The EMBDC is an acronym for the East Mississippi Business Development Corporation. It is a 501(c)(6) organization that is widely funded by approximately 500 local businesses, the City of Meridian and Lauderdale County.

It houses Meridian’s Chamber of Commerce and its Economic Development efforts. It has in place a five year strategic plan that is primarily focused on assisting existing business and industry and attracting new industry into East Central Mississippi.

It’s approximately 500 businesses pay a membership fee to belong to the EMBDC and provide it a sustained source of private funding along with the public funding provided by the City and County.

In addition, the business community has pledged approximately $1.5 million over 5 years to provide additional support to fund its five year strategic plan. This plan is heavily focused on creating new jobs in East Central Mississippi through a combination of expanding existing industries and attracting new industries into our area.

As we all know, Meridian and Lauderdale County have limited resources and lots of very tangible needs both for our current citizenry and to attract new citizens. It is obvious that these needs will only be met if we increase revenue. The preferred method of increasing revenue is to attract new jobs.

The increased revenue can then be used to better maintain infrastructure and add new infrastructure, services, and benefits that we all desire to have in our community. This is why the number one priority of our community (public and private) should be to increase jobs. Increasing jobs is the number one priority of the EMBDC!

The City of Meridian and Lauderdale County are tasked with managing and running our City and County. The governing council or board of the City and County have limited terms of office. We need a long term vision for, and commitment to, economic development that includes marketing our community.

We need to speak with one unified voice when working with existing industries or prospects unfamiliar with our community. It absolutely makes overwhelmingly more sense to have one economic development organization with one hired professional supported by the appropriate staff managing our economic development strategic plan.

It can better market the best we have to offer those tasked with making major decisions about where they want to locate their facilities, operations, employees and their families (i.e. taxpayers). We should be thinking about this in terms of the City and County being a business and the EMBDC being its marketing entity. We desperately need one unified message that communicates who we are and why people should do business with us.

We need a major project to locate in our community bringing new jobs (individual & corporate taxpayers) to our community. We need to retain and expand our existing business base. Some of the latter don’t always make the headlines.

The reason we haven’t been as successful as we’d like to be is something that we all have to own. It’s because we aren’t on the same page, speaking with one unified voice and properly staffing and funding the EMBDC.

The business model that has had success across the country for economic development is the same business model being employed by the EMBDC. However, we have to do a better job of all subscribing to this same model, funding/investing in the model and utilizing the EMBDC to present our community’s attributes to those looking to relocate their business.

If we do so, we WILL have success. The EMBDC board brought a professional economic development executive to Meridian and Lauderdale County in 2015. The organization has been working diligently to build a foundation for success in our community.

We’ve built bridges with the Mississippi Development Authority, the City and the County as well as our legislative delegations. We recently received $3.5 million from the State of Mississippi to complete the Key Brothers Industrial Park (formerly the I20/59 Industrial Park). Mississippi Power Company added a multimillion dollar substation to the park. We have a prominent industrial site selection team marketing the site. The combination for lasting economic success is to have a process in place to consistently do these kind of things year in and year out.

I’ve been the Chairman of the EMBDC for two years. While we’re doing a lot of the right things, we’re not doing enough. We must direct our limited resources (public and private) to this professional organization and ensure through our input that they continue building the foundation for success. It’s a proven model that will deliver the results we need and want for our community. Every business, large and small, should be a dues paying member of the EMBDC.

Every public and private entity should be supportive and trust the EMBDC to do its job. It’s the only alternative we have given the limited financial resources that we have at our disposal. I should know. Marshalling financial resources is what I have done for a living for a half century.

The resources we’ve committed to the EMBDC are not competitive with those communities we compete with for jobs. Their strategic plans are better funded and their communities invest more in marketing their attributes that are appealing to those wanting to locate there. This is the first time we’ve put in place a five year strategic plan and had a capital fund drive to fund it.

Now, we’re having our first membership drive in at least a decade. If you want success, you have to be willing to make an investment. We need to up our public and private investment, be an EMBDC member and then expect to win. The business model I’ve described, the professionals to carry it out, and the will to win is in place. I ask those of you who are in the public and private sector to step up your investment and expect to WIN!

These are my personal opinions and not the opinion of the EMBDC, my employer or anyone else.