Business Blog

Marlo Dorsey will be joining the Mississippi Development Authority as its chief marketing officer effective Dec. 3. Dorsey comes to MDA from Jones County Junior College (JCJC), where she has served as the college’s vice president of marketing for seven years. In this position, she has managed a team responsible for the college’s publications, websites, and [...]

The Mississippi Development Authority is searching for an international business recruiter to head up its global business development. The MDA is creating the position as part of reorganization that severs business retention from international business development, Brent Christensen, MDA executive director, said at a press briefing Monday. “We have to find a way to build [...]

Here’s a question most all home-state business services professionals  eager to get a public contract have ponder: Why is it that a public official tends to think an “expert” is anyone who lives at least one state away? Which brings us to the latest episode of things that Gray Swoope, former executive director of the [...]

Automatic Data Processing, a business-outsourcing provider more commonly known as ADP, is shutting down in Clinton and moving its approximately 100 jobs to Augusta, Ga. New Jersey-based ADP has not responded to phone calls over the last couple of days but a spokesman for the Mississippi Development Authority confirmed the company’s departure from the WorldCom [...]

Conveyor component maker Metso is initiating a $4 million expansion that will add 30 to 50 workers to its 62-member workforce at the company’s Clarksdale plant, the Mississippi Development Authority said Monday. The announcement follows a notice Friday from the MDA that 200 jobs are expected to be created through sleep products manufacturer Comfort Revolution’s [...]

The Mississippi Development Authority’s 2012 development workshop for the Mississippi bed & breakfast industry (B&B’s) kicked off last week with meetings in Columbus, Clarksdale and at Jackson’s popular Fairview Inn. MDA representative Joy Foy says the program hopes to grow the industry and is in its third year thanks to a partnership between MDA, the [...]

A Florida company’s decision to relocate part of its manufacturing operation from Mexico to Clarksdale gives Mississippi a win in a national “reshoring” effort by which states hope to persuade U.S. manufacturers to bring some or all of their operations home. HVAC equipment manufacturer AirGuide of Hialeah, Fla., is moving its manufacturing operations from Mexico [...]

  Jim McArthur, a former utility equipment sales executive, has joined the Mississippi Development Authority as deputy director. McArthur brings nearly 20 years in business development, marketing and economic development to the post, the MDA says. Previously, McArthur served for three years as regional sales director for Itron, formerly SmartSynch. At Itron, a provider of [...]

The Mississippi Development Authority (MDA) is hosting a day-long conference and networker August 16 to connect minority- and women-owned businesses in Mississippi to procurement opportunities available at state agencies. The event, Access Mississippi, will be from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Jackson Convention Complex, 105 Pascagoula St. Gov. Phil Bryant emphasized that Access [...]

Global powertrain supplier BorgWarner is expanding operations at its plant in Water Valley to begin manufacturing a new ECO-Launch system that enables the stop-start function in automatic transmissions. By adding the new product to its production line BorgWarner expects to create 50 new jobs at the plant. This latest expansion marks the company’s third in [...]