Business Blog

Shrimp processors along the Mississippi Gulf Coast have filed for injunctive relief in federal court in an effort to block a proposed rule change by the U.S. Department of Labor in determining wages paid under the department’s H2-B guest-worker program. A late September decision by the Labor Department to delay the new wage-determining rule has [...]

JACKSON- Leadership at the Greater Jackson Chamber Partnership are hoping their new decade-long strategy and marketing assessment of the Greater Jackson metro area will be a “holistic approach based on people, place and prosperity.”

Friday, September 30 is the last day to submit company information for our 2011 “Mississippi 100″ List. The Mississippi 100 is our annual list of the top 100 private companies in Mississippi. Companies are ranked by annual sales revenue. Companies in our Top 10 spots last year included Ergon, Southern Tire Mart, Yates Companies and [...]

RIDGELAND- C Spire Wireless, the country’s largest privately-owned wireless provider, launched retail operations in its own Ridgeland backyard on Monday. MBJ-TV caught up with spokesman Dave Miller who explains how the company, previously known as Cellular South, chose its new name.

Radio reports and rumors have it that Canton’s WalMart SuperCenter is a dead deal. A delay has occurred in the purchase of the land for the store, but plans for the SuperCenter are still very much alive, says Tim Coursey, executive director of the Madison County Economic Development Authority. Coursey’s agency owns the 18 acres [...]

According to Area Development Online, the Magnolia State has placed in the top 10 for best places in the United States for doing business. The state placed just ahead of California and behind other southern states Texas (1st), Georgia (2nd), Alabama (3rd), South Carolina (4th), Louisiana (6th), North Carolina (7th) and Tennessee (8th).

MBJ technology writer Stephen McDill is micro-blogging an ongoing news teleconference with executives from the Mississippi-based energy tech company SmartSynch. A company representative told us last week that SmartSynch had secured a major contract with a nationwide utility that will be big news for the company and will create Mississippi jobs. You can follow this developing [...]

In closing five branches and selling another, Merchants and Farmers Bank CEO & Chairman Hugh Potts Jr. says the Kosciusko-based First M&F Corp. is adjusting to a banking market in which fewer customers rely on brick and mortar locations. But he insists the move that involves eliminating slightly more than 50 jobs is an adjustment [...]

Overall lending at a sample of large banks increased modestly through August within the Federal Reserve’s St. Louis District, which includes northern Mississippi, reports the Fed’s Beige Book, a tracking of economic activity released by each of the 12 Fed district s on Sept. 7. The new report details economic activity for the three-month period [...]

Since founding Broadcast Media Group Inc. in Starkville in 1996, Robbie Coblentz has worked numerous marketing/PR campaigns all over the state and nation. The production company has won numerous awards for its work, including an international Telly Award just this past summer. But he and his team recently completed work on the promotion of a [...]