Lauderdale County supervisors on Monday received an update on several economic development initiatives underway locally through Mississippi State University’s National Strategic Planning and Analysis Research Center.

Steven Grice, executive director of NSPARC, which is based in Starkville, said work began in January to set up a satellite office in Meridian as part of MSU-Meridian. Supervisors, he said, contributed $75,000 to the effort through the East Mississippi Business Development Corporation, and he wanted to give them an update on what progress has been made.

“That’s the kind of money early in a project like this that make the world of difference on how likely we are to have success,” he said. “So, really, thank you very much for supporting this.”

NSPARC is planning to launch a three-year pilot program in Meridian and Lauderdale County using data to help guide and improve outcomes of economic development efforts, Grice said, and part of the county’s contribution went directly toward licensing two sets of data to assist in that effort.

The first data set, Grice said, is about publicly traded businesses. Using that data, he said, NSPARC’s goal is to identify which businesses are primed for future growth, and which growing businesses are a good match with Lauderdale County’s resources.

The second data set pertains to privately owned businesses. Using that data, NSPARC will try to identify the up-and-coming businesses that would be a good fit for Lauderdale County.

Both data sets will allow Meridian and Lauderdale County economic development teams to find businesses and industries that would succeed in the region and provide information that shows why the area should be considered for future expansion.

“Instead of waiting for requests for information to come in and being reactive, you can really start to be more active,” Grice said.

NSPARC offers help for existing businesses as well, Grice said. The research center is able to develop turnover studies for business owners who experience a high volume of staff turnover, he said.

Turnover studies look at where employees end up after they leave, whether that is at another job in the same field, a different field or going back to school. The study also looks at other factors such as pay, Grice said.

“We can provide information that can help a business owner better strategize what they might want to do to reduce turnover,” he said.

Grice said NSPARC is also working on a program with Naval Air Station Meridian to help local businesses find skilled workers among the military families who come and go from the area. Many military spouses and family members have valuable skills, but business owners need to know how to tap into that labor pool.

“People aren’t always plugged in to the immense talent that’s available there,” he said.

NSPARC has applied for some federal grant funding to add full-time Meridian staff and is working on a series of labor studies that dig deep into the needs and available resources of particular industries that might want to establish a presence in Lauderdale County or Meridian, Grice said. The center is currently looking to have the funding and staffing in place to launch its pilot program in January.

Supervisor Josh Todd said having the information NSPARC is able to provide is an invaluable resource to the Board of Supervisors as it tries to encourage industries to move into the area while limiting the liability to the taxpayers.

“We’re always promoting business, and we’ll go after any business opportunity we can, but a lot of times it’s not the right fit,” he said. “So we may push to get them here and then next thing you know, two years down the road, we’re on the hook for a CAP loan for a company that’s no longer here.”

Supervisor Jonathan Wells said the NSPARC program may be exactly what the county needs to encourage economic development and promote further growth in the area.

“I think it’s a piece of the puzzle that we’ve been missing and didn’t know the answers to,” he said.