The year ended with out-going Gov. Haley Barbour tossing the Mississippi Legislature a plan for revamping the $20 billion Public Employees Retirement System — a hot potato capable of burning politicians on both sides of the issue. The PERS issue is a clear choice for designation among the Mississippi Business Journal’s “Stories of the Year.” [...] [...]
This year the Mississippi Legislature approved loans for three green energy manufacturing companies recruited to the state by Gov. Haley Barbour. In January the state Legislature approved a $75 million loan for Stion, a startup manufacturing company that will make thin-film solar panels in Hattiesburg. The company promises to investment $500 million and bring 1,000 [...] [...]
The rescuers of once-distressed Cadence Bank have moved the regional banking company’s headquarters from Starkville to Birmingham, Ala., but are living up to pledges to make Starkville a hub for the operations end of an expanded community banking business, economic development leaders say. The new $4.1 billion Cadence Bank, N.A., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cadence [...] [...]
Bad weather made 2011 a year to forget. The losses from tornadoes, flooding and drought are still being calculated. In April, the state suffered one of the worst tornado outbreaks in history. Hardest hit was the Town of Smithville, a community of less than 1,000 that was hit by an EF-5 tornado on April 27 [...] [...]
by Clay Chandler Published: December 25,2011
Tags: Blue Springs, Corolla, David Copenhaver, Elvis Presley, Gov. Haley Barbour, MBJ’s Top 5 stories of the year, Toyota, Toyota Motor Corp. president Akio Toyoda, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Mississippi, “only fools rush in.”
The Toyota facility in Blue Springs held a “line-off” ceremony Nov. 17 to celebrate what amounted to a delayed grand opening. It was a celebration nearly five years in the making. The star of the show was a black Corolla that was built on Oct. 24, when production started. It will reside in the lobby [...] [...]
Oral arguments were heard Dec. 14 before the Mississippi Supreme Court in the case regarding Mississippi Power’s $2.4 billion clean coal plant under construction in Kemper County. The Sierra Club is appealing a decision made by Harrison County Chancery Court to uphold the state Public Service Commission’s decision to allow Mississippi Power to build the [...] [...]
After a wrongful termination lawsuit filed against the Delta Health Alliance settled this summer, the U.S. Attorney in Northern Mississippi started an investigation of the nonprofit’s CEO. A grand jury has subpoenaed records related to the lawsuit to determine if Dr. Karen Fox inappropriately used DHA funds, which come almost exclusively from federal sources, for [...] [...]
by Clay Chandler Published: December 25,2011
Tags: eminent domain, eminent domain for private economic development, Farm Country, Initiative 31, MBJ’s Top 5 stories of the year, Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation, Tate Reeves, voter I.D., “member families”, “personhood” amendment
We might have finally found something Mississippians of every political persuasion can agree on: The use of eminent domain for private economic development is a bad idea. Initiative 31, which will amend the state Constitution to essentially restrict the use of eminent domain to projects of direct public use, earned more than 637,000 votes. The [...] [...]
The headquarters for Jackson’s Parkway Properties Inc. will move to downtown Orlando, Fla., in early 2012, according to a statement made by the upcoming CEO in a Florida newspaper in October. A handful of senior level management will transfer, but most of Parkway’s 89 Jackson employees will stay in town. Parkway Properties is a publicly [...] [...]
by Stephen McDill Published: December 25,2011
Tags: Apple, AT&T, C Spire CEO Hu Meena, C Spire Wireless, cease fire, Cellular South, corporate makeover, iPhone, iPhone 4S, MBJ’s Top 5 stories of the year, Metro PCS, personalized wireless, Rural Cellular Association, telecommunications, U.S. Cellular, Verizon Wireless
It was a double-barrel of news with a kick that stunned the U.S. telecommunications industry. Cellular South, the Ridgeland-based company billed as the nation’s largest private wireless provider, announced in September that it was undergoing a massive corporate makeover. The end result was C Spire Wireless. Analysts saw the name change as signs that the [...] [...]
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