September 25, 2020 MBJ E-EDITION by Journal Inc

• Real Estate/Construction

M S B U S I N E S S . C O M

| S e p t e m b e r 2 5 , 2 0 2 0 I S S U E | Vo. 4 3 • N o. 7 • 4 8 p a ges

COVID-related declines in oil and gas production have had a big impact » Page 35

{Section begins P26} » Proﬁle: Real Estate agent Vicki Klein » Residential sales blooming » Apartments start leasing in NorthRidge development of Jackson

• Economic Development {Section begins P30} » Cancelled Conventions' economic impact » Major solar projects coming to Hancock, Clarke counties

• Energy, Gas & Utilities {Section begins P35} » COVID-related declines in oil and gas production have had a big impact » Q&A: A visit with Dr. Sumesh Arora

• Law and Accounting {Section begins P40} » Hear ye, hear ye, Mississippi courts are back in session

Pages 29, 33-34, 39 & 41

Mississippi Business Journal

» dining

September 2020 Issue

Sweetie Pie’s owner’s run-ins hardly a recipe for good life

By JACK WEATHERLY jack.weatherly@msbusiness.com

t might have seemed that James Timothy “Tim” Norman couldn’t possibly encounter more legal problems. But he has. And the latest legal entanglement could put the owner of the Sweetie Pie’s soul food restaurant in Jackson in prison for a number of years. Norman, 41, has been charged by the FBI with conspiracy to commit murder for hire, using a cellphone, an interstate communications device, which makes it a federal offense, and which resulted in the shooting death in 2016 of his 18-year-old nephew, » Tim Norman mugshot Andre’ Montgomery, in St. Louis. Norman had taken out a $450,000 life insurance policy on Montgomery in 2014, with Norman as sole beneficiary, according to an FBI affidavit filed in the U.S. District Court for Eastern Missouri. The complaint alleges that Norman conspired with Terica Ellis, a Memphis stripper, “and others” to murder Montgomery. The FBI affidavit said that soon after the killing, Ellis made deposits totaling $9,000 in various accounts. Arrested on Aug. 18, Norman was placed in the Madison County Detention Center. A bond hearing was to have been held Wednesday, Aug. 26, before Magistrate Linda Anderson in the U.S. District Court in Jackson but Anderson ordered on Monday that Norman be returned to St. Louis and turned over to the U.S. District Court for Eastern Missouri. Norman had been assigned a federal public defender in Jackson, Omodare Jupiter, a call to whom was not immediately returned. Sweetie Pie’s Live is operating from 11 a.m. till 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday It opened in January at 110 E. South St. adjacent to Cathead Distillery. The first Sweetie Pie’s was founded 1996 in St. Louis by Robbie Montgomery, Norman’s mother.

» Sweetie Pie’s at 110 E. South St. in Jackson.

Photo by Jack Weatherly

She made it a point to hire former prison inmates to work there to give them another chance to turn their lives around, perhaps moved by her son’s troubles, which included an armed robbery conviction when he was 17 and a 10-year prison sentence. “I know how hard it is to make it out here if you don’t have a record,” Montgomery said in a 2011 interview in the St. Louis American newspaper. “I get letters all the time: ‘I want to move there, and can you hire me?’” Norman and other members of the family, including Andre’ Montgomery on occasion, have either worked at Sweetie Pie’s or appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Network reality series “Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s,” which debuted in October 2011 and ran for five years, building a strong following for the brand. The St. Louis-based business announced in 2014 that it was going to open a restaurant on Beale Street in Memphis. A large sign was put on the property at 349 Beale and transformation to a Sweetie Pie’s commenced. But the restaurant never opened, according to Memphis news media. The owners of the restaurant and the landlord became embroiled in a legal battle over rent payment and payment for improvements. The plan was scrapped. A Sweetie Pie’s restaurant in Houston was closed and Norman was sued in 2019 for $250,000 in back rent and other issues, a matter that he said in an interview was settled. The elder Montgomery and Norman have had their clashes, on and off the screen. At one point she sued her son for copyright infringement for starting restaurants on his own and using the Sweetie Pie’s name. She dropped the suit and even helped to kick off the new place in Jackson by performing along with blues artist Bobby Rush. Norman opened Sweetie Pie’s in Jackson at 120 N. Congress St., across the street from the Governor’s Mansion, in August 2019, only to close in a few days because of noncompliance with city code, specifically the presence of a large smoker parked in front of the restaurant. The smoker was moved and the restaurant reopened without it. The business was evicted in December for nonpayment of $100,000 in rent and other costs. Norman was also accused of illegally using part of the Plaza Building he was not renting, in addition illegal dumping of grease and cooking oil from the kitchen. Norman responded that he had not paid rent because of plumbing and heating problems. Capital Tower LLC of Beverly Hills, Calif., which owns the 12-story art deco building erected in 1929, had spent millions of dollars on improvements in recent years. Facing eviction, Norman moved his business out of the building in Dec. 7. Capital Tower was granted on January 28, 2020 a de-

fault judgment of $110,101.26 by federal Judge Daniel P. Jordan III of U.S. District Court for South Mississippi. Robbie Montgomery opened the first Sweetie Pie’s in St. Louis in 1996, after her musical career – which began when she was an original member of the Ikettes, the backup singers for the Ike and Tina Turner Review – ended because of health problems. She took her mother’s down-home recipes and created a restaurant. And a life for herself and her family.

Sweetie Pie’s Norman has murder-for-hire case granted continuance By JACK WEATHERLY James Timothy “Tim” Norman has been granted a continuance in his murder-for-hire trial in the U.S. District Court for Eastern Missouri. Norman was charged in the St. Louis shooting death in 2016 of his 18-year-old nephew, Andre Montgomery, on whom Norman had taken out a $450,000 life insurance policy that named Norman as the sole beneficiary. The death led to an FBI investigation and affidavit laying out the scheme, which involved a Memphis stripper. Norman was arrested on Aug. 18 in Jackson, where he operates Sweetie Pie’s Live at 110 E. South St., a soul-food restaurant and nightclub that is open from 11 a.m. till 7 p.m. Monday through Friday. Norman was placed in the Madison County Detention Center. Magistrate Linda Anderson in the U.S. District Court in Jackson ordered Norman be returned to St. Louis and turned over to the U.S. District Court for Eastern Missouri. He was to make his initial court appearance and arraignment on Sept. 15 by teleconference, but Norman’s consent to that method was required and he did not give it.The next day he could not be brought to court “because of Covid-19 concerns,” according to a filing in the case. Thus, Norman will make an appearance “as soon as he is medically able to appear,” U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen R. Welby ordered on Sept. 18. The first Sweetie Pie’s was founded 1996 in St. Louis by Robbie Montgomery, Norman’s mother. Norman and other members of the family, including Andre’ Montgomery on occasion, have either worked at Sweetie Pie’s or appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Network reality series “Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s,” which debuted in October 2011 and ran for five years, building a strong following for the brand. The elder Montgomery and Norman have had their clashes, on and off the screen. At one point she sued her son for copyright infringement for starting restaurants on his own and using the Sweetie Pie’s name. Robbie Montgomery, whose musical career was highlighted by her being one of the Ikettes, backup singers for Ike and Tina Turner, dropped the suit and even helped to kick off the new place in Jackson by performing along with blues artist Bobby Rush. Norman’s Sweetie Pie’s in Jackson opened in August 2019 at 120 N. Congress St. but ultimately closed because of failure to pay rent. He was ordered to pay $110,000 in back rent and other costs.

September 2020 Issue

Mississippi Business Journal

» dining

Rice looking good in Louisiana and Mississippi

» David Raines in front of the new location of Triple B. Photo Illustration

Triple B moving from Jackson to Flora By JACK WEATHERLY jack.weatherly@msbusiness.com “Big” is the operative word for Dave Raines and his food. The 6-foot-5 chef and restaurateur prides himself in he quantity and quality of his meat-centric approach. Now his first stand-alone restaurant, Dave’s Triple B, is downsizing. And relocating. The Triple B (the butcher, the baker and the barbecue maker) opened at 970 High St. in Jackson location in March 2018. He will depart the renovated building, formerly the home of Chimneyville Smokehouse, and will occupy the former home of the Blue Rooster, which will move elsewhere in Flora, population about 1,800, in Madison County. Not surprisingly, government restrictions imposed on businesses – primarily restaurants being limited to 50-percent occupancy, bars being shut down and reopened and shut down again – have contributed to the decision to move. “Everybody’s trying one-up each other. The president says one thing, the governor says another, and then the

mayor one-ups him,” Raines said. Sometimes that results in unnecessary impositions, he said, such as the city requiring a bicycle rack, which Raines put in, only to have it stolen. Plus, Jackson “is just an expensive place to do business because of the taxes,” he said. The eatery closed for two months but got a Paycheck Protection Program loan of $35,000 from the federal government and reopened. Still, he said, “you can’t keep getting government bailouts.” Lunch business at the High Street location has been strong, as much as half-capacity will allow, Raines said. He said it was nothing short of a miracle that he was able to pay his bills based on lunch business. Attempts to be open on weekends and for dinner flopped, he added. Raines said he decided to open a restaurant in Jackson to help the city, which struggles to build a nightlife base. He rented the building from BankPlus – which took ownership from a tenant who occupied the space after Chimneyville Smokehouse closed in 2017 after nearly 30 years — and spent

$140,000 on remodeling, not including new equipment. “The rent is way too much for what it is. It is just a shell, with no insulation.” Some of the equipment will go to the former Blue Rooster, which is only about 900 square feet, compared with the High Street location’s 3,500 to 4,000, Raines said. Some of the equipment will be installed at the Flora Butcher, which Raines opened four years ago, featuring prized wagyu beef, which his family raises on a ranch in Louisiana. Prices should be about the same as those at the current Triple BBB, he said. The goal is to open the new version about the first week of October. Raines said he has plans to open at least one other restaurant, probably in the city of Madison For now, it’s Flora, which he calls “a great little town.” Meantime, lunchgoers in Jackson were “freaking out that we’re closing” and were packing the place, Raines said on Wednesday.

Agriculture experts in Louisiana and Mississippi say the rice crop is looking good. “It’s a big contrast from last year,” Jeremy Hebert, AgCenter agent in Acadia Parish, said in a news release Friday from the Louisiana State University AgCenter. “Things actually worked out in farmers’ favor.” Louisiana is about halfway through its harvest, and its yield — the amount per acre — could at least tie for second-highest ever, said Dustin Harrell a rice specialist at the AgCenter. Mississippi’s harvest is about to begin and the state’s estimated 150,000 acres (about 60,700 hectares) of rice look very good, said Mississippi State University Extension Service rice expert Bobby Golden. U.S. Agriculture Department statistics show Louisiana planted about 430,000 acres of rice this year. Arkansas, with 1.4 million acres, leads the nation and California is second at 507,000 acres. Missouri farmers planted 219,000 acres, and those in Texas 184,000. “Conditions were almost perfect for growing rice” this year — unlike last year, when bad weather left Louisiana farmers only about 6,300 pounds of rice per acre, Harrell said in a news release Friday. He estimated the current crop at 7,250 pounds per acre, just 50 pounds an acre below the record set in 2016. There also is far less disease, said plant pathologist Don Groth. Golden, based at the Delta Research and Extension Center in Stoneville, said the first Mississippi farmers to plant rice may be able to start draining their fields the second week of August. “There is some extremely good-looking rice out there, but it’s too early to tell where our yields will be,” Golden said in a news release Friday. Louisiana only planted about 5,000 more acres of rice this year than last. Mississippi State extension row-crop economist Will Maple noted that the total was up more than 30% in Mississippi and 15% nationally. That likely will hurt prices, he said. “The national average farm price for long-grain rice is projected down this year at $11.60 per hundredweight from $12 last year,” Maples said. – The Associated Press

Mississippi Business Journal

September 2020 Issue

A new course with a link to the past » Brazen Head calls for 12-hole public layout where Colonial used to be

By JACK WEATHERLY jack.weatherly@msbusiness.com

he old 18-hole Colonial Country Club will be redeveloped as a 12-hole public golf course under an agreement that has been reached with owners of the site. Yes, 12 holes. That's the latest news in the efforts to revive the land that was home to former Colonial in northeast Jackson, which closed in 2014. Sale of the property to an investment group led to plans to redevelop the 152-acre site. Then-manager of the group Colonial Jackson LLC, Bo Lockard of Shreveport, said the mixed-use traditional neighborhood plan would cost roughly $250 million. That plan approved by the city calls for 636 living units – 60 percent of which are single-family detached, 24 percent rental apartments and 15 percent single-family attached and apartments for sale – a grocery store, a restaurant, shops and a fitness club. The group owned the land. All it needed were investors to build it out. Expected deadlines for moving forward with the initial redevelopment had to be pushed back more than once. Finally, Arlington Properties of Birmingham, announced a year ago that it would build a 220-unit luxury apartment complex, Tapestry, which will allow the first residents to move in around October 1. In conjunction with that release, Luke Guarisco, Baton Rouge-based developer, said that the site would be renamed NorthRidge. Guarisco, managing partner of NorthRidge, has enlisted a design team that has turned heads in the golf course design world. King-Collins Golf Course Design of Chattanooga, which has no corporate or development connection with Arlington Properties, has drawn up a 12-hole course at

NorthRidge, Guarisco said in an email reply to an inquiry last week: “We are in the process of getting city approval to build the course on a portion of the remaining acreage. “We are still developing the business plan. We have not yet begun the capital raise, but because of the role King-Collins will play in this project, we have received great interest from those in the golf community. “This project will fill a much needed void which currently exists for those craving fun, firm and fast public golf within the city limits of Jackson. “Their golf courses - Designers' Fame and Portfolio growing, - Page5, are beautifully crafted and efficient to maintain. I am delighted and feel extremely fortunate to have them on board. Brazen Head Golf Club will be great for the neighborhoods surrounding NorthRidge, great for the city of Jackson and great for Mississippi.” Coastguard said further: “I cannot answer when the course will be complete. There are too many factors out there that make that assessment impossible at this stage. I do not have any plans for the remaining acreage at this time. I will have over 38 acres to develop, but may elect to keep many areas around the course green.” Rob Collins, lead designer for King-Collins, said investors in its acclaimed Sweetens Cove near Chattanooga include bothers Peyton, Eli and Cooper Manning, and Andy Roddick, who won the U.S. Tennis Open in 2003 and is a former No. 1 player in the world. CBS sports announcer Jim Nantz is also an investor. One observer said that “sports geeks” are especially drawn to such investments. Peyton Manning has even brought out a Sweetens Cove bourbon.

The course has been kept simple: gravel parking lot, no locker room or clubhouse. Greens fees for the nine-holer are only about $30. But Sweetens Cove offers tickets for three, six, nine, twelve, 18 and all-day, Collins said. “At Sweetens Cove, we sell more all-day passes than 18 holes.” Likewise, “Brazen Head will have a tremendous amount of flexibility,” Collins said. At Brazen Head, named for a pub in Ireland, he thinks that there will be a demand for three- and six-hole tickets for lunchtime, and after-work golfers, respectively. He said it will be “very laidback and a helluva lot of fun to play.” Jackson has three public golf courses. Two are municipally owned and run. The Pete Brown Golf Facility, an 18-hole layout, is operating, and revenue from play in 2019 was up 400 percent over the previous year, according to Ison Harris, director of parks and recreation for the city. And revenue in 2020 is still above that of 2019, even with a three-month shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, Harris said. The course was renamed in 2019 for Pete Brown, the See BRAZEN HEAD, Page 9

Copiah 9.4 Adams 12.4

Jefferson 20.3

Mississippi Unemployment Rates by CountyAdams 12.4

Franklin 8.7

» Mississippi - 11.5 | u.s. - Mississippi 10.5 U.S.

Wilkinson 14.1

DeSoto 7.6

9.7 11.2

Tunica 17.5

Tate 9.2

Marshall 9.6

Benton 10.3

Coahoma 14.1

Lafayette 8.1

Pontotoc 8.9 Mississippi

Quitman 12.6

Tallahatchie 8.5

Yalobusha 10.4

July 2020 Grenada

Labor force and employment security data8.7 Bolivar 9.8

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

Sunflower 11.5

Leflore 12.6

Union 8.2

Calhoun 8.7

Lawren 9.6

Amite 9.4

Pike 10.4

Walthall 9.9

Lamar 7.3

Forre 9.9

Unemployment Rates

Tishomingo 7.2

6.1 - 7.1

Pearl River 8.4

9.7 7.2 - 8.7 11.8- 14.7 - 18.1 7.9 7.2 14.8 - 20.3 8.8- 9.6 - 11.7 Rates by 18.2 - 25.7 Unemployment County 6.1 Lee - 7.1 Itawamba 10.3

Chickasaw 12.7

Mississippi Webster 11.5 8.7 U.S. 10.5 Montgomery

Prentiss 8.0

Lincoln 8.5

Marion 8.3

Unemployment Rates 7.2 - 9.6 Unemployment Rates

MISSISSIPPI’S JULY 2020 UNEMPLOYMENT FIGURES Panola 12.4

Alcorn 7.0

Tippah 8.0

7.7

Covington Jones 8.8 8.4 Lawrence Jeff Davis Lincoln Wilkinson Pike Amite 9.6 11.5 Walthall 8.5 14.1 10.4 9.4 9.9 n Mississippi Business Journal n

September 2020 Issue June 2020

Franklin 8.7

Hancock 9.6

9.7 - 14.7

Monroe DeSoto

8.9 14.8 -11.3 20.3

Clay Tunica 20.0 14.5

Tate 11.6

Marshall 11.6

Benton 11.8

Alcorn 8.5

Tippah 9.7

Tishoming Source: Labor Market 8.7 Design: Labor Market Prentiss 9.5

Union 9.6 Panola Lafayette Lowndes Oktibbeha Choctaw July ‘20 June ‘20 July ‘19 ‘19 Avg. Lee 15.5 9.2 Itawamba 10.7 9.9 7.1 11.6 Pontotoc 9.0 Coahoma Quitman Washington 1,250,600 1,215,000 1,294,400 1,276,100 1,253,800 10.6 15.8 17.4 12.2 Yalobusha 143,300 119,000 81,300 69,200 Humphreys Holmes 92,200 Noxubee 11.3 Winston Attala Tallahatchie Calhoun Chickasaw 15.9 20.2 14.7 Monroe 11.2 11.0 11.1 11.5 9.8 6.3Sharkey 5.4 7.4 9.5 15.2 12.7 Bolivar Grenada 12.2 11.3 1,107,300 1,096,000 1,213,100 11.5 1,206,900 1,161,600 Clay 16.6 Webster Yazoo Issaquena Kemper Neshoba Leake 11.3 Sunflower Leflore 12.2 7.2 Montgomery 12.5 13.4 15.8 9.5 15.6 Carroll Lowndes 11.5 Choctaw Oktibbeha Madison 10.9 12.8 11.4 9.2 8.2 Washington July ‘20 June ‘20 July ‘19 Warren ‘19 Avg. Moving Avg.** 15.6 Lauderdale Newton Humphreys Holmes Noxubee 161,374,000 160,883,000 164,941,000 10.7 163,539,000 162,272,000 Scott Winston Attala 9.0 21.7 9.6 6.9 21.4 18.1 12.8 11.8 Rankin Hinds Sharkey 16,882,000 18,072,000 6,556,000 6,001,000 10,516,000 6.3 11.7 13.4 10.5 11.2 40 3.7 6.5 Yazoo Issaquena Neshoba Leake Kemper Clarke 14.1 9.5 Jasper 16.0 11.6 14.0 Claiborne 157,538,000 144,492,000 142,811,000 158,385,000 151,757,000 Smith 9.8 10.1 6.1 Madison Simpson 18.6 8.8 Copiah 7.7 Warren 9.4 Lauderdale Newton Scott 12.6 Jefferson 10.7 11.1 8.1 Covington 20.3 Rankin Hinds Wayne Jones 8.8 7.2 July 2020 June 2020 July 2019 13.510.3 8.4 Lawrence Jeff Davis Lincoln Adams 70,171 Franklin 11.5 42,618 8.5 5,729 9.6 Clarke Jasper Smith 12.4 8.7 Claiborne 12.0 12.2 7.6 Simpson 21.2 634,327 657,190 53,257 Copiah 9.5 11.9 Marion Greene Lamar $96,721,128 $123,824,886 $8,508,913 Jefferson Forrest Perry Wilkinson Pike Walthall Amite 8.3 10.4 Covington 7.3 25.7 9.9 Wayne 14.1 10.4 9.4 9.3 Jones 10.8 552,998 693,021 41,6009.9 12.7 10.7 Lawrence Jeff Davis Lincoln Adams Franklin 12.0 13.7 10.2 24,293 33,742 3,463 14.9 11.2 George 7,034 2,418 421 10.0 Stone Marion Pearl River Greene Lamar 9.0 Wilkinson Pike Walthall Amite 10.4 $174.90 Unemployment $178.67 Rates $204.54 8.4 13.4 Forrest Perry 8.5 17.5 13.3 11.5 11.7 12.4 11.8

Carroll 9.2 Moving 9.0 Avg.**

6.1 - 7.1

** Average for most recent twelve months, including current month

7.2 - 9.6

•• Unemployment Insurance amounts presented in this section only represent regular UI benefits, federal program 9.7 -the 14.7 amounts are not included. Labor force amounts are produced in cooperation with Bureau of Labor Statistics. 14.8 - 20.3 Note: Unless indicated state and county data presented are not seasonally adjusted.

— Mississippi Department of Employment Security

Harrison Hancock Unemployment Rates 10.9 9.6

Jackson 10.9

Pearl River 10.1

7.2 - 8.7

8.8 - 11.7 11.8 Data - 18.1 Source: Labor Market Publication Design: Labor Market Information Department, MDES

Hancock 11.0

George 12.6

Stone 10.8

Jackson 12.4

Harrison 12.1

18.2 - 25.7

Source: Labor Market Data Publication

Designers' fame and portfolio are growing By JACK WEATHERLY jack.weatherly@msbusiness.com

ing-Collins Golf Course Design has a growing portfolio. Sweetens Cove, a nine-hole course in Tennessee, put the design group on the map. It now has designed the 12-hole Brazen Head for Jackson at the site of the former Colonial Country Club. Sweetens Cove became “a total phenomenon,” generating a lot of interest, lead designer Rob Collins said in an interview. King-Collins has just finished a ninehole course in New York State called In-

ness Mountain Resort. An 18-hole course is under construction in Nebraska called Landman Golf Club. King-Collins has signed a contract to design and build an 18-holer in Lubbock, Texas called Red Feather Golf Club. The design firm is working with PGA touring pro Zac Blair on an 18-hole layout in Aiken, S.C. called the Buck Club. And “we've been in touch with the city of Tupelo” about doing a renovation of the nine-hole public Bel Air Golf Course, which opened in 1936, Collins said. Twelve-hole courses have a special place in the annals of golf, Collins said. “Some of the very early courses started out with 12 holes and then expanded,”

Mississippi Labor Market Data — 3

Collins said. Scotland, which invented golf, is home to Shiskine, a 12-holer that is being played to this day. Collins and his business partner Tad King said that it would be really cool to be able to build a 12-holer, even before the Jackson land was on their radar. But, lo and behold, the Jackson site presented itself as a place where that would not only continue that tradition but would prove practical, he said. “We got well known for building a ninehole golf course, but we don't want to just build nine-hole courses, Collins said. Thanks to the flexibility (described in the main article) of the design, “this golf course will bear no resemblance to the old

Mississippi Labor Market Data — 3

Colonial Country Club,” he said. “This is going to be a completely new . . . landscape in the world of American golf.” It will be “visually stunning.” Sweetens Cove has been in the top 100 modern golf courses in the United States, according to GolfWeek magazine. “And we intend to bring that level of quality to Jackson.” He noted the rural course that became Sweetens Cove had been just a flat flood plain, “and look what we did with that.” The old Colonial land reminds him of Texas hill country terrain, giving the team a head start, he said. Of all the courses the firm is working on, Brazen Head has the potential to make the biggest impact, said the man who knows what that feels like.

