Business and community leaders from the Golden Triangle attended the Mississippi Economic Council’s annual Regional Round-Up at East Mississippi Community College in Mayhew on Thursday.
The meeting was a stop on the Regional Round-Up, a series of meetings in which the MEC travels around the state and meets with communities to discuss the economic strengths and weaknesses of Mississippi.
The event was open to the public.
A majority of attendees said industry is the Golden Triangle’s greatest economic strength, though infrastructure, diversity, people and community were also noted as being strong. The biggest weakness, they said: education and workforce development.
MEC president Blake Wilson, who presided over the meeting, said these categories have been voted major challenges in regions all over the state.
According to Wilson, Gov. Phil Bryant has made the training and development of the workforce his top priority as governor. He talked about Bryant’s introduction of the “Keep Mississippi Working Fund” workforce legislation, which would add $50 million to workforce training. Wilson emphasized that this fund will not result in an increase in taxes.
“These are dollars that are sitting in surplus,” he said. “Let’s put them to use and make Mississippi stronger.”
Attendees at the meeting were able to vote electronically on whether they thought the overall approach of the Keep Mississippi Working fund was important. Eighty-nine percent of attendees voted that it was very important.
In another vote, 64 percent of attendees voted that the best way to strengthen competitiveness in the region is to improve the workforce rather than improving regional partnerships, business climates or access to healthcare.
Attendees also had the chance to vote on what they believed to be the biggest roadblock to economic competitiveness. Forty-two percent of attendees said it was the negative perception of the state’s image, while 41 percent blamed the lack of a skilled workforce.
There were more votes throughout the meeting following presentations and discussions on healthcare, regional partnerships, education and infrastructure. To see the voting results, go to msmec.com.
Wilson ended the presentation by asking attendees to decide the greatest opportunity for economic growth specifically in the region of the Golden Triangle.
“This is a real important question,” Wilson said, adding that the question is one which reflects regional differences around the state.
Seventy-one percent voted that advanced manufacturing is the greatest opportunity for growth.
A round table meeting was held after the presentation in which a much smaller number of business and community leaders had a discussion about issues facing the economy. Most of the hour-long meeting was spent discussing education. Topics included everything from the WorkKeys test and proposed changes to Common Core standards to pushing education in Pre-K.
Those at the meeting generally agreed that it was important to make sure children in Pre-K were prepared for elementary school so they are not already behind when they start their elementary education.
They were also interested in ending the stigma that technical college-bound students are “not college material”.
This sentiment echoed a statement by Wilson, who during the initial presentation said, “Isn’t it about time that we made putting workers to work in a good-paying productive job in manufacturing…as important as a four-year college education? Isn’t it about time we took that stigma away and put people who could have good jobs to work? I think it is.”
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