Mississippi is moving along nicely on its “Pathway to Progress,” but more statewide input and collaboration between local and state leaders is needed.
This was the main message of Mississippi Economic Council President Blake Wilson Tuesday on the first of 19 tour stops over the next three months to push Blueprint Mississippi’s objectives. He informed the Columbus Rotary Club of the MEC’s planning to achieve top-tier status in workforce development, economic climate, infrastructure and ability to sustain progress.
The results of teamwork to advance in those areas show in recent studies, Wilson said. Just last year, Area Development Magazine ranked Mississippi as the ninth best state for business and second in competitive utility costs. CNN ranked the Magnolia State as the fifth best state for entrepreneurs. The National Conference of State Legislatures named Mississippi third in competitive labor costs. Expansion Solutions Magazine put Mississippi in the top five for excellence in advanced manufacturing.
In addition to those rankings, Mississippi’s gross state product has jumped from $64 billion in 1999 to $101 billion last year, a rate that is 15 percent above the national inflation rate.
Signs of progress are also taking shape in the state’s educational systems as well, said Wilson, who noted that 40 percent of school districts were rated a grade of B or higher this year.
Despite those promising indicators, more educational, infrastructural and resource developmental strides are needed. Those goals can be accomplished with long-term planning and legislation designed to address shortfalls, Wilson said. For example, MEC has plans to conduct an infrastructure study next year, gather input from communities in 2015 and propose legislation in 2016 that would improve the overall condition of state roads.
“That’s what it takes,” Wilson said. “You can’t do it overnight. You can’t pick the simple solution. Improving our incentives, improving our educational accountability all came out of research and long-range planning.”
MEC Chair and CEO of Entergy Mississippi Heath Fisackerly joined Wilson in the campaign’s kick-off. Organizing tours such as the one in Columbus are imperative to expand the state’s growth capacity, he said.
“It’s so important that we get consensus,” Fisackerly said. “MEC does not exist without its members. The members need to see that their ideas and concerns are being represented by a singular group. The legislators we work with, they want to see that.”
With MEC, Blueprint Mississippi and the Pathway to Progress program, he said the idea of the tour is to gather input and move forward with agendas that make a difference.
“For any plan to sustain itself, it’s got to be grounded in solid facts. It’s got to be something that has long-term meaning,” Fisackerly said. “The Blueprint plans are meant to be 10-year plans. You may have to tweak them, but a lot of the changes we go and seek are going to be put into legislation, so you’ve got to get it right so it will exist for a long time.”
The tour’s next stop will be in West Point at 11:30 a.m. Thursday at The Ritz Theater and Conference Center. For more information, visit msmec.com.
Nathan Gregory covers city and county government for The Dispatch.
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