Building Bridges to Tomorrow
Education, infrastructure, and workforce development have all been key issues Mississippi faces. Today, the Mississippi Economic Council began its annual pacesetter tour to address these issues. News 25’s Kristen Durand has more on this year’s mission.
Each year, the Mississippi Economic Council travels across the state as part of its pacesetter tour. This year’s agenda is to visit 23 communities to get input on key issues affecting our state. President of the Mississippi Economic Council Blake Wilson said, “We’re focusing on education, workforce, economic competitiveness, we’re focusing on transportation, which is a big part of the MEC agenda for the coming year.”
The council works to be the voice of Mississippi businesses. On Wednesday, MEC members were in Hancock County discussing local issues. They also shared a sneak peek of their half a million dollar blue print study. “The study focuses on our crumbling infrastructure and what’s going to be needed to fix our roads and bridges and bring them up to standard so that it doesn’t cost us a fortune to fix them later,” said Wilson.
Throughout the state-wide tour, MEC uses small clickers to get real time feedback from participants about region specific and state-wide issues. State Representative David Baria said, “It’s important as a legislator to know what the business community thinks about these things and what we heard in there today was that the business community on the Gulf Coast has a very positive attitude and outlook about the economic situations we find ourselves in.”
It’s all about getting the community involved to help our state build bridges to a better tomorrow. Executive Director of the Hancock Chamber of Commerce Tish Williams said, “The bottom line here is that economic development is truly a team sport. It’s important for all of our leaders to come together with one central vision to take to the state Legislature in January with our message.”
If you’d like to become a part of this ongoing conversation, the tour continues tomorrow in Jackson County. For more information and to register, visit msmec.com.
Each year, the Mississippi Economic Council travels across the state as part of its pacesetter tour. This year’s agenda is to visit 23 communities to get input on key issues affecting our state. President of the Mississippi Economic Council Blake Wilson said, “We’re focusing on education, workforce, economic competitiveness, we’re focusing on transportation, which is a big part of the MEC agenda for the coming year.”
The council works to be the voice of Mississippi businesses. On Wednesday, MEC members were in Hancock County discussing local issues. They also shared a sneak peek of their half a million dollar blue print study. “The study focuses on our crumbling infrastructure and what’s going to be needed to fix our roads and bridges and bring them up to standard so that it doesn’t cost us a fortune to fix them later,” said Wilson.
Throughout the state-wide tour, MEC uses small clickers to get real time feedback from participants about region specific and state-wide issues. State Representative David Baria said, “It’s important as a legislator to know what the business community thinks about these things and what we heard in there today was that the business community on the Gulf Coast has a very positive attitude and outlook about the economic situations we find ourselves in.”
It’s all about getting the community involved to help our state build bridges to a better tomorrow. Executive Director of the Hancock Chamber of Commerce Tish Williams said, “The bottom line here is that economic development is truly a team sport. It’s important for all of our leaders to come together with one central vision to take to the state Legislature in January with our message.”
If you’d like to become a part of this ongoing conversation, the tour continues tomorrow in Jackson County. For more information and to register, visit msmec.com.
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