LIBERTY — It’s called teamwork.
For Amite County to grow economically, local government and businesses need to with local, state and regional organizations and agencies, economic development specialists Chandler Russ and Britt Herrin said.
Russ, with the Mississippi Development Authority; Herrin, executive director of the Pike County Economic Development District and the Pike County Chamber of Commerce; and David Holland, division director with the Mississippi Department of Employment Security, spoke to about 60 people at the Harrison Building Friday in Liberty. Topics included economic development and state programs available to local businesses and government.
“I really enjoyed it,” said Carol Dixon, who with her husband Jansen own a business called the Knife Connection.
“It was a good overview of the different programs available for business and industry,” she said. “I believe it will help us move farther.”
Kitty Freeman of Office Automation Center of McComb called the program informative.
“There is a lot of good, collective effort,” said Freeman, who said her business has clients across southwest Mississippi. “It should inspire all of us to move forward.”
Herrin and Russ told the business people and government officials that Amite County needs to develop a regional approach to economic development. They said many industries and businesses seeking to relocate no longer look at a specific community, but consider the assets of an entire region.
“Economic development doesn’t stop at the county line or the city limits,” Herrin said. “Everything now is regional.”
He said Amite County recently joined a regional economic development group with Pike and Walthall counties to promote the area. “The best thing is for us to come together and form a strategy … find a strategy that benefits all of us.”
One key, Herrin said, is promoting the region’s natural resources — its forests, lakes and scenery.
“This is a good place to hunt,” he said. “We’re close to Baton Rouge and an easy drive from New Orleans. That’s a lot of people with a lot of money who want something different, and we’re something different. We need to bring it all together.”
Herrin said there are other regional organizations, such as the 10-county Southwest Mississippi Partnership, a regional economic development agency for southwest Mississippi counties.
Russ said MDA offers programs through its Existing Industry & Business Division and other divisions.
The asset mapping program provides communities with a comprehensive inventory of existing assets developed by a team of experienced economic developers who also provide suggestions and ideas on how the assets can be enhanced for economic development programs.
Another is First Impression, which looks at the community as an outsider would see it.
Russ said Existing Industry & Business Division officials can work with a community to assist small businesses with improving and marketing their business.
“We’re able to assist small business on a daily basis,” he said.
He added that small business owners can get help through the Internet at www.mississippi.org and use MDA’s interactive Web site for help.
Russ said businesses and government need to take advantage of programs offered by other state agencies.
Holland said the Mississippi Department of Employment Security has several programs that business and local governments can take advantage of to reduce costs.
One, he said, is the federally funded On-the-Job training program, in which employers’ expenses can be reimbursed at the end of the training period.
One part of the program is job upgrading for employees who are promoted to a new position. The state will pay 50 percent of an employee’s salary during the training period, which can run from two to six months.
Another program is the Subsidized Transition Employment Program & Services, or STEPS, which will pay 66 percent of an employee’s salary for six months for workers laid off from one job who move to a new job that requires training.
Funding for the program is provided by employment security and the Mississippi Department of Human Services.
An underutilized program, Holland said, is the work opportunity tax credit program, which can provide a tax credit of up to $9,000 over a two-year period.
Some local organizations are already taking advantage of available state programs.
Amite County Chamber of Commerce President Teresa Kelly said the chamber has applied for the First Impression and Asset Mapping programs from MDA.
“We’ve got a lot going on,” she said.
