Recent landmark economic development projects, such as the $10 billion Amazon Web Services project in Madison County or the $1.9 billion EV battery plant in Marshall County, could be signals for a wave of economic evolution in Mississippi. 

Bill Cork, the executive director of the Mississippi Development Authority, said that more than $60 billion and 32,000 jobs are in the pipeline, meaning that companies have already found a spot in the state and are being courted to make their investments final. Closed projects yet to be announced include finalized bids on over 40 projects, with $1.6 billion in capital investments and nearly 3,000 more jobs coming to Mississippi.  

The pace for economic growth in the state is moving at breakneck speed. Cork touted that since Republican Gov. Tate Reeves was elected, over $21 billion in capital investment has been landed and 19,000 jobs have been created.  

“It’s been an absolutely spectacular run,” Bill Cork said. “We’ve got momentum, and it hasn’t stopped. We’ve got to capitalize on it and it’s our time to do that.” 

Cork told The Gallo Show that Reeves and other economic authorities in Mississippi are aiming to attract projects that will offer residents jobs of “the future, not the past.” He explained that the skillsets required to power projects like manufacturing and data center operations are world class. 

“This is not your father’s Oldsmobile,” Cork said. “These major industrial developments are incredibly advanced and sophisticated facilities.”  

With a cascade of potential new opportunities coming to the state, it highlights the lingering issue of Mississippi’s poor labor force participation rate. Top lawmakers have emphasized the need to address the problem, but Cork prefers to call it an opportunity instead of a barrier. He noted that it means there is an “available” work force who can fill the needs of the forthcoming projects. 

Projects like the new battery plant in Marshall County expand the need for more talented workers in Mississippi. That project alone will require the companies involved to bring on 2,000 skilled workers over the

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Auditor Shad White is paying a Massachusetts-based consulting group $2 million in public money with a directive to find at least $250 million in waste in state agencies.

White believes the contract with Boston Consulting Group “will be the most important project our team completes during his tenure as state auditor,” said auditor’s office spokesman Jacob Walters in response to questions from Mississippi Today. “It will help guarantee that as much taxpayer money as possible goes to the things that matter to Mississippians — roads, bridges, teacher salaries, etc. — and not waste.”

Walters said, “The final results of the analysis, along with recommendations on how to save tens of millions of dollars, will be released soon.”

White went on social media recently to promote the $2 million contract, saying “There’s simply too much fat in state government, and it was time to take a chainsaw to it.”

Boston Consulting Group bills itself “as a global consulting firm that partners with leaders in business and society to tackle their most important challenges and capture their greatest opportunities.”

Walters said the international firm had done similar analyses for other states. He cited Texas and North Carolina.

The Mississippi contract said the work paper compiled by Boston Consulting “must project a reduction of expenses or savings … of at least $250 million.” Walters said the $250 million was identified as the amount of savings “to give BCG a goal of how much in savings to find.”

There have been multiple initiatives in the past aimed at weeding out waste and inefficiency in Mississippi state government. Political leaders ranging from then-Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves to former House Speaker Philip Gunn have bragged of their efforts to eliminate waste and cut government spending. In the 1990s, former Lt. Gov. Eddie Briggs led the first effort to develop “performance-based budgeting” for the state to find and eliminate waste.

Those efforts have had varying degrees of success. During the administration of former Gov. Phil Bryant about $77 million in welfare funds designed to aid the state’s poorest citizens was spent on volleyball courts, vehicles and homes for those with political ties instead of the state’s poorest people.

Money was not appropriated by the Legislature for White to pay for the Boston Consulting Group study. But the agency has banked money that it receives from fees for performing its functions.

Walters cited 7-7-211 of the Mississippi code as giving White the authority to spend the money to enter into the contract.

“The team here are experts in what is and is not an allowable use of taxpayer funds,” Walters said.

He said state law clearly gives White the authority to investigate the financial affairs of all state agencies when “deemed necessary.”

Boston Consulting Group was selected from multiple firms that submitted proposals for the contract by “the technical staff” in the Auditor’s office, not by White, Walters said. Boston Consulting’s web page includes a section touting its work for clients on diversity, equity and inclusion goals. On social media and in official statements from White, he has been critical of DEI agendas.