Mississippi Business Journal

September 2020 Issue

More companies pledge to give workers time to vote

growing number of U.S. companies are pledging to give workers time off to vote in the presidential election Nov. 3, an effort that’s gaining steam despite the government’s reluctance to make Election Day a federal holiday. Starbucks said it will give its 200,000 U.S. employees flexibility on Election Day, encouraging them to plan ahead with managers and schedule time to vote or volunteer at polling places. The Starbucks app will also help customers learn how to register to vote, the company said. Walmart says it will give its 1.5 million U.S. workers up to three hours paid time off to vote. Apple is giving workers four hours off. Coca-Cola, Twitter, Cisco and Uber are giving employees the day off. “No American should have to choose between earning a paycheck and voting,” said PayPal President and CEO Dan Schulman. The idea isn’t entirely new. General Motors, Ford and FiatChrysler have given employees the day off to vote since 1999, when they agreed to the change in a contract with the United Auto Workers union. Patagonia gave its workers the day off starting in 2016. But this year, the idea is gaining steam. Six hundred companies, including Lyft, Airbnb and Paramount, have signed on to ElectionDay.org, which asks companies to give employees time off to vote or distribute information on voting, including how to obtain main-in ballots. It is not clear how many of those 600 are allowing time off versus distributing voting information. ElectionDay.org — one of several groups asking companies to make voting pledges — is run by Vote.org, a nonpartisan group that tries to increase voter turnout. In 2018, the first year it was active, ElectionDay.org had 150 companies sign up. This year, it hopes to sign 1,000

Peter Paladjian, the CEO of by November. Boston-based Intercontinental “There is a groundswell of in"No American Real Estate Corp., said compaterest coming out for this,” said nies want to show that they are Nora Gilbert, director of partshould have to responsible and civic-minded. nerships for Vote.org. choose between Low U.S. turnout in elecGilbert said this summer’s tions has bothered Paladjian Black Lives Matter protests and earning a paycheck for years. In 2016, 56% of eligeneral unease about social inand voting" gible voters cast a ballot in the equality may be part of the reapresidential election, a far lowson companies are taking a stand er percentage than most develon voting. oped countries, according to “There’s a reckoning in general for the role that companies play in society,” she said. the Pew Research Center. Paladjian told his 112 employees four months ago that “This is a way to show they are getting their own house they will get Election Day off. Then, he formed A Day for in order.” In a letter to employees, Starbucks President and CEO Democracy, which asks employers to give workers time Kevin Johnson said the company’s voting pledge is part of off to vote and distribute voter registration information. Harvard University, Wayfair, Bank of America and the a larger effort to promote racial equality and opportunity Boston Red Sox are among the 185 companies that have in the communities it serves. “Starbucks will not wait for change. We will make signed up, he said. Only a handful of companies he contacted said no. Once this election is over, Paladjian plans change of our own,” Johnson said. About half of U.S. states require employers to give to advocate for a federal election holiday. Time to Vote, another corporate voting initiative, was workers at least a few hours off to vote in elections, according to Workplace Fairness, a nonprofit that tracks formed ahead of the 2018 elections by Levi Strauss and Co., PayPal and Patagonia. A little over 400 companies employment issues. Gilbert said advocates prefer a full-day holiday, since participated last time; Time to Vote says 700 have joined many voters face long lines at their polling places. Com- so far this year. Corporate voter drives say the pledge is important panies that don’t offer a full day should make sure to share mail-in voting information and deadlines, she said. All even as the coronavirus hastens the move toward mail-in states will mail an absentee ballot to voters who request one, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. “We really want companies to go further and acknowledge the unique difficulties of this moment,” she said. “Two hours may not be enough.” Efforts to make Election Day a federal holiday, as it is in South Korea and Israel, or hold votes on weekends, as Germany and Australia do, have fallen short in the U.S., partly due to partisan bickering over who would benefit from the change. voting. In 2016, 42% of ballots were cast before Election Day; this year, that will likely rise to Jonathan Entin, a professor emeritus of law and adjunct professor of political 60%, said Michael Traugott, a research proscience at Case Western Reserve Univerfessor emeritus at the University of Michigan’s Center for Political Studies. sity, said weekend voting would be difficult Gilbert said even if people vote early, they can still in the U.S. because of its religious diversity. Opponents of a federal holiday also usually cite the dis- take time on Election Day to drive people to polls, work at polling stations or provide child care so someone else ruption to the economy, he said. “Why is it that the private sector should bear the cost can vote in person. of this public good?” he said. – The Associated Press

September 2020 Issue

Change a child's life for generations In 2019 the Mississippi legislature gave business owners control of how up to half their state tax dollars can be directed. The Children's Promise Act (MS code §27-7-22.39 & §27-7-22.41) allows a business to divert up to half its tax liability dollars to benefit Mississippi children. They can give all of their tax dollars to the state or give half of their tax dollars to an Eligible Charitable Organization (ECO) like The Baptist Children's Village. Individuals also have an option to divert up to $1,000 (couple filing jointly) of their tax liability to at-risk Mississippi children. This is a dollar-for-dollar tax credit that lowers your tax liability - not a tax deduction. Imagine the devastation of a mom left on a park bench in a strange city with Sean Milner - Executive five small children (one a Director of The Baptist Children's Village newborn) with no money or family resources. Imagine the fear in the heart of a child of an abandoned and overwhelmed mother, overcome by depression who shoots herself. These are only a couple true stories of abused and neglected children at The Baptist Children’s Village and throughout the state of Mississippi. Businesses that divert tax dollars to an ECO provide a safe home, health care, and education for hurting and at-risk children. The Baptist Children’s Village has been providing for Mississippi children since 1897 at no cost to those families; and at no cost to the state or federal government. The BCV is 100% privately funded and continues to care for children within and out of state custody. In addition to providing a loving home for children ages 1-20, they provide the opportunity for a college education and future independence. If your business would like to change a child’s life by diverting tax dollars to The Baptist Children’s Village, it is imperative that you contact your CPA or Tim McWilliams, BCV Director of Partner Ministries, soon. This year a $5 million cap was placed on available business dollars and those were claimed within 15 minutes of the stroke of midnight on January 1. Prepare now to claim your 2021 tax credit and change a child’s life without affecting your budget. Change a Child’s Life for Generations at No Cost to You Children’s Promise Act MS code §27-7-22.39 & §27-7-22.41 baptistchildrensvillage.com/childrens-promise-acttax-credit Tim McWilliams, BCV Director of Partner Ministries 601.952.2422 or tmcwilliams@bcvms.com

Mississippi Business Journal

Chicago Rock Island, Pacific Railroad to begin Phase 1 of rail service to the Port of Rosedale

» Chicago Rock Island and Pacific Railroad operating the Mississippi Delta Railroad in Coahoma County, MS

he first phase in the restoration of the Great River Railroad rail service to the Port of Rosedale, Miss., is about to begin. The Chicago Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, a Mississippi LLC, is to begin clearing and repairing track leading to the Port of Rosedale in Bolivar County, Mississippi. “It is exciting to be part of this effort that will ultimately bring jobs to the Mississippi Delta,” said Robert Riley, CEO. Robert Maxwell, Director of the Port of Rosedale said: “The members of the Rosedale-Bolivar County Port Commission, the Bolivar County Board of Supervisors, and I are all pleased and excited in the anticipation of seeing the transformation of the Great River Railroad from a neglected but very valuable asset to what we hope to be a shining symbol of the revitalization of opportunity and growth for an area in need of both.” This Great River Railroad restoration adds to and compliments the current mission and future growth of the Port of Rosedale. The rail line interchanges with the Columbus & Greenville Railroad outside of Greenville, Mississippi. “We believe that this effort will significantly enhance the competitive advantage of the Port of Rosedale as it expands and attracts new tenants. We are ready to work with them to attract new tenants, to grow the capabilities of existing tenants, and to boost and expand intermodal capabilities,” added Riley.

Maxwell added: “I am excited for the chance to work with someone with the vision to see the tremendous potential for re-opening this railroad and what it can bring in the way of economic development for Bolivar County and surrounding areas. It will vastly increase the reach and capacity of the Port of Rosedale by allowing it to regain the status of a truly multi-modal transportation hub for freight and commodities of all types. It will increase the Port’s value and effectiveness for Bolivar County and the State of Mississippi while expanding our connection to the rest of the world. We anticipate the expansion of existing businesses as well as the attraction of new businesses to Maxwell the area as a result of the increased reliability of transportation via the Port of Rosedale and the Great River Railroad.” The Chicago Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, LLC is headquartered in Hernando, Mississippi. “The Rock” operates The Mississippi Delta Railroad, MSDR, based in Sumner, MS, operates a total of 85 miles of track in Northwest MS from a connection with the Canadian National Railway at Swan Lake MS. The MSDR has two expansive yards located in Clarksdale MS as well as numerous sidings and auxiliary tracks for car storage. The

MSDR’s principle commodities include Scrap, Paper, Polystyrene, PVC, Fertilizer, Cotton, Grains and other Agricultural Products. – – https://rockislandrail.com/ msdr-railroad According to their website, the Port of Rosedale is “A total intermodal facility, offering unrivaled access to both the lower Mississippi River and the Arkansas River navigation systems, the Port of Rosedale is strategically located only 100 miles from Memphis and within a 500-mile radius of major markets, including Houston, Birmingham and Atlanta. Additionally, our temperate climate combined with all-weather capacity insures non-stop productivity. The Port of Rosedale is your year-round gateway to the world.” – – http://www.portofrosedale.com/index.php “Today, the Port of Rosedale has grown to include a more than a 3.3-mile long channel with over a mile of turning basin, 168 acres of hydraulic fill for marine related industries, a general cargo dock, and dry-bulk unloading and loading docks. Three private grain elevators, two fertilizer terminals, and multiple private docks, as well as a steel fabricator, a lubricants manufacturer, as well as a major towing company on the Arkansas Navigation System” are also located at the Port of Rosedale,. – – http://www.portofrosedale.com/ index. php/expansion_capabilities – MBJ Staff

Mississippi Business Journal

September 2020 Issue

» MANUFACTURING

Vicksburg Forest Products to invest $40 million, add 60 jobs

By JACK WEATHERLY jack.weatherly@msbusiness.com

icksburg Forest Products has announced that it will expand its lumber mill operation. The project is a $40 million corporate investment and will create 60 jobs. Vicksburg Forest Products, which is headquartered in Jackson, purchased the Vicksburg sawmill from the Anderson-Tully Co. in May 2018 and converted it to a pine lumber operation. Anderson-Tully had produced hardwood lumber for 129 years. Anderson-Tully’s 300,000 acres of hardwood along the Mississippi between Memphis and Natchez were not part of the 2018 sale. After the purchase, the facility underwent a large-scale transformation and is currently producing 75 million board feet of pine lumber on an annual basis. After the latest expansion, it will be capable of producing 180 million board feet of lumber per year, consisting of a diverse product mix. The upgraded mill will be purchasing

approximately 800,000 tons of timber annually from landowners in the surrounding areas. The company has signed a turnkey contract with a leading equipment provider, and construction is scheduled to begin in October and will be complete next summer. “We look forward to working with the local economic community and the state of Mississippi to support further investment in our facility and the surrounding area,” said Manager Billy Van Devender. “We are excited about the long-term prospects of our Vicksburg operations.” The Mississippi Development Authority is providing a $750,000 grant for building renovations, construction of a log yard and road construction and a $345,000 grant for drainage and erosion control and a railroad expansion. For the initial conversion, the MDA provided a $400,000 grant for site improvements. The city of Vicksburg provided $100,000 in matching funds for public infrastructure. The city of Vicksburg also is providing assistance with infrastructure projects.

(Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

NFL to allow social justice messages on helmets

he NFL will allow players to feature decals on the back of helmets with the names or initials of victims of racism and police violence this season. The NFL has been in talks with the player’s association since June about honoring such victims, according to The Undefeated’s Jason Reid. Additionally, individual players will be given the option to choose different names. The idea is something of a breakthrough for the NFL. Typically, NFL uniform rules are very specific. Last season Saints LB Demario Davis was fined $7,017 for wearing a headband with ‘Man of God’ written across it. The league does allow players to wear pink in October to support breast cancer awareness and camouflage gear in November for Military Appreciation Month. Players also have been allowed to represent a charity or organization of their choice on their cleats one weekend per season. This initiative signals a pioneering step for the league, which has typically tried to stay out of politics and social issues. With the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests across the country and NBA players player strike recently in protest of the police shooting of Jacob Blake, the NFL may be trying to avoid a similar action by its players. Plus, the NFL’s blackballing of Colin Kaepernick for taking a knee and league commissioner Roger Goodell admitting earlier this summer the league was wrong for not listening is still fresh in many players’ minds. A list of names and initials for use on the helmet decals is being developed by the league and the player’s association. Players have been encouraged to provide names and initials to use for the initiative, which

will last the entire season. Earlier this summer, the NFL announced it will have “Lift Every Voice And Sing,” traditionally known as the Black national anthem, performed live or played before every Week 1 game. Business Wire Partners with Muck Rack to Help PR Pros Strengthen Media Relationships Business Wire – the news release distribution service owned by Berkshire Hathaway – has inked a partnership with PR workflow company Muck Rack. The companies had been talking about a partnership over the last few years, Business Wire CEO Geff Scott said in a statement announcing the deal. But the conversations with the Muck Rack cofounder and CEO Greg Galant grew more serious last month, he said, and the deal was completed within the last few weeks. The deal is not a merger, Scott explained, and the two brands will remain independent for now. Terms were not disclosed. “We want to get the tools in the hands of the customer base so they can be more efficient and effective immediately,” he explained. “Certainly, there are long term ramifications. Stay tuned to see more in this space. We are working toward what the next solution is platform-wise.” The partnership is meant to help PR pros “manage relationships with journalists,” and “see critical context about who is writing and sharing stories” before sending out news releases, according to the statement announcing the deal. But the two companies have yet to work out exactly how Business Wire’s services will be combined with Muck Rack or how See NFL SOCIAL JUSTICE, Page 42

September 2020 Issue

» REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK

Wells’ memoir offers best of two worlds

emoirs come couple in separate incidents – in two cateleaving them to try to figure out gories. just what that meant. They took it as a sign to marry. One is by famous Wells’ memoir scores points people, whatever that in both categories – excellent means. The other is by writing, and anecdotes of the faothers who are not so faJACK WEATHERLY mous that are to die for. mous, if at all. William Cuthbert Faulkner died in The former has the sales advantage. And less is expected, though more 1962 after living the aristocratic life at his beloved Rowan Oak. is hoped for. He left behind rich veins Luckily, for some, they can have it both for research about the Noways. It’s tempting to say that Lawrence Wells’ bel prize winner in literamemoir, “In Faulkner’s Shadow,” really ture. But scholarship alone can starts on page 77. run the streams of inspiraThat’s when Willie Morris, the famed tion dry, including the literMississippi writer, decided to go south toary lifeblood of a place. ward home. Willie Morris, son of the Morris, of course, was the man who Magnolia State, returned to caused the second wave of greatness in Mis- his native soil in 1979, afsissippi letters. ter the Wellses and others The first part of the book, however, is re- worked hard and made him ally where the volume (University Press of an offer he couldn’t refuse. Mississippi) justifies its title. (Outbidding Duke, which Wells’ second offered twice as much.) He became the first writwife, and the love of er-in-residence at the university, starthis life, happened to ing on Jan.1, 1980, after his illustrious career be the niece of the as editor-in-chief of Harper’s Magazine, Great Man. the youngest ever, where he reigned as the Dean Faulkner prince of Manhattan for a few years. Wells and her husHe was known for his acclaimed autobiband met and fell in ography, “North Toward Home.” love at the University “Having failed to support William Faulkin Oxford. Wells ner in the manner he deserved,” Wells And, by dingie – wrote, “the townspeople made up for this and by dint of their collective omission by lavishing affection on tireless efforts – they took the reins of the Morris, who, let’s face it, was easier to love.” Yoknapatawpha Press in 1975, which he still Well, so much for the townspeople, but operates. for a writer who would soon join the teachShe died in 2011 at 75, leaving behind sev- ing staff at Ole Miss, there was no love lost eral books she wrote, including a memoir, on Morris. In fact, that writer, Barry Hannah, wastand others she edited. Her widower, a novelist in addition to be- ed no time in doing his very best to aliening an editor and publisher, is now a mem- ate Morris, no easy feat because “he was so oirist, which can be just about anything the damned lovable,” Wells writes. The university bit the bullet and hired writer wants it to be. Hannah as its second teaching writer. Memoirs are not held to the standards of Right off the bat, Hannah cut off any histories, leaving more room for humanistic chance of any kind of friendship with Morris, touches. not that the author of “Geronimo Rex,” his Like putting up with oft-inebriated Lou- first novel, which was nominated for the Naise, the mother of his bride. Louise was not tional Book Award, intended to establish one. a cheerful drunk and did what she could do “Willie, I write the truth and you write to scuttle the couple’s relationship before it public relations,” he threw at Morris. was consummated. “‘I felt like slugging the guy!’ Morris told But the long-departed Pappy, the family’s us. ‘There I was, doing my best to be nice and he comes out swinging with his . . . his . . pet name for William Faulkner, fixed that. His memory and personal influence hov- . relentless one-up-man-ship.’” Because of his background of liberal causered over the idolatrous and somewhat neues, the national press turned to Morris for rotic family. And more, it seems. Then there was the night of Pappy’s comments on any major issue at the univerGhost, which – or is it who? – visited the sity, which was still living down the James

Meredith crisis from two decades earlier and whose students still waved the Confederate battle flag. At Hannah’s request, and after six rejections, Lawrence Wells restructured Hannah’s novella “The Tennis Handsome” and then Hannah sort of thanked him, but showed his gratitude by reneging on an agreement and selling it to another publisher, Knopf. By contrast, Morris considered himself in the Yoknapatawpaha Press stable, with four titles under that imprimatur, and called Lawrence Wells “boss.” (Personal note: while I was on the staff at the Arkansas Gazette in Little Rock, I reviewed “The Tennis Handsome” and found it to be one-liner after one-liner. Great sentences, often, going nowhere in particular. No explaining tastes, I guess.) Back to Willie the Good and Barry the Evil. Here’s Wells’ bon mot, one of many in this volume: “Willie wanted to be loved. Hannah wanted to be feared. Where Morris was a literary ambassador, Hannah peddled literary methamphetamine.” Willie made a stop on his “My Dog Skip” tour in 1995 at a book store in Kosciusko, where I was editor of The Star-Herald for a few years. I was out of town, so I deputized a reporter to go interview Willie, who got his hand on the article and sent the young man a postcard predicting big things for him. He was just that kind of a guy. Despite his personal drawbacks, Hannah, a drunken lout most of the time, helped Morris to establish a writers colony that extends to this day and has grown. After about a decade in Oxford, Morris, moved to Jackson with second wife, JoAnne Prichard, and died in 1999 at 64. It’s been said, though not in Wells’ book, that Prichard probably added a decade to his booze-shortened life. His service was held at First United Methodist in his hometown of Yazoo City, led by famed preacher and writer Will Campbell and attended by many a famous writer. Hannah died in 2010 at Oxford at 67, “surrounded by his beloved dogs.” That’s the way Wells put it. Unembraced, evidently, because he did not embrace in life or in letters. » JACK WEATHERLY is the senior writer for the Mississippi Business Journal. He can be reached at jack.weatherly@msbusiness.com.

Mississippi Business Journal

BRAZEN HEAD

Continued from Page 4

first African-American to win a tournament on the Professional Golf Association tour. That happened in 1964. Brown was born in Port Gibson and grew up in Jackson. Grove Park, a nine-hole course in Jackson is currently shutdown because it lost its sponsor, the Mississippi Urban League. But Harris said he expects the course to resume operations next month. LeFleur's Bluff Golf Course, a 9-holer operated by the Mississippi Department of Wildlife Fisheries and Parks, is temporarily closed due to maintenance. “A world-class golf course in the middle of the city center is a great place to recreate,” Collins said. “The intention is to make it very affordable,” he said. Golf magazine wrote that “Collins and King took an insolvent nine-hole course on a flat, featureless plain . . . and turned it into an imaginative, eye-popping revelation.” Garden & Gun magazine will hold a tournament there on Oct. 31, two rounds. Despite being only a nine-hole course, Sweetens Cove has been included in Golfweek's top 100 modern courses for the past four years. Collins said in an interview with Golf Course Architecture that “the twelve-hole idea . . . evolved as the best solution for the property – we wanted to do something a little different, and give Luke a little extra room to develop the site.” The course will require about 100 acres, leaving 38 acres for other use. The plan calls for a par 47, 4,315-yard course, including four par threes and three par fives, according to Golf Course Architecture. There are two shared greens, one for the parthree second and fifth holes and another for the third, twelfth and practice putting greens. The course can be played in smaller loops, such as three, six or nine holes. Ashby Foote, councilman for Ward 1, which includes the property, said: “I think it's great. We need have as many things as possible to make the city attractive.”

» A team from King-Collins walks the land at the former Colonial Country Club. Courtesy of King-Collins Golf Course Design

PERSPECTIVE September 2020 Issue • www.msbusiness.com • Page 10

» INSIDE MISSISSIPPI

Russians use active measures to invade America

he Russians Are media users in the United States. Coming, the RusThis campaign sought to polarsians Are Coming ize Americans on the basis of was a 1966 comedy about societal, ideological, and racial an accidental Russian invadifferences, provoked real world sion on the west coast. The events.” Guatemalans are coming, (See https://www.intelligence. the Guatemalans are coming BILL CRAWFORD senate.gov/publications/report-sewas the comedic response when our lect-committee-intelligence-unitpresident in 2018 projected an immigrant ed-states-senate-russian-active-measures) invasion on the Mexican border. Of the two Russian active measures are no surprise it turns out the Russian invasion was no joke. to the FBI. “We are seeing, and have never “Active measures” to sow discord in the stopped seeing, efforts to engage in malign western democracies were institutionalized foreign influence by the Russians,” said FBI in the Soviet Union in 1961 when the KGB Director Christopher Wray. created its disinformation directorate. In Using deception and discord to divide 1967, Directorate D morphed into Service and conquer is an age-old tactic. In a 1787 A with a defined political warfare mission. letter to Thomas Jefferson, James Madison When he became premier in 1982, former called it “the reprobated axiom of tyranny.” Salvation Army pastor Harold Laubach, Jr., KGB head Yuri Andropov greatly expanded the use of active measures to psychologically explained, “The British have used it, the Chinese use it, Mexico has used it, Russia uses it, invade and disrupt democracies. The U.S. Senate Select Committee on and it works so well, that many governments Intelligence (9 Republicans and 8 Dem- use it. Even our own government uses it.” Worse, our politicians use it on us. Beocrats) just completed publication of a five-volume report that details Russian use hind most is a political apparatus invoking of active measures “to conduct an informa- discord and disunity to stay in power. “Basically if you can divide a people over tion warfare campaign designed to spread disinformation and societal division in the small differences, they are much easier to United States…. Operatives used targeted control or to overcome,” said Laubach. The advertisements, intentionally falsified news problem we face today is, “for every person articles, self-generated content, and social that wishes to see and exhibit unity with media platform tools to interact with and their Christian brothers and sisters, there is attempt to deceive tens of millions of social another person, trying to cause arguments,

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spreading rumors, engaging in gossip, instigating arguments.” With this growing proclivity among us to tear down rather than build up, how easy it is for Russian active measures to deceive and divide us. The Atlantic reported, “The Russians have learned much about American weaknesses, and how to exploit them.” Laubach called on us to heed Romans 16:17-18: “I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naïve people.” With apologies to Earl Pitts, who invaded radio in 1968, “Watch out Amurica!” The Russian invasion is real. “A house divided cannot stand” – Mark 3:25. » BILL CRAWFORD is a syndicated columnist from Jackson.

