Business Blog

Owners of large boats will soon have more choices for docking their boats for stays of 10 days or less in Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas and Louisiana. Recreational parks in the three states are among the dozen winners of the U.S. Department of Interior’s “BIG Grant” competition for more than $7.5 million in grants. The Interior [...]

Update: Today (Jan. 27) KiOR announced that it has closed a $75 million four-year term loan with a lender group comprised of an affiliate of Vinod Khosla and two Canadian corporations owned by certain pension fund clients of Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo). KiOR is listed along with Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Sears Holdings and Rite Aid [...]

Lawyer Bill Luckett and actor Morgan Freeman have decided to end their 10-year run as owners of Clarksdale’s Madidi Restaurant, a fine dining establishment that joined with Luckett and Freeman’s Ground Zero Blues Club to help make the Delta town a destination for visitors seeking a taste of Mississippi’s blues heritage. Other commitments have been [...]

They sound like a shrimp-lover’s dream. Nearly-foot-long creatures that are beautifully marked and absolutely delectable. However, Asian tiger shrimp are proving a nightmare for researchers. The invasive specie is being found with increasing frequency in the Gulf of Mexico. Since they have never reached the Gulf previously, scientists and the shrimping industry are worried and [...]

There were many names in the rumor mill as possible candidates for the next executive director of the Mississippi Development Authority. Jim Barksdale was not one of them. However, Gov.-elect Phil Bryant yesterday announced Barksdale as his choice as interim MDA director. Barksdale would succeed Leland Speed, who has also been serving in an interim [...]

In an election year when politics dominated headlines, perhaps Chuck Jordan’s sweeping victory in the Greenville mayoral race topped them all. In a surprising landslide victory, banker-turned-politician Jordan took more than 64 percent of the vote to become Greenville’s next mayor. Not only was this his first political campaign, Jordan, a white, took 40 percent [...]

Any businesses out there looking for a creative Christmas card idea might want to follow Sheldon Laboratory Systems’ lead. The Crystal Springs-based company sends one of the most effective yet simple cards I’ve ever seen. Every year, Sheldon employees “commission” their children to craft Christmas-related artwork. The company then uses the artwork to design its [...]

The Governor’s Workforce Conference held earlier this month in Jackson offered plenty of success stories, particularly the recruitment of the new Toyota plant in Northeast Mississippi. However, there were also words of warning about the state meeting the needs of businesses with a competently trained workforce in the future. The state is already struggling to [...]

JACKSON — Brunini Grantham Grower and Hewes has proven there is more than one way to merge. In fact, the venerable Jackson law firm has pulled off a “non-merger merger.” Last month, it was announced that Brunini, founded in 1903, had been invited to join Meritas, a global network of independent, full-service law firms. The [...]

William Painter maybe the busiest man in Mississippi. The managing partner of the Jackson office of the law firm Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, P.C., he is also the Tennessee-based firms lead strategic planner. In the latter capacity, Painter has logged some serious hours recently. “I’m hammered,” Painter said. In 2011, Baker Donelson has [...]