Business Blog

In a move that will return Jackson-based Trustmark Corp. to the scene of some its biggest commercial real estate loan troubles, the regional bank has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Bay Bank & Trust Co. of Panama City in a $22 million transaction. Trustmark CEO Jerry Host said the acquisition of the 76-year-old, $247 [...]

JACKSON — Former Mississippi Gov. William Waller Sr., 85, died today. On Tuesday Waller was admitted to St. Dominic Hospital in Jackson, his law office confirmed. Waller served as governor from 1972-76 — a time when Mississippi governors were limited to one term. He ran unsuccessfully for the state’s highest office in 1967, but went [...]

For those who missed last August’s pioneering Creative Economy Summit in Jackson, there is good news. The Mississippi Development Authority (MDA) and Mississippi Arts Commission (MAC) are bringing the show on the road. Beginning tomorrow, the MDA and MAC will host five Creative Economy Road Show events in regions throughout the state. From Mississippi’s artists, [...]

Economic downtown is a great time for startups to begin and flourish Dynamism in the economy comes from new businesses, but the bad news is new business creation has dropped over the past five years. However, Americans can take comfort in the fact that “50 percent of our largest companies today were founded in either [...]

A commercial construction economist has delivered a half-cup of good cheer on Mississippi’s economic prospects for 2012 and predicted the state should return to its pre-Gulf oil spill pace. Anirban Basu, chief economist for the Associated Builders and Contractors, set 2012 economic growth at 2.4 percent nationally and said he expects regaining momentum lost to [...]

At the busy New Orleans Riverwalk, tourists take in the size and scope of the Mississippi River as immense ships travel one of the world’s busiest ports. Naval and Coast Guard ships navigate past tows and tugs. Blue-water and brown-water crews eye each other cautiously, and an old steamboat is visible in the distance. So [...]

A public forum Jackson City Councilman Tony Yarber staged Nov. 17 to hear details on a planned convention center hotel deal “right from the horse’s mouth” fell short of that expectation when the city’s proposed partner did a no-show. Instead, the 50 or so people gathered at the Anderson United Methodist Church got some brief [...]

My sister in Florida signs all of her emails with the phrase “Angels on Duty.” Boy, am I glad mine clocked in for the night shift one evening last week. Not to create unnecessary drama, but I have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving week. Last Wednesday repairmen claimed to have fixed the heating [...]

Though the Jackson Redevelopment Authority doesn’t expect any takers, the authority’s board agreed Wednesday to a 15-day advertising period for a developer other than Transcontinental Realty Investments of Dallas to partner with the city on a convention headquarters hotel. The JRA board sees the action as a formality and a step toward moving a final [...]

The clock is ticking on a number of year-end tax incentives and breaks. Before companies start singing “Auld Lang Syne,” experts say they better have taken advantage of ways to reduce their tax liability through incentives and asset assessments if they want the new year to be a happy one. “It’s not too late, but [...]