Mbj aug30 2013

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August 30, 2013 • Vol. 35, No. 35 • $1 • 20 pages

Elevating a camping revolution Vicksburg company making its mark on outdoor industry — Page 2

MBJ FOCUS: ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Where does it go?

Foreign markets are vital Page 10

2 I Mississippi Business Journal I August 30, 2013 OUTDOORS

Vicksburg company elevates a camping revolution

2 1

By CLAY CHANDLER I STAFF WRITER clay.chandler@msbusiness.com

Robert Rhett found a way to keep his camping gear high and dry, and in the process may have gotten a company off the ground.

Rhett, a Vicksburg native and resident, started Sierra Madre Research in 2010 to create what he called “a better camping hammock,” designed to provide elevated support for a camper and his gear. The idea, Rhett said, was to keep human and materials dry.

The inspiration arrived during a camping trip to Central America, whose rainforests are among the wettest places on earth.

“It’s the culmination of a lot of camping I’ve done myself. Once I decided to do this the first thing we made were these camping hammocks, and I had to make a shelter that would fit it. I’d been in several shelters prior to this and had a lot of unsatisfactory results,” Rhett said in an interview. “Got wet every time it rained and basically wasn’t what I wanted it to be.”

That’s when Rhett put his engineering background to use in designing what eventually would become the Nube’ (pronounced NEW-BAY), which allows for airborne camping. The design keeps a camper and his gear dry in a downpour, and protects the same from insects. It attaches to any hammock.

Rhett said it took about a year for Sierra Madre to fine-tune the prototype. “From there, we tested it all over the world.”

The product just completed its biggest month. Rhett started a campaign on Kickstarter, an online crowdfunding site, Aug. 7. As of Tuesday, Sierra Madre had raised just more than $83,000, with two weeks left in the campaign.

Rhett said the ideal fundraising target would be $210,00. “But realistically, based on how things have gone since we launched, I think we’ll land somewhere between $140,000 and $150,000,” he said.

What that will allow Sierra Madre to do, he said, is expand in a couple different ways. The most obvious is it

Photos provided by Sierra Madre research

1. Nubé in jungle in Honduras suspended on a slant.

2. Aerial view of 3 Nubés on Appalachian Trail.

3. Nubé (with hammock inside) suspended over swampy area to feature it's landscape versatility.

3

MORE ONLINE » Video on this product can be found at http://bit.ly/1chyjIg Category of Vulnerability

Typical Tarp

Nubé

RAIN

Hammock ends and suspension lines are exposed to rain

Hammock ends and suspension lines are enclosed in the closure sleeves, sealing out rain

INSECTS

Requires a separate product to protect you from insects

Insect shield is incorporated into the Nubé

GEAR

Offers little protection for gear, gear is placed on ground/must exit hammock to access

Elevates 200lbs of gear off of the ground completely protected/gear is suspended beneath you offering easy access

WIND

A-frame design limits wind protection and connection points/rain blows in at sides

Aerodynamic design combined with 8 connection points keep it firmly planted/complete water shield on all sides even with wind

will allow more of the Nube’s to be produced. Who will produce them involves another passion of Rhett’s.

Before he started Sierra Madre, Rhett helped launch a sewing ministry in Central America, with the hopes of teaching residents a skill that could offer continuous

employment and provide some measure of economic stability to the region.

The Kickstarter funding will go toward paying graduates of the ministry, who are now employees of a Nicaragua-based manufacturing company Rhett started, to make the Nube’, he said.

“It’s definitely a huge blessing that we get

to participate in that,” Rhett said. “When I first founded the company I had no plans to form my own manufacturing company, because most companies contract out that labor. We’ve got to make a lot of them, that’s the first strep. We’ve had a tremendous positive response from everybody I’ve talked to, distributors want it all over the world. The next step is definitely upscaling our manufacturing so we can keep up with the number we want to reach.”