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Auditor Shad White is paying a Massachusetts-based consulting group $2 million in public money with a directive to find at least $250 million in waste in state agencies.

White believes the contract with Boston Consulting Group “will be the most important project our team completes during his tenure as state auditor,” said auditor’s office spokesman Jacob Walters in response to questions from Mississippi Today. “It will help guarantee that as much taxpayer money as possible goes to the things that matter to Mississippians — roads, bridges, teacher salaries, etc. — and not waste.”

Walters said, “The final results of the analysis, along with recommendations on how to save tens of millions of dollars, will be released soon.”

White went on social media recently to promote the $2 million contract, saying “There’s simply too much fat in state government, and it was time to take a chainsaw to it.”

Boston Consulting Group bills itself “as a global consulting firm that partners with leaders in business and society to tackle their most important challenges and capture their greatest opportunities.”

Walters said the international firm had done similar analyses for other states. He cited Texas and North Carolina.

The Mississippi contract said the work paper compiled by Boston Consulting “must project a reduction of expenses or savings … of at least $250 million.” Walters said the $250 million was identified as the amount of savings “to give BCG a goal of how much in savings to find.”

There have been multiple initiatives in the past aimed at weeding out waste and inefficiency in Mississippi state government. Political leaders ranging from then-Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves to former House Speaker Philip Gunn have bragged of their efforts to eliminate waste and cut government spending. In the 1990s, former Lt. Gov. Eddie Briggs led the first effort to develop “performance-based budgeting” for the state to find and eliminate waste.

Those efforts have had varying degrees of success. During the administration of former Gov. Phil Bryant about $77 million in welfare funds designed to aid the state’s poorest citizens was spent on volleyball courts, vehicles and homes for those with political ties instead of the state’s poorest people.

Money was not appropriated by the Legislature for White to pay for the Boston Consulting Group study. But the agency has banked money that it receives from fees for performing its functions.

Walters cited 7-7-211 of the Mississippi code as giving White the authority to spend the money to enter into the contract.

“The team here are experts in what is and is not an allowable use of taxpayer funds,” Walters said.

He said state law clearly gives White the authority to investigate the financial affairs of all state agencies when “deemed necessary.”

Boston Consulting Group was selected from multiple firms that submitted proposals for the contract by “the technical staff” in the Auditor’s office, not by White, Walters said. Boston Consulting’s web page includes a section touting its work for clients on diversity, equity and inclusion goals. On social media and in official statements from White, he has been critical of DEI agendas.

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JACKSON – The American Heart Association has equipped Jackson Public Schools administrative staff with lifesaving CPR and AED skills through a training session on Tuesday at the Mississippi E-Center at Jackson State University. Trainers from the University of Mississippi Medical Center, an AHA-certified facility, led the session.

The session was funded by a law passed earlier this year that aims to provide 100 AEDs to schools in the district funded the session. It also mandates public schools have a cardiac emergency response plan, including CPR and AED use.

In the U.S., over 356,000 people experience cardiac arrest outside of hospitals annually, with only a 10% survival rate, according to the American Heart Association. Immediate CPR can significantly improve survival odds.

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JACKSON – The American Heart Association has equipped Jackson Public Schools administrative staff with lifesaving CPR and AED skills through a training session on Tuesday at the Mississippi E-Center at Jackson State University. Trainers from the University of Mississippi Medical Center, an AHA-certified facility, led the session.

The session was funded by a law passed earlier this year that aims to provide 100 AEDs to schools in the district funded the session. It also mandates public schools have a cardiac emergency response plan, including CPR and AED use.

In the U.S., over 356,000 people experience cardiac arrest outside of hospitals annually, with only a 10% survival rate, according to the American Heart Association. Immediate CPR can significantly improve survival odds.

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GULFPORT — A federal judge on Tuesday appeared undecided over whether he should strike down a Mississippi election law that allows election officials to process mail-in absentee ballots up to five days after an election. 

U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola in Gulfport heard arguments from attorneys representing two political parties, a state agency and a veterans advocacy organization over whether the state law conflicts with federal election law. 