Quirky or serious, legal opinions guide officials officials are considThe superintendent of the

www.mspress.org

September 2020 Issue | Volume 43, Number 7

» Analysis

an a Mississippi school district give financial rewards to students who do well on college entrance exams? Can a city government remove a dilapidated building if the owner does not do it? Is the sheriff ’s son allowed to work as a volunteer deputy? These are among the questions that government officials have asked Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch this year. The attorney general’s staff does research and writes legal opinions to guide state and local government operations. Those opinions are posted on the attorney general’s website, giving the public a glimpse at some issues that

A member of the Mississippi Press Association

ering. Pascagoula-Gautier School Willie Griffin, District, Wayne Rodolfich, attorney for the Washington asked whether the district could County Board of Supervisors, provide monetary incentives to asked about nepotism. May the students based on the ACT, a sheriff ’s son serve as an unpaid standardized test used for college auxiliary deputy? If so, may he use admissions. He also asked whethEMILY WAGSTER PETTUS county equipment? Can the sheriff ’s er the district may award monetary department sponsor the son to attend a law incentives to its employees based on ACT enforcement training academy? improvements. The attorney general’s office said yes to the The attorney general’s office said no to sheriff ’s son working as an unpaid deputy and giving money to students for test scores, using county equipment. It said no to sponexplaining that doing so would be an unlawful soring the son at the training academy because donation under Section 66 of the Mississippi that would run afoul of the ban on public Constitution. The attorney general’s office officials compensating close relatives. See LEGAL OPINIONS, Page 11

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THE MISSISSIPPI BUSINESS JOURNAL,

PERSPECTIVE

September 2020 Issue

Mississippi Business Journal

LEGAL OPINIONS

Continued from Page 10

How to deal with Cancel Culture

n October 16, 1968, two incorrect.” American athletes who It is becoming pervasive. had just won gold So what should a company and bronze medals in the do? Olympics each raised blackFirst, realize that your busigloved fists as they stood on ness is not immune. These sothe medal stand during the called cancellations can come playing of the Star-Spangled from public protests, dissatisfied Banner to draw attention to customers and even a company’s phil hardwick racial and social issues in the United own employees. States. In his autobiography, Silent Gesture, Next, decide whether to publicly espouse a Tommie Smith, who had won the gold medal value or opinion. Nike did so with the Kaeperwith a record-setting time in the 200-meter nick case. Hundreds of companies are doing so dash, stated that the gesture was not a “Black with the Black Lives Matter movement. For Power” salute per se, but rather a “human some companies, not doing anything can be rights” salute. The reaction among the media, enough to rile up some social media protesters. the sporting world, and the public was negaOn the other hand, it might be best for a comtive. Both men received hate mail and death pany to do nothing. threats. Have a plan ready when a cancellation atOn August 16, 2016, San Francisco 49ers tempt comes. Do not wait. A company should quarterback Colin Kaepernick sat on the be discussing this issue now. At the very least, it bench instead of standing during the playing should recognize that it is an issue. of the Star-Spangled Banner before a preseaDon’t act too quickly. This can be a crisis son game against the Green Bay Packers, “…as communication issue for a company. The first a protest against racial injustice, police brutal- rule in crisis communication is to get the facts ity and systematic oppression in the country.” before making a definitive public statement. The reaction was mixed. Some saw it as disre- Indeed, the first statement should be that the spectful to the flag and country. Others saw it company is gathering the facts and will have a as a positive expression of free speech. In Sep- full statement later. tember of 2018 ,Nike released an ad campaign Keep in mind that what is a positive social featuring Kaepernick and the phrase, “Believe value today may not be so in the future. It was in something. Even if it means sacrificing ev- not long ago that LGBTQ condemnation and erything.” The reaction was strong and mixed. racial separation were the norms. Women Nike claimed $163 million in earned media, a were not allowed to vote at one time and could $6 billion brand value increase, and a 31% boost not even serve on juries in criminal cases in in sales. Mississippi until 1958. Sexual harassment and In August 2020, the Twitter world reported abuse of women was the subject of the Me Too that a Topeka, Kansas, Goodyear plant showed movement. Stay informed about what is getting cana slide during a training session that “Black Lives Matter” and LBGT pride apparel were celled. Even apps can get cancelled. Life360, “acceptable” as part of Goodyear Tire and Rub- a mobile application that lets parents track ber Company’s zero-tolerance policy and “Blue movements of their teens, was the subject of Lives Matter,” “All Lives Matter,” “MAGA At- an August 24, 2020, Wall Street Journal artitire,” and other political material were “unac- cle entitled, “How One CEO Dealt With the ceptable.” The CNN.com headline on August TikTok Taunts of Gen Z: He Hired Them.” It 19 read, “Trump ‘cancels’ Goodyear tires as he details how one executive handled the cancellation of their company. campaigns against ‘cancel culture.” Finally, a company should be aware of the Thanks to social media and the media in general, we are living in emotionally charged times. values and opinions of their employees and customers. In general, people want to do busiImagine what it would have been like in 1968. It’s being called “cancel culture,” which is ness with and work for companies they feel generally defined as withdrawing support for connected with. Simon Sinek’s presentation, public figures or companies after they have “How Great Leaders Inspire Action” is the done something offensive. Urbandictionary. third most-viewed Ted Talk of all time. In it, com states that, “It is characterized(sic) by he says “People don’t buy what you do; they buy the response of an evil individual when they why you do it.” Certainly, something to think are shown to be wrong. They will call on their about and how that connects to cancel culture. followers to report the social media accounts of the person or group that did the criticiz- » PHIL HARDWICK is a regular Mississippi ing(sic) rather than discussing the criticism Business Journal columnist. His email is phil@ or showing by evidence where the criticism is philhardwick.com.

wrote that under the constitution’s Section 96, incentives may be paid to employees if the arrangement is set in advance. In a scenario that’s begging to be turned into a quirky piece of short fiction, Alton Shaw, mayor of Wesson — population 1,880 — asked if the town government could demolish the remains of a burned house. “The occupant of the residence now has moved into an outbuilding or shed on the property and has made it his permanent residence,” the attorney general’s office wrote in a summary. “The building is in extremely poor condition and the municipal governing authorities have received numerous complaints from citizens about its condition.” The answer: Yes. State law allows a municipality “to clean up private property it has determined to be a menace to the public health and safety of the community.” Aelicia L. Thomas, attorney for the 250-person town of Pace, asked the attorney general what action, if any, the Board of Aldermen could take for the mayor’s “willful refusal” to carry about the board’s orders. She also asked: If the aldermen cut the mayor’s pay, could the mayor ask the city clerk to pay him the original amount instead of the lower one? The opinion said that aldermen, going forward, should not encroach on the mayor’s executive-branch powers. “If a Mayor’s salary has been lawfully reduced, the Mayor would not have the authority to direct the City Clerk to write his/ her paycheck for the amount he/she previously received instead of the newly adjusted salary,” the opinion said. In a somber matter, Katie Blount, director of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, asked whether ancient Native American remains can be buried on

» RICKy NOBLE

» Republican Attorney General Lynn Fitch, rubs hand sanitizer on her hands after voting in the party presidential primary in Ridgeland, Miss., Tuesday, March 10, 2020. Polling locations are providing hand sanitizers for voters to use as a cautionary measure in light of the coronavirus health concern nationwide. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

state-owned land. Representatives of the Muscogee Creek Nation contacted the department about the desecration of a burial site and said they would like the remains to be reburied as close as possible. The Department of Archives and History wants to create reburial sites that are optional for tribal nations that no longer own lands in Mississippi, according to the opinion summary. The attorney general’s office said state law would not prohibit that. It also noted that federal laws govern how Native American remains and funerary objects should be treated. » EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS has covered Mississippi government and politics since 1994. Follow her on Twitter: http://twitter.com/EWagsterPettus.

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Mississippi Business Journal

September 2020 Issue

PERSPECTIVE

Broadcast media coverage of Trump 95% negative

» the spin cycle

umented 668 evaluative statements about egative press coverage of President the President, 95 percent of which (634) Trump has worsened. were negative, vs. a mere five percent Since 2016, previous studies from (34) that were positive. The study found analysts at the Media Research Center very few evaluative statements about revealed that the coverage of Trump on Joe Biden — just a dozen, two-thirds of major broadcast networks was 91 percent which (67 percent) were positive. negative. Based on the evaluation, viewers heard A new study released this week found that 150 times more negative comments about the coverage is now 95 percent negative. todd smith Trump than Biden. The analysis of all evening news coverage of Folks, that’s not unbiased news reporting — that’s a President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden in June and July found these networks chose to negative smear campaign. “I’ve been studying the news media and elections for aim most of their attention and nearly all of their negative coverage on Trump, so Biden escaped any scrutiny of more than 35 years. Trust me — there’s never been anything like it,” said Rich Noyes, research director for the his policy positions, past job performance or character. From June 1 through July 31, the ABC, CBS and NBC conservative press watchdog. The study revealed that ABC, CBS and NBC aired evening newscasts focused 512 minutes of airtime on the President, or nine times more than the 58 minutes al- nine times as much coverage of Mr. Trump than Demolotted to Biden. (This excludes coverage of the Trump cratic presidential nominee Joseph R. Biden. The coveradministration in general when not associated with the age of the president, the research found, was 95 percent President himself.) This is an even wider gap than the negative. Meanwhile, the networks appear to be shieldspring, when Trump received seven times more coverage ing Mr. Biden. “Biden escaped any scrutiny of his left-wing policy pothan Biden (523 minutes vs. 75 minutes). The extra airtime devoted to Trump consisted al- sitions, past job performance or character,” the study said. most entirely of anchors and reporters criticizing the “From June 1 through July 31, the ABC, CBS and President. During these two months, our analysts doc- NBC evening newscasts focused 512 minutes of airtime

on the President, or nine times more than the 58 minutes allotted to Biden,” it continued. “The extra airtime devoted to Trump consisted almost entirely of anchors and reporters criticizing the President. During these two months, our analysts documented 668 evaluative statements about the President, 95 percent of which (634) were negative, vs. a mere 5 percent (34) that were positive.” In contrast, 67 percent of the evaluative statements about Mr. Biden are positive. “Do the math, and viewers heard 150 times more negative comments about Trump than Biden. That’s not news reporting — that’s a negative advertising campaign in action,” the study said.

Tools to Help Develop Compelling Content

Content is king, as coined by the late great media mogul Sumner Redstone. In today’s digital, search-optimized world, tapping into the right audience using the right tools at the right time is paramount! Creative content is truly an art form that requires audience awareness. To reach your key audiences, you must consider content development, research, editing and analytics. All are vital in upping your content game. Good news: there are myriad content research tools to tune into your niche. According to Search Engine Journal, here are the Top 5 tools: 1. BuzzSumo – BuzzSumo simplifies the entire content research process by pulling in popular posts based on keywords. Results can be sorted according to their reach in social networks, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. This will allow you to scrape ideas that capture your target audience’s interest. You can also play with the filters found on the left to further refine your search. For example, you can look specifically for “how-to” posts, narrow your search down to a specific country, exclude a certain domain, and more. 2. Ubersuggest – While intended as a tool for keyword research, Ubersuggest can also help you find content ideas that will get your audience’s attention. In some cases, Ubersuggest results include keyword ideas that can be used as content titles right off the bat. These are usually “long-tail” keywords that include three or more terms. 3. LeadFWD – Leadfwd is a website where you can turn an unknown visitor into a potential lead. Sounds so good to your ears, right? It does! Who doesn’t want a lead? This is what digital marketing agencies crave all the time. Lead is the most important thing for any digital marketing company. The name might suggest that it is not a tool that helps your content creation, then you can’t be more wrong. It tells you how a visitor spent their time on your website and shows the graph of the session. Based on that, you can alter your content and make people spend more See TRUMP, Page 13

PERSPECTIVE TRUMP

September 2020 Issue

Continued from Page 12

time on your website. Additionally, you can convert them into leads as well. With the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the tool can scan your website in real-time to deliver dozens of insights. For example, the company sector, contact info, key personnel, social footprint and many more are very much needed to contact the prospect. Yes, it can be hard to learn about the new tool, but the user interface of this tool is very easy to work with for any new user. 4. Awario – Awario lets you monitor and listen to people’s conversations on social media. It is a great tool to have at your disposal for your business development. Using this social listening tool, you can spot and correct the mistakes you’re making with your content – if any. Yes, there might be odd and irrelevant conversations about your website, but hey, that’s what you get with the internet sometimes. Just ignore it and you will be fine using this tool. 5. Portent’s Content Idea Generator – Portent’s Content Idea Generator is another awesome tool that can give your ideas within seconds. Some may find it too gimmicky and less functional than the previous ones, but since it’s completely free, it’s definitely worth checking out. Besides, it’s more than able to produce interesting and unique content!

Media Mic: Sumner Redstone Was the ‘Content King’

Sumner Redstone, the icon who turned a family movie theater company into a global media empire spanning TV, movies, radio and publishing, and who coined the infamous phrase “content is king,” died recently at age 97. Redstone founded the family company, National Amusements Inc., and built it into worldwide leader in the entertainment. He created a massive media empire through visionary Redstone investing, a bold dash of ruthlessness mixed with opportunistic litigation. The media business he amassed, now part of ViacomCBS, delivered blockbusters to our living rooms and the big screen – from CBS hit shows such as “The Big Bang Theory” and irreverent cable programs on MTV and Comedy Central to film hits from the Paramount Pictures studio such as “Titanic” and “Top Gun.” He pioneered the development of theaters with more than one screen and even trademarked the term “multiplex” for the concept, now commonplace.

Mississippi Business Journal

Redstone was part of a shrinking posse of media moguls like Rupert Murdoch and John Malone, who shaped the media landscape through grit, determination and moxie. He was also a health nut who shunned sugar and swore by antioxidants. In 2012, he told the Wall Street Journal he was working on a new book—later shelved – called “How to Live Forever,” in which he planned to share his secrets to good health. “The main thing is that to have a good life, you have to love your work,” he told the Journal. Redstone loved his work, creating exciting experiences for audiences worldwide. He was the content king, before content was cool! 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 co-founder, president and chief executive officer of Deane | Smith, a full-service branding, PR, marketing and advertising firm with offices in Jackson. The firm – based in Nashville, Tenn. – is also affiliated with Mad Genius. Contact him at todd@deanesmithpartners.com, follow him @spinsurgeon and like the ageny on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/deanesmithpartners, and join us on LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/ company/deane-smith-&-partners.

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Mississippi Business Journal

PERSPECTIVE

September 2020 Issue

David Abney joins Northrop Grumman Board of Directors

orthrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) announced it has elected David Abney to its board of directors. Abney, a Delta State University graduate, is the executive chairman of the UPS board of directors, and served as the chief executive officer of UPS from 2014 until May 2020. “David is an accomplished and respected business leader and is a great addition to our board,” said Kathy Warden, chairman, chief executive officer and president, Northrop Grumman. “His experience leading a complex, global business will be extremely valuable as we continue to position our company for long-term growth.” Abney served as UPS’s chief operating officer prior to becoming chief executive officer, overseeing all facets of UPS’s global transportation network.

CATHERINE CONN Joins People Lease as an Accounts Payable professional and brings 30 years of experience in the accounting and payroll ﬁeld. She loves to take on new projects, challenges and working with the clients. After working for a company in Arizona for 18 years, she recently relocated to her home state of Mississippi. Currently residing in Ridgeland, Cathy enjoys golﬁng, gardening and spending time with her family.

Prior to this, he was president of UPS International, where he led the company’s growth in its global logistics capabilities. Abney also serves on the board of Macy’s, Inc. and the board of Catalyst, an organization working to accelerate and advance women into senior leadership and board positions. He also serves as a Trustee of The UPS Foundation and the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Northrop Grumman solves the toughest problems in space, aeronautics, defense and cyberspace to meet the ever evolving needs of our customers worldwide. Our 90,000 employees define possible every day using science, technology and engineering to create and deliver advanced systems, products and services. – MBJ Staff

JAMES CLAY Joins People Lease’s Business Development Management team. James has been in sales & customer service for 10 years. In that time he has helped ensure complete customer satisfaction by being knowledgeable and dedicated to his clients. He is extremely detail-oriented allowing him to determine the fundamental needs of the customer and exceed their expectations. James has a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Mississippi State University. Currently residing in Brandon, James enjoys outdoor activities, sports and spending time with friends and family.

September 2020 Issue

Mississippi Business Journal

» ENVIRONMENTAL BUSINESS

Presidential platforms for environmental law

bat climate change and envihis year marks the 50th ronmental impacts on mianniversary of the nority communities, often Environmental Protermed environmental justection Agency, whose mission tice. This is a shift in total is to protect human health dollars and timetable from and the environment. This his initial proposal during the particular presidential election primary, which called for $1.7 will have a significant impact on matt allen trillion in spending over ten years. the EPA’s domain and the regulations His updated climate plan also calls for a and rules we use to govern business and carbon-free power sector by 2035; providing citizen behavior. President Donald Trump has been known zero-emissions public transportation, such for the general rollback of the environmen- as light rail, to cities with 100,000 or more tal regulatory state. Data produced by the residents; creating 1 million jobs in the U.S. EPA shows significant reductions in inspec- auto industry; upgrading 4 million buildings tions, evaluations, and penalties over his and weathering 2 million homes over four tenure. It likewise shows consistent reduc- years for energy efficiency; and pledging that 40% of spending on clean energy and enertions in spending and staff size. Administration officials point to evidence gy efficiency will go towards disadvantaged of doing more with less, and argue the EPA communities. He also plans to create two new offices has done more for protecting the environment by finding ways to entice businesses to at the White House and one at the Justice cooperate as opposed to putting primacy on Department. In the White House, he would always policing and penalizing first (similar elevate the EPA’s National Environmental to a honey versus vinegar approach debate). Justice Advisory Council to a White House Along this line of thought, in a September Office, and also create a new White House 3, 2020 address at the Nixon Presidential Environmental Justice Interagency Council. Library celebrating the EPA’s 50th anniver- In the Justice Department, he would create sary, EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler an Environmental and Climate Justice Diargued the EPA has achieved better results vision to complement the existing Environthan any recent administration. As evidence, ment and Resources Division. For those curious about the plan-shift he cited reducing air pollution by 7%; delisting 27 Superfund sites, which is the most from a more restrained approach in the pridelisted in a single year since 2001 (meaning mary to a more aggressive approach in the 27 sites previously categorized as hazardous general – the opposite of what normally no longer pose human or ecological health occurs with the moderation of policy when risks); and more than $40 billion dollars in exiting a primary – the reason is because the contributions towards clean water infra- more progressive wing of the Democratic Party was dissatisfied with the original apstructure development. The Joe Biden team is putting this record proach. Since the primary, Biden appointed on trial, and we are witnessing the two camps Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, proponent of the Green New Deal, as coframing-up vastly different approaches. Biden’s recent, updated, plan calls for $2 chair of his climate task force. This move trillion in spending over four years to com- and others resulted in Biden adopting el-

ements of Bernie Sanders’ environmental platform and creating a plan that is closer to the Green New Deal, and it appears to be achieving the desired result in wooing at least significant portions of the more progressive wing. Gov. Jay Inslee (D) of Washington, who ran a climate-centered campaign, said “this is not a status quo plan,” “it is comprehensive,” and termed it “visionary.” None of this is, of course, free. Biden plans to pay for these measures through increasing the corporate income tax rate, increasing taxes on the wealthy, and stimulus money (which has to be repaid by someone at some point). As comparison, Wheeler, in his same September 3 address referenced above, articulated the Trump Administration’s environmental agenda for the next four years. He dedicated a significant portion of his comments towards the notion of environmental justice, and argued that the Administration has identified five pillars and five priorities that will do more than Biden’s proposals to address environmental concerns in minority communities, as well as do more to improve environmental outcomes generally. The five pillars are directed towards government transparency and increasing the efficiency of operations. They include creating cost-benefit rules for every statute that governs EPA; creating science transparency rules in order to put sunlight on scientific justifications underlying regulatory deci-

sions; publishing guidance documents on regulations, which the Administration has already done for the first time in history; reorganizing regional offices to mirror the structure of headquarters with an air, water, land, and chemicals division; and implementing a lean management system to improve operations. The five priorities include creating a community-driven environmentalism; meeting twenty-first century demands for water; reimagining Superfund as a results-oriented program; reforming the permitting process to empower states; and creating a holistic pesticide program for the future. Particularly relevant to the idea of community-driven environmentalism, a priority that is perhaps a nod to the social justice language of the day, Wheeler noted that EPA, states, and local communities have approached environmental issues in a siloed manner by looking at air, water, and land separately and each wing not communicating or working with the other. He argues this needs to change in order to achieve comprehensive solutions. November approaches quickly. Although environmental concerns are only one of many issues competing for our attention, this election is important because it will likely significantly impact how we protect the environment, regulate businesses, and the cost of doing so for everyone. » MATT ALLEN is an environmental lawyer at the Brunini Law Firm. He can be reached at mwallen@brunini.com.

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Mississippi Business Journal

September 2020 Issue

» analysis

Pence presses a distorted case on economy V ice President Mike Pence and fellow Republicans have pressed a distorted case that President Donald Trump took over a moribund economy from Barack Obama and supercharged it. That’s not what happened. Speakers at the Republican National Convention also hailed Trump for protecting the health insurance of people with preexisting illness, flipping reality on its head as his administration tries to overturn the law that guarantees those protections. A look at how some of the the rhetoric from the convention’s third night compares with the facts:

in modern U.S. history. The pandemic-induced recession has also flung millions of Americans back into poverty — as expanded government aid has expired. The unemployment rate is 10.2%, versus 4.7% when Trump took office. There are 14.8 million Americans collecting jobless aid, while just 2 million were doing so when Trump became president.

tion, Biden declined to support defunding police, his consistent stance. Barkan raises the issue of police reform and asks whether Biden would funnel money into social services, mental health counseling and affordable housing to help reduce civilian interactions with police. Biden responds that he is calling for more money for mental health providers but “that’s not the same as getting rid of or

ECONOMY

PENCE: “Four years ago we inherited ... an economy struggling to break out of the slowest recovery since the Great Depression. ... In our first three years we built the greatest economy in the world.” THE FACTS: That’s a highly misleading portrait. Obama started the longest expansion in U.S. history and prevailed over most of it. The expansion was indeed slow, but growth under Trump has basically been the same: 2.3% in the final four years of Obama compared with 2.5% in the first three years of Trump. Trump took office with unemployment at a low 4.7%, steady job growth and a falling federal budget deficit. And Trump’s record on economic growth is about to get crushed by the current recession brought on by the pandemic, a public-health crisis that the White House said early on would not hurt the economy. GOV. KRISTI NOEM of South Dakota: “In just four years, President Trump has lifted people of all races and backgrounds out of poverty. He shrunk government and put money back into the pockets of hardworking, ordinary Americans.” THE FACTS: Only this is true: Americans did get money back in the form of tax cuts and in direct government payments after the economy plunged into a recession this year from the coronavirus. Everything else is wrong. The government is still huge, not shrinking as she said. Federal spending was 20.6% of the gross domestic product in 2016, Obama’s last year, according to the White House Office of Management and Budget. That percentage has gone up and down but was 20.8% in 2019. It probably surged this year due to the fastest and sharpest downturn

preexisting conditions.” THE FACTS: No, people with preexisting medical problems have health insurance protections because of Obama’s health care law, which Trump is trying to dismantle. One of Trump’s alternatives to Obama’s law — short-term health insurance, already in place — doesn’t have to cover preexisting conditions. Another alternative is association health plans, which are oriented to small businesses and sole proprietors and do cover preexisting conditions. Neither of the two alternatives appears to have made much difference in the market. Meanwhile, Trump’s administration is pressing the Supreme Court for full repeal of the Obama-era law, including provisions that protect people with preexisting conditions from health insurance discrimination. With “Obamacare” still in place, preexisting conditions continue to be covered by regular individual health insurance plans. Before the Affordable Care Act, any insurer could deny coverage — or charge more — to anyone with a preexisting condition who was seeking to buy an individual policy.

CHARLOTTESVILLE

» Vice President Mike Pence salutes as he speaks on the third day of the Republican National Convention at Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine in Baltimore, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2020. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

POLICE

PENCE: “When asked whether he’d support cutting funding to law enforcement, Joe Biden replied, ‘Yes, absolutely.’ Under President Trump, we will always stand with those who stand on the thin blue line, and we’re not going to defund the police.” THE FACTS: That’s misleading, a selective use of Biden’s words on the subject. Biden does not propose defunding the police, but rather giving them more money, conditioned on improvements in policing. Biden’s actual position on this has been ignored at the GOP convention. Pence is referring to an excerpted video clip of Biden’s conversation with liberal activist Ady Barkan. In the fuller conversa-

defunding all the police” and that more money for community policing must be provided, too. Barkan asks: “So we agree that we can redirect some of the funding?” Biden then answers “absolutely yes.” Biden then gives the caveat that he means “not just redirect” federal money potentially but “condition” it on police improvements. “If they don’t eliminate chokeholds, they don’t get (federal) grants, if they don’t do the following, they don’t get any (federal) help,” Biden replied, noting federal aid is only a supplement to departments financed mainly by localities and states.

HEALTH CARE

KAYLEIGH McENANY, White House press secretary: “I can tell you that this president stands by Americans with

JACK BREWER, former NFL player: “Are you going to allow the media to lie to you by falsely claiming that he said there are very fine white supremacists in Charlottesville? He didn’t say that. It’s a lie.” THE FACTS: Trump said this at a news conference: Racial protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017 had “very fine people on both sides.” One side was made up of a loosely connected mix of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and other far-right extremists. Trump’s comment conveyed sympathy for racists by declining to single out and call out the violence they perpetuated and by suggesting the episode was merely a contest of legitimate grievances. The violence broke out after those protesters assembled to demonstrate against the city’s decision to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. Pressed at the Aug. 15, 2017, news conference, Trump acknowledged there were See PENCE, Page 17

September 2020 Issue

PENCE

VETERANS

PENCE: “We reformed the VA and Veterans Choice is now available for every veteran in America.” THE FACTS: Veterans Choice is far from available to every veteran. It’s true that Trump expanded the Obamaera program, which allows veterans to see a private doctor for primary or mental health care if their VA wait is 20 days (28 for specialty care) or their drive to a VA facility is 30 minutes or more. But in March, VA halted much of the program due to the coronavirus outbreak and restricted veterans’ access to private doctors, citing the added risks of infection and limited capacity at private hospitals. Under the temporary guidelines, the

VA reviewed referrals for non-emergency care “on a case-by-case basis for immediate clinical need and with regard to the safety of the veteran when being seen in-person, regardless of wait time or drive time eligibility,” according to VA. The move drew criticism from several veterans’ groups and conservatives as rendering the program ineffective.

SAWMILLS, PAPERMILLS

SCOTT DANE, representing Minnesota loggers and truckers: “But the last time Joe Biden was in the White House, Minnesota lost over half of its mills, thousands of jobs, and experienced nearly a decade of decline.” THE FACTS: The decline in Minnesota’s sawmills and paper manufacturing has continued under Trump. And nationwide, sawmill jobs improved under Obama and slumped during Trump’s first three years. Minnesota lost 20% of its papermills during Obama’s presidency, according to the Quarterly Census of Wages and Employment. It lost 18% of its sawmills. That’s a far cry from the “over half” claimed by Dane. The state’s sawmill sector lost 25 jobs under Obama, compared with 69 jobs lost during the first three years of the Trump administration. Papermills did let go of 1,368 workers during Obama’s presidency, while 674 jobs were shed during the Trump era. But nationwide, the Obama era saw 7,221 new jobs in the sawmill sector. There were 69 sawmill jobs lost under Trump before the pandemic.

- Associated Press writers Amanda Seitz in Chicago and David Klepper in Providence, Rhode Island, contributed to this report.

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» INSIDE MISSISSIPPI

Continued from Page 16

“some very bad people” looking for trouble in the group protesting plans to remove the statue. “But you also had people that were very fine people on both sides,” he continued. “You had people in that group, excuse me, excuse me, I saw the same pictures as you did. You had people in that group that were there to protest the taking down of, to them, a very, very important statue and the renaming of a park, from Robert E. Lee to another name.” Later in the news conference, he tried to clarify that “I’m not talking about the neo-Nazis and the white nationalists — because they should be condemned totally.” But he went on to assert that the conspicuously racist rally — partly organized by white nationalist Richard Spencer and with former Ku Klux Klan head David Duke as a scheduled speaker — had many other people who weren’t white supremacists, and there are “two sides to a story ... two sides to the country.”

