Business Blog

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 [...]

The strategy is to structure benefits consistent with a  policy that encourages workers to stay on the job until age 62 “All the cards are on the table face up.” So went the pronouncement of Gov. Haley Barbour last week in detailing a 40-page report that calls for saving over $100 million annually in taxpayer [...]

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, [...]

Every year, hunters flock to the Delta to take advantage of some of the best public hunting land in the state offered by the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries & Parks’ wildlife management areas (WMAs) and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s Theodore Roosevelt National Wildlife Refuge Complex. This year, however, hunters are wondering if [...]

The Mississippi Development Authority (MDA) and Mississippi Arts Commission are offering the state’s first Creative Economy Summit this week that will include the unveiling of a first-of-its-kind comprehensive study of Mississippi’s creative industries. Communities such as Oxford, Meridian and the Mississippi Gulf Coast have found success in growing their “creative economy” — adding jobs and [...]

By Wally Northway Two prominent conservative Mississippi Republicans who are outspoken enemies of recent healthcare reform actually are supportive of at least one of the legislation’s components and want it to remain the law. In fact, if the federal healthcare law were repealed, they would push to have it made state law. Who are these [...]

By Wally Northway Seems folks around the nation and world are listening to everything Gov. Haley Barbour says these days as they wait to hear whether or not he will run for President. However, it may be what Barbour is not saying that is of equal import to Mississippians. So far, Barbour has not even [...]