The Enterprise has partnered with the eligible counties of Kemper and Winston to submit a $1 million workforce grant to obtain Appalachian Regional Commission POWER (Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization) funds to address workforce development needs in the counties that have seen a decrease in employment from coal-related jobs.
If these funds are awarded, equipment will be purchased and housed at the local career and tech centers to support the training needs of existing industrial employers, along with training high school students for the local workforce and allow Holmes Community College to offer workforce development courses to the public.
A basic manufacturing safety class (25 hours) will be offered locally to prepare job applicants to work in a manufacturing environment. In addition, through this grant the National Career Readiness Certificate (ACT Workkeys) will be offered to all graduating high school students for the next three years to prepare them to enter the workforce.
Aspire Program
Leadership teams from Choctaw and Webster participated in session 2 of the Mississippi Development Authority's Aspire program.
This session took the teams through a project mapping workshop where the teams considered their strengths and areas they could contribute toward improving economic gains, asset gains or community member gains.
Choctaw County chose to focus on economic gains to increase business revenue in the town of Ackerman with the project “Track On Over to Ackerman.”
Webster County chose to focus on community member gains by providing high school students with improved job and work training skills with their project YES (Youth Empowerment Skills).
TVA Economic Development Showcase
Lara Bowman, executive director of The Enterprise of Mississippi, presented at the TVA Economic Development Showcase on June 15, in Nashville, Tennessee.
The purpose of the showcase was to allow community economic development representatives to share about their communities to multiple team members of the TVA Economic Development staff.
This year The Enterprise was asked to share more than just its target industries and product development. TVA asked communities to specifically share about workforce and community livability assets because these assets are quickly becoming key competitive advantages in winning projects.
As economic development continues to evolve, the need to understand a community’s labor market is more important than ever. For this year's presentation, The Enterprise was asked to tell its workforce story.
Communities were awarded based off of the information presented at the Showcase. The Enterprise received the highest monetary award for its efforts in successfully telling its workforce story.
MDA Site Development Grant Awarded
The Eupora Industrial Park received a $15,000 Mississippi Development Authority Ready Site Grant from the Site Development Grant Program.
The grant will be used to complete the required due diligence at the Eupora Industrial Park. The grant required matching funds that the city of Eupora committed to providing. The grant will help to provide a Phase I, Geotechnical Survey, Cultural Resources Assessment and Wetlands delineation for the Eupora Industrial Park.
Corporate Visits
Through the generous support of community partners The Enterprise of Mississippi was able to make corporate headquarter visits this summer.
The purpose of the visits was to thank company leadership for their commitment in Choctaw and Webster counties, discuss retention and expansion opportunities along with workforce development initiatives of The Enterprise.
Corporate visits were made to Sly Inc. and Brown Wood Preserving Co. Inc.
Bowman Graduates from CDI
Bowman was among 43 individuals who were awarded graduation certificates during the 32nd annual Community Development Institute at the University of Central Arkansas on Aug. 3. She completed all three years of the institute's program of study, making her eligible to test for the Professional Community & Economic Developer certification.
CDI trains community leaders and economic development professionals on how to strengthen their local economies and build communities. This is achieved by developing the ability of participants to identify community assets, set goals, encourage collaboration and partnership with stakeholders, and bring communities, organizations and businesses together to respond to a broad range of economic and quality of life issues.
Bowman thanks The Enterprise board of trustees for allowing her to attend CDI and the Mississippi Economic Development Council for generously providing scholarships for all three years to cover the cost of tuition for the program.
Support The Enterprise of Mississippi
The Enterprise is seeking external funding and kicking off the 2018-19 fundraising campaign. We will focus this year on making improvements to existing industrial property and buildings along with implementing workforce development programs — all while continuing to market and build relationships to increase knowledge of The Enterprise to external partners. Your support is needed to continue to build off the success of the last year.
If you would like to become a supporter of The Enterprise please view our Levels of Support for 2018-19 online at theenterprisems.com. Contact Bowman at 769-610-1795 or
l.bowman@theenterprisems.com to learn more.
Thank you to these partners for their support of The Enterprise in 2018-19:
Platinum Level Supporter: Mississippi Lignite Mining Co.
Silver Level Supporters: Atmos Energy, Bank of Kilmichael and Natchez Trace Electric Power Association.