To go with that, Sierra Madre has developed add-ons for the Nube’ – all designed around the original concept of keeping the camper protected from the elements and safeguarding camping gear. Options include cold-weather camping options, and setups that don’t require securing a hammock to trees, using poles instead to create a waterproof shelter.

Kickstarter money will serve another purpose, too, Rhett said.

“Doing this was an added bonus and a cool way to help people out, which is what Sierra Madre is about,” he said. “It’s about advocating change and ensuring quality and ensuring our employees are treated well. The other side is we give a portion of our profits to drilling clean water wells in Honduras. We’ve partnered with an existing organization there already.”

August 30, 2013

I

Mississippi Business Journal

INSIDE MISSISSIPPI

Lucky Town Brewing Co. grows into its own building

BY CLAY CHANDLER I STAFF WRITER clay.chandler@msbusiness.com By this time next year, Lucky Town Brewing Co. should have a permanent home.

Co-founder Chip Jones and his partners have bought a building on North Mill Street in the Midtown area of Jackson. It will serve as the brewery’s first brick and mortar presence since it started operation in 2011.

The brewery started in Gluckstadt, and currently contracts with Alabama-based Back 40 Beer Co. to produce its beer. “We started looking for a place about four months ago,� Jones said in an interview Monday afternoon. “There were a lot of factors, but a lot of it came down to price and where we see the community going in the future.�

The building on a 1.7-acre lot met the specs, and provides room for plenty of expansion. Jones said Lucky Town has applied for a zoning variance and use permit. A public hearing before Jackson’s Planning and Development board to consider the request is set for Sept. 25. If that body recommends approval of the request, it will go before the Jackson City Council in late October. If the variance gains final approval there, it will take effect in 30 days.

If that timetable is followed, construction could begin on Lucky Town’s new building around Thanksgiving, Jones said, and would last until late spring or early summer 2014, when production would start. Construction will include renovating the building to house brewing equipment, carve out office space and create tasting areas. “Most of the work will be on

the inside,� Jones said.

Lucky Town is one of the beneficiaries of the modernization of Mississippi’s beer laws, starting with legislation that raised the cap on the alcohol content in beer, then bills that legalized home brewing and allowed existing commercial brewers to offer samples on site. Those changes have done a lot, Jones said, to creating a legal and cultural atmosphere that’s brewery-friendly. That was a big reason why Lucky

Town needed a home, Jones said.

Lucky Town can be had at 95 pubs and restaurants across Mississippi. The new space will allow for an initial brewing capacity of 3,800 barrels a year, which will allow distribution to grow once that level of production is reached. Currently, Back 40’s brewing contract Lucky Town calls for about 500 barrels a year, Jones said. “And I don’t think we’ll have to expand the building for another four to five years because with existing

space I think we could max out around 10 to 12 thousand barrels a year,� Jones said.

HEALTHCARE

Ex-Clinton mayor named to Board of Education CLINTON — Former Clinton Mayor Rosemary Aultman has been appointed to the state Board of Education.

House Speaker Philip Gunn announced his appointment Monday. He said Aultman will serve as his recess appointment to the board through Dec. 31.

Aultman served as mayor in Clinton for 20 years. Gunn says he worked with Aultman while he served on the Clinton School Board.

Gunn said nothing about what he would do about an appointment after the first of Gunn the year.

Aultman will replace Martha “Jackie� Murphy of Rienzi, whose term expired June 30.

On the final day of the 2013 session, the Senate Education Committee rejected Gunn’s nomination of charter schools advocate Joel Bomgar to the Board of Education to replace Murphy. Some senators questioned Bomgar’s commitment to public schools.

— from staff and MBJ wire services

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4 I Mississippi Business Journal I August 30, 2013 MANUFACTURING

Port bouncing back from low-water mark » Natchez, Adams County bringing back manufacturing jobs

BY WALLY NORTHWAY I STAFF WRITER wally.northway@msbusiness.com

For nearly 20 years, the Natchez-Adams County Port, the industrial base of the area, bled jobs. In 2003 alone, nearly 600 workers were displaced when International Paper shuttered its mill after more than 50 years in operation.

