MEC unveils Blueprint Mississippi

By Bobby Harrison
Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal
Daily Journal Jackson Bureau

JACKSON - A two-year project to develop a plan to improve Mississippi's quality of life came to fruition Monday when the Mississippi Economic Council presented Blueprint Mississippi to Gov. Haley Barbour.

But MEC president Blake Wilson said Blueprint the plan is not an end unto itself.

"This is a strategic plan - not a finish line," Wilson said as the plan was unveiled at a Jackson luncheon Monday attended by about 500 business and political leaders. "What we are doing now is establishing a basis of dialogue."

The overall goal of the plan is to increase "the state's per capita income and increase rates of average annual employment growth." To accomplish those goals, Blueprint Mississippi makes recommendations in areas from improving education, such as the state's pre-kindergarten effort, to creating a better image for the state.

The plan calls for diversifying industry and identifying industries that can use in-state university research. Those industries should be provided incentives from the state to grow and expand, the plan says.

To accomplish the overall goals and recommendations, Wilson said business leaders, politicians and educators will have to work together.

The MEC, which is the state's chamber of commerce, decided in 2002 to work on the plan. But Wilson said MEC leaders did not want Blueprint Mississippi to be just their effort.

Robert Khayat, chancellor of the University of Mississippi, was selected to chair the steering committee. Almost 1,000 people from throughout the state participated in Blueprint Mississippi meetings.

"Blueprint Mississippi is unique is bringing a comprehensive, business perspective to public policy issues, setting priorities and outlining specific metrics against which to measure Mississippi's progress," Khayat said.

Among its goals by 2010 is for Mississippi to rank:

- Ninth among the 12 Southern states in per pupil expenditure on a pre-kindergarten program. Today, the state ranks last with no expenditure.

- At least ninth among the Southern states and at least sixth by 2015 in the number of people employed in technology industries. The state ranks last with 3 percent of its employment in the technology sector.

Aubrey Patterson of Tupelo, chairman and chief executive officer of Tupelo-based BancorpSouth, said that improving education is key because the quality of a work force is what attracts and retains industry. Patterson served on the steering committee and oversaw the education component.

Blueprint Mississippi also recognizes the successes the state has had, such as improvements in kindergarten through 12th education that were attributed to various education reforms.

Emphasis now is on pre-kindergarten education, to ensure that children are ready to learn when they enter school, and on lowering the dropout rate. To lower the dropout rate, Patterson said students must be reached in the middle school years.

The plan also stressed the importance of improving the state's image - outside its borders and within. The plan calls for a study of the state's image with a marketing strategy to deal with the issues.

The question for many was how to pay for the recommendations in the midst of state budget woes.

"Blueprint Mississippi did not get into implementation," Wilson said. "That was not the purpose. This is a strategic plan. That (funding) is the next step."

Wilson said MEC is holding 21 meetings across the state to further discuss the recommendations.

In accepting the Blueprint Mississippi effort Monday, Barbour said, "This is not a study that will set up on a shelf. This is a study that will be a strategic plan for our continued economic development."

Barbour said Mississippi has economic momentum and that Blueprint Mississippi will be a catalyst in taking it to the next level.

Contact Bobby Harrison at (601) 353-3119 or bharrison@jam.rr.com
Appeared originally in the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, 8/10/2004 8:00:00 AM, section A, page 1