Whole Foods hopes that if customers define themselves by what they buy, they will want to shop at its store.

When looking to buy organic produce and pantry items, shoppers have a lot of places to choose from. Three out of four conventional grocery stores carry organic

goods, according to a 2014 U.S. Department of Agriculture study.

Whole Foods is launching the campaign as other supermarket chains such as Kroger, Safeway, and Walmart are offering more organic options.

Kroger, for example, advertises its Simple Todd Smith Truth organic line as "Free From 101," emphasizing the lack of artificial ingredients.

Whole Foods has been using sustainable business practices long before they came into fashion. Whole Foods won't sell meat from animals raised on antibiotics; it rates all of the seafood it sells; it voluntarily label foods made with genetically engineered ingredients. Whole Foods is starting to appeal to customers in other ways as well. A rewards program to retain customers is being tested at several stores in the Atlantic region and a rating system for its fruits, vegetables, and fresh flowers spreads the perception of responsible production to customers in-store.

Holiday Mic | Black Friday & Cyber Monday Aren’t Turkeys As we all recover from the bounty of the Thanksgiving season, two other holiday traditions are cranking into high gear. Black Friday and Cyber Monday are upon us, and with it, it’s the official retail start to the holiday season. Those events continue to dominate holiday shopping, with online sales for Black Friday up 18.9 percent and US shoppers made Cyber Monday the biggest online shopping day in history with a 20.6 percent increase in online sales last year. Marketing and social media efforts are a key component to a brand’s success in 2014’s holiday shopping season – and brands across the land are making strategic moves to make this year even brighter. For that, both of these over-the-top commercial traditions take a slightly overstuffed, yet golden Holiday Mic! 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 fullservice branding, PR, marketing and advertising firm with offices in Jackson. The firm — based in Nashville, Tenn. — is also affiliated with Mad Genius. Contact him at todd@deanesmithpartners.com, and follow him @spinsurgeon.

November 28, 2014

»INVESTING

I

Mississippi Business Journal

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19

» JEFFREY GITOMER

Smart Year-End Financial Moves It’s Thanksgiving. Give thanks, or say thanks?

A

s we approach 2015, now is an ideal time to consider ways to maximize year-end opportunities for your finances. I have listed below a few specific ideas you may want to consider. Since some take a little time to implement, it is important to not wait too long to act. Also, please keep in mind that each opportunity is available in other years, as well, but once the calendar moves to 2015, you will have missed the chance to take advantage of them for 2014.

Here are a few year-end planning ideas to discuss with your advisor: 1. Review your portfolio.

Sounds simple enough, but after the past few years of rising stock markets and falling interest rates, it makes sense to review your holdings to make sure you still have the mix of assets that you think are prudent.

Ideally, you do not want to recognize gains late in the year, because doing so may require paying capital gains taxes a year earlier than if you waited until after January 1. However, if your portfolio hasn’t been rebalanced and you find yourself in a significantly riskier investment profile due to extraordinary gains in a particular asset class, rebalancing now may make the most sense.

2. Harvest capital losses.

You may want to delay harvesting gains until 2015, but if you have investments that have dropped in value, selling them now may allow you to offset gains you have realized throughout 2014. If the investment is something you want own in the future, however, be aware of “wash-sale” rules that prevent you from buying a “substantially identical” investment within 30 days. Your advisor can help you navigate this process.

3. Maximize 2014 tax breaks.

Individuals and business owners have many opportunities to reduce their tax bill, but most require action before year-end. If you qualify, you may want to increase tax-deferred retirement plan contributions, take advantage of Section 179 business-expense deductions, or take advantage of many other tax credits and deductions.

4. Make gifts.

Annual gifting is a great tool for wealthy families looking to minimize estate taxes. Individuals can make tax-free gifts of up to $14,000 to an unlimited number of people in 2014 and a married couple can jointly give up to $28,000 to each person.

5. Donate to charity.

Charitable gifts are a win-win: they sup-

port your favorite causes while providing you with a generous tax deduction. Cash gifts are most common, but donating property that has appreciated in value – stocks, real estate, jewelry, or artwork, for example – Mark Blackwell has the added benefit of helping you avoid paying taxes on the appreciated value of those assets.