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Rounsaville thrust into economic crisis

s of April 30, the pandemic shut-down pushed Mississippi’s unemployment rate up to 15.7% with 187,800 unemployed residents. Two weeks later Gov. Tate Reeves thrust John Rounsaville into the middle of this economic crisis, putting him in charge of the Mississippi Development Authority. “He hit the ground running try to save jobs and hasn’t let up!” said one of the state’s top economic developers. “He has always been a great policy mind and a hard worker,” continued David Rumbarger, president and CEO of the Community Development Foundation in Tupelo. The 45-year-old native of the Big Creek community in Calhoun County comes to this position from two successful years as State Director for USDA Rural Development. “John was very innovative and aggressive” at USDA, said one state government insider. “He worked hard to leverage rural development dollars to have the greatest impact on community development.” For nine years previously, Rounsaville, also a JAG Major in the Air National Guard, served as Vice President of Strategic Services for Waggoner Engineering, Inc. Both positions put him in close contact with developers and local officials around the state. “We are on track to meet or even surpass our $1.2 billion goal for new capital investment for the state,” Rounsaville said when asked about the pandemic’s impact on economic development. Indicating the impact on recruiting was limited to reduced travel and online meetings, he noted, “Just this summer, multiple companies have announced new locations and expansions.” The Clarion-Ledger reported one of those successes may be an Amazon facility. Joseph Deason, Madison County EDA executive director, confirmed a 69 acre land purchase at the county’s mega site. Rounsaville refused to discuss this or any pending projects. Rumbarger said, “a key to Mississippi’s future economic development success” is a stronger alliance between economic and workforce development initiatives. Specifically, he said Rounsaville needs a revised State Workforce Investment Board (SWIB) “to take its place as a partner in economic development.” That seems to be coming together. A

week after appointing Rounsaville, Reeves appointed 43-year-old Patrick Sullivan, president of the Mississippi Energy Institute since 2011, as SWIB chairman. Rounsaville said he and Sullivan have worked together for many years, developing a strong, trusting relationship. Rounsaville also moved quickly to strengthen MDA’s connection to community college workforce programs, hiring Dr. William J. Ashley, a former community college executive, as Director of Business Research and Workforce Development. Ashley will also take the lead in another Rounsaville priority, developing a stronger business intelligence capacity at MDA. “We need to be very good at research and analytics.” Beyond this, Rounsaville is overseeing implementation of the state’s $240 million pandemic related Back to Business grant program and reviewing the structure of MDA’s numerous programs (recruiting and retention, tourism, community development, loan and grant programs, energy, etc.) to see how processes can be improved.

» John Rounsaville — Photo by the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal

Through June, unemployment had fallen to 9.7% as Reeves re-opened the state economy. But many lost jobs may never come back. The talented and persistent Rounsaville and his team face a tough slog just to get employment back where it was. “Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way” – 2 Thessalonians 3:16. » BILL CRAWFORD is a syndicated columnist from Jackson.

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Mississippi Business Journal

September 2020 Issue

Tupelo experiencing wave of commercial projects By DENNIS SEID Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal A trio of commercial property projects in Tupelo are well underway, representing millions of dollars in investment and demonstrating that the economy is getting its feet back under itself. One of the largest investments since 2012 has been the renovation of the former Gloster Creek Mall into the Midtown Pointe medical and professional mall. What was once a retail and restaurant hub in the 1970s through the early 1990s has been completely transformed. One of the last vestiges of the old mall was an adjacent building on the Midtown Pointe property that was once the Sears Auto Center, and later, home to McAlister's Deli and Juva. That building has been torn down, and a new 20,000-square-foot building is going up in its place. Its official name is Midtown Pointe II. Midtown Pointe II's anchor will be Sanders Clinic for Women, which is opening its second location in Tupelo on the first floor of the building "Sanders is taking about 7,100 square feet, and we've got roughly 10,000 square feet of commercial space on the second floor, and we're pre-leasing right now. " said leasing agent Clay Short of TRI Inc. "We still have about 2,400 square feet on the Gloster Street side on the first floor, and it could be

any commercial use, but we would really love it to be some sort of restaurant or something like that. We think it would be great for the tenants to walk out and grab a sandwich or something." M&N Construction, which has done thework at MIdtown Pointe, is also building the second building. Co-owner Nic Nichols said Midtown Pointe II should be finished in the spring of next year. Sanders will continue to operate its clinic on South Madision Street. The practice will be divided by gynecological or obstetric needs of the patient. The Midtown Pointe II location will be for obstetric patients and will be equipped with ultrasound. • In downtown Tupelo, the Children’s Clinic-Tupelo and Children’s Clinic-Saltillo are merging next summer and moving into The Grandstand at Fairpark, a new development by Century Construction. The 15,476-square-foot clinic will feature 27 exam rooms, each outfitted with infant scales, as well as private breastfeeding rooms for nursing mothers. Plans call for separate waiting areas for sick and well visits. The new clinic will also include a laboratory, procedure room and vision and hearing screening rooms. The clinic will occupy the entire bottom floor of The Grandstand and is more than double the size of both current clinics combined. Children’s Clinic is a partnership of North Mississippi Medical Center and Children’s

of Mississippi, the umbrella organization that includes all pediatric care affiliated with the University of Mississippi Medical Center, including Batson Children’s Hospital in Jackson. The Grandstand is under construction, and target date for opening of the clinic is June 2021. The Grandstand is the second of three buildings for the planned $12 million Fairpark Towers project in Fairpark. It will be about 64,000 square feet and include 47 luxury apartments, including studio, one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom units, craning from 583 square feet to 1,319 square feet. The building will have a fitness center, private elevators on both ends of the building, and trash chutes. All apartments except studios will have private balconies and rooftop access. The first Fairpark Tower opened last year and is home to insurance firm Ross & Yerger on the second floor, Century Construction on the third floor and BankPlus’s administrative offices on the fourth floor. BankPlus also has a retail branch office on the first floor of the building. Southern Craft Stove and Tap, which opened last December on the first floor, closed last week, but another restaurant Tupelo Grillenhouse, an offshoot of Oxford Grillehouse, will reopening the spot in a couple of months. • The long-awaited grocery store for West Tupelo will have a little longer wait for customers eagerly anticipating its opening, but

hopes are that it will be open by the end of the year. "If everything goes right, we hope to have it ready before Christmas," said V.M. Cleveland, who is developing the site. "A lot of things have to fall in place, but we think we can get it done." The 25,000-square-foot grocery store will include a pharmacy and deli, and it also will sell gas from fuel pumps that will be located in front of the store. Another 30,000 square feet is available, and Cleveland has three tenants lined up so far, including a liquor store, a nail salon and a restaurant. Iuka-based Brooks Grocery announced its intention to open a store at the intersection of Coley Road and West Jackson Extended across from the Tupelo Furniture Market in 2017, but backed off after rumors that Walmart was looking to build a Neighborhood Market nearby. But those plans never developed, and Brooks renewed its plans last year. While the opening was planned for this spring, wet weather throughout the winter and spring, in addition to the coronavirus, delayed work on the project The building that houses Brooks will be adjacent to the Market Center, which is home to Fox’s Pizza Den, AT&T, Core Cycle & Outdoor, Ken Johnson DDS, Gilpin Cleaners and Northeast Endodontics. Brooks Grocery was established in 2009.

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September 2020 Issue

Mississippi Business Journal

WHILE NOT THEIR MAIN FOCUS, SOME BUSINESSES CONTINUE TO MAKE PPE

» Blue Delta Jean Company and Queen's Reward making impact on community By DENNIS SEID Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal

ix months after the COVID-19 pandemic spread forced many businesses to adapt to the economic upheaval in its wake, Josh West is breathing a little bit better. The CEO of Blue Delta Jeans, which is known for its custom-made – and expensive – jeans, shifted his company's resources during the early days of the pandemic to keep his employees working and to help others in need. Blue Delta is one of dozens of personal protective equipment (PPE) providers across the state providing everything from hand sanitizer to face shields to gowns to dividers. A list of providers is available online at ms-ppe.org Blue Delta has been making a name for itself in the fashion world with its custom jeans. Sports figures and entertainers have donned them, and the company was named the official jean of the U.S. Ryder Cup Team. But the need for personal protection equipment – or PPEs - especially face masks, were in short supply and in great demand. Blue Delta began making masks from spun-bond non-woven material that it could supply from next door. West was hoping to make the masks for a few weeks then return to making jeans. As it turned out, the company is doing both. "The good news is we're still making PPE, but we're also making a lot of jeans," he said. "We've been able to take our core people off PPE and we have a separate line for the jeans that we created. Some of our non-core people are on the PPE line, plus we hired a few more to work it."

» Blue Delta Jean Company employee Fernando Reis begins making stacks of 10 protective masks before others can pack boxes of 400 masks at its facility in the Tupelo Lee Industrial Park South.

With the goal of workers making 400-500 masks per day, production of the masks has been staggering: More than 1.8 million have been produced, and another 500,000 are to be produced. "Some of that is going for a rainy day, but a lot of it is staying in Mississippi," West said. In addition to the masks, Blue Delta also began making gowns, and about 20,000 have been made. "We'll provably make another 50,000 to 100,000 in the next couple of months," West added. Across town, Queen's Reward Meadery had already

» Blue Delta Jean employee Pedro Sanchez and other employees at the company shifted production from high-end blue jeans to producing masks per week at their facility in Tupelo Lee Industrial Park South.

made a name for itself as the state's first and so far, only meadery. The honey-based winery has won acclaim nationwide with its variety of meads, but it got even more exposure when it began making hand sanitizer. Owner Jeri Carter bought a copper still originally to make mead brandy down the road, but saw the need for sanitizer was immediate. Honey, water and yeast are the basic components in mead, but for the hand sanitizer it’s ethanol, glycerin and hydrogen peroxide. Mead production was slowed as making sanitizer became the priority., While the honey and yeast take four to six weeks to ferment, it takes about a week for a sugar and water mixture to ferment and change to ethanol. Then it » Blue Delta Jean employee Taylor Anderson and other seamstress at the company shifted takes only about four hours to make a batch of sanitizer. production from high-end blue jeans to producing protective masks at their plant in Verona. Carter and her husband, Geoff, wanted to help with the coronavirus response in some way and had heard of some craft beer makers switching production to make hand sanitizer. “I was talking about it with Geoff, and you know, we said we have half the process down where we make the alcohol,” Jeri said. “We just didn’t have the distillation part. So he says, ‘I wonder if we can get a • Pizza Spaghetti still, and we can do the distillation part?’” • Salad Bar • Sandwich After fermentation and 709 S 4th St. • Baldwyn, MS • We Can Accommodate Large Groups Mon.-Thurs. 11-10 • Fri.-Sat. 11-11 • Sun. 12-10 See COMMUNITY, Page 22

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22 n

Mississippi Business Journal

COMMUNITY

September 2020 Issue

ter felt the need to reach out to then as well. All told, Queen's Reward has produced more than 1,000 gallons of hand sanitizer. distillation the hand sanitizer is about 90% It will continue to make it based on dealcohol by volume. Each batch will yield mand, of course, but Carter is happy to get about 25 gallons of hand sanitizer. back to her main business of making mead. "It seemed inconceivable that we'd still "Fortunately we can crank up production be making hand sanitizer," Jeri Carter said. as needed, and we have all the ingredients," "Sales have dropped, but they were big in she said. "I don't know if I'll go to the trouthe beginning because you couldn't find it. ble of buying the small bottles that we used because they're so accessible now, but we'll definitely do the bulk stuff because that's where the need is right now." At 3-on-3 Distributors in Ripley, owner Linda Muir had sold her previous business, Edwards Pharmaceuticals after 30 years and had gotten in the CBD distribution business. But when the coronavirus hit, she, too shifted the focus of the business. While 3-on-3 doesn't make any PPE, it does buy them from other distributors and in turn sell them themselves. The company provides gowns, disinfectant spray, face masks, face shields, thermometers and » Jeri Carter, owner of Queen's Reward Meadery, begins hand sanitizer. making another 10 liters of hand sanitizer at her facility "For two weeks, it was really busy," Muir said. "It's slowed down a lot, especially as in Tupelo. some bigger companies have gotten in it But now it's everywhere again. Most of what and now it's hard to compete against them." Still, demand for face shields are still fairly we're selling now is in bulk. We're not selling strong, she said. much of the individual sizes any more." In Aberdeen, Allmond Printing proves "We just sent 28 gallons just to Itawamba face shields, sneeze County," Carter said. guards, table dividers Also in the early and tent signs, all made days, Queen's Rein-house. ward was able to Local schools and give away hundreds the city have been the of bottles of hand biggest customers, and sanitizer thanks to continue to purchase generous buyers who from Allmond, which wanted to help. » Queen's Reward temporarily stopped producgot in the PPE business "The way the ing its mead in April to start producing hand to keep its employees community jumped sanitizer but have returned to making mead working. in, with people givfull time. The business had a little fun with the And working is exing money to help labels to remind everyone how to help control actly what Blue Delta's give it away, was just West said was the imthe spread of the COVID-19 virus. awesome," she said. petus behind getting in "And we were able to give away sanitizer the mask-making business. He didn't think to the Tupelo Police Department, the Lee he's still be making them after all this time. County Sheriff's Department, emergency "It is amazing... if you asked me when we responders and the post office." started if we would still be making masks Teachers have also received free hand sanitizer as well. As a former teacher, Jeri Car- at this point, I would have said, 'Of course Continued from Page 21

not,'" he said. "We were just going to do it for a couple of weeks or so to tide us over to give our people something to do and to help. Every time we finished a shipment we said, 'OK, that's it, let's start making jeans,' but then MEMA would call or hospitals would call and say they needed 100,000 masks." MEMA - the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency – hospitals and schools are the biggest customers of Blue Delta's masks now. "We'll keep making them as long people still need them," West said.

» Tupelo Mayor Jason Shelton helps hand out 500 bottles of free hand sanitizer produced by Queen’s Reward Meadery in Tupelo in April. John Weber, owner of Weber Marine in Baton Rouge, La., purchased 1,000 bottles to be given away to surprise his fiancée Lesley Scott of Saltillo. Half were given away and the rest will be given to Lee County emergency personnel and postal carriers.

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ribbon cuttings

September 2020 Issue • www.msbusiness.com • Page 24

» North Mississippi Vital Care In celebration of their grand opening, a ribbon cutting was held at North Mississippi Vital Care, a new infusion pharmacy offering in-home and in-clinic infusion services, located in Tupelo’s Spanish Village on South Thomas Street. Visit their website www. northmsvitalcare.com or call (662)260-3366.

» Monroe Family Dentistry A ribbon cutting was held to celebrate the grand opening of Monroe Family Dentistry. Conveniently located in Tupelo’s Midtown Pointe, Monroe Family Dentistry treats patients of all ages and welcomes new patients. Visit their website www.monroefamdentistry.com or call (662)845-4311.

» Shawn King State Farm The 5th anniversary of Shawn King State Farm Agency in Tupelo was celebrated with a ribbon cutting. Located on North Gloster Street, they offer State Farm insurance products from a friendly, professional and experienced team. Call (662)269-2530 or visit their website: shawnkingtupelo.com.

» Cottontail & Co. » Franklin Collection Service A ribbon cutting was held to celebrate the anniversary of Franklin Collection Service’s 40th anniversary. Franklin Collection Service is a locally-owned revenue recovery resource with service in all 50 states. Visit their website www.franklinservice.com or phone 844-7776.

Cottontail & Co., a new baby & children’s boutique in Tupelo, celebrated their grand opening with a ribbon cutting. Located on Nelle Street, they offer unique and trendy clothing, accessories, and locally-inspired t-shirts. Check out their Facebook page for stock and store information.

RIBBON CUTTINGS

September 2020 Issue

Mississippi Business Journal

» True Gamers Lounge » To the Pointe The grand opening of To the Pointe was celebrated with a ribbon cutting. Located on McCullough Blvd. in Tupelo, To the Pointe specializes in professionally-fitted dance shoes, dance and athletic apparel and accessories. Visit their website: to-the-pointeshoe-store.shoplightspeed.com

The grand opening of True Gamers Lounge was celebrated with a ribbon cutting. Located at 3466 McCullough Blvd., True Gamers Lounge has the newest and hottest video games with 50” HDTVs, comfortable lounge chairs, and headphones in a clean and family-friendly environment. Visit their website at truegamerslounge.com and follow them on social media.

» Regional Rehabilitation In celebration of their anniversary, a ribbon cutting was held at Regional Rehab. They offer physical, occupational, and speech therapy; early intervention; and dyslexia services for clients of all ages. Their funding comes donations so their services cost nothing to the client. Visit their website www.regionalrehab.com or follow them on social media.

» Firehouse Subs Firehouse Subs celebrated new ownership with a ribbon cutting event. Their menu includes hot and cold subs, sandwiches, salads, and soup. They offer catering, curbside and home or business delivery. Firehouse Subs is known for their support of first responders. You can order online at firehousesubs.com or call 620-7777.

real estate/construction September 2020 Issue • Mississippi Business Journal • www.msbusiness.com

Profile

marketing and referral connections while remaining local real estate experts. “Our plan is not to be the largest (real estate firm) in the area, but to continue to provide the best possible service for our clients.” There are pros and cons to the real estate profession, Klein said. “My favorite part of the job is helping our clients find the best home for their needs,” she said. “First-time home buyers are especially fun to work with, seeing their excitement when purchasing a home. The least favorite? Being the bearer of bad news when a deal falls through, whatever the reason.” In almost two decades, Klein has witnessed plenty of changes in the business, especially dramatic shifts in mortgage interest rates. in the 2000s, the average rates on a 30-year, fixed rate loan ranged between 5.04 and 8.05 percent, according to I learned a Freddie Mac. After the housing crash of 2008, lot about the applied those skills to conducting statistical interest rates fell unresearch, forecasting interest rate risk and business and knew der 6 percent and haanalyzing marketing statistics for ven’t risen above since. it was something I various large companies, includToday, rates are at hising WorldCom, Trustmark Bank toric lows and industry eventually wanted and Vicksburg’s Waterways Experforecasts expect them to iment Station. to do hover around 3.7 percent Approximately 14,000 people each throughout 2020. month Google “how to become a real “Fortunately, we’ve been estate agent”, as they consider joining the able to see those days after two million real estate licensees in America. the crash, come and go,” Klein said. For most, a career selling houses is only a pipe “Now’s the time to sell, as housing inventories are way dream. down. There’s plenty of competition (by buyers) for Eighteen years ago, Klein took the plunge into homes that are on the market. They’re being sold very a real estate career. She joined family-owned quickly and at the listed price or more.” McIntosh & Associates in 2002 and has never Due to the pandemic, changes to the way Klein conlooked back. ducts business have occurred but she’s adjusted. “As I got older, and after having my daughter, “Face-to-face meetings are reduced, so we have I wanted a more flexible schedule,” Klein said. Zoom meetings with agents and some clients,” she said. “Having grown up around real estate with my “There’s a lot more documentation due to COVID. mother (Rita McIntosh), I learned a lot about And, we always wear masks and gloves when entering the business and knew it was something I even- someone’s home.” tually wanted to do.” Working in the fast-paced real estate world, Klein reKlein earned her real estate license in 1999 laxes by making her own custom window treatments. and joined McIntosh & Associates in the Mad“It started when I couldn’t find the right treatment for ison office. At the same time, the company my own home,” she said. “It’s kind of evolved into a hobby.” achieved membership into Leading RE, a global Deep-sea fishing is another pastime for the Pearl native. organization featuring 550 of the world’s lead“I don’t own the first (rod and reel) but fishing for coing independent real estate firms. bia on a charter (boat) in the Gulf off Louisiana is a lot of “Leading RE is an exclusive international fun,” Klein said. “Landing my first mahi mahi was quite network of elite real estate companies,” she said. a thrill.” “Membership allows our agents to have global

» Real Estate agent Vicki Klein By NASH NUNNERY mbj@msbusiness.com

picture might paint a thousand words, but a child’s drawing spoke volumes to Vicki McIntosh Klein. “When I first started in real estate, my daughter’s class was asked by the teacher to draw a picture of their parents,” said Klein. “She drew me with a phone in my ear.” A realtor and managing broker with boutique real estate firm Mcintosh & Associates LLC, Klein laughingly admits the crayon portrait is still quite accurate of the typical real estate professional. Like most brokers and realtors, Klein didn’t enter the field right out of college. Instead, the Belhaven University graduate took her mathematics degree and

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REAL ESTATE/CONSTRUCTION

September 2020 Issue

Mississippi Business Journal

residential sales blooming

By LYNN LOFTON Daily Journal

ith the 30-year mortgage rate at its lowest level in history, home sales are flourishing in spite of the pandemic economic downturn. The winners are both buyers and sellers. Mississippi realtors say residential sales look good across the state. “Signs are pointing to strong sales across the state with prices holding steady and days on the market shorter than normal,” Mississippi Association of Realtors President Keith Henley says. “The traditional hot spots are DeSoto County, the Greater Jackson Metro area, Coast counties, university towns and the greater Golden Triangle/Tupelo areas; all are continuing to show growth and strong sales activity.” Henley, broker/owner of RE/MAX Elite in Tupelo, says two major factors for the surge are low inventory, which means there are fewer homes on the market for

sale, and the historically low interest rates. “While the pandemic has affected a lot of people's employment there are still a great number of people who can and are willing to buy a home,” he said. “Sale prices definitely vary by region. The more prosperous the region the greater the cost of real estate is. Some of the high demand areas such as Oxford, Petal, Diamondhead, pockets around Jackson and so forth are setting records for price-per-square foot.” The market is also strong in Henley's Tupelo area. “Much like the rest of the state and nationally for that matter, our inventory is very low. As of today there are only 495 residential properties on the market for sale compared to two years ago when that number would have been over 800.” On the Gulf Coast, Stephanie Cowart, realtor with Berkshire Hathaway Home Services/Shaw Realty, says the market is thriving. “I account it to the continued low interest rates and there are a lot of

people refinancing and taking advantage of the rates. Another trend I see in our area is Baby Boomers downsizing from their large family homes and Gen X and Millennials (23-38) buying bigger homes to accommodate their family as well as lifestyles. Also, the pandemic hit at the height of the Spring buying boom, one of the busiest times for home purchases.” Cowart adds that there are a lot of first time home buyers, younger people who have job security. “I have had a lot of folks from the medical field buying along with professionals with job security,” she said. She feels the market is level between sellers and buyers. “Sellers continue to list and buyers continue to purchase,” she said. “I think sellers are not inflating their prices and they are coming out with a fair market value, and buyers are smart and not willing to overpay. If a house is not selling, more thank likely it's not priced at a fair market price or what buyers are willing to pay.”

In Northwest portion of the state, residential sales are also healthy. “Sales are really good and have been pretty steady the past few years. The virus didn't slow anything down and we have low inventory,” says Amanda Fowler, executive officer of the Northwest Mississippi Association of Realtors. Many of those homes for sale have multiple offers and the prices are increasing. DeSoto County is the main source of sales in the area, which Fowler says stays consistent. “Our area is blessed to be on the Memphis line and growth has not stopped during the pandemic with Amazon and Google building facilities here,” she said. “The majority of people who lost jobs with the pandemic have been able to find other jobs.” Fowler says that in June the average home sale price was $232,000 with two months from listing to closing. “Most sellers get 98 percent of their listing price and they're selling quickly to a mix of buyers.”

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Mississippi Business Journal

September 2020 Issue

Apartments start leasing in NorthRidge development of Jackson By JACK WEATHERLY jack.weatherly@msbusiness.com

enee Ainsworth conducted a tour of the nearly complete Tapestry Northridge luxury apartment complex in northeast Jackson. The 14.4-acre, 220-unit development will start move-ins in a matter of days, said Ainsworth, property manager for Arlington Properties of Birmingham, the builder. A number of units have already been leased and 98 people are on the waiting list, she said recently. The milestone has been achieved four years after the city of Jackson approved the plans for the overall redevelopment of the 152 acres of what had been the Colonial Country Club. It was initially called Colonial Highlands. The overall plan calls for 660, primarily free-standing residences, – along with a retail center, including a grocery. The proj-

» Five thousand square foot club is the headquarters for Tapestry NorthRidge./Photo by Jack Weatherly

ect’s initial price was put at $250 mllion. Dave Ellis, executive vice president of development for Arlington Properties,

said in a release last year: “This is an iconic area of Jackson in need of more luxury apartments that appeal to professionals who desire upscale suburban living.” The overall project got city Planning Board approval in » Each of the 10 buildings with 22 apartments has six garages February 2016 and the City to rent./Photo by Jack Weatherly Council stamp of approval two months later as a tradi24-hour fitness area, a saltwater pool and tional neighborhood, a change from covered grilling area. from special use, which is reserved for Apartments and starting prices are as golf course, parks, churches and other follows: 84 one-bedrooms, 821 square community assets. feet, $1,140; 112 two-bedrooms, two The initial effort by the developers bath, 1,108 square feet, $1,375; and 24 in early 2015 to move forward with three-bedrooms, two bath, 1,331 square a plan was a cause for bad blood and feet, $1,725. suspicion. Valet trash pickup at each unit Sunday The developers sought to have through Thursday from 7 a.m. till 9 p.m. the city change its zoning code to al- is offered at $30 a month. There will be low mixed-use development on land no dumpster on premises, but there will zoned for special use, such as parks, be a compactor. hospitals, churches and golf courses. Each of the 10, 22-apartment buildings That would have allowed commercial has six garages available at $150 a month. development in those lands without Amenities including a dog park with public hearings. “pet agility equipment, and a “spa” for But at a showdown at City Hall with washing a pet. an angry standing-room-only crowd There is a one-time $400 pet fee, with of residents convinced the council $100 for each additional pet, maximum members that was not a good idea to of three. Pet rent is $15 per month per pursue. The developers dropped that pet. Breeds that are considered aggresapproach. sive, such as pitbulls and rottweilers, will The 5,000-square-foot clubhouse, not be allowed. which opened a week ago, features a There is a free car-wash facility. cyber cafe, mailroom and parcel pending space, in addition to a yoga studio,

REAL ESTATE/CONSTRUCTION Commercial Developers Commercial Developers commercial developers Rank

Company

Phone

September 2020 Issue

Website

Mississippi Business Journal

Top officer

Founded

Mississippi employees 100

Desai Hotel Group, 105 W. Washington St., Suite A2 Ridgeland, MS 39157

601-313-9307

desaihotelgroup.com

Sunny Desai

2009

EastGroup Properties, 400 W Parkway Place Suite 100 Ridgeland, MS 39157

601-354-3555

eastgroup.net

Marshall A Loeb

1969

StateStreet Group, LLC, P.O. Box 13925 Jackson, MS 39236-3925

601-981-4445

statestreetgroup.com

John K. Ditto III

1971

Bruce R Patel

Fusion Hospitality, 1020 N Gloster St; No.110 Tupelo, MS 38804

662-205-4031

fusion-hospitality.com

Storage Park Development Inc., 40 Northtown Dr. Jackson, MS 39211

601-977-0733

stomax.com

2010

1992

Mattiace Companies, 125 S. Congress St., Ste. 1800 Jackson, MS 39201

601-352-1818

mattiace.com

Andrew Mattiace

1979

Kerioth Corporation, 361 Township Ave, Ste 200 Ridgeland, MS 39157

601-368-9950

kerioth.com

Clinton G. Herring Jr.