The state Libertarian Party, the state and national Republican parties and a county election commissioner are the plaintiffs in the suit. They contend the state law runs afoul of federal election statutes because only Congress should set federal election schedules.

Secretary of State Michael Watson’s office, who oversees the agency that administers elections, is the defendant in the suit. His office argues the state law does not conflict with federal regulations and that the political parties have not shown that it diminishes their chances of winning an election. 

The Tuesday hearing centered on the legal definition of Election Day, why America has an Election Day and how much leeway states have in administering federal elections.

“The real dispute here is over the meaning of Election Day,” said Conor Woodfin, an attorney representing the Republican Party plaintiffs. 

The state law in question is a 2020 state law passed by the Legislature amid the COVID-19 pandemic that allows local election workers to process mail-in absentee ballots for up to five days after an election. The law only permits workers to count the mail-in votes if the ballots were postmarked by the election date. 

Woodfin and Russell Nobile, the attorney representing the state Libertarian Party, argue that Election Day ends when election officials receive the last ballot. Under this logic, they claim the state law violates federal law because it extends the election date.

Special Assistant Attorney General Rex Shannon III, the attorney representing Watson, argued Election Day ends when voters cast their ballots in the mail. Since the law requires voters to mail absentee ballots by Election Day, the law is not extending the election. 

“Once a voter deposits a ballot in the mail, that vote has been irretrievably cast,” Shannon said. 

However, a critical issue that could determine the case’s outcome may not be the lawsuit’s merits but rather whether the plaintiffs have legal standing to bring the suit in the first place. 

The litigation comes at a time when voter confidence in elections is at an all-time low and when candidates have started to dispute election results more frequently. 

The state Senate passed a bill to repeal the law earlier this year during the legislative session, but it died in the state House. Senate Elections Chairman Jeremy England, R-Vancleave, said it was time to repeal the five-day window because voters did not like that election workers received ballots after an election. 

Guirola asked Shannon “out of curiosity” why the bill failed to gain traction during the legislative process. Shannon responded that he couldn’t answer that question because he was not representing the Legislature in the case — only Watson’s office.

“Well, my curiosity will remain unquenched,” Guirola responded. 

Chris Dodge, an attorney representing Vet Voice, a veterans advocacy organization that intervened in the lawsuit, said despite how political groups currently feel about the absentee ballot law, several states have post-Election Day ballot receipt laws on the books to accommodate voters. 

“These laws are not the novelties these plaintiffs assert they are,” Dodge said. 

Guirola did not issue a ruling on any pending motions on Tuesday because he wanted to review relevant case law and reflect on the oral arguments. The senior status judge said there is, “no category of case that is more critical” than a voting rights case. 

“I’m not going to take a vacation or anything,” Guirola said. “This is an important case, and I have to get it right.” 

After Guirola’s ruling, an aggrieved party could appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit for a different outcome. But a prompt resolution before November’s presidential and congressional election would be vital. The appellate process is lengthy and time-consuming, and different rulings from the district and appellate courts could lead to voter confusion. 

Mississippians can request an absentee ballot application starting September 6, and the earliest day they can vote by absentee is September 23, according to the secretary of state’s elections calendar. 

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State Auditor Shad White is demanding three Indianola aldermen pay back money that he believes was misappropriated.

According to a press release from White’s office, special agents served Aldermen Ruben Woods, Marvin Elder, and Sam Block, Jr. on Tuesday morning with civil demands totaling $42,441.15 after the three collectively misappropriated $38,900 in public funds to be paid to Spencer Construction in the absence of a binding contract.

In September 2019, the city of Indianola entered a contract with Mississippi Home Corporation (MHC) to receive grant funds to be used for rehabilitation and reconstruction of homes owned by low-income residents. South Delta Planning and Development District (SDPDD) was selected to perform administrative services related to the grant.

Spencer Construction was contracted for renovations to a residency, which was to be paid through the MHC grant. However, SDPDD submitted the paperwork requesting payment after the deadline, causing the request to be denied.

After the request was denied, Woods, Elder, and Brock, Jr. all voted late last year to pay Spencer Construction $38,900 despite the city of Indianola not having any written contract for the work provided, according to White. None are being charged with a crime, but they are being required to pay back the amount dished out plus interest.

