Representatives from nine counties gathered at Southwest Mississippi Community College on Thursday to continue discussing the formation of a new organization to foster economic and community development across the region.
For now called the Commission for the Future of Community Development in Southwest Mississippi for now, the group was brought together by Southwest Mississippi and Copiah-Lincoln community colleges’ presidents, Dr. Steve Bishop and Dr. Jane Hulon Sims.
Each of the counties in the colleges’ districts — Adams, Amite, Copiah, Franklin, Jefferson, Lawrence, Lincoln, Pike, Simpson, Walthall and Wilkinson — were invited to send people to the brainstorming session at SMCC. All but Franklin and Simpson did so.
Mike Mulvihill, former director of career and technical education for the Mississippi Department of Education, led the session.
Meetings among the county representatives are meant to “create a foundation that will facilitate what can get done through the power of three: business, government and education,” Mulvihill said. “No one group can make it happen.”
Economic development, workforce development and community development are separate but closely related components of improving the quality of life in communities, Mulvihill said.
The CREATE Foundation in Tupelo could be a model for advancing all those efforts in Southwest Mississippi. CREATE, Mulvihill said, had a hand in recruiting Toyota, distributing money from Toyta and other sources through grants to school and community projects and helping “build stronger, more resilient local communities.”
Demographically, Mulvihill said this about Southwest Mississippi:
• It has a population of 228,000, of which 90,000 are of working age. Racially, the population is 48% white, 47% Black, 3% Hispanic and 2% other. The population has decreased by 3% since 2015, and has fewer millenials and more people ages 55 and over than the national average.
• Educationally, 19% of the working age population did not finish high school, and 35% ended their education with a high school diploma. About 20% have some college, 10% have an associate’s degree and 9% have a bachelor’s degree.
• Has a lot of outmigration for work. Across the area, only McComb and Brookhaven have significant, sustained populations of workers driving in from other locations on a daily basis. Nearby Port Gibson and Claiborne County also draw a large influx of workers, and there are smaller communities that draw slightly more workers than they have leaving to work.
“The diversity here is higher than the national average,” Mulvihil said. “We have a lot of people that we can take advantage of their experiences to grow stronger.”
Educational attainment is low in the area, which affects the kinds of businesses that might be willing to locate here and the salaries that might be offered.
“Among people with additional education, unemployment is lower,” Mulvihill said. “We need to think about how to push education leaders to better consider educational outcomes,”
He noted that, even though many people drive a considerable distance to work, residents still need jobs and amenities close to home.
“People don’t necessarily move,” Mulvihill said. The folks at Nissan will tell you people drive in to work there from 50 counties. People still need opportunities here.”
After Mulvihill’s introductory presentation and a brief speech from former governor Phil Bryant, the county representatives brainstormed among themselves on their local strengths and opportunities, their immediate needs and their most desired improvement if the resources were available.
Many representatives gave location and transportation as positives for their counties, citing four-lane highways like Interstate 55, U.S. 84 and U.S. 61. Pike, Lincoln, Lawrence and Copiah counties said their access to rail service helps them recruit industry.
Natural resources were also cited, with available land for business or residential development and recreational opportunities high on many lists.
Willing and trainable workforces featured prominently, as did prioximity to other locations like metropolitan Jackson or cities in Louisiana, and the shovel-ready building sites or speculative buildings already in place in some of the counties.
Among immediate needs, many attendees said finding a way to retain more college graduates would bolster their efforts, as would more participation in career and vocational programs at the area’s high schools and junior colleges.
An age-old complaint arose once more for Amite County.
“We need a four-lane highway,” said Reggie Jones, Amite County’s board attorney.
That was also Amite County’s big wish if they had the resources to carry it out, along with the purchase of land and development of an industrial spec building.
For Walthall County, economic developer Pam Keaton said adding to the four-lane highway access afforded by U.S. 98 would be helpful.
“We would like to four-lane Highway 27,” Keaton said. “That would open us up to St. Tammany Parish (in Louisiana) and allow people to ship or commute to work more easily.”
South of Tylertown, Highway 27 becomes Louisiana Highway 25 and runs through Franklinton to Covington.
The big dream for Pike County was “more recruiters who can visit elementary schools and help steer students toward careers and the community colleges,” said Pike County Economic Development District Executive Director Jill Busby.
Cooperating to reach goals is key to making progress, Lincoln County’s lead business recruiter said, and should be easy to do.
“We rarely compete on specific investments,” said Garrick Combs, executive director of the Brookhaven-Lincoln County Economic Development Alliance. “We all benefit by working together.”
Counties will choose two representatives to meet at Co-Lin in Wesson sometime in the next three months to to focus on developing an area foundation to support economic, workforce and community development efforts.