1983

York Developments, 112 Sheffield Loop, Suite D Hattiesburg, MS 39402

601-264-0403

yorkdevelopments.com

1990

Duckworth Realty/Concord Capital, 308 E. Pearl St. Jackson, MS 39201

601-914-0800

duckworthrealty.com

1989

1992

1933

10 12

The Cress Group, LLC, 661 Sunnybrook Rd, Suite 120 Ridgeland, MS 39157

601-707-1300

cresscre.com

Bennett V York Ted Duckworth, Breck Hines Gary Cress

London & Stetelman Commercial Realtors, 3906 Hardy St., #20 Hattiesburg, MS 39402

601-268-8770

londonandstetelman.com

Andy Stetelman

H.C. Bailey Co./Colony Properties, 1022 Highland Colony Pky., #300 Ridgeland, MS 39157

601-853-8000

colonypark.org

H.C. (Buster) Bailey Jr.

1952

Speed Commercial Real Estate, 805 S. Wheatley St, Suite 190 Ridgeland, MS 39157

601-987-0202

speedcres.com

Jeff Speed

2009

Randall Commercial Group, LLC, 850 Insight Park Ave. University, MS 38677

662-234-4044

randallcommercialgroup.com

Elizabeth J Randall

2009

The Estes Group, Inc., 613 Crescent Circle, Ste. 102 Ridgeland, MS 39157

601-362-9633

estesgroup.net

2004

Southeast Commercial of MS, LLC, 2310 19th St. Gulfport, MS 39501

228-276-2700

southeastcre.com

2009

20 21 23

Cook Commercial Properties, LLC, 1501 Lakeland Drive Jackson, MS 39216

601-214-6343

cookcommproperties.com

Brian E Estes Tim Carlson, Monte Luffey, Scott Delano William Cook

1995

TRI Inc. Commercial Realtors, 600 W Main St, Suite B Tupelo, MS 38804

662-842-8283

trirealestate.net

Clay Short

1952

601-981-6800

ucrproperties.com

Tom Underwood, Micah McCullough

1948

662-895-0099

utleyproperties.com

Mark D. Utley Sr. Breck Hines, Ted Duckworth Nancy M Lane

1965

NAI UCR Properties & Underwood Companies, 660 Katherine Dr, #304 Jackson, MS 39232 Utley Properties, P.O. 866 Olive Branch, MS 38654 The District Land Development Co., 308 E. Pearl St., Suite 200 Jackson, MS 39201

601-914-0800

thedistrictateastover.com

Lane-Harkins Commercial Real Estate, LLC, 12 River Bend Place Flowood, MS 39232

601-932-4664

nancylanecommercial.com

2012

2015

Kennedy & Company Real Estate, Inc., 120 W. Jackson St., 2C Ridgeland, MS 39157

601 898 2999

kennedy-realestate.com

Steve Kennedy

1989

COMVEST Properties, LLC, 286 Beauvoir Rd., Suite. 200 Biloxi, MS 39531

228-594-3400

comvest.net

D. Brooks Holstein

2003

J. Walter Michel Agency Inc., 2660 Ridgewood Rd. Suite 101 Jackson, MS 39216

601-352-0757

WalterMichel.com

Henry R. Michel

1927

T.L. Brown Properties, 1991 Lakeland Dr., Ste. J Jackson, MS 39216

601-981-1170

tlbrownproperties.com

Tim Brown

1979

1997

Seaway Development Company, LLC, 14231 Seaway Rd, Ste 7001 Gulfport, MS 39503 228-575-7731 seawaybusinesspark.com Steve Goldin Information provided by company representatives and MBJ research. Direct questions to Frank Brown at frank.brown@msbusiness.com

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economic development September 2020 Issue • Mississippi Business Journal • www.msbusiness.com

Cancelled conventions' economic impact By LYNN LOFTON mbj@msbusiness.com

pring and summer are normally the busiest times for meetings and conventions in Mississippi, but this year has been different due to the pandemic and travel restrictions. The number of events has been down for the state's two largest convention and visitors bureaus, Visit Jackson and Coastal Mississippi. Visit Jackson spokeswoman Kim Lewis says this summer brought a 75 percent decrease in the number of events compared with the number for 2019. There were 117 events in the summer of 2019 for an estimated economic impact of $20 million. This summer there were 14 events with an estimated economic impact of $4.9 million. However, the organization is fighting back and already has several meetings booked for 2021 with an impact of $6.5 million. “We're working extremely hard with meeting planners and pushing the concept of 'don't cancel, postpone,'” she said, “and we're sharing ways our industry partners are implementing the recommended safety guidelines.” Visit Jackson is also enticing groups to

book with a lower tax rate, ample meeting and convention space, and an extensive complimentary services package. “We have added financial incentives to book before the end of this year,” Lewis said. “Events can be held any time in the future and 100 percent of the funds will be given to the hotel venue to offset their meeting costs, such as the additional cost of booking a larger venue so social distancing can be ensured.” Under normal circumstances, Coastal Mississippi hosts the majority of its conventions between April and July although the area is marketed as a year-round destination for groups. CEO Milton Segarra says before the pandemic group and convention numbers for 2020 were pacing to be the best the region had seen in the past five years. “Coastal Mississippi convention numbers were forecast to increase in 2020,” he said. “However, due to COVID-19, almost all groups that were scheduled from March 2020 onwards (excluding youth sports) have either been postponed or cancelled. The same applies to our leisure market visitors.” Facing these challenges, Coastal Mississippi touts the resilient nature of the desti-

nation and its people. “Our healthcare authorities have acted as true heroes to ensure the residents and visitors of Coastal Mississippi stay safe and healthy as we fight an invisible enemy,” Segarra said. “We appreciate support provided by several of our healthcare authorities in developing our Coastal Mississippi Promise of health and safety.” While encouraging industry partners, residents and visitors to continue being vigilant, Coastal Mississippi “looks forward to welcoming visitors to explore our 62 miles of unique, exciting, and relaxing offerings, as well as the robust amount of development taking place here, including the world class Mississippi Aquarium.” Segarra says the CVB also looks forward to the upcoming openings of more pivotal developments, including hotels, restaurants, and attractions. Corey Miller, economic analyst with the University Research Center of the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning, says that although the state's negative impact from the pandemic has not been large, the service-oriented sectors that include tourism and travel, accommodations and food services, and arts and entertainment are likely to bear the brunt of the impacts.

“I will say revenues for Mississippi in the last few months have performed better than we expected at the start of the pandemic,” he said. “We believe the large transfers from the CARES Act (additional unemployment benefits, Payroll Protection Plan, and $1,200 taxpayer stimulus checks) have been a major factor.” Miller says total revenue collected by the State Department of Revenue from April through August of 2020 was about $3.64 billion, which compares to approximately $3.77 billion during the same period in 2019. The difference represents a decrease of 3.5 percent. Total revenues for all of fiscal 2020 were about $152 million less than in fiscal 2019, a decrease of 2.5 percent. “If we are correct, we expect a decline in September revenues unless additional stimulus money is made available,” he said. “Overall the state’s economy has held up fairly well compared to other states. However, as long as COVID-19 remains a threat, the state and national economies won’t be able to fully recover.”

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32 n

Mississippi Business Journal

September 2020 Issue

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

MAJOR SOLAR PROJECTS COMING TO HANCOCK, CLARKE COUNTIES By LISA MONTI mbj@msbusiness.com

onstruction of two large solar panel facilities will begin soon at sites in Hancock and Clarke counties. The two electric generating stations, each costing $80 million, will sell wholesale power to Mississippi Power which in turn will sell it to its customers. The 78.5 megawatts solar farms are owned by Birch Creek Development, a California-based company that specializes in the development, financing, ownership and operation of utility-scale solar projects across the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic. Birch Creek has partnered with Pine Gate Renewables of Asheville, N.C., to oversee the development of the Cane Creek project in Clarke County and the Moonshot Solar project in Hancock County. Public Service Commission Chairman Dane Maxwell, who announced the PSC’s approval last month of the two projects, said negotiations for land purchases for the projects is ongoing so exact locations aren’t yet available. “We’ll know shortly,” he said. “They’re supposed to be breaking ground in the next several months.” Construction of the two facilities is expected to take about a year with the goal

of reaching commercial operation by the end of 2022, said Daniel Forde, the PSC’s director of policy. Maxwell said the new projects will have a number of direct and indirect economic benefits for Hancock and Clarke counties and the surrounding areas. “It will create 300 jobs during construction and five full-time jobs over the 35-year lifespan of the facility. Other businesses will spring up because of it and there could be companies working to maintain those panels,” Maxwell said. “It’s going to give us a reliable source of renewable energy and we don’t have a lot of that.” Utilities including Mississippi Power are looking to solar energy as a clean and cheaper alternative to carbon-based resources. The company’s website calls solar generation a cost-effective power source that stabilizes prices for its customers and benefits the environment. The company is involved with four solar energy businesses and the U.S. Navy on solar facilities in its service area which generate more than 160 megawatts o electricity. That amount is enough to power more than 23,000 homes or a year. The facilities are a 3-4 megawatt utility-scale solar energy project on a 15-acre site at the Naval Construction Battalion Center in Gulfport, a 50-MW project on

450 acres in Hattiesburg, a 52-MW 595acre site in Sumrall and a 53-MW project in Lauderdale County. According to the PSC, the two planned facilities will be 78.5 megawatt generating stations that will deliver wholesale power directly to the Mississippi Power/Southern Company transmission grid. The facilities will utilize approximately 265,000 400-watt photovoltaic panels that will be ground-mounted via steel racking structures and single-axis tracking systems. “As far as acreage goes, the engineering plans are still in the works on these

projects,” Forde said. “Topography, other environmental factors, and technology all impact how much land is needed to reach their capacity goal of 78.5 megawatts.” According to the Solar Energy Industry Association, a utility-scale solar power plant could require between 5 and 10 acres per megawatt of generating capacity. The developers received approval from the PSC last month and are working on engineering plans which will be filed at the PSC prior to construction.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

September 2020 Issue

Mississippi Business Journal

Trade Associations

Trade AssociationsTRADE ASSOCIATIONS

2020 Convention

Association

Phone

Website

Director

Associated Builders & Contractors of Mississippi, 5165 Old Brandon Road, Pearl, MS 39208 American Council of Engineering Companies of Miss, 825 N. President St., Jackson, MS 39202 American Institute of Architects, Mississippi Chapter, 509 E. Capitol St., Jackson, MS 39201 American Subcontractors Association of Mississippi, PO Box 1452, Madison, MS 39110 AGC Mississippi, 2093 Lakeland Dr., Jackson, MS 39216 Bed & Breakfast Association of Mississippi, P.O. Box 13341, Jackson, MS 39236 Brain Injury Association of Mississippi, 1640 Lelia Dr., Ste. 100, Jackson, MS 39216 Business Retention and Expansion International, P.O. Box 15011, Hattiesburg, MS 39404 Catfish Farmers of America, 1100 U.S. East, Suite 202, Indianola, MS 38751 Community Health Center Association of Mississippi, 6400 Lakeover Rd., Jackson, MS 39213 Craftsmen's Guild of Mississippi, Inc., 950 Rice Rd., Ridgeland, MS 39157 Diabetes Coalition of Mississippi, P.O. Box 15011, Hattiesburg, MS 39404 Electric Cooperatives of Mississippi, 665 Highland Colony Pkwy., Ridgeland, MS 39157 Home Builders & Remodelers Association of Northeast Mississippi, 3733 McCullough Blvd., Belden, MS 38826 Home Builders Association of Mississippi, 290 Commerce Park Drive, Ste. B, Ridgeland, MS 39157 Independent Insurance Agents of Mississippi, 124 Riverview Dr., Flowood, MS 39232 Independent Nursing Home Association, 1604 Cypress Lane, Gulfport, MS 39507 Mississippi Academy of Family Physicians, 755 Avignon Dr., Ridgeland, MS 39157 Mississippi Airports Association, P.O. Box 16803, Jackson, MS 39236 Mississippi Alliance for Charitable Gaming, P.O. Box 15011, Hattiesburg, MS 39404 Mississippi Alliance of Child Care Agencies, P.O. Box 405, Jackson, MS 39205 Mississippi Alliance of Nonprofits & Philanthropy, 175 E. Capitiol St, Ste 501, Jackson, MS 39201

601-944-0421 601-420-2002 769-234-7898 601-862-0561 601-981-1144 601-956-0084 601-981-1021 601-602-8074 662-887-2699 601-981-1817 601-856-7546 601-255-3283 601-605-8600

abcmississippi.org acecms.org aiamississippi.org subcontractormississippi.com msagc.com missbab.com msbraininjury.org brei.org catfishfarmersofamerica.com chcams.org craftsmensguildofms.org diabetescoalition-ms.org ecm.coop

Lee Nations Craig Carter

Madison Moore Michael Callahan

Canceled

662-373-0005

buildithere.com

Norma Jean Estes

Canceled

601-969-3446 601-939-9909 601-955-5999 601-853-3302 877-397-3929 601-602-5011 601-672-4988 601-968-0061

hbam.com msagent.org msinha.org msafp.org msairportsassociation.com mscharitablegaming.org macca4kids.org alliancems.org

Clinton A. Graham Alice Mitchell Beth Embry Kathy Kenne Ryan Kelly John Morgan Hughes Sammy Moon

Mississippi Asphalt Pavement Association, 711 N. President St, Jackson, MS 39202

601-948-5495

asphaltpavems.com

Michael Arnemann

March 9-13

Snowmass Village, Col

Mississippi Association for Home Care, Box 115, Clinton, MS 39060 Mississippi Association for Justice, 727 N. Congress St, Jackson, MS 39202 Mississippi Association of Addiction Professionals, 4785 Old Canton Rd., Jackson, MS 39211 Mississippi Association of Broadcasters, 403D-3 Towne Center Blvd, Ridgeland, MS 39157 Mississippi Association of Coaches, 600 E. Northside Dr., Clinton, MS 39056 Mississippi Association of Conservation Districts, 680 Monroe St., Jackson, MS 39202 Mississippi Association of Educators, 775 N. State St., Jackson, MS 39202 Mississippi Association of Housing & Redevelopment Officials, P O Box 832, Hattiesburg, MS 39403-0832 Mississippi Association of Nurse Anesthetists, 1022 Highland Colony Pkwy., Ste. 101, Ridgeland, MS 39157

601-924-2275 601-948-8631 601-321-2085 601-957-9121 601-924-3020 601-354-7645 601-354-4463

mahc.org msaj.org msaap.net msbroadcasters.org mscoaches.com macdweb.org maetoday.org

Mary Lea Nations Ayres Haxton Bernard Matherne Jr. Amanda Fontaine Johnny Mims Mark Gilbert Tyrone Hendrix

June 2-6 Canceled Canceled Canceled Jan. 22-23 Feb. 29

Virtual

601-583-1881

mahro.org

Ben Washington

Canceled

601-898-8400

mana.us

Rob Rogers

Jan 25-27

Ridgeland

Mississippi Association of Partners in Education, 141 Executive Dr Ste 1, Madison, MS 39110

601-837-1080

mapems.org

Cynthia Huff, Sarah Link

March

Hattiesburg

Mississippi Association of Planning & Development Districts, P.O. Box 4935, Jackson, MS 39296-4935 Mississippi Association of School Superintendents, 555 Tombigbee St., Ste. 107, Jackson, MS 39201 Mississippi Association of Self-Insurers, 825 N. President St., Jackson, MS 39202 Mississippi Association of Supervisors, 793 N. President St., Jackson, MS 39202 Mississippi Automobile Dealers Association, 800 Woodlands Parkway, Suite 100, Ridgeland, MS 39157 Mississippi Bail Agents Association, 451 Northpark Dr., Suite B, Ridgeland, MS 39157 Mississippi Bankers Association, 640 N. State St., Jackson, MS 39202 Mississippi Beer Distributors Association, Inc., P.O. Box 1132, Jackson, MS 39215-1132 Mississippi Cattlemen's Association, 680 Monroe St., Ste. A, Jackson, MS 39202 Mississippi Cemetery Association, Box 28, Madison, MS 39130 Mississippi Chapter of the Appraisal Institute, 2405 Willinghurst Dr, Germantown, TN 38139 Mississippi Collision Repair Association, 309 Jefferson St, Clinton, MS 39056 Mississippi Concrete Association, 5165 Old Brandon Road, Pearl, MS 39208 Mississippi Conference on Social Welfare, P.O. Box 16764, Hattiesburg, MS 39404 Mississippi Consumer Finance Association, P.O. Box 5004, Jackson, MS 39296 Mississippi Credit Union Association, 1400 Lakeover Rd., Ste. 200, Jackson, MS 39213 Mississippi Defense Lawyers Association, P.O. Box 5605, Brandon, MS 39047 Mississippi Dental Association, 439B Katherine Dr., Flowood, MS 39232 Mississippi Dental Hygienists' Association, 213 Wellington Way, Brandon, MS 39047 Mississippi Economic Development Council, 1675 Lakeland Dr., Ste. 502, Jackson, MS 39216 Mississippi Educational Computing Association, P.O. Box 4198, Meridian, MS 39307 Mississippi Engineering Society, 300 Castlewoods Blvd., Ste. 10, Brandon, MS 39047 Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation, 6311 Ridgewood Rd., Jackson, MS 39211 Mississippi Forestry Association, 6311 Ridgewood Road, Suite W405, Jackson, MS 39211 Mississippi Funeral Directors and Morticians Association, 106 Heatherlynn Circle, Clinton, MS 39056 Mississippi Funeral Directors Association, Box 22584, Jackson, MS 39225 Mississippi Gaming and Hospitality Association, P.O. Box 4566, Jackson, MS 39296 Mississippi Gastroenterology Society, Box 2548, Ridgeland, MS 39158 Mississippi Golf Association, 400 Clubhouse Dr., Pearl, MS 39208

601-981-1511 601-352-8868 601-354-0199 601-353-2741 601-957-6868 601-899-8599 601-948-6366 601-987-9098 601-354-8951 601-898-8565 601-981-7676 601-940-6383 601-957-9827 601-213-7520 601-948-6020 601-981-4552 601-992-8645 601-664-9691 601-815-7758 601-352-1909 662-314-6322 601-919-1818 601-957-3200 601-354-4936 601-238-220 601-978-1920 601-940-3236 601-853-6733 601-939-1131

mspdds.com superintendents.ms masiweb.org mssupervisors.org madaonline.com msbail.org msbankers.com msbeer.com mscattlemen.org mscemeteryassociation.com aimschapter.org mscra.net mississippiconcrete.com mcsw.org mcfassn.org mscua.com msdefenselaw.org msdental.org mississippiadha.org medc.ms ms-meca.org msengsoc.org msfb.org msforestry.net mfdma.org mississippifuneraldirectors.com msgaming.org msgisociety.org missgolf.org

Mississippi Health Care Association, 303 Brame Rd., Ridgeland, MS 39157

601-898-8320

mshca.com

Mississippi Health Information Management Association, Box 15011, Hattiesburg, MS 39404 Mississippi Hospital Association, P.O. Box 1909, Madison, MS 39130-1909 Mississippi Hospitality & Restaurant Association, 11 Northtown Dr. Ste 125, Jackson, MS 39211 Mississippi Hotel & Lodging Association, P.O. Box 116, Biloxi, MS 39533

601-336-0647 800-289-8884 601-420-4210 228-374-8611

mshima.org mhanet.org msra.org mshla.com

Lloyd Spivey III Bob Wilson Maybelle Beasley Lee Jenkins Moss Ryan Kelly Townsend Kyser Janice Sherman

Phillip G. Burchfield Dan M. Gibson Derrick Surrette Marty Milstead Sheila Staggs Gordon W. Fellows Richard Brown Andy Berry Shay Chedotal Myra Withers Pitts Ricki R. Garrett Joel Waters Dr. Angela Savage Lee Ann Mayo Charles Elliott Jane L. Brown Shannon Coker Carrie Fowler Mary Swoope Nashandra T James Malinda L Battey Mike McCormick J. Tedrick Ratcliff Jr. Ken Bateaste David Tatman Larry Gregory Jenny White Carter Page Vanessa Phipps Henderson Ryan Kelly Timothy H. Moore Pat Fontaine Linda G. Hornsby

July 24 Canceled Canceled

Convention city Destin, FL

Canceled Canceled

D'Iberville

June Feb. 20-22 Aug. 4-6

Virtual Las Vegas Virtual

Canceled Canceled Canceled Canceled Canceled Canceled

Canceled Canceled Canceled Aug. 10-12 Canceled March 3 Canceled Canceled Feb. 26-27 Canceled Canceled June 12-13 Canceled Sept. 17-18 Canceled Oct. 6 Jan. 31 June 20 Canceled September February Feb. 26 December October Canceled Canceled Canceled Jan 31-Feb 1

Jackson Jackson

Biloxi Jackson

Hattiesburg

New Orleans Virtual TBD Ridgeland Virtual Virtual Jackson Jackson Virtual Online

Jackson

Canceled June 12 Canceled

Virtual

Mississippi Consumer Finance Association, P.O. Box 5004, Jackson, MS 39296 Mississippi Credit Union Association, 1400 Lakeover Rd., Ste. 200, Jackson, MS 39213 Mississippi Defense Lawyers Association, P.O. Box 5605, Brandon, MS 39047 Mississippi Dental Association, 439B Katherine Dr., Flowood, MS 39232 Mississippi Dental Hygienists' Association, 213 Wellington Way, Brandon, MS 39047 n Mississippi Business Journal n September 2020 Issue Mississippi Economic Development Council, 1675 Lakeland Dr., Ste. 502, Jackson, MS 39216 Mississippi Educational Computing Association, P.O. Box 4198, Meridian, MS 39307 Mississippi Engineering Society, 300 Castlewoods Blvd., Ste. 10, Brandon, MS 39047 Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation, 6311 Ridgewood Rd., Jackson, MS 39211 Mississippi Forestry Association, 6311 Ridgewood Road, Suite W405, Jackson, MS 39211 Mississippi Funeral Directors and Morticians Association, 106 Heatherlynn Circle, Clinton, MS 39056 Mississippi Funeral Directors Association, Box 22584, Jackson, MS 39225 Mississippi Gaming and Hospitality Association, P.O. Box 4566, Jackson, MS 39296 Association Mississippi Gastroenterology Society, Box 2548, Ridgeland, MS 39158 Associated & Contractors of Mississippi, 5165 Brandon Road, Pearl, MS 39208 Mississippi Builders Golf Association, 400 Clubhouse Dr., Pearl, MSOld 39208 American Council of Engineering Companies of Miss, 825 N. President St., Jackson, MS 39202 Mississippi Health Care Association, 303 Brame Rd., Ridgeland, MS 39157 American Institute of Architects, Mississippi Chapter, 509 E. Capitol St., Jackson, MS 39201 Mississippi Health Information Management Association, Box1452, 15011, Hattiesburg, MS 39404 American Subcontractors Association of Mississippi, PO Box Madison, MS 39110 Mississippi Hospital Association, P.O. Box 1909, Madison, MS 39130-1909 AGC Mississippi, 2093 Lakeland Dr., Jackson, MS 39216 Mississippi Hospitality & Restaurant Association, 1113341, Northtown Dr. Ste Jackson, MS 39211 Bed & Breakfast Association of Mississippi, P.O. Box Jackson, MS125, 39236 Mississippi Hotel & Lodging Association, P.O. Box 116, Biloxi, MS 39533 Brain Injury Association of Mississippi, 1640 Lelia Dr., Ste. 100, Jackson, MS 39216 Business Retention and Expansion International, 15011,Dr., Hattiesburg, MS 39404MS 39232 Mississippi Independent Pharmacies Association, P.O. 4209Box Lakeland Ste. 399, Flowood, Catfish Farmers of America, 1100 U.S. East, Suite 202, Indianola, MS 38751 Mississippi Intermodal Council, P.O. Box 4200, Jackson, MS 39296 Community Health Center Association of Mississippi, 6400 Lakeover Rd., Jackson, MS 39213 Mississippi Association, 134Rd., Faust Dr, Gulfport, MS 39503 Craftsmen'sLegal GuildProfessionals of Mississippi, Inc., 950 Rice Ridgeland, MS 39157 Diabetes Coalition Mississippi,P.O. P.O.Box Box13687, 15011,Jackson, Hattiesburg, MS 39404 Mississippi Library of Association, MS 39236-3687 Electric Cooperatives of Mississippi, ColonyMS Pkwy., Mississippi Loggers Association, P.O. 665 BoxHighland 659, Quitman, 39355Ridgeland, MS 39157 Home Builders & Remodelers Association of Northeast 3733 Blvd., Belden, Mississippi Lumber Manufacturers Association, P.O. BoxMississippi, 5241, Jackson, MSMcCullough 39296-5241 MS 38826 Mississippi Main Street Association, P.O. Box 55747, Jackson, MS 39296 Home Builders Association of Mississippi, 290 Commerce Park Drive, Ste. B, Ridgeland, MS 39157 Mississippi Manufactured Housing Association, 1001 Airport Rd., Flowood, MS 39232 Independent Insurance Agents of Mississippi, 124 Riverview Dr., Flowood, MS 39232 Mississippi Manufacturers Association, P.O. Box 22607, Jackson, MS 39225-2607 Independent Nursing Home Association, 1604 Cypress Lane, Gulfport, MS 39507 Mississippi League, E. Amite St., 104, Jackson, MS 39201 Mississippi Municipal Academy of Family600 Physicians, 755Ste. Avignon Dr., Ridgeland, MS 39157 Mississippi Airports Association, P.O. Box 16803, Jackson, MS 39236 Mississippi Museums Association, Inc., P.O. Box 638, Jackson, MS 39205 Mississippi Alliance for Charitable Gaming, P.O. Box 15011, Hattiesburg, MS 39404 Mississippi Association, 884 Luckney Road, Mississippi Natural Alliance Gas of Child Care Agencies, P.O. Box 405,Brandon, Jackson,MS MS39047 39205 Mississippi Nursery & Landscape P.O. 175 Box E. 4190, Brandon, MS501, 39047 Alliance of NonprofitsAssociation, & Philanthropy, Capitiol St, Ste Jackson, MS 39201

