Business Blog

Gregory Latour has been named the new chief operating officer for Business Communications Inc. (BCI). Bill Grothe has also been named chief financial officer of the Ridgeland technology firm. Latour previously served as senior vice-president for strategic development for C Spire Wireless. Former BCI COO Tom Hinds left the company in January, leaving daily operations in [...]

SmartSynch, a Jackson-based energy technology firm, has been acquired by Itron Inc. The $100 million deal was announced yesterday and is expected to close by the second quarter of 2012. Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) is a leader in the global energy and water resource management market with headquarters in Liberty Lake, Wash. They work with 8,000 [...]

Startup Weekend Jackson to be held Feb. 10-12 at Millsaps College Startup Weekend is an intense 54-hour, high-energy event powered by the Kauffman Foundation that operates worldwide and brings together like-minded entrepreneurs for a weekend of company creation. As a nonprofit program, it is designed to build entrepreneurial communities and promote collaboration among entrepreneurs, programmers, [...]

The supporters of the personhood initiative that failed during the last General Election are pointing to a new post-vote poll that they say shows clearly why personhood was defeated. But, maybe their interpretation of the poll is more telling about why the anti-abortion effort lost and just how disconnected at least of its supporters seem [...]

The landslide defeat of Mississippi’s so-called “Personhood” amendment is being hailed nationally as a huge victory for women in the Magnolia State. But for Gov.-elect Phil Bryant and GOP presidential nomination candidate Mitt Romney, the amendment will remain a reminder of the dangers of pandering. Confident in the passage of Initiative 26, Bryant proclaimed at [...]

By Stephen McDill Where were you when Steve Jobs died? I was browsing iTunes when I got a text on my iPhone delivering the sad news. It was a couple hours before I was ready to turn on the TV and watch the reports. Now I am writing this post on my Power Mac G4. [...]

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 [...]

Although Mississippians will be manufacturing solar panels at Stion in Hattiesburg, they will find it difficult to use the company’s products at home unless the state Public Service Commission adopts a uniform net-metering policy. Stion touts its residential products on its website: “Stion’s panels can help you save money on your electricity bill, gain energy [...]

Company: Thin-film technology will create solar success; plant ribbon cutting set for Sept. 16 As the photovoltaics industry took a hit with the bankruptcy of Evergreen Solar, Stion announced a Sept. 16 ribbon cutting for its Hattiesburg plant. While some industry experts speculate more solar companies may also fail or move production to China, Stion [...]

By Amy McCullough In light of Twitter’s role in the recent Egyptian political crisis, a friend recently wondered when and how news outlets would start citing social media “citizen journalists.” A new platform called Storify is one answer. News outlets like The New York Times, Washington Post and others have already used Storify “stories,” which [...]