In total, the port lost 1,500-1,800 jobs over that time frame, and while tourism remains the area's number one industry, the city and county fully felt the impact of the loss of jobs and tax revenue.

However, the port is showing signs of recovery. Over the last 24 months, area officials have made seven major announcements of new tenants or expansions/infrastructure improvements, including arguably its most ambitious effort — the purchase of the the former IP site.

"We have been very aggressive," said Chandler Russ, executive director of Natchez Inc., the lead economic development organization for Natchez and Adams County. He said total committed investment in the park is $930 million, of which "$200 million has already hit the ground."

In terms of jobs, the projects are expected to create 1,000 new jobs, and 210 of those jobs have been realize to dated.

"We have had some success, but we still have a long way to go to replace all those jobs we lost," he said.

The port's rebirth is evident immediately by the new port connector road.

Begun in 2011, the nearly $4-million road cut some two miles off the existing route and was a key selling point in landing Elevance Renewable Sciences.

In June 2011, Elevance acquired the Delta BioFuels facility with plans to convert it into a biorefinery and derivatives operation. The total capital investment is $225 million, and 30 of the projected 165 new jobs have been filled.

Crews are currently working on the port's new liquid loading dock. A $4-million structure, it got underway in January and is scheduled to be completed before the end of the year.

There is also major railroad construction underway. In May, Genesis Energy announced plans to more than double its railcar capacity at its port terminal while the company was still in phase one of a previously announced expansion. Work is continuing on a second rail spur that will allow two-way rail traffic as well as steaming racks that will heat chemicals to allow for loading and unloading of the railcars.

Between the liquid loading dock and

Special To The Mississippi Business Journal

LOCAL BOY » Russ finds success back in his hometown

BY WALLY NORTHWAY I STAFF WRITER wally.northway@msbusiness.com

As he drove his SUV around the former Rentech site, it was more than obvious that Chandler Russ is home. The Natchez native easily rattled off the site's history and assets from memory.

And, Russ does it with a big grin.

Coming up on his third anniversary as executive director of Natchez Inc., the lead economic development organization for Natchez and Adams County, Russ looks and sounds like a man who has come home to stay.

"I'm really, really happy here," said Russ while wearing a local high school's team colors in support of the opening football game that evening. "This is the right time and the right place for me."

Perhaps it is indeed the final See

RUSS, Page 9

After some 20 years of manufacturing job losses, the Natchez-Adams County Port is humming with new and expansion projects, with perhaps the biggest news being the recent purchase of the former IP/Rentech site.

railroad projects, work is almost complete on a new frac sand transmodal facility. The $37-million project is 95 percent complete.

Another expansion is underway at Enersteel, a manufacturer of tanks and vessels.

This marks the second expansion of Enersteel's facility at the Natchez-Adams County Port in as many years.

The latest coup for the port was finding a new tenant for the former Mississippi River Pulp (formerly Mississippi River Corporation). Late last year, the company announced it would cease operations and leave nearly 80 workers jobless. Quickly posting the vacancy, the building became the center of a bidding war between prospective companies. The winner was von Drehle Corporation, a North Carolina-based, privately held paper products manufacturer. von Drehle is investing $100 million in the facility, and has hired approximately 30 workers let go by Mississippi River Pulp. It expects to eventually have 100 employees on the payroll.

The land for the proposed $400-million KiOR biofuel plant has been cleared and engineering work is underway. However, the company said last month it needs data from its new refinery in Columbus before it can start to raise funding for the Natchez site.

The site will require a ring levee as it

was inundated during the historic flood of 2011.

"If (KiOR) doesn't come, it just means we have more work to do," Russ said matter of faculty.

The biggest and newest project underway involves the old IP site. Closed in 2003, it was purchased by the alternative fuels company Rentech in 2007. But the company could not get the massive, 478acre site up and running.