601-948-6020 601-981-4552 601-992-8645 601-664-9691 601-815-7758 601-352-1909 662-314-6322 601-919-1818 601-957-3200 601-354-4936 601-238-220 601-978-1920 601-940-3236 Phone 601-853-6733 601-944-0421 601-939-1131 601-420-2002 601-898-8320 769-234-7898 601-336-0647 601-862-0561 800-289-8884 601-981-1144 601-420-4210 601-956-0084 228-374-8611 601-981-1021 601-602-8074 601-957-0007 662-887-2699 601-506-6107 601-981-1817 228-346-8895 601-856-7546 601-255-3283 601-981-4586 601-605-8600 601-776-5754

mcfassn.org mscua.com msdefenselaw.org msdental.org mississippiadha.org medc.ms ms-meca.org msengsoc.org msfb.org msforestry.net mfdma.org mississippifuneraldirectors.com msgaming.org Website msgisociety.org abcmississippi.org missgolf.org acecms.org mshca.com aiamississippi.org mshima.org subcontractormississippi.com mhanet.org msagc.com msra.org missbab.com mshla.com msbraininjury.org brei.org mipa.ms catfishfarmersofamerica.com chcams.org mississippilpa.org craftsmensguildofms.org diabetescoalition-ms.org misslib.org ecm.coop msloggers.org

Lee Ann Mayo Charles Elliott Jane L. Brown Shannon Coker Carrie Fowler Mary Swoope Nashandra T James Malinda L Battey Mike McCormick J. Tedrick Ratcliff Jr. Ken Bateaste David Tatman Larry Gregory Director Jenny White Lee Nations Carter Page Vanessa Phipps Craig Carter Henderson Ryan Kelly Lloyd Spivey III Timothy H. Moore Bob Wilson Pat Fontaine Maybelle Beasley LindaJenkins G. Hornsby Lee Moss Robert Hugh Dozier, Ryan Kelly Amy E. Wilson Townsend Kyser Emily Pote Janice Sherman Christopher Pickreign, Stephanie Floyd Madison Paula R. Moore Bass Michael Callahan David Livingston

Canceled Oct. 6 Jan. 31 June 20 Canceled September February Feb. 26 December October Canceled Canceled 2020 Canceled Convention Jan 31-Feb 1 July 24 Canceled Canceled Canceled June 12 Canceled Canceled

601-454-8322 662-373-0005 601-339-2042 601-969-3446 601-939-8820 601-939-9909 601-948-1222 601-955-5999 601-353-5854 601-853-3302 877-397-3929 601-602-5011 601-992-6006 601-672-4988 601-919-8111 601-968-0061

mlmalumber.com buildithere.com msmainstreet.com hbam.com msmmha.com msagent.org mma-web.org msinha.org mmlonline.com msafp.org msairportsassociation.com mississippimuseums.org mscharitablegaming.org mnga.org macca4kids.org msnla.org alliancems.org

Canceled Canceled Canceled Canceled Canceled Canceled Canceled Canceled Canceled Canceled Canceled Canceled

Mississippi Nurses 31 Woodgreen Place, Madison,St,MS 39110 MS 39202 AsphaltAssociation, Pavement Association, 711 N. President Jackson,

601-898-0670 601-948-5495

msnurses.org asphaltpavems.com

Lauren SulserEstes Benner Norma Jean Thomas Gregory Jennifer Hall Clinton A. Graham John McKay Alice Mitchell Shari T. Veazey, Beth Embry Robbie Brown Kathy Kenne Lance Harris, Anna Gospodinovich Ryan Kelly John Morgan Hughes Haley SammyBarrett Moon Teresa Malone, Dana Michael Arnemann Walker

Mississippi Optometric Association, 141Box Executive Dr., Ste. Madison, MS 39110 Association for Home Care, 115, Clinton, MS5,39060 Mississippi Oral Health for Community Alliance, PO Box Jackson, MS 39283 Association Justice, 727 N. Congress St,11504, Jackson, MS 39202 Mississippi Orthopaedic P.O.Professionals, Box 5034, Jackson, Association ofSociety, Addiction 4785 MS Old 39296 Canton Rd., Jackson, MS 39211 Mississippi Petroleum & Convenience StoresCenter Association, Box 3859, AssociationMarketers of Broadcasters, 403D-3 Towne Blvd, Ridgeland, MSJackson, 39157 MS 39207 Mississippi Pharmacists 341 Terrace Dr., MS Jackson, Association ofAssociation, Coaches, 600 E.Edgewood Northside Dr., Clinton, 39056MS 39206 Mississippi Physical Therapy AssociationDistricts, (APTA-Mississippi), 15011, MS 39404 Association of Conservation 680 Monroe PO St., Box Jackson, MSHattiesburg, 39202 Mississippi Poultry Association Inc., 110 Rd., C, Pearl, 39208 Association of Educators, 775Airport N. State St.,Ste. Jackson, MSMS 39202 Mississippi Press Association of Housing & Redevelopment Officials, O Box 832, Hattiesburg, MS Mississippi Association, 371 Edgewood Terrace, Jackson, MSP 39206 39403-0832 Mississippi Professional 222 N. President Jackson, MS Pkwy., 39201 Ste. 101, Ridgeland, MS Association ofEducators, Nurse Anesthetists, 1022 St., Highland Colony 39157 Mississippi Propane Gas Association, P.O. Box 3859, Jackson, MS 39207 Mississippi Psychological P.O. Box 16826, Jackson, MS 39236 Association of Association, Partners in Education, 141 Executive Dr Ste 1, Madison, MS 39110 Mississippi Public Health Association, P.O. Box 4834, Jackson, MS 39296 Mississippi Association of Planning & Development Districts, P.O. Box 4935, Jackson, MS 39296-4935 Mississippi Railroad Association, P.O. Box 1663, Jackson, MS 39215 Mississippi Association of School Superintendents, 555 Tombigbee St., Ste. 107, Jackson, MS 39201 Mississippi 4274 Lakeland Dr., Jackson, MS 39232St., Jackson, MS 39202 Mississippi Realtors, Association of Self-Insurers, 825 N. President

601-853-4407 601-924-2275 601-898-3001 601-948-8631 601-948-6020 601-321-2085 601-353-1624 601-957-9121 601-981-0416 601-924-3020 601-602-7050 601-354-7645 601-932-7560 601-354-4463

mseyes.com mahc.org mohca-ms.org msaj.org statesociety.aaos.org/mosociety msaap.net mpmcsa.com msbroadcasters.org mspharm.org mscoaches.com apta-ms.org macdweb.org mspoultry.org maetoday.org

Trade Associations

TBD Ridgeland Virtual

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Trade AssociationsTRADE ASSOCIATIONS

Virtual Jackson Jackson Virtual Online

Convention city Jackson Destin, FL

Virtual

Canceled

D'Iberville

June Canceled Feb. 20-22 Aug. 4-6 May 28-30

Virtual Las Vegas Virtual Gulfport

Oct. 13-15 Canceled

Virtual

Canceled Canceled Jan. 15-17 Oct. 139-13 March

Linda RossNations Aldy June 11-14 Mary Lea LaNeidra Williams Sept. 18 Ayres Haxton June 2-6 Adair Cunningham Canceled Bernard Matherne Jr. Philip A. Chamblee Canceled Amanda Fontaine Beau Cox June Johnny Mims Canceled Ryan Kelly Sept 2-3 Mark Gilbert Jan. 22-23 Mark Leggett Canceled Tyrone Hendrix Feb. 29 Layne Bruce, Monica 601-981-3060 mspress.org Canceled 601-583-1881 mahro.org Ben Washington Gilmer 601-355-5517 mpe.org Kelly Riley Canceled 601-898-8400 mana.us Rob Rogers Jan 25-27 601-354-4077 mspropane.com Philip A. Chamblee Canceled Cynthia Huff, Sarah 601-372-7755 mpassoc.org Amy E. Wilson Sept/Oct 601-837-1080 mapems.org March Link 601-927-7515 mspha.org Dr. Kaye Bender 601-981-1511 mspdds.com Canceled 601-573-1135 Joel Yelverton Canceled 601-352-8868 superintendents.ms Phillip G. Burchfield Canceled 601-932-5241 msrealtors.org Beth Howell Hansen Oct. 6-8 601-354-0199 masiweb.org Dan M. Gibson Canceled Allen Tye, David Association of Supervisors, 793 466, N. President St., Jackson, 601-353-2741 mssupervisors.org Derrick Surrette Aug. 10-12 Mississippi Recycling Association, P.O. Box Hattiesburg, MS 39402MS 39202 msrecyclers.com Shemper Mississippi Automobile Dealers Association, 800 Woodlands Parkway, Suite 100, Ridgeland, MS 39157 601-957-6868 madaonline.com Marty Milstead Canceled Mississippi Retired Public Employees Association, P.O. Box 5580, Brandon, MS 39047-5580 601-919-0670 mrpea.org Emily Pote Mississippi Bail Agents Association, 451 Northpark Dr., Suite B, Ridgeland, MS 39157 601-899-8599 msbail.org Sheila Staggs March 3 Mississippi Road Builders Association, 601 George St., Jackson, MS 39202 601-948-8825 msroadbuilders.com Mike Pepper Canceled Mississippi Bankers Association, 640 N. State St., Jackson, MS 39202 601-948-6366 msbankers.com Gordon W. Fellows Canceled Mississippi Rural Health Association, 31 Woodgreen Place, Madison, MS 39110 601-898-3001 msrha.org Ryan Kelly Nov. 19-20 Mississippi Beer Distributors Association, Inc., P.O. Box 1132, Jackson, MS 39215-1132 601-987-9098 msbeer.com Richard Brown Canceled Mississippi Rural Water Association Inc., 5400 N. Midway Rd., Raymond, MS 39154 601-857-2433 msrwa.org Kirby Mayfield Canceled Mississippi Cattlemen's Association, 680 Monroe St., Ste. A, Jackson, MS 39202 601-354-8951 mscattlemen.org Andy Berry Feb. 26-27 Mississippi School Boards Association, Box 203, Clinton, MS 39060 601-924-2001 msbaonline.org Denotris R. Jackson Feb. 17-19 Mississippi Cemetery Association, Box 28, Madison, MS 39130 601-898-8565 mscemeteryassociation.com Shay Chedotal Canceled Mississippi Self Storage Owners Association, P.O. Box 89, Gulfport, MS 39502 228-365-8965 msssoa.org Meagan McCandless Sept. 25 Mississippi Chapter of the Appraisal Institute, 2405 Willinghurst Dr, Germantown, TN 38139 601-981-7676 aimschapter.org Myra Withers Pitts Canceled Mississippi Society for Respiratory Care, P.O. Box 5152, Jackson, MS 39296 601-936-1171 msrcweb.com Adam Denton Canceled Mississippi Collision Repair Association, 309 Jefferson St, Clinton, MS 39056 601-940-6383 mscra.net Ricki R. Garrett June 12-13 Mississippi Society of Association Executives, P. O. Box 12467, Jackson, MS 39236 601-853-4282 msae-net.org Amy E. Wilson Canceled Mississippi Concrete Association, 5165 Old Brandon Road, Pearl, MS 39208 601-957-9827 mississippiconcrete.com Joel Waters Canceled Mississippi Society of Certified Public Accountants, 306 Southampton Row, Ridgeland, MS 39157 601-856-4244 ms-cpa.org Karen C Moody Canceled Mississippi Conference on Social Welfare, P.O. Box 16764, Hattiesburg, MS 39404 601-213-7520 mcsw.org Dr. Angela Savage Sept. 17-18 Mississippi Society of Health-Systems Pharmacists, Box 4826, Jackson, MS 39296 601-291-4854 msshp.org Sweyn Simrall July 23 Mississippi Consumer Finance Association, P.O. Box 5004, Jackson, MS 39296 601-948-6020 mcfassn.org Lee Ann Mayo Canceled Mississippi Speech Language & Hearing Association, Box 22664, Jackson, MS 39225 601-842-6378 mshausa.org Ricki Garrett May Mississippi Credit Union Association, 1400 Lakeover Rd., Ste. 200, Jackson, MS 39213 601-981-4552 mscua.com Charles Elliott Oct. 6 Mississippi State Medical Association, P.O. Box 2548, Ridgeland, MS 39158-2548 601-853-6733 msmaonline.com Claude Brunson, MD Aug. 15 Mississippi Defense Lawyers Association, P.O. Box 5605, Brandon, MS 39047 601-992-8645 msdefenselaw.org Jane L. Brown Jan. 31 Mississippi Telehealth Association, P.O. Box 1761, Ridgeland, MS 39158 601-602-5011 mstelehealth.org Ryan Kelly Feb. 24-25 Mississippi Dental Association, 439B Katherine Dr., Flowood, MS 39232 601-664-9691 msdental.org Shannon Coker June 20 Mississippi Tennis Association, 3311 N. State St., Jackson, MS 39216 601-981-4421 mstennis.com Geoff Norton Mississippi Dental Hygienists' Association, 213 Wellington Way, Brandon, MS 39047 601-815-7758 mississippiadha.org Carrie Fowler Canceled Mississippi Tourism Association, P.O. Box 2745, Madison, MS 39130 601-605-1825 mstourism.com Rochelle Hicks Sept. 23-25 Mississippi Economic Development Council, 1675 Lakeland Dr., Ste. 502, Jackson, MS 39216 601-352-1909 medc.ms Mary Swoope September Mississippi Trucking Association, 825 N. President St., Jackson, MS 39202 601-354-0616 mstrucking.org Hal Miller Canceled Mississippi Educational Computing Association, P.O. Box 4198, Meridian, MS 39307 662-314-6322 ms-meca.org Nashandra T James February Mississippi Water Resources Association, P.O. Box 4200, Jackson, MS 39296 601-506-6107 mswater.org Emily Pote Canceled Mississippi Engineering Society, 300 Castlewoods Blvd., Ste. 10, Brandon, MS 39047 601-919-1818 msengsoc.org Malinda L Battey Feb. 26 Mississippi Wholesale Distributors Association, 5125 Old Canton Rd. #203, Jackson, MS 39211 601-957-1849 mswda.com Margaret Conner-Dykes Aug. 1 Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation, 6311 Ridgewood Rd., Jackson, MS 39211 601-957-3200 msfb.org Mike McCormick December Mississippi Workers' Compensation Educational Association, Box 13508, Jackson, MS 39236 601-718-0915 mwcea.org Andre Ducote Canceled Mississippi Forestry Association, 6311 Ridgewood Road, Suite W405, Jackson, MS 39211 601-354-4936 msforestry.net J. Tedrick Ratcliff Jr. October Mortgage Bankers Association of Mississippi, 1661 Aaron Brenner Dr, Ste 201, Memphis, TN 38120 901-321-6743 msmortgagebankers.org Caitlin Guerra Canceled Mississippi Funeral Directors and Morticians Association, 106 Heatherlynn Circle, Clinton, MS 39056 601-238-220 mfdma.org Ken Bateaste Canceled National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors of Mississippi, 1000 Highland Colony Pkwy 601-427-4737 belong.naifa.org Amy Nov. 8-10 Mississippi Funeral Directors 601-978-1920 mississippifuneraldirectors.com DavidMorris Tatman Canceled Suite 5203, Ridgeland, MS 39157Association, Box 22584, Jackson, MS 39225 Mississippi Gaming and Hospitality Association, P.O. Box 4566, Jackson, MS 39296 601-940-3236 msgaming.org Larry Gregory Canceled National Tile Contractors Association, 626 Lakeland East Dr, Flowood, MS 39232 601-939-2071 tile-assn.com Bart Bettiga April 20-23 Mississippi Gastroenterology BoxAlliance, 2548, Ridgeland, MS 39158 601-853-6733 msgisociety.org JennyDuke White Jan 31-Feb 1 Professional Insurance AgentsSociety, Southern 3805 Crestwood Pwy NW, Ste. 140, Duluth, GA 30096 800-233-4902 piasouth.com Jerry Canceled Mississippi Golf Association, 400 Clubhouse Dr., Pearl, MS 39208 601-939-1131 missgolf.org Carter Page Subcontractors & Supplier Alliance of Mississippi, 188 E. Capitol St. Ste 1360, Jackson, MS 39225 228-238-4059 suballiancems.com John Sullivan Vanessa Phipps The Mississippi BarCare , 643Association, N. State St., Jackson, MSRd., 39202 601-948-4471 msbar.org Deanne Mosley July 13-17 303 Brame Ridgeland, MS 39157 601-898-8320 mshca.com Canceled Mississippi Health Henderson List is ranked alphabetically. Information provided by company representatives and MBJ research. Please direct questions to frank.brown@msbusiness.com. Mississippi Health Information Management Association, Box 15011, Hattiesburg, MS 39404 601-336-0647 mshima.org Ryan Kelly June 12 Mississippi Hospital Association, P.O. Box 1909, Madison, MS 39130-1909 800-289-8884 mhanet.org Timothy H. Moore Canceled Mississippi Hospitality & Restaurant Association, 11 Northtown Dr. Ste 125, Jackson, MS 39211 601-420-4210 msra.org Pat Fontaine Mississippi Hotel & Lodging Association, P.O. Box 116, Biloxi, MS 39533 228-374-8611 mshla.com Linda G. Hornsby

Mobile, Ala. Snowmass Village, Virtual Col Virtual Virtual

Virtual Virtual Jackson Jackson

Ridgeland

Virtual Hattiesburg

Meridian Biloxi Jackson

Virtual Hattiesburg Jackson Biloxi New Orleans Virtual Virtual Virtual TBD Virtual Ridgeland Jackson Virtual

Biloxi Virtual Jackson Jackson Destin, FL Virtual Online Biloxi Virtual Jackson Virtual Virtual

energy, gas & utilities September Issue 2020 Issue • Mississippi • Mississippi Business Business Journal Journal • www.msbusiness.com • www.msbusiness.com

COVID-related declines in oil and gas production have had a big impact By BECKY GILLETTE mbj@msbusiness.com

ith demand for oil and gas down about 25 percent in the U.S. earlier this year due to the fallout from the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19), an industry that was already experiencing overproduction has suffered a significant downturn. Mississippi's production of crude oil has been hit hard by Covid-19, said Dr. Sondra Collins, senior economist for the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning. “The most painful month was May 2020 when production was down almost 50 percent compared to May 2019,” Collins said. “Overall, when we com- Collins pare fiscal year 2019 to fiscal year 2020, Mississippi's crude oil production was down about 8 percent. This is based on data from the U.S. Entergy and Information Administration.” However, Collins said decreased production is only half the story. Prices have decreased as well. “Crude oil price was on average approximately $58 per barrel in fiscal year 2019,” she said. “That number dropped to approximately $45 in fiscal year 2020. Taking both the decrease in price and decrease in quan-

tity into consideration, our model suggests that Mississippi's revenues will decrease by about $22 million in fiscal year 2020 and $33 million in fiscal year 2021. This assumes that there are no additional interruptions to the industry. The model predicts a loss of $17 million, $9 million, $4 million and 0.9 million for fiscal years 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 respectively. The model predicts complete recovery for the industry by fiscal year 2026.” Recently the record-breaking, destructive wildfires in Oregon and California burning more than a million acres have drawn attention to climate change. And sources of alternate energy continue to become more competitive with oil and gas. But Collins does not expect alternative energy sources to displace oil anytime soon. “The world's population is growing, as is the middle class in many developing countries,” Collins said. “As the middle class grows, the country will use more energy. Crude oil and gasoline are not exceptions to this rule. While it's true that alternative measures are becoming more popular, most are still far more expensive and/or require large start-up costs.” With both state and national economies hard hit by the economic declines linked to

the pandemic, it is quite likely there won’t be as much investment in alternative energy sources for a while, said Dr. Dallas Breen, executive director, John C. Stennis Institute of Government. A higher priority might be economic stimuluses to help businesses and individuals. Year-to-date severance taxes for oil are down 48.3 percent compared to a year earlier, and gas severance taxes are down 40 percent, according to the Department of Revenue. With the state trying to economize, that has an impact. But Breen said that thus far, overall Mississippi tax revenues have been up during the pandemic. That is offsetting the impact of lower oil and gas severance tax collections. “Income tax diversions are up,” Breen said. “Sales tax diversions are up. We had the stimulus bill and additional unemployment assistance. What will happen as federal assistance decreases or sunsets? What does revenue look like for the next fiscal year? That is when the real effects should become apparent.” Local counties with significant severance tax revenues might be more impacted than the state overall. Breen said he expects that oil and gas employment have scaled back in Southwest Mississippi, especially in the shale play. “One can only assume in Mississippi we are feeling some of the similar types of impacts of other states, especially with fracking for shale oil and gas extraction,” Breen said.

“You are going to see some type of slowdown in employment and production itself. Demand has decreased somewhat during the pandemic. And we don’t know what that will look like getting to the other side of this pandemic. For example, we are seeing adoption of more virtual meetings that don’t necessarily keep convention and conference folks employed.” But while it saves on fuel to transport people to meetings and conventions, virtual meetings aren’t ideal for many types of business. Breen said some business people are looking at holding smaller, in-person meetings with heightened awareness. “In month seven of the pandemic, until we get into a situation where COVID is either controlled with a vaccine or we feel comfortable going out, we don’t really know what the business environment will look like in the next two to three years,” Breen said. “This won’t reverse in the next six months. There will be a gradual return to operations. But the silver lining is that we have the opportunity to improve and adopt new ideas on how to deliver goods and services to people.”

36 n

Mississippi Business Journal

September 2020 Issue

ENERGY, GAS & UTILITIES

A visit with Dr. Sumesh Arora

By LISA MONTI mbj@msbusiness.com

r. Sumesh Arora is director of the Energy & Natural Resources Division of the Mississippi Development Authority which is the state energy office. Since assuming this position in 2016, he has reorganized the office to focus on four areas: energy efficiency programs, energy education and workforce development, energy projects and policy development, and energy data and security. Previously, Arora served as vice president of Innovate Mississippi, director of the Strategic Biomass Solutions and the Energy-Economy-Environment (E3) program manager for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership of Mississippi. He received his PhD in international development from the University of Southern Mississippi where he also teaches as an adjunct faculty in the College of Business.

MBJ: What exactly is alternative energy? How would you define it nowadays?

The terms alternative energy and renewable energy are frequently used synonymously when comparing them to more traditional forms of energy such as oil, natural gas and coal, which are the primary fossil fuels and referred to as non-renewable resources. The main types of renewable energy are solar, wind, biomass, biofuels, hydro, and geothermal. It is important to note that electricity is a secondary product and may be produced by burning fossil fuels or using nuclear or renewable energy resources. Nowadays the terms clean energy or carbon neutral energy are also being categorized under the alternative energy umbrella and they are defined as any type of energy source or process that help lower the greenhouse gas emissions or the associated carbon footprint. All the renewable energy sources are considered non-pollut-

ing and some of the biomass processes can even be carbon negative, implying that they can capture and store more carbon emissions than they emit. Nuclear power generation also does not produce any carbon emissions because it uses the heat given off by the nuclear reactions to produce high-pressure steam, which in turn Arora propels a turbine. Whether it is fossil fuels or renewable energy, each type has its pros and cons. The biggest challenge with solar and wind energy is they are not available at all times; hence they are called intermittent sources. The technology to predict the availability of solar and wind has improved tremendously so project developers and utilities can model with a very high level of confidence the amount of power a given system can produce over the span of a year. This allows project developers to enter into long-term contracts typically lasting 20 years called power purchase agreements (PPAs) where a utility on a large end user agrees to purchase the power from a developer at pre-determined prices. Advances in energy storage technologies such as lithium ion batteries are also making solar and wind energy more attractive in some places. However, the cost of large battery systems is still to high for wide-spread deployment. Energy efficiency is also a very important aspect of alternative energy and in many cases is the low hanging fruit whether it is in a commercial, industrial or residential setting. Often even low-cost and no-cost energy efficiency measures can have a significant impact on a businessâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bottom line savings. Many experts believe that energy efficiency should be the first consideration before trying to add renewable energy components to upgrade a system.

MBJ: How does Mississippi rank in availability or usage of alternative energy?

