Business Blog

The threat of the Congress and President Obama failing to reach a deal to raise the federal debt limit has led Moody’s to say it is placing five of the 15 states with triple-A ratings on review for possible downgrade. The downgrade warning for Maryland, New Mexico, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia s based on [...]

HOPE (Hope Enterprise Corporation/Hope Credit Union) has received a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund to help spur economic growth and recovery in Mississippi and elsewhere across the Mid South. The money from the Community Development Financial Institutions Program also will be used to expand [...]

The conservative think tank, The Heritage Foundation, has just released a study questioning whether the U.S. Census Bureau should allow Americans with a multitude of unnecessary electronic devices to be considered “in poverty.” According to the most recent Census, 21.8 percent of Mississippians live below poverty level, as opposed to 14.3 percent nationally. According to [...]

By Stephen McDill Eminent domain, the taking of land for development, has proven to be a heavily emotional and highly politicized talking point in Mississippi this year. Staff writer Ted Carter will take a hard look at both sides of the issue in Monday’s edition of the MBJ. In the meantime, we’ve collected video clips [...]

Gov. Barbour told the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance on Thursday that Medicaid is “overburdened and unsustainable,” adding that the piling up of future costs would be “fiscally irresponsible.” His remarks can be read in full here.

The Mississippi guys who made a shot-for-shot remake of Steven Spielberg’s “Raiders of the Lost Ark” as teenagers are now at the “just add money” stage for an original action-adventure film they want to make in the state. In 1982, at the age of 11, Gulfport resident Chris Strompolos called school acquaintance Eric Zala and [...]

Hinds Community College is ready to help with film industry workforce development by giving students the hands-on experience they need for employment in the film and video industry. Hinds will kick off its new film and video technology program at its Rankin campus in August, making it the only two-year college in Mississippi to offer [...]

More than 200 investors, producers, actors, crew members and tourism professionals attended the recent Mississippi Film Summit held at the Hinds Community College Rankin Campus to learn about funding film projects and building Mississippi’s film industry infrastructure. Since the Legislature’s approval of an enhanced Mississippi Motion Picture Incentive, the state has one of the best [...]

Businesses unaware of MDES’ E-Verify service The business community had serious concerns back in 2008 when the Mississippi Employment Protection Act was signed into law. The legislation requires companies to use the E-Verify system to screen employees to ensure they are legal. Noncompliance means stiff, potentially business-killing penalties. Now, the business community seems largely unaware [...]

Mississippians cheered the arrival of big league economic development this decade with Nissan’s arrival in Canton and Toyota pending move into Blue Springs. But a property rights movement is working to blunt the enthusiasm for more economic bonanzas — at least if state incentives include offering the mega employers private property the state would seize [...]