“It’s vitally important that government officials follow the proper process for spending taxpayer funds,” White said. “This is what helps guarantee those funds are not misused.”

White’s office has been investigating the case since earlier this year, with sources confirming that Indianola’s city attorney advised the board multiple times before the motion that paying Spencer would not be legal.

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Douglas Carswell is the President and CEO of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy.

America faces an axis of aggression.  China, Russia, Iran and North Korea are not only actively
undermining US interests.  They increasingly seem to be working together.
 
How should America respond?
 
According to a new report published by Mississippi Senator, Roger Wicker, America needs a
new national defense strategy capable of responding to this “emerging axis of aggressors”.
“21 st  Century Peace Through Strength: a generational investment in the US military” offers a
serious analysis of US military capabilities and makes some important recommendations.
Wicker calls for an immediate $55 billion increase in military spending in 2025, on top of the
almost $900 billion existing budget.  The aim, he suggests, should be for the United States to
spend around 5 percent of GDP on defense.
 
To put that in context, America today spends 3.4 GDP percent on defense, and has not spent
more than 5 percent since Ronald Reagan was in the White House.  Reagan famously won the
Cold War, facing down the Soviet threat by beefing up American strength.  Wicker envisions a
similar approach in “Peace through Strength”.
 
What is really interesting about Wicker’s proposal is not the call for more money for the
military, but his suggestion that there should be a “dramatic increase in competition in the
defense industrial base”.  Senator Wicker is right.  Often, we think of applying free market
principles to education or healthcare.  There is a very powerful argument for applying free
market discipline to defense spending, too.
 
With the national debt growing, it is vital that America gets the maximum bang for every
defense buck.  Wicker puts forward ideas as to how to make this happen through far reaching
“acquisition reform”. Allowing more market competition in the defense sector would help
ensure that America avoided the sorry fate of my own native Britain.
 
The UK spends about $70 billion a year on defense.  That might be less than a tenth of what
America spends, but it still means that the UK has the sixth largest defense budget in the world,
above Japan and roughly on a parr with Russia.
 
Unfortunately, Britain has not been effective at converting what she is able to spend on
defense into military muscle.  Despite spending all that money, British aircraft carriers seldom
seem to carry many aircraft.  Indeed, the expensive new carriers don’t always seem to be able
to spend much time at sea.  The less said about British tanks the better. 
 

UK defense acquisition has been a series of costly disasters because the defense budget is often
spent in the interests of various favored suppliers, rather than the military.
 
I first became aware of quite how bad British defense acquisition was on a visit to Afghanistan
as a Member of the British Parliament.  Troops in Helmand complained about a shortage of
helicopters, yet I noticed rows of American Black Hawk helicopters on the runway back in
Kandahar.
Why, I wanted to know, didn’t we Brits just buy Black Hawks from the American company that
made them?  I soon discovered that British defense acquisition is viewed by some as a giant job
creation scheme.  Or else it is about filling the order books of well-connected companies, not
giving the military what they need.
 
America needs acquisition reform to avoid defense dollars being spent by various vested
interests, rather than on the best interests of the US military. Some will say that America
cannot afford to increase defense spending.  I worry that America cannot afford not to.
 
Years of federal deficits mean than the US national debt is soaring.  There will be enormous
pressures on federal spending.  All the more reason to ensure that the US gets maximum value
for every defense dollar.
 
Let’s hope Wicker’s reforms are acted upon whoever is in the White House.
So often politics focuses on trivia. What Wicker has done is produce a serious study to address
important geo political questions that the United States is going to have to deal with.
Putting America first does not mean ignoring what is happening on the other side of the world.
Merely wishing away anything outside the Western hemisphere does not make the United
States more secure. It ultimately means that the world’s problems will show up at the US
border.
Putting America first means investing in defense. Wicker shows how we might do that.

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• After nearly two decades as a performing arts and conference center, the catalyst for Meridian’s downtown renaissance is the crown jewel of the Queen City.

Morgan Dudley has seen her share of stunners perform on the Grand Opera House stage during her five years at Meridian’s MSU Riley Center, but one 2022 show in particular rises above them all.