Mississippi has many great opportunities to harness renewable forms of energy, both for producing electricity and making biofuels. Based on the sun index level developed by the U.S. Department of Energyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Mississippi is ranked tenth among all states for energy potential from solar power. The sun index is defined as an index of the amount of direct sunlight received in each state and accounts for latitude and average annual cloud cover. California is indexed at 1.0 with Nevada being the highest at 1.19 and Mississippi coming in at 0.92. With nearly 20 million acres of forestland, Mississippi also has tremendous biomass resources, some of which are already being used to produce wood pellets that are exported to Europe where they are used together to generate electricity. In the past Mississippi has been ranked among the top five states for biomass energy potential by Forbes magazine. Mississippi has a very good climate and available land to grow dedicated energy corps such as switchgrass and miscanthus that may be converted to biofuels. The market for biofuels currently is facing many challenges due to the low price of oil and natural gas, but according to a market report, the global biofuels market is expected to reach $230.5 billion with a compounded annual growth rate of 5.1% from 2019 to 2025. As mentioned earlier, energy efficiency is also a part of alternative energy and there are many opportunities for making office and commercial buildings, schools, hospitals and industrial processes more efficient in Mississippi. The Mississippi Development Authority has a low-interest loan program open to public and private sector applicants that can be used for energy efficiency retrofits. The Mississippi Industrial Energy Efficiency Program (MIEEP) is also currently soliciting grant applications. Details for both programs are available at www.mississippi.org. See Q&A, Page 37

ENERGY, GAS & UTILITIES Q&A

September 2020 Issue

Mississippi Business Journal

Continued from Page 36

MBJ: Solar energy is something people are familiar with because it’s been around for a long time. Is solar energy used much in Mississippi? Why or why not?

As mentioned above, Mississippi has very good solar potential and the costs of these panels has come down by more than 80% over the last 10 years. This has led to several utilities implementing large scale solar projects to supplement their overall generation portfolios and meet demand from customers who may be seeking renewable energy. According Mississippi Power’s website, they have collaborated with four solar energy businesses and the U.S. Navy on four utility-scale solar facilities in the company's service territory, to build more than 160 megawatts (MW) of electricity generation capacity that is enough to power more than 23,000 homes for a full year. While definitions vary, systems larger than 20 MW are considered utility scale systems. Entergy Mississippi, TVA and Cooperative Energy are also making significant investments in solar energy and we could exceed 500 MW of solar generation by 2022. Different ownership models of the solar installations such as community solar are also being explored by the utilities. The market for residential or roof-top solar in Mississippi is very small, but some poultry growers are utilizing a grant program from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to assist with installation of solar panels on the roofs of their chicken houses.

MBJ: Are windmills used in Mississippi to generate power?

No, don’t expect to see any wind farms like the ones in West Texas or the Midwest that have hundreds of large wind turbines that are now producing enough electricity that is equivalent to powering millions of homes. As with most renewable energy resources, they are very specific to the geographic location. Many studies have been conducted that indicate the Mississippi does not have sufficient wind energy potential based on the wind speed. However, within the last five years, the technology of wind turbines has advanced, and they are now building much taller towers and wind mills with bigger blades that can harness wind at altitudes above four hundred feet. For perspective, the highest point in Mississippi is Mt. Woodall which is 807 feet above sea level. The taller towers have created some limited opportunities in parts of the Mississippi Delta where wind generation could be practical and economically feasible, but developing such projects is a long process. Additionally, the according to studies done the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), there is some potential for off-shore wind production in the Gulf, but the off-shore wind industry is just getting started in the United States and there are other locations with better opportunities than along the state’s coastline.

MBJ: Are there any companies involved in producing alternative energy in the state?

According to the MS Dept of Ag and Commerce, Mississippi is home to some of the world’s largest bio-mass pellet companies supplying sustainable, renewable, green energy to the world. The companies include Enviva Biomass and Drax Biomass. The output from these pellet plants is trucked or railed to a port and loaded on to ocean-going vessels for export to Europe and Asia. In addition to the utilities producing solar energy, Mississippi also has several companies that are engaged in the production of components that are part of the alternative energy value chain. These include very high efficiency residential and commercial HVAC units, backup and prime power generators, electrical cables, transformers and electrical switchgear. Universities around the state are also involved in some cutting-edge research that is focused on advanced materials such as graphene or organic solar cells that could help make the solar panels in the future more efficient and batteries cheaper and lighter. Mississippi is also home to three high school solar car teams and the Houston High School team has gained world-wide fame after having completed the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge, a 1700-mile race in Australia, with the youngest solar car driver in the event’s history.

MBJ: Does the state have a role in promoting or developing any alternative energy sources/methods?

Several different state agencies may have roles for promoting or developing alternative energy resources. These can include anything from keeping up with emerging national policies and technology trends to permitting and land use concerns resulting from deployment of such systems. For example, if a new hydrokinetic turbine system is being considered for placement in the Mississippi River to produce electricity using the river currents, several studies will have to be performed and even the Army Corps of Engineers will have to be engaged in it. Depending on the complexity of a project and the potential environmental impact some studies can take several months or even a couple of years. Experienced project developers generally account for such studies in their budget plans and work with the appropriate authorities to streamline the process. It is important for states to remain technology agnostic and create a business environment that will promote all types of energy development based on locally available resources. Public-private partnerships may play an increasingly important role in evaluating and deploying new and innovative technologies with an underlying goal to mitigate risk to the greatest extent possible. The state can also help with conducting resource analysis, such as the biomass availability studies that have been conducted by various public entities in Mississippi and connect companies to federal resources like the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) research laboratories or the Energy Information Administration. DOE has 17 labs around the country and they are always looking for engaging with the private sector. The closest one to Mississippi is the Oak Ridge National Laboratory located near Knoxville, Tennessee and they do very advanced research on a wide variety of energy topics.

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Mississippi Business Journal

ENERGY, GAS & UTILITIES

September 2020 Issue

Chevron streamlining and reducing production to compensate for less demand for products By BECKY GILLETTE mbj@msbusiness.com

Demand is down for products manufactured at Chevron’s largest refinery in the U.S., the Chevron Pascagoula Refinery. “Although I can’t address specific details about our Pascagoula operations, I can share that crude oil input at our U.S. refineries decreased 39 percent in the second quarter to 581,000 barrels per day from the year-ago period, as the company cut refinery production in response to the reduced market demand for our products,” said Alan Suddeth, corporate affairs manager for Chevron in Mississippi. “Chevron has taken action to better position the company to compete in any operating environment and address current market conditions. This includes reducing our operating costs and capital investments, driving efficiencies in our workﬂows and processes, and streamlining our organizational structures to reﬂect the efficiencies and to match projected activity levels.” Suddeth said the new organizational structures will, unfortunately, require approximately 10-15 percent fewer positions across their global operations. Impacts in each location, business segment and function will vary. “This is a difficult decision, and we do not make it lightly,” Suddeth said. “In recognition of these extraordinary times, we have enhanced the resources available to those leaving Chevron to provide a stronger safety net as they transition out of the company.” Despite challenges such as the need to protect workers from the coronavirus, Suddeth said the company’s operations and supply chains are

functioning normally. “We're taking all appropriate precautions to keep it this way,” Suddeth said. “Our focus is on protecting people and the environment and maintaining safe operations. We have operated safely and reliably in Pascagoula for 57 years, and plan to do so for many years to come.” Company-wide, the demand outlook for their core commodities remains strong, he said. And over the next 20 years, the world's popSudduth ulation is expected to grow from 7.8 billion people to more than 9 billion. “The world will continue to need more energy to support a growing population and an improving quality of life,” Suddeth said. Chevron has recently announced new investments in alternative energy. “We are addressing climate change by focusing on lowering carbon intensity cost efficiently, increasing renewables in support of our business and investing in the future targeting breakthrough technologies,” a press release states. “The last focus area includes the recent investment in nuclear fusion technology and $100-million Future Energy Fund, an investment of more than $1 billion in carbon capture, utilization and storage projects which are reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Chevron also helps fund the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative’s more than $1 billion effort to develop new technologies and businesses focused on reducing GHG emissions.”

Adranos bringing rocket motor research and development to Stone County By LISA MONTI mbj@msbusiness.com

olid rocket fuel innovator Adranos, Inc. is locating its rocket motor research and development operations in McHenry in Stone County. As a part of its relocation to Mississippi, Adranos will make a $525,000 corporate investment and plans to create 20 jobs. "Mississippi continues to make strides in our efforts to send astronauts once again to the moon and beyond. The newest company to join the ranks of others in this mission, Adranos, will further bolster our position as a leader in space exploration," Gov. Tate Reeves said. "The company's environmentally friendly, next-generation rocket fuel will be advanced by Mississippians in Stone County, and we are proud to partner with them and with Adranos as we continue to make history on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and for our nation." Adranos is locating at the 640-acre, seven-building complex formerly occupied by General Dynamics. The site’s primary advantages are its proximity to Stennis Space Center and its compliance with all Department of Defense safety requirements for munitions handling. There, Adranos will build a rocket motor test stand so it can perform a series of tests of its next-generation rocket fuel, the first of which will occur during the summer of 2021. “The opportunity afforded to us by Stone County and the Mississippi Development Authority is truly extraordinary. The facility and local employment base will enable us to advance our high-performance rocket fuel and grow our company for many years to come,” said Adranos CEO Chris Stoker. "South Mississippi's workforce is second-to-none and plays a critical role in the region's efforts to explore the depths of outer space, and now 20 more of the area's residents will have the opportunity to be an active part of this important mission," said MDA Interim Director John Rounsaville. "We are grateful to the Stone County Economic Development Partnership and Cooperative Energy for their support of

this company. As a result of their teamwork, new jobs and investment are being realized in Stone County and beyond as Adranos prepares to ramp up production of its state-of-the-art rocket fuel." The Mississippi Development Authority is providing assistance for the construction of the test stand. Through the Cooperative Competes grant program, Cooperative Energy and Pearl River Valley Electric Power Association also are assisting with the project, as well as the Stone County Economic Development Partnership. “These outstanding innovators have developed the next generation of solid

rocket fuel that increases rocket performance and does not harm the environment. Adranos co-founders Chris Stoker and Brandon Terry are excited about having discovered the perfect facility here in South Mississippi.” Betsy M. Rowell, executive director Stone County Economic Development Partnership. “Homes are being purchased, they are looking to fill jobs here soon and nearly two dozen local construction employees are working on the buildings with move-in day in mind. Adranos brings a level of technology that further enhances Mississippi as a leader in space launch capabilities and offers a competitive advantage for military defense technology.” “Along with Cooperative Energy, we have worked with various partners to support marketing the former General Dynamics campus for new development,” said Pearl River Valley Electric General Manager Randy Wallace. “Adranos choosing the campus is a great win for our territory, and we are excited to welcome the company and state-of-the-art career opportunities to our region.” Adranos plans to fill the 20 jobs by the end of 2023.

ENERGY, GAS & UTILITIES

September 2020 Issue

Trucking Companies

Trucking Companies trucking companies

Mississippi Business Journal

Rank

Name / Address

Telephone

Website

Top Officer

Founded

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

KLLM Transport Services, LLC, 135 Riverview Dr., Richland, MS 39218 Total Transportation of Mississippi, 125 Riverview Dr., Richland, MS 39218 Jordan Carriers, 170 U.S. 61 South, Natchez, MS 39120 Cal-Maine Foods, Inc., 3320 W. Woodrow Wilson Ave., Jackson, MS 39209 Ergon Trucking Inc., 114 Vaughn Dr., Richland, MS 39218 Big M Transportation/Diesel Express, 6341-B Hwy 15, Blue Mountain, MS 38610 Royal Trucking Company, 1312 Industrial Access Road, West Point, MS 39773 Gulf Relay LLC, 108 Cross Park Dr., Clinton, MS 39056

601-932-8616 601-942-2104 800-682-3129 601-948-6813 601-933-3000 662-815-5000 662-494-1637 601-487-4853

kllm.com totalms.com jordancarriers.com calmainefoods.com ergontrucking.com bigmtransport.com royaltruck.com gulfrelay.com

UFI Transportation, 5380 Hwy 145 S., Tupelo, MS 38801

800-458-7212

ufitransportation.com

10 11 12

Jones Logistics, 6184 Hwy 98 W, Suite 210, Hattiesburg, MS 39402 John Fayard Moving & Warehousing, 1 Fastway Lane, Gulfport, MS 39503 Howard Transportation Inc., P.O. Box 586, Laurel, MS 39441

800-956-1151 228-864-2262 800-447-7798

joneslogistics.com johnfayardwarehouse.com howardtransportation.com

James Richards, Jr. John Stomps Charles Jordan Dolph Baker Russ Maroney Michael Massengill Billy Millican Scott Auslund Larry George, Douglas Hanby Brian E Haynes John R. Fayard, Jr. Michael Howard James A. Harrell, Jim Caskey, Kathy Knight Steven Evans Lamar N Shima, Al Albritton, Alisa White Will White Jeff Cooley Eric Parish Edwin Johnson Brenda Smith Larry Kerr Martin Holmes, Jack Holmes

MCH Transportation Company, 3180 Utica Ave., Jackson, MS 39209

601-353-9382

mchtrans.com

Big Level Trucking, Inc, 1727 Dummyline Rd, Wiggins, MS 39577

601-928-3770

biglevel.net

Whitestone Transportation, LLC, 17 Shiloh Church Road, Moselle, MS 39459

800-408-5542

whitestonetrans.com

16 17 18 19 20 21

MS Freight Co., P.O. Box 2264, Grenada, MS 38902 Cooley Transport Inc, 1296 N. Eason Blvd., Tupelo, MS 38804 Parish Transport LLC, 5212 Hwy 11 N., Ellisville, MS 39437 Jowin Express Inc., 1498 Hwy. 13 N., Columbia, MS 39429 CAM Transport, 14231 Seaway Rd, Ste A1, Gulfport, MS 39503 Shippers Express Inc., 1651 Kerr Dr., Jackson, MS 39204

662-809-0005 800-854-4384 601-342-2314 601-736-0938 228-539-1537 601-948-4251

msfreightco.net cooleytransport.com parishtransport.com jowinexpress.com camtransportinc.com shippersexpressinc.com

Holmes Company of Jackson, Inc., P.O. Box 180549, Richland, MS 39218

800-344-1532

holmestruck.net

Drivers

Trucks

1963 1990 1992 1969 1994 2002 1968 2010

2,415 1,140 550 289 330 340 267 212

2,485 906 605 500 383 337 256 228

2005

217

1999 2002 1983

196 136 140

186 148 140

1986

139

1930

115

2007

105

100

2010 2004 1982 2003 1963

94 82 71 83 82 48

97 90 84 83 83 83

1981

ATC LLC, 431 Port Terminal Circle, Vicksburg, MS 39183 23 601-636-1065 2002 Powell Transportation, 2348 U.S. 98 E., Columbia, MS 39429 24 601-731-2527 powelltransportation.com Barry Powell 1993 EverGreen Industries Inc., 202 Freedom Dr., Liberty, MS 39465 25 601-657-8783 evergreenindustriesinc.com Patrick McCabe 1990 Sojourner Trucking Company, 26113 Hwy. 27 S., Crystal Springs, MS 39059 26 601-892-4456 sojournertrucking.com Ben Sojourner 1940 D.E.H. Trucking, 3671 U.S. 61 N., Cleveland, MS 38732 27 662-843-3217 dehtrucking.com David E. Harkins 1998 3 T's Trucking, 3959 Highway 29, New Augusta, MS 39462 28 601-964-7010 3tstrucking.com Wallace Thornton 2011 Douglas Express Delivery, 4225 Industrial Dr., Jackson, MS 39209 29 601-355-8995 douglasdelivery.com Billy H Williams 1955 Dobbs Trucking LLC, 1413 CR 86, New Albany, MS 38652 30 662-534-6119 Ronald Dobbs 2006 List is ranked by number of trucks. Information provided by company representatives and MBJ research. Direct questions to frank.brown@msbusiness.com.

66 65 74 39 77 36 37 55

77 75 74 67 66 58 54 53

Electric Power Associations

Electric Power Associations electric power associations Founded

Employees

Meters Served

Jeff Bowman

1941

464

432,000

coastepa.com

Ron Barnes

1937

246

83,934

singingriver.com

Brian Hughey

1938

187

74,959

601-785-6511

southernpine.coop

Jason Slegfried

1938

228

68,175

601-736-2666

prvepa.com

Randy Wallace

1938

132

50,401

4-County EPA, 5265 S. Frontage Rd., Columbus, MS 39701

662-327-8900

4county.org

Brian Clark

1936

144

48,924

Tombigbee EPA, 1346 Auburn Road, Tupelo, MS 38804

662-842-7635

tombigbeeelectric.com

William Long

1934

137

43,980

Dixie Electric Power Association, 1863 Hwy. 184 , Laurel, MS 39443

601-425-2535

dixieepa.com

Randy Smith

1938

39,444

East Mississippi EPA, 2128 Highway 39 N., Meridian, MS 39301

800-431-1544

emepa.com

Randy Carroll

1938

133

37,060

Central EPA, 107 E. Main St., Carthage, MS 39051

601-267-5671

centralepa.com

Brian Long

1937

36,727

Northcentral EPA, 4600 Northcentral Way, Olive Branch, MS 38654

800-325-8925

northcentralepa.com

Kevin Doddridge

1950

32,161

Magnolia Electric Power, 3027 U.S. 98 W., Summit, MS 39666

601-684-4011

mepcoop.com

Darrell Smith

1938

32,029

Tallahatchie Valley EPA, 250 Power Dr., Batesville, MS 38606

662-563-4742

tvepa.com

Brad Robison

1937

115

27,561

North East Mississippi EPA, 10 PR 2050, Oxford, MS 38655

662-234-6331

nemepa.org

Keith Hayward

1936

27,024

Southwest Electric, 18671 Hwy. 61, Lorman, MS 39096

800-287-8564

southwestelectric.coop

Kevin Bonds

1937

25,397

Delta EPA, 1700 Hwy. 82 W., Greenwood, MS 38930

662-453-6352

deltaepa.com

David O'Bryan

1938

25,167

Pontotoc EPA, 12 S. Main St., Pontotoc, MS 38863

662-489-3211

pepa.com

Frankie Moorman

1934

19,464

Alcorn County EPA, 1909 S. Tate St., Corinth, MS 38834

662-287-4402

ace-power.com

Eddie Howard

1934

18,833

Natchez Trace EPA, 555 E. Madison St., Houston, MS 38851

662-456-3037

ntepa.com

Shawn Edmonson

1939

15,899

Prentiss County EPA, 302 W. Church St., Booneville, MS 38829

662-728-4433

pcepa.com

Ronny Rowland

1935

13,789

Tishomingo County EPA, 205 Constitution Dr., Iuka, MS 38852

662-423-3646

tcepa.com

Tim Wigginton

1936

13,508

Tippah EPA, 109 E. Cooper St., Ripley, MS 38663

662-837-8139

tippahepa.com

Tim Smith

1938

13,507

Monroe County EPA, 50408 Greenbriar Road, Amory, MS 38821

662-256-2962

monroecountyelectric.com

Barry Rowland

1936

12,460

Twin County EPA, 900 East Ave. N., Hollandale, MS 38748

662-827-2262

twincoepa.com

Tim Perkins

1938

12,343

Yazoo Valley EPA, 2255 Gordon Ave., Yazoo City, MS 39194

662-746-4251

yazoovalley.com

Ronald White

1937

10,243

Coahoma EPA, 340 Hopson St., Lyon, MS 38645

662-624-8321

coahomaepa.com

Keith Hurt

1937

7,975

Rank

Association / Address

Telephone

Website

GM / President

Cooperative Energy, 7037 U.S. 49, Hattiesburg, MS 39402

601-268-2083

cooperativeenergy.com

Coast EPA, 18020 Hwy. 603, Kiln, MS 39556

228-363-7000

Singing River Electric, 11187 Old 63 S., Lucedale, MS 39452

601-947-4211

Southern Pine Electric, 13491 Highway 28, Taylorsville, MS 39168

Pearl River Valley EPA, 1422 Hwy. 13 N., Columbia, MS 39429

Information provided by the Electric Cooperatives of Mississippi and ranked by meters served. Direct questions to frank.brown@msbusiness.com.

law & accounting September Issue 2020 Issue • Mississippi • Mississippi Business Business Journal Journal • www.msbusiness.com • www.msbusiness.com

Hear ye, hear ye, Mississippi courts are back in session By LYNN LOFTON mbj@msbusiness.com

lbeit with extensive changes made to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. With everyone wearing masks, chairs spaced out and in some cases plexiglass dividers, court rooms may not look exactly the same but they are functioning all over the state. And, they may not all even be traditional court rooms in court houses. “Since March, the Mississippi Supreme Court has entered 16 emergency administrative orders to address court operations during the pandemic,” says the court's Public Information Officer Beverly Kraft. “ The orders cover restrictions as well as temporary rule changes which allow some changes in the way court proceedings are conducted.” Judge Steve Ratcliff, who hears cases in Rankin County Circuit Court, said, “COVID has required us to make certain adjustments to our dockets. We want to make sure the system moves as fairly and expeditiously as possible with as many safeguards as we can manage.” Earlier this month, the Supreme Court authorized courts to utilize video conferencing to conduct plea hearings. In July masks were ordered to be worn in all courtrooms although local courts were already requiring the wearing of masks. Kraft also says it's now possible to have a jury trial. The first jury trial conducted since mid-March was a

trial which began June 1 at the Batesville Civic Center in Panola County. Jury trials recently got underway in Hinds and Madison counties after six months without jury trials. In Rankin County, jurors have qualified and trials may now be heard. “To be able to safely call together the large numbers of people necessary to select juries, judges and boards of supervisors have worked together to designate large public facilities as temporary courthouses,” Kraft said.

“The Batesville Civic Center was the first. Judges across the state have utilized gymnasiums, auditoriums, multipurpose complexes and other large facilities for jury selection and in some cases, for entire trials.” To further keep the wheels of justice turning, the Supreme Court has appointed special judges — some retired — to assist some of the trial courts with their backlog. It was a coordinated effort in Hinds County as three judges took turns using the largest courtroom at the County Courthouse in Jackson to select juries. Circuit Judge Faye Peterson said it felt great to see the coordination working “and to actually realize we can try three cases at the same time and not cost anything extra other than PPE.” Although jurors came to court with their own masks, judges provided them with a personal protective equipment kit including a mask, a face shield and hand sanitizer. “It took a lot of maneuvering. It’s the new normal,” Judge Peterson said after she recessed court for the day in a criminal trial. As soon as jurors left the courtroom, the court staff went to work wiping down benches, chairs, tables and other surfaces with disinfectant. In Madison County, jury qualification and selection was moved to larger facilities to provide social distancing. “This was the largest place I could find,” Circuit Judge John Emfinger said of the Canton MulSee COURTS, Page 41

LAW & ACCOUNTING

September 2020 Issue

Tax Preparers

Tax Preparers Rank

Company / Address

tax preparers

Phone

Website

Mississippi Business Journal

Top Officer

Watkins, Ward & Stafford, 213 Commerce St., West Point MS 39773 662-494-5732 wwscpa.com James L. Stafford GranthamPoole, 1062 Highland Colony Pky, #201, Ridgeland MS 39157 601-499-2400 granthampoole.com Robert Cunningham HORNE LLP, 661 Sunnybrook Road, Ste. 100, Ridgeland MS 39157 601-326-1000 hornellp.com Joey D. Havens TMH, 2 Southern Pointe Pkwy., Ste. 100, Hattiesburg MS 39401 601-264-3519 tmhcpas.com Emily Paige Johnson Haddox Reid Eubank Betts, 188 E. Capitol St., #500, Jackson MS 39201 601-948-2924 HaddoxReid.com Greg King Silas Simmons, LLP, 209 N. Commerce St., Natchez MS 39120 601-442-7411 silassimmons.com T.E. Lott & Company, 221 N. 7th St., Columbus MS 39701 662-328-5387 telott.com Stewart R Greene Alexander,Van Loon,Sloan,Levens & Favre, 9490 Three Rivers Rd., Gulfport MS 39503 8 228-863-0411 avlcpa.com Cindy Sloan Piltz Williams LaRosa & Co., 1077 Tommy Munro Dr., Biloxi MS 39532 9 228-374-4141 pwlcpa.com David C Neumann Nail McKinney P.A., 110 N. Madison St., Tupelo MS 38804 10 662-842-6475 nmcpa.com Richard D Bullock BKD CPAs & Advisors, 190 E. Capitol St., Ste. 500, Jackson MS 39201 11 601-948-6700 bkd.com Andrew Williams Harper, Rains, Knight & Co, 1052 Highland Colony, #100, Ridgeland MS 39157 601-605-0722 hrkcpa.com Cecil Harper May & Company, LLP, 110 Monument Pl., Vicksburg MS 39180 13 601-636-4762 maycpa.com H. Riley Nelson BFMW Group, PLLC, 115 W. Market St., Greenwood MS 38930 14 662-453-3235 BFMWgroup.com N. Craig Brewer III Taylor, Powell, Wilson & Hartford, 1705 U.S. 82 W., Greenwood MS 38930 15 662-453-6432 tpwh.com Howard Raymond Davis Jr. Matthews Cutrer & Lindsay | CPAs, 599C Steed Rd., Ridgeland MS 39157 601-898-8875 mclcpa.net Matt E. Freeland Byrne Zizzi CPA, PLLC, 111 E. Washington St., Houston MS 38851 17 662-456-5757 byrnezizzi.com Thomas A Byrne Jr, Emily M Zizzi Carr, Riggs & Ingram, 400 W. Parkway Pl., #300, Ridgeland MS 39157 18 601-853-7050 cricpa.com Elton Sims Rea, Shaw, Giffin & Stuart, 2415 9th St., Meridian MS 39301 601-693-2841 rsgscpa.com O Keith Evans Williams, Pitts and Beard, 2042 McIngvale Rd., Ste. A, Hernando MS 38632 20 662-429-4436 wpbcpa.net Danny L. Williams Jackson, Braswell, Mullins, & Bailey, 3513 Hwy 8 W., Cleveland MS 38732 662-843-1555 Chris Braswell JE Vance & Co., P.A., 825 W. Jefferson St., Tupelo MS 38804 22 662-842-2123 jevance.com James E. Vance Williams, Weiss, Hester & Co., 4785 Old Canton Rd., Jackson MS 39211 601-981-7571 wwhcpa.com Doug Hester Collins, Barr & Hembree, 130 Fountains Blvd. #100, Madison MS 39110 601-707-7536 cbhcpas.com Wallace B. Collins Orsborn, Sutphen & O'Neal, P.A., 208 George St., Greenwood MS 38930 25 662-453-4175 osocpa.com F. Marshall Sutphen Sr. The Burgess Group, P.A., 2506 Lakeland Dr., Ste. 401, Flowood MS 39232 26 601-939-7116 burgessgroup.net Beth B. Burgess Holt & Associates, PLLC, 2815 Highway 15 N, Laurel MS 39440 601-649-3000 holtaccounting.com Julie Uher, Kari Blackledge Huffman & Company, CPA, 497 Keywood Cir. Ste A, Flowood MS 39232 601-933-1986 huffmanandcompanycpa.com Tony Huffman Information provided by company representatives and MBJ research. Firms are ranked by tax preparers. Direct questions to frank.brown@msbusiness.com.

