I know some of you wont be as interested in this but some will as Meridian always gets brought up in any economic development project just like it did in the Toyota/Mazda thread.
To clarify some things on Meridian:
It is true that my hometown has had a long history of finding ways to get in its own way, whether that be due to fighting political officials or powerful local business leaders. That being said, it is a new day in Meridian. This won’t lead to a ton of immediate success but it is already paying off in Jackson and with some companies.
There is new leadership and a new economic development team locally. Bill Hannah is doing a tremendous job of bringing together previously divided powers and the city and county governments as well as significantly improving our relationship with Jackson through connections from his time in Tupelo and his relationship with Glenn McCullough and some of the political leaders there.
Meridian has also finally spearheaded a “regional” alliance amongst Lauderdale, Clarke, Newton, Neshoba, Jasper, and Kemper counties. The Alliance is also attempting to reach across the state line to try to get Sumter, Marengo and Clarke counties in West Alabama. That one is a little difficult just because its hard for Alabama state dollars to reach across that invisible line. This would be tremendously helpful as Meridian’s “megasite” is Kewanee right on the state line and part of it is actually in Alabama. They also contracted Mac Portera and associates for 3+ years to help with the alliance.
These two items alone have changed things tremendously. This has been especially helpful in getting local business leaders out of the old mentalities that had everyone pulling in their own directions.
There is evidence of the changes paying off with winning the Raytheon deal. Even though that partnership with Raytheon and Leonardo fell through, Meridian still came together and put a fantastic package together and it got business and government leaders pulling together, which is something that hasn’t happened in a long time. And all of those people got a “taste” of that success. It has made everyone hungry.
There is also traction of Meridian with the Toyota/Mazda site both locally and in Jackson and we will be an option there.
We all know the location assets that Meridian has had with major interstates, highways, rail, air, and proximity to river. Now, all of that just has to be leveraged. We have had some small successes recently and those will continue to build.
I’m not naïve enough to say that we are going to be going the way some of the other successful Mississippi regions have over the past decade or two immediately. But, we are not the Meridian that has been discussed in the past either.
To clarify some things on Meridian:
It is true that my hometown has had a long history of finding ways to get in its own way, whether that be due to fighting political officials or powerful local business leaders. That being said, it is a new day in Meridian. This won’t lead to a ton of immediate success but it is already paying off in Jackson and with some companies.
There is new leadership and a new economic development team locally. Bill Hannah is doing a tremendous job of bringing together previously divided powers and the city and county governments as well as significantly improving our relationship with Jackson through connections from his time in Tupelo and his relationship with Glenn McCullough and some of the political leaders there.
Meridian has also finally spearheaded a “regional” alliance amongst Lauderdale, Clarke, Newton, Neshoba, Jasper, and Kemper counties. The Alliance is also attempting to reach across the state line to try to get Sumter, Marengo and Clarke counties in West Alabama. That one is a little difficult just because its hard for Alabama state dollars to reach across that invisible line. This would be tremendously helpful as Meridian’s “megasite” is Kewanee right on the state line and part of it is actually in Alabama. They also contracted Mac Portera and associates for 3+ years to help with the alliance.
These two items alone have changed things tremendously. This has been especially helpful in getting local business leaders out of the old mentalities that had everyone pulling in their own directions.
There is evidence of the changes paying off with winning the Raytheon deal. Even though that partnership with Raytheon and Leonardo fell through, Meridian still came together and put a fantastic package together and it got business and government leaders pulling together, which is something that hasn’t happened in a long time. And all of those people got a “taste” of that success. It has made everyone hungry.
There is also traction of Meridian with the Toyota/Mazda site both locally and in Jackson and we will be an option there.
We all know the location assets that Meridian has had with major interstates, highways, rail, air, and proximity to river. Now, all of that just has to be leveraged. We have had some small successes recently and those will continue to build.
I’m not naïve enough to say that we are going to be going the way some of the other successful Mississippi regions have over the past decade or two immediately. But, we are not the Meridian that has been discussed in the past either.
