The two people named to help lead Meridian Community College’s participation in the WIRED grant met on campus Wednesday with business and civic leaders to outline its goals.
Ken Dupré and Michael Gibson are part of a team that encompasses 37 counties in East Mississippi and West Alabama.
WIRED stands for Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development.
The $15 million federal grant awarded in May is designed to give people incentives to work together in an economic development region — as opposed to fighting among themselves — to attract new businesses.
“Our focus is to create a 37-county region between East Mississippi and West Alabama that can compete globally,” Dupré said.
“We should work in cooperation rather than in competition, then we can be a much larger force in the global market.”
The responsibility for the grant is divided into two areas: The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs is the fiscal agent, and the Meridian-based Montgomery Institute is the managing partner.
The grant allows community colleges in the grant area to designate two facilitators to help build a game plan for the future. MCC chose Gibson and Dupré, who laid out the WIRED initiative’s four major goals.
• Goal No. 1: Create a regional identity. This means getting all the leaders in the region to focus on a “build it” attitude, rather than a “fix it” attitude. The WIRED team wants people to think regionally, not locally.
• Goal No. 2: Build entrepreneurship and support this by creating people, places and programs that are friendly toward innovation. Celebrate the successes of entrepreneurs.
• Goal No. 3: Create a regionalized worker certification program. What that means: Students who receive training at any of the eight community colleges in the 37-county region have the skills to do a job, but they have something else as well — a certification recognized throughout the region.
And tracking these workers means an incoming business owner can make a call and know how many workers fit their requirements.
• Goal No. 4: Finally, the WIRED team wants to bring the program into the K-12 educational system — provide schools with programs that encourage entrepreneurship, innovation and skills needed for the future.
Dupré also talked about his 4-year-old son.
“My son’s favorite show is ‘Bob the Builder,’ and his saying in every show is, ‘Can we build it? Yes we can!’”
Dupré said the next step is learning this region’s strengths and comparing them to other regions — and then going forward with a plan for a cooperative structure.
For more information about the WIRED initiative, call Ken Dupré at (601) 481-1322 or Michael Gibson at (601) 481-1365.
Local News
Related Photos
Discussion
‘Can we build it? Yes, we can!’
WIRED: Building economic growth through cooperation
- Local News
-
-
Local law enforcement officials honored
State Rep. Greg Snowden said he remembered as a child looking up to those "men in blue."
He said police officers in uniform were larger than life, riding in their patrol cars and carrying guns to protect and serve the population. Today, he said he is still in great admiration of the men and women who put their lives on the line every day so that citizens can feel safe. -
MPD probes vehicle crash
Evidence of a mother's desperate attempt to save her children from harm were spread all over a car lot — and could be seen on her as well in the form of bruises, cuts and scrapes.
Tuesday night, a vehicle with three children inside crashed through a plate glass showroom floor window damaging four new cars and totaling the vehicle the children were in. -
Skeleton found in residence
Members of the forensics team of the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation (MBI) were called to a dilapidated home in Chunky to probe the discovery of a skeleton.
-
Police search for robbery suspects
Two men who reportedly robbed a woman at gunpoint in the parking lot of a local bank are still being sought.
Mike Vick, public information officer with the Meridian Police Department, said the two men approached a woman about 8 p.m. Tuesday at the ATM of Regions Bank on North Hills Street. Vick said one of the suspects was armed with a handgun and after taking an undetermined amount of cash and the victim's car keys, the two suspects fled on foot. -
City cuts payment to Watkins
The Meridian City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to cut their monthly payment to David Watkins, project developer of Meridian's new police station, by $9,999 until work resumes on the project.
The order, made during the Meridian City Council meeting Tuesday morning, included a mutual agreement between the councilmen and Watkins to reduce the project developer's monthly consultant fee of $10,000 to $1, effective Tuesday. -
Crews work on gasoline pipeline
If you hear a loud, booming sound early today, between 4 a.m.-10 a.m., there is no cause for alarm.
Workers with Plantation Pipeline will be performing maintenance work on their 30-foot gasoline pipeline in the Meridian area to accommodate the widening of Highway 493. The location of the work activity will be at Highway 493 North and Oak Hill Baptist Church, just inside the city limits. -
Team Spirit
-
High Honor
The flowers and balloons Crestwood Elementary School Principal Kimberly Kendrick received at school Monday were not an early Valentines' Day gift.
Kendrick has been named Meridian Public School District's 2012 Administrator of the Year – an announcement that both surprised and wowed the 17-year veteran educator when made by MPSD Superintendent Dr. Alvin Taylor. -
Master Dance Class
-
Digital system promises better communication
Hopefully in the near future you won't hear someone in the emergency services ask over the radio, "Can you hear me now?"
A digital communications system, one which is being pushed by the Federal Communication Commission (FCC), is a few months away and, in some cases, is already in the testing phase in Lauderdale County. - More Local News Headlines
-
Obama Gives Education Waivers to 10 States
Giffords Aide to Run for Her Seat
LA School in Sex Abuse Scandal Reopens
Winter Slamming North Asia, Parts of Europe
Syrian Forces Renew Bombardment of Homs
States, Banks Reach Foreclosure-abuse Settlement
Raw Video: Italy's Mount Etna Bursts Into Life
Greeks March; Angry Despite Debt Deal
Raw Video: U.S. Pullout Celebration
Raw Video: Annual Empire State Building Run-Up
Man Killed in Courthouse Shootout
Air Force Airlines: Leaders Get Polished Service
Ga Girl Fights Off Kidnapper at Walmart
Nevada Highway Patrol, City Settle Beating Case
Homs Bombardment Continues, Global Outcry Grows
Raw Video: Dog Rescued From Icy Colo. Water
Skip the Coffee Cup and Inhale Your Caffeine Fix