1 2 3 4 5 6

COURTS

Continued from Page 40

tipurpose Center. The large activity room seats 91 people. Emfinger split the prospective jurors into two groups, conducting jury qualifying with one group in the morning and with a second group in the afternoon. By mid-afternoon, 88 people were ready to serve as jurors. Judge Emfinger said, “It’s just a matter of making sure we are as safe as possible.” In an effort to deter sick people from coming to court, letters were sent to all prospective jurors telling them not to come to court if they were ill, were caring for someone who was ill, or if they had other risk factors. Ashley Gunn, an attorney in the Gulfport office of Wise Carter Child and Carraway, says judges are doing the best they can at striking a balance between safety of court staff, attorneys, and participants and carrying on the business of the court. “Most courts are fully functioning but with some changes in place, such as reducing visitors to the courthouse and utilizing remote technology. The changes are more style over substance; our courts are still very much at work.”

Gunn is seeing clients face to face only on an as-needed basis. “If so, we space out in a clean conference room and avoid contact such as handshaking,” she said. “We are able to accomplish many of the same goals by meeting telephonically or though video calls, and communicating via text message and email.” Chancellor Carter Bise, Chancery Court of Hancock, Harrison and Jackson counties, affirms that all the required precautions are taking place in his court. “Also, attorneys are supposed to send their orders, judgments and exhibits via email to me, staff attorney and court reporter,” he said. “There are questionnaires regarding symptoms and temperature checks before entering the courtroom. There are plexiglass partitions between the courtroom and court reporter and courtroom and me. No case where anyone has been exposed is heard. We utilize zoom as much as possible to avoid contamination.”

Founded 1949 1977 1962 1977 1958 1932 1926 1967 1962 1951 2008 1952 1922 1999 1917 1988 1961 1997 1935 1983 1995 1989 1988 1976 1951 2001 1945 1991

Preparers 76 68 62 40 30 27 27 25 23 21 20 20 19 17 16 16 15 13 13 9 9 8 8 8 7 6 6 6

42 n

Mississippi Business Journal

September 2020 Issue

» ENVIRONMENTAL BUSINESS

‘Sigh of relief’: Sally spares a Mississippi gator ranch

s rain and wind from Sally started reaching the Gulf Coast, the manager of a Mississippi alligator ranch was just hoping he wouldn’t have to deal with a repeat of what happened during Hurricane Katrina. That’s when about 250 alligators escaped their enclosures as storm surge pushed water over the grounds. But this time, the storm slid east and spared the ranch. “I’m thinking a sigh of relief somewhat,” said manager Tim Parker, who took over Gulf Coast Gator Ranch & Tours after Katrina. Earlier this week, forecasters said Hurricane Sally could push up to 9 feet (2.7 meters) of ocean water surging into the swamps and wetlands where the gators roam, floating them up and over the fences around the farm. As the hurricane moved east of Mississippi, the surge forecast was reduced to no more than 4 feet (1.2 meters). – The Associated Press

NFL SOCIAL JUSTICE

Former Fred’s to be storage facility

A » In this image made from video, an alligator is seen on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020, in Moss Point, Miss.. As Hurricane Sally's outer bands reached the U.S. Gulf Coast and landfall was imminent, the manager of Gulf Coast Gator Ranch & Tours was hoping he wouldn't have to live a repeat of what happened at the gator farm during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when about 250 alligators escaped their enclosures. (AP Photo/Stacey Plaisance)

Continued from Page 8

users will interact with the combined offerings. “We’re working on those integrations now,” Galant said. “But the big idea is the trend in business software is that people want to choose the best platforms for key business functions and have platforms work together and talk to each other and have the integration be seamless.” Muck Rack recently released its Public Relations Management platform in June. It works with the company’s existing media database and monitoring and analytics tools and has integrations with Google’s Gmail and Microsoft’s Outlook email platforms. In January, Muck Rack released Muck Rack Trends, a tool that lets PR pros measure their company’s performance against competitors and compare article search terms.

Facebook Threatens to Block News Feed in Australia

Facebook has threatened to block Australian publishers and individuals from sharing news stories on its platform in reaction to an Australian measure that could require it to compensate media organizations for its use of their stories. The social network said the Australian move would force it to pay arbitrary and theoretically unlimited sums for information that makes up only a small fraction of its service, according to the AP. The measure would force Facebook to choose between “either removing news entirely or accepting a system that lets publishers charge us for as much content as they want at a price with no clear limits,” the company’s managing di-

rector for Australia and New Zealand, Will Easton, wrote in a blog post. “No business can operate that way.” Campbell Brown, a former NBC and CNN anchor who is Facebook’s vice president of global news partnerships, said the cutoff threat “has nothing to do with our ongoing global commitment to journalism.” Brown’s post, which cited a variety of individual Facebook programs intended to support news organizations, was titled “Our Continued Commitment to Journalism.” The threat came after a consultation period on the draft law ended last week and the Australian government finalizes wording. Australian Communications Minister Paul Fletcher declined to say whether he thought Facebook would make good on its threat. Google has also issued an open letter that cast the proposed Australian law as a potential threat to individual privacy and a burden that would degrade the quality of its search and YouTube video platform but stopped short of threatening a cutoff.

Zoom Revenue Quadruples in Q2, Makes it Bigger than IBM

Zoom Video Communications shares vaulted after the company reported second quarter earnings that beat analyst expectations. Zoom’s market cap now stands at more than $129 billion, up from $25 billion a year ago. The company is now larger than IBM. Revenue grew 355% on an annualized basis in the quarter that ended July 31, according to CNBC. In the prior quarter Zoom’s revenue grew 169%. New customers’ sub-

140,000-square-foot self-storage facility is being built where a Fred’s store was located on Old Canton Road in Jackson before the company filed for liquidation last year. Wimco Corp. of Raleigh, N.C. is the general contractor for GHK Developments Inc. of New Orleans. The facility is being fashioned out of the old Fred’s store, and a three-story building is to be constructed in front of it, according to Jimmy Johner, project manager for Wimco. Mid-April is the target for completion, he said. The Snobiz shop will remain at 6230 Old Canton after the conversion of the rest of the property, Johner said. There will be about six employees at the storage facility, he said. – MBJ Staff

scriptions delivered 81% of the revenue growth, and there was less customer churn than expected, finance chief Kelly Steckelberg told analysts on a Zoom call. Zoom’s income neared $186 million, up from just $5.5 million in the year-ago quarter. Zoom increased its adjusted gross margin to 72.3% from 69.4% one quarter earlier partly because of expanding the capacity of its own data center equipment. People became more dependent on Zoom’s video-calling software for business, educational and personal use during the quarter, after the coronavirus pandemic led officials to direct people to stay home around the world, meaning people could no longer meet in person as before. The company hired information security and diversity leaders, added Lt. Gen. Herbert Raymond “H.R.” McMaster to its board, announced plans for research and development centers in Phoenix and Pittsburgh, and said it acquired secure messaging start-up Keybase, according to CNBC. Zoom averaged 148.4 million monthly active users in the quarter, up 4,700% year over year, RBC analysts led by Alex Zukin wrote in a note distributed to clients on Aug. 17, citing data from app analytics start-up SensorTower. » TODD SMITH is co-founder, president and chief executive officer of Deane | Smith, a full-service branding, PR, marketing and advertising firm with offices in Jackson. The firm – based in Nashville, Tenn. – is also affiliated with Mad Genius. Contact him at todd@deanesmithpartners.com, follow him @spinsurgeon and like the ageny on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/deanesmithpartners, and join us on LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/ company/deane-smith-&-partners.

September 2020 Issue

Mississippi Business Journal

Navistar investing $8 million, adding 500 jobs to West Point plant By DENNIS SEID Daily Journal

ilitary vehicle manufacturer Navistar Defense LLC is adding 500 jobs to its West Point facility as it invests $8 million to upgrade it. “Navistar Defense’s decision to add hundreds of new jobs for the people of Clay County is a strong testament to our state’s business climate and our dedicated, skilled manufacturing workforce,” Gov. Tate Reeves said. “Our national government relies on Mississippians to keep our military and allies safe. I know these 500 Mississippians will work hard to maintain Navistar Defense’s high profile within the vehicle manufacturing and defense industries, while continuing its long-standing tradition of quality workmanship in West Point.” Headquartered in Melrose Park, Ill., Navistar Defense manufactures and sustains tactical wheeled and commercial off-the-shelf military vehicles for the U.S. government and NATO allies. The company said its decision to invest in its West Point operations and add hundreds of new jobs is part of its commitment to establishing a long-term presence in Mississippi. Navistar Defense said it currently has contracts in place enabling the company to maintain longterm sustainability in West Point. Navistar has built and delivered tens of thousands of mine-resistant, ambush-protected armored vehicles and variants of it to the U.S. Military as well as other nations. “Navistar Defense is demonstrating its commitment to the Golden Triangle region through this investment in our West Point Assembly Plant,” said Navistar Defense CEO Ted Wright. “Enhancing our manufacturing capability and growing our workforce is part of our strategic plan to grow the company. The plant’s large capacity enables us to build on our core military vehicle business and offers the potential to manufacture a variety of additional products.” The Mississippi Development Authority is providing a $2.5 million grant for building improvements. Navistar Defense also qualifies for the Advantage Jobs Rebate Program, which provides a rebate to eligible businesses that create new jobs that exceed the average annual wage of the state or county in which the company locates or expands. The Tennessee Valley Authority also is assisting with the project. “The commitment that Navistar Defense is making in West Point not only in investment, but in hiring 500 full-time jobs with great benefits is a tremendous investment in our region,” said Joe Max Higgins, CEO of

the Golden Triangle Development LINK. “Our existing employers invest large amounts in our region annually, and the Navistar Defense project is just another example of why the Golden Triangle is a profitable place for a business. These hires will be very helpful as we continue to work toward recovering from COVID-related effects.” The addition of the 500 new jobs, which the company plans to fill by 2024, brings employment at the West Point facility to 525. In January, Navistar Defense acquired the West Point assembly plant in West Point for an undisclosed amount. The company had leased the facility from Babcock and Wilcox since 2006. The West Point Assembly Plant has been Navistar Defense’s primary manufacturing site since 2006, and the company calls the plant its hub for the manufacture of it

line of military vehicles, which are sold worldwide. The plant is located on 161 acres and has 562,000 square feet of manufacturing, storage and office space comprised of five multi-purpose, moving assembly lines. In addition to assembly tooling and equipment, the plant has high-volume chemical agent resistant coating painting, certified welding and technical automotive capabilities. Navistar Defense in December was awarded a $24.5 million contract to provide medium tactical vehicles to foreign military sales customers worldwide, except for Iraq. The three-year contract, awarded by the U.S. Army Contracting Command, is comprised of 6X6 general transport trucks and 6X6 wreckers, along with spare parts and technical data for both variants.

www.mclcpa.net

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Mississippi Business Journal

September 2020 Issue

General Atomics investing $39.5 million, creating 125 jobs

eneral Atomics Electromagnetic Systems is increasing its manufacturing capacity in Shannon to accommodate the addition of three national security components/technologies manufacturing projects for the U.S. Department of Defense. The project is a $39.5 million corporate investment and will create 125 jobs. General Atomics currently has 300 employees in Lee County. The company plans to fill the 125 new jobs by 2025. General Atomics’ expansion, the 12th in 15 years in Lee County, includes the addition of 100,000 square feet of highly specialized manufacturing capabilities dedicated to supporting critical department programs. “Since 2005, General Atomics has been at the forefront of manufacturing some of the most technologically advanced components for the U.S. Navy

» Arts & Entertainment

and other military installations,” Mississippi Development Authority Interim Director John Rounsaville said in a release. “By continually investing in its Lee County operations and creating high-skilled jobs for the region’s workers, General Atomics contributes significantly to the growth of Northeast Mississippi’s economy and the region’s communities,” The MDA is contributing $1.75 million grant for installation of cranes and $450,000 for work-force training. Lee County and the Tennessee Valley Authority are also providing assistance. “General Atomics, one of the world’s most innovative companies, continues to expand in Lee County, now 12 times since 2005, and it’s because of the people in our workforce,” said Lee County Board of Supervisors President Tommie Lee Ivy. – MBJ Staff

» A welder at General Atomics welds a PCD cable drum component. The company employs some 300 workers at its facility in the Tupelo-Lee Industrial Park South, where they make the Navy’s next-generation EMALS catapult system for aircraft carriers.

Northpark theater holds grand opening

&B Theatres recently held the grand opening of the renovated Ridgeland Northpark 14 theater. The theater has undergone a full-scale, multi-million dollar renovation. Pacific Retail Capital Partners of El Segundo, Calif., bought the mall in September 2016 from Simon Property Group, which built it in 1984. It completed a multi-million-dollar renovation of the mall in November 2018. It bought the UA Northpark, which had closed, two months earlier. The site is home to B&B’s Lyric theater, a smaller and more intimate auditorium

designed as a rentable venue for private events. Ridgeland will also offer families with small children access to screenPLAY. This auditorium features a full playground in the theater along with a custom preshow that plays during the 30 minutes of playtime that precede a family-friendly feature. MX4D will offer motion seats that move in sync with the onscreen action, plus wind, rain, scent, smoke, strobe, and snow effects, guests don’t simply watch a movie in MX4D. B&B Theatres Ridgeland Northpark 14 offers two of the largest screens in the nation.

Our customers come first. Now, more than ever. New payment options for COVID-19 relief. At Entergy Mississippi, we understand the immense impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on our customers and communities. And we know that now, electricity is more important than ever. So for those struggling to make ends meet, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve developed new payment options to provide some relief during these uncertain times. Our Enhanced Customer Assistance Plan provides flexible options to extend time to pay with payment arrangements. Any customer experiencing financial hardship is eligible to take up to 12 months to pay their current bill and/or unpaid balances. For added convenience, new self-service options are available to select the extended payment arrangement that works for you. Visit entergymississippi.com/mypaymentoptions, or select Deferred Payment on the Entergy Mobile App, or call 1-800-ENTERGY and follow our automated response system billing and payment menu. entergymississippi.com/mypaymentoptions

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Mississippi Business Journal

Anderson named to Bacot McCarty Foundation

Courtney Anderson has been named the Development Director for the Mississippi Gulf Coast based Bacot McCarty Foundation. Courtney is a graduate of the University of Mississippi where she received a bachelor degree in Journalism and Hospitality Management. A lifelong resident of Gulfport, Courtney previously served as the Gulf Coast Community Anderson Development Manager for the American Cancer Society. She is a Gulfport Rotarian, a member of Coast Young Professionals, a board member of the Make a Wish Foundation, and enjoys service work with Backpack Buddies and other organizations. She co-hosts Spotlight Gulf Coast, a weekly TV show that features subjects of interest in the local community.

NewSouth NeuroSpine adds Kelsey Walsh

Neurosurgeon Kelsey A. Walsh, MD, has joined NewSouth NeuroSpine in Flowood, MS. Dr. Walsh specializes in minimally invasive spinal surgery techniques, as well as general neurosurgery—including cranial and peripheral nerve surgery. Dr. Walsh received her Walsh medical degree at the Medical University of South Carolina, graduating in 2013. After a seven-year residency, Dr. Walsh completed her neurosurgery training at University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, MS.

meet objective criteria concerning the number of women among equity partners, in firm leadership positions and in the ranks of their most highly compensated partners. Baker Donelson was among 48 U.S. law firms to earn this certification. Through its Women’s Initiative, Baker Donelson has implemented numerous key initiatives designed to create an environment where female attorneys thrive, including an industry-leading parental leave policy, a firm-wide mentoring program for women, a program that awards business development grants to women attorneys and a training program designed to help women attorneys achieve equity shareholder status.

Davis-Primer named to ABA’s “On the Rise – Top 40 Young Lawyers”

Nakimuli O. Davis-Primer, a shareholder in the Jackson office of Baker Donelson, has been named to the American Bar Association’s (ABA) 2020 “On the Rise – Top 40 Young Lawyers.” The annual award, presented by the ABA’s Young Lawyers Division (YLD), recognizes 40 young lawyers nationally who “exemplify a broad range of high achievement, innovation, vision, leadership, and legal and community service.” A magna cum laude graduate of the University of Mississip- Davis-Primer pi School of Law and former Fifth Circuit law clerk for Judge Leslie Southwick, Ms. Davis-Primer has been recognized as a “Rising Star” by Mid-South Super Lawyers since 2014 and has been recognized by the National Black Lawyers as a Top 100 Attorney 2015-2019. She was named a Fellow of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity in 2017, a fellow in the American Bar Foundation in 2016, and was named to PORTICO 10 by Portico Magazine in 2015.

Argent promotes Campany to Regional Manager Mood joins Stone Bank Brooks Campany worked as a personal banker for Avenue Bank in Nashville. She began working in in Mississippi Argent’s Nashville office as vice president and director of marketing and public relations in 2009 and held that position for eight years. Campany later transferred to the Oxford office and has served as market president and director of recruiting, engagement and culture for the last two years. Campany Campany earned her bachelor’s degree in finance and marketing from the University of Mississippi and has received accreditations from Cannon Financial Institute for her completion of the Trust I and Wealth Strategist I courses.

Baker Donelson named Gold Standard Firm

NEWSMAKERS

September 2020 Issue

For the sixth consecutive year, Baker Donelson has been certified by the Women in Law Empowerment Forum (WILEF) as a Gold Standard Firm. WILEF grants Gold Standard status to firms that

Stone Bank has announced that Tim Mood of Benton has joined the Arkansas bank as Stone Bank’s Business Development Officer in Mississippi working to identify new poultry farm financing opportunities for the bank. Stone Bank is one of the regions leading FSA government-guaranteed poultry lenders. Mood is a Yazoo County native and resides in Benton. He is a 1982 graduate of Manchester Academy and received both B.S. and MBA Mood degrees from Mississippi State University (1986, 2011) in Agricultural Economics and Master of Business Administration. Since August 2018, Mood has also served as Director for the Yazoo County Economic Development District. Mood is an avid hunter and outdoorsman and is married to the former Lynn Fouche of Benton and has two children Tanner and Marlee.

Palmer joins Community SBJ names Jennifer Lee Bank in Laurel business office manager

Koby Palmer has recently joined Community Bank’s Laurel office as Loan Officer. Palmer, a native of Waynesboro, Mississippi, has been in banking for six years. In his new role, Palmer will focus on managing and growing a portfolio of loans and deposits. Palmer is a graduate of Mississippi College with a Bachelor in History, as well as, a graduate of The Association of Finance and Insurance Palmer Professionals. Active in his community, Palmer serves as a member of The Racquet Club of Hattiesburg and a participant for Hattiesburg Parks and Recreation. He attends Venture Church- Hunt Club Campus in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

Southern AgCredit promotes three associates

Southern AgCredit recently promoted three employees. Amanda Hudson was promoted to vice president of operations in the Ridgeland administrative office. Hudson holds a bachelor’s degree and a Master of Agribusiness Management from Mississippi State University. She is also a graduate of the Hudson inaugural class of the Thad Cochran Agricultural Leadership Program. Hudson joined Southern AgCredit in 2006 as a loan officer. Phyllis Weathers was promoted to vice president of loan operations in the Ridgeland administrative office. She graduated from Delta State University with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business administration. Prior to joining Southern AgCredit in 2008 as a loan adminisWeathers trator, Weathers worked in lending at Regions Bank for over 15 years. Wesley Head was promoted to vice president of technology in the Ridgeland administrative office. Head graduated magna cum laude from Mississippi State University. Prior to joining the lending co-op, he owned and operated his family’s Head technology company, Head Technology Group Inc. He joined Southern AgCredit in 2019 as an information technology specialist. Southern AgCredit is a full-service co-op lender that specializes in financing rural land and agricultural operations in Mississippi and Louisiana.

Southern Bone and Joint Specialists, P.A. of Hattiesburg has announced Jennifer Lee as its surgery center business office manager. Lee, who has worked in healthcare 18 years, will oversee staff and functions in the surgery center’s business office and medical records department. Lee received her bachelor of arts degree in broadcast journalism from the University Lee of Southern Mississippi. She is married to Matt Lee, has two children and is a member of Crosspoint Community Church. Southern Bone and Joint Specialists, P.A. is an orthopaedic group with 17 physicians based in Hattiesburg with satellite offices in Columbia, Laurel and Picayune. Its ambulatory surgery center and physical therapy center are located in Hattiesburg.

Urban named Top 40 Under 40 by ABM

Jenny Ann Urban’s passion for travel and interest in law has led to a successful career as director of aviation relations and compliance at Clear, a growing firm that provides expedited airport security clearances for travelers. Airport Business Magazine recently named the University of Mississippi alumna to the 2019 Airport Business Top 40 Under 40 list. Urban And she’s just getting started. Urban attended the University of Denver Sturm College of Law for one year before returning to Ole Miss to earn her Master of Business Administration, but her passion for law school remained. While working on her MBA, she took a position babysitting for the 2-year-old daughter of Jacqueline Serrao, former director of the Master of Laws in Air and Space Law program at the School of Law. She earned her J.D. in 2015 and LL.M. in Air and Space Law a year later.

Reddy elected president of MAS

A Mississippi State faculty member has been elected to lead the Mississippi Academy of Sciences by members-at-large. K. Raja Reddy, research professor in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences in MSU’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and scientist in the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, begins his term as MAS president Raja July 1.

NEWSMAKERS

September 2020 Issue

Forrest General names DAISY McPhail promoted to VP Award winner for June at Community Bank

ICU nurse Jessica Parsons has been recognized as Forrest General’s June recipient of the DAISY Award. The award is presented monthly to a deserving nurse who exemplifies clinical expertise and compassionate care and is recognized as a role model in the nursing community. It was a love for science and how it can be applied to the body to help people that made the decision easy for Parsons to enter nursing school at the University of Southern Mississippi. Parsons, an Oak Grove High School graduate, has been at Forrest General for five years, where she has always worked in the ICU.

» Jessica Parsons was recognized as Forrest General’s June recipient of the DAISY Award.

Michael McPhail has recently been promoted to Vice President for Community Bank. A native of Yazoo City, McPhail recently served as Assistant Vice President and has been in banking for four years. In his new role, McPhail will continue to manage a portfolio, focusing on growing loans and deposits in the Hattiesburg market. McPhail is a graduate of Mississippi State University McPhail with a Bachelor in Political Science minoring in Business Administration. He is currently in his second year at the Mississippi School of Banking at The University of Mississippi. Active in his community, McPhail serves as President of Pine Belt Pacers, member of Pine Belt Young Professionals Committee, serves as a Sergeant at Arms for Rotary Club of Hattiesburg, is a 2020 Leadership Pine Belt Nominee and he participates at Sumrall Jiu-Jitsu. He and his wife, Madeline, reside in Hattiesburg.

For full versions of Newsmakers visit www.msbusiness.com

MSU’s Poe heads MCC

Philip S. Poe, associate professor and coordinator for print and digital journalism in Mississippi State University’s Department of Communication, is the new president of the Mississippi Communication Association, an organization with members representing every institution of higher learning in the state. His role includes coordinating communication between the executive board and the mem- Poe bership, serving as a spokesperson and presiding at the organization’s 2021 spring convention, currently slated for early next year at Mississippi College in Jackson.

Sycamore Bank names Webb President and COO

The Board of Directors of Sycamore Bank in Senatobia has announced the addition of Mike Webb as President and Chief Operating Officer and Board of Directors Member. Mike Webb joins Sycamore Bank with more than 33 years of banking experience. He was recognized as Mississippi’s youngest bank CEO in 2000, and most Webb

Mississippi Business Journal

recently as CEO of North Community Bank of MS, Webb was responsible for impressive growth in both the loan and deposit areas of the bank. Webb is a 1983 honor graduate of Saltillo High School where he lettered in three sports and served as President of the Student Body and the Beta Club. After graduation, he attended Itawamba Community College (ICC) on a baseball and academic scholarship. He was a Phi Theta Kappa recipient and an ICC Hall of Fame inductee.

Sherman promoted at Community Bank

Kayla Sherman has recently been promoted to Deposit Services Officer. A native of Laurel, Mississippi, Sherman recently served as Deposit Services Assistant and has been in banking for eight years. In her new role, Sherman will provide daily support with compliance, regulatory guidelines and operating guidance to CSRs and Tellers. Sherman is a graduate of William Carey University with a Bachelor of Science in Sherman Business Administration. She is married to Brad, together they have one son, Aiden. Sherman and her family are members of Antioch Methodist Church in Laurel, Mississippi.

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