Editorial
The Clarion Ledger
August 11, 2004

With innovative ideas and government joining, the possibility of creating a self-sustaining economic dynamo for the state is possible.

Success will result if it supports, and is supported by, all levels of education.

Gov. Haley Barbour is giving a big push to economic development by backing "Blueprint Mississippi."

Formulating Blueprint Mississippi was begun last October by business and education leaders acting in partnership to determine:

Where is Mississippi now economically?

What is the vision for economic development?

How can success be measured?

What strategies and initiatives are needed to achieve it?

Spearheaded by the Mississippi Economic Council, and including corporate CEOs, university presidents and government leaders, the plan was to determine a workable way that the government and private sector could cooperate.

The result is an 11-point plan that Gov. Barbour adopted on Monday, including a key ingredient: using the Economic and Planning Act of 1987 as a government generator.

The act, largely ignored, called for strategic economic development planning continuously reviewed and updated as it is systematically implemented. Truly, with innovative ideas and government joining, the possibility of creating a self-sustaining economic dynamo for the state is possible.

The great power of the Blueprint is its uniting of educational resources with industrial planning and recruitment, creating a sustaining cycle of business and government supporting education. That's a synergy that has long been too lacking in Mississippi, and a great promise of this work.

In order for Blueprint Mississippi to bring results, it must support all levels of education, from K-12 to higher education to work-force training, so that those resources can, in turn, support the aims of the blueprint.

If the state can sustain this, success will result.