6. Check your Health Savings Account balance.

If you work for a company that offers you the opportunity to put money aside before taxes to pay some of your health care costs not covered by your plan, make sure you end the year with a zero balance. Any remaining balance will not carry over to 2015, so if you haven’t used it, you’re going to lose it. Instead of letting the money you have set aside go to waste, you may want to spend it on discretionary, qualified purchases. For example, buy another pair of prescription glasses. The amount of dollars you save may not compare with the ideas above, but your alternative is a guaranteed loss of all of the residual balance in your account.

7. Consider delaying additional mutual fund purchases in taxable accounts.

Because we’ve had so many good years for stocks and bonds lately, many mutual funds have embedded capital gains, profits on individual stocks or bonds that haven’t been distributed to shareholders yet. Many funds make distributions late in the year, so if you buy an appreciated fund today, it is possible to find yourself paying taxes in 2015 on gains that you never enjoyed. You are actually paying taxes on other shareholders’ profits! Your advisor can help you analyze funds to ensure that those you are buying do not have this exposure. Alternatively, you could buy individual securities or Exchange Traded Funds, since these do not carry embedded capital gains.

Some of the ideas above may save you a lot of money. Others may save you just a few dollars. Either way, reviewing your options now is a worthwhile exercise so that you can go into 2015 knowing that you have taken advantage of every money-saving opportunity that 2014 had to offer.

Annual gifting is a great tool...

Mark Blackwell is the Mississippi Area Executive for Regions Private Wealth Management. He can be reached at mark.blackwell@regions.com

I

t’s Thanksgiving! It’s the coolest holiday of the year to me. I love Thanksgiving. Food, family, you name it. It’s a time to be thankful.

But I want to challenge you on the way that you’re thankful, and I want to give you some things to think about during this holiday season - the kickoff to the holiday season, Thanksgiving. (or is it now Halloween?)

I don’t want you to just be thankful for things. I also want you to thank. Thank people. Not be thankful for something, rather be thankful for someone. And don’t thank them by email and don’t give Jeffrey Gitomer some insincere Thanksgiving card to people and think you’ve gotten away with it.

You thank people on the phone if they’re far away. Not with a voicemail but person-toperson. If they’re far away that’s sometimes the only way you can thank them. And you thank people in-person if they’re in your marketplace or in your area.

Here’s a list of people to be thankful for and to personally thank: • Your customers. Without them you’d have no money.

• Your co-workers because without them there would be no team or family of people to help your customers win.

• The people of influence in your life because those are the people that have actually created the atmosphere for you to become successful.

• Your prospective customers. Thank them for the opportunity.

• Your vendors. They’re the people who have actually made it happen in your business.

• Your close business friends because they’re the ones that have given you the referrals.

• And then there’s family. Start with your extended family, the big picture of who your family is all the way out there to those distant relatives.

• Then thank each member of your immediate family. You know the ones who really mean a lot to you. The ones you really love.

And around your Thanksgiving table, prepare a short talk about the gratefulness and the gratitude that you have for all the people that surround you. Tell them how you really feel.

Use the words “love” and “appreciate.” Thank each one personally for something that happened, or something they did for you, or something you learned from them during the past year.

Thanking other people for something makes them feel great – but it makes you feel better than great.

Here’s the secret: Early in the morning on Thanksgiving Day, begin the day by thanking yourself. Go in the bathroom, look into mirror, and thank yourself.

Be thankful for the lessons that you’ve learned, the successes that you’ve had, and the issues that you’ve had to overcome during the year. Be thankful for your family. And while I recognize some people in your family are closer than others, on this day be thankful for all of them. And be extra thankful for the ones that you really share genuine love with.

Thanksgiving is not a holiday, and it certainly isn’t the day before Black Friday, and it definitely isn’t three days before Cyber Monday.

Thanksgiving is your day. A celebration day. A family day. It’s the day where you come to the realization of who you are and how thankful you are. A day to celebrate who you have become. And a day to acknowledge others who have helped you become who you are.

And for all of you who are reading this, I’m thankful and grateful for you, my customer.

Thank you for your contribution to my business success and thank you for your loyalty, your continued loyalty, to my message.

I’m going to make you a promise. 2015 is going to be an amazing year. All you have to do is show up and work hard. Give thanks for that. Celebrate that.

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

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