Earlier this month, Adams County purchased the property for $9.25 million.

"It is the best big site on the entire river.

I firmly believe that," Russ said.

The site includes nine water wells, 17.5 miles of natural gas lines and a wastewater facility with a capacity to process 40 million gallons per day and numerous other buildings and assets.

"To put the wastewater facility's capacity in perspective, the facility can handle eight times more wastewater than the city of Natchez's facility. That facility alone could cost $70 million to build, and it's already here," Russ said.

The railroad has claimed a piece of the property for proposed new infrastructure.

After it decides what it wants, Natchez Inc. plans to conduct a master plan, develop a name and logo and begin marketing the site within approximately 90 days.

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Website: www.msbusiness.com August 30, 2013 Volume 35, Number 35

ALAN TURNER Publisher alan.turner@msbusiness.com • 364-1021 ROSS REILY Editor ross.reily@msbusiness.com • 364-1018 WALLY NORTHWAY Senior Writer wally.northway@msbusiness.com • 364-1016 FRANK BROWN Staff Writer/Special Projects frank.brown@msbusiness.com • 364-1022 TED CARTER Staff Writer ted.carter@msbusiness.com • 364-1017

MBJPERSPECTIVE August 30, 2013 • www.msbusiness.com • Page 5

INSIDE OBAMACARE

Nunnelee quizzed over health funding

U

S. Rep. Alan Nunnelee says he opposes the federal health overhaul law, but he believes it would be irresponsible to shut down the government to try to block its funding.

The Republican represents north Mississippi’s 1st District. During a town hall meeting last week in Columbus, he faced questions about the Affordable Care Act, which became law before he was elected to Congress in November 2010.

The Commercial Dispatch reports that Monica Smith from the Tupelo TEA Party asked

Nunnelee if he’d “do everything it takes to de-fund Obamacare.”

Nunnelee said he has voted 40 times to repeal or dismantle the law. But he told the crowd: “If we shut down government, Obamacare will continue to be funded.”

Earlier, Nunnelee met with the editorial board of the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal.

The newspaper reported that he said government regulations, including those created by the health care law, are creating uncertainty that’s stifling growth.

After the town hall meeting in Columbus,

Tupelo TEA Party members Grant Sowell said Nunnelee should be more active in weakening the federal health law.

“I’m asking him if he will sign the Congressman Mark Meadows’ pledge to de-fund Obamacare,” Sowell said. “On this particular issue, I would say he’s out of touch with the Mississippians who are in the 1st District because he seems to have a strategy that seems to favor the bureaucracy of Washington, D.C., more than he does American patriots.

He’ll want to do whatever John Boehner and the establishment wants him to do.”

CLAY CHANDLER Staff Writer clay.chandler@msbusiness.com • 364-1015 STEPHEN MCDILL Staff Writer stephen.mcdill@msbusiness.com • 364-1041

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Entire contents copyrighted © 2013 by Journal Inc. All rights reserved.

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We’re interested in what you think and we welcome Letters to the Editor for publication. Here are the guidelines: >> Letters should not exceed 300 words in length as a general rule. >> All letters must bear the writer’s address and telephone number. Street addresses and telephone numbers will not be published, but may be used for verification purposes. Letters may not appear without the author’s name. >> Form letters, thank you letters and letters to third parties generally are not acceptable. >> Letters must be typed or e-mailed. >> Letters must conform to good taste, not be libelous and not involve personal attacks on other persons.

>> All letters are subject to editing, and become the property of the Mississippi Business Journal. >> Letters can be sent to The Editor, The Mississippi Business Journal, 200 North Congress, Suite 400, Jackson, MS 39201, delivered to the newspaper during regular business hours or emailed to editor@msbusiness.com. They may also be faxed to Ross Reily at (601)-364-1007.

» CORRECTIONS The Mississippi Business Journal takes seriously its responsibility to provