JACKSON, Miss. -- Mississippi Gov. Ronnie Musgrove isn't just the leading advocate for changing the way the Magnolia State pursues economic development. He is the architect of that change, now codified into state law as the Advantage Mississippi Initiative.
After conducting 13 meetings statewide listening to CEOs, workers and community business leaders, Musgrove knew that if his state wanted to compete in the New Economy, it would have to say goodbye to the old ways of thinking. The result was an August special session of the Mississippi Legislature that culminated Sept. 1 with the adoption of the most sweeping economic development legislation in the state's history.
In a frank and extensive interview with Site Selection, the governor outlined his rationale and goals for making Mississippi more competitive. The following is the edited transcript of that conversation:
SITE SELECTION: What was the rationale behind the Advantage Mississippi Initiative, and why was there a need for such legislation to pass?
GOV. MUSGROVE: We recognized that we needed a change in direction and a complete restructuring of our economic development strategy. In order for Mississippi to be competitive, we have to recognize that we are in a New Economy. We saw that we needed a comprehensive, fact-based approach to economic development. The New Economy is seamless, borderless and global. We had taken a patchwork approach with no strategy of targeting our resources and our people with business and industry needs. There were several guiding principles to the Advantage Mississippi Initiative. First, we had to recognize the ever-expanding global marketplace. Secondly, we needed to make sure that all 82 counties in Mississippi shared in the prosperity. And thirdly, we had to recognize that our greatest resource is our people. In a borderless, seamless economy, Mississippi must take a regional approach to economic development. And we must continue to nurture the industries that have built a firm foundation for our economy.
SS: How did you muster the political support needed to pass such sweeping legislation?
MUSGROVE: Even though the economy had been strong nationwide, everyone in the business and industry world and the Legislature wanted to see us competitive in the New Economy that is driven by high-technology and is comprised of a higher-paid, higher-skilled work force. I put together by executive order the first public-private partnership chaired by Dwight Evans and held 13 meetings statewide. I talked to thousands of business leaders across the state, and we came together to get something done.
SS: What are the principal economic challenges being faced by your state?
MUSGROVE: Our number one challenge is to let people across the nation know that we have tremendous business opportunities because of our excellent, well-trained work force and our comprehensive skills training. The word is getting out that Mississippi is a great place to do business. There are no challenges in our new economic development strategy that Mississippi cannot and will not address.
SS: Which large infrastructure projects will significantly change your state in the future?
MUSGROVE: In 1987, Mississippi passed a four-lane highway project that has created a very good grid of four-lane roads throughout the state. As a result, any area in the state can now be traversed over four-lane roads. We have two freshwater ports, excellent rail and the technology highway. We are working on that to make sure that we have the broadband, high-speed, wireless Internet capability in every community throughout Mississippi. In my State of the State Address this year, I said that we needed to put an Internet-accessible computer in every classroom in every school in the state of Mississippi.
SS: Given that Mississippi is a well-known hub for the global telecommunications business, how is your state leveraging this advantage to recruit even more like-minded industry?
MUSGROVE: Again, we must go back to the guiding principles. Geographic location is not nearly as important as whether you have the work force and training and the ability to deliver that worldwide. In Mississippi, we are making lots of computers, but the benefit of that technology can be used in every industry. The technology is not industry specific. The question is, how do we use the new technology to make every industry more efficient? We have some tremendous examples of industry clusters right here in Mississippi: bio-sciences, engineering, super-computing, polymers. Working with our state universities, Mississippi has become number three in the nation in super-computing capability. That is exactly how we must pull our resources and assets together to meet the needs of the New Economy.
SS: Work force development is a major component of your Advantage Mississippi Initiative. Please explain how Mississippi plans to make changes in this area.
MUSGROVE: Instead of focusing on the digital divide, we choose to focus on the digital connection. Today's technology allows us to take Mississippi to the world. One of the ways to do that is to connect the needs of Mississippi's business and industry with our universities. They will play a key role in developing start-up businesses and connecting them to resources in research and capital.