Bob Dylan, touring in support of his Rough and Rowdy Ways album, named after a song by Meridian’s native son and “father of country music” Jimmie Rodgers, earned the distinction of having the fastest-selling show in the theater’s history to date.

But that wasn’t the most remarkable memory for Dudley. Instead, it was how Dylan intentionally sought to perform here — at 950 seats, it was easily the smallest venue of the tour — in tribute to Rodgers and the region that influenced his famous sound. He even broke his own long-standing custom of not addressing the audience, instead preferring to let the music speak for him, to pay his respects.

“He walked out to the middle of the stage and said, ‘It’s great to be in Mississippi, home of Jimmie Rodgers’ — and the people who followed him all the across country were like, ‘Oh my gosh, he just spoke,’” recalls Dudley, who is now the center’s director of conferences, events and operations.

During the same season, singer-songwriter and guitarist Boz Scaggs capped his set with a total of five encores, returning to the stage over and over to continue playing. While his production manager was shocked at this unorthodox sight, Dudley wasn’t too surprised. Artists typically have an awed reaction to the intimate 1890s theater and the welcoming local audiences.

“Our favorite moments are when they get to the venue and walk on stage, and they just stop and stand there for a second and take it in,” she says. “It’s really cool to see artists that are multi-Grammy Award winners and have been doing it for decades, and it’s almost like their first time seeing a venue.”

Originally built as part of the five-story Marks-Rothenberg department store in downtown Meridian, the theater hosted vaudeville and minstrel shows, operas and stage plays in its early years. Troupes traveling from New York by rail found Meridian a suitable stopping point and performed for Grand Opera House audiences.

In time, motion pictures began to replace the traveling shows, so owners added a movie screen. The advent of specialized movie palaces, though, left the venue without an audience. The Grand Opera House closed its doors in 1927, while the department store thrived for several more decades before shuttering in 1990.

An effort to restore and repurpose the entire Marks-Rothenberg building found success in 2006, when Mississippi State University completed a $25 million renovation project and reopened the space as a conference center and performing arts venue.

In the nearly two decades since, an array of artists have performed on the Grand Opera House stage. The theater has built a reputation for producing concerts featuring all-time greats and contemporary music stars, such as blues legends B.B. King, Bo Diddley and Buddy Guy, and country stars Tanya Tucker, Clint Black and Martina McBride. The staff also curates events from other performing-arts disciplines, as well, such as comedy shows featuring Jay Leno and Tig Notaro and touring dramatic productions.

The MSU Riley Center recently announced its 2024-2025 season, which kicks off August 22 and runs through May 2025, with performances by country star Billy Ray Cyrus, soul singers The War and Treaty, and Mac McAnally, a Tremont native and Jimmy Buffett’s musical director for several years. Additionally, off-season performances include Las Vegas entertainer Wayne Newton on July 20 and Americana singer-songwriter Nikki Lane on August 8.

“This season, we have everything from country to rock to Americana, singer-songwriter, soul, a little R&B,” she says. “We’ve got Postmodern Jukebox, who is kind of their own genre, because they take modern songs and put a vintage vibe to it. We look for artists that are going to please a variety of different people.”

Meanwhile, Mississippi State University also transformed the adjacent Deen building into classroom space for its Meridian campus, and the conference center hosts meetings and multi-day events in spaces that can accommodate up to 600 people for receptions and seats more than 500 for dinners, in addition to another 10 meeting rooms.

Another key ingredient in the MSU Riley Center’s success is the revitalization of downtown Meridian. With its own project leading the charge, new restaurants and a brewery have opened, as well as the Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience, an interactive museum that tells the story of the state’s creative legacy with programs to aid students and young artists.

But when the 16-floor, art deco Threefoot Building, once Mississippi’s tallest structure, reopened as a hotel operated by Marriott’s Tribute Portfolio in 2021, the downtown trifecta of entertainment, dining and lodging was finally complete.

“Having the involvement of downtown and having lodging, especially at our back door, and the multiple restaurants that have popped up, have all made an impact on our business and the flow of events,” she says. “People can literally park their car one time and eat and stay and be entertained. It’s not only impacted our conference business, but it’s really helped on the performing arts side and patronage there, too.”

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