Business Blog

The Mississippi Business Journal over the years has chronicled the exodus of Mississippi corporations, trade associations and non-profit groups to Alabama’s Orange Beach and Gulf Shores and Florida’s Panhandle for their conventions and trade shows. While we lamented the loss of hospitality dollars to our state, we conceded the lure of the sparkling sand beaches [...]

If you are a federal worker on furlough this week — or an airline passenger delayed by federal furloughs — you might save your blood pressure, and go read another story. This one is about all the money the U.S. government spends on . . . nothing. As reported in the Washington Post, it is one of [...]

U.S. Senators Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) today cautioned the Obama administration not to act unilaterally to expand the scope of a federal environmental review law in its effort to regulate greenhouse gases. The Mississippi Senators are among 33 Senators who signed a letter to the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) [...]

  Aviation business professionals say it was glaringly obvious what the Federal Aviation Administration was up to with its initiative to cut off funding to “contract” air traffic control towers. If you want to get a politician’s attention, promise to whack contract towers at around 150 regional airports and shut down another 30 or so [...]

Mississippi is among 37 states vying to be one of six sites selected by the Federal Aviation Administration for testing of Unmanned Aircraft Systems. The testing is a prelude to integrating the remotely controlled aircraft into the nation’s general aviation system. If testing proves successful, the next step will be wide commercial use of the [...]

President Barack Obama’s comments to the media this afternoon following the multiple explosions at the Boston Marathon

There’s always next year, says Mississippi Treasurer Lynn Fitch of her campaign to require financial literacy training in the state’s public schools. The effort gained easy passage in the House but failed to get a vote in the Senate, a circumstance she thinks could be related to a misconception that financial literacy is already widely [...]

Updates on two of Mississippi’s main economic drivers – car manufacturing and defense contracting – will highlight the Mississippi Economic Council’s annual meeting Thursday in a gathering at the Jackson Convention Complex. The event’s luncheon includes remarks from Gov. Phil Bryant and Maj. Gen. Augustus Collins, commander of the state’s National Guard and Air Guard. [...]

The head of the Mississippi Airports Association insists the federal budget cutting responsible for closing air control towers at five of Mississippi’s regional airports won’t jeopardize flight safety. On the other hand, the Federal Aviation Administration concluded in a 1990 study that the risk of a mid-air collision is three times greater around airports without [...]

Mississippi airports preparing for a shutdown of control tower operations April 7 received a reprieve to June 15, a move the Federal Aviation Administration made in order to give localities time to determine if they can pay to keep the towers open. The shutdowns are a consequence of the federal budget sequester and affect 149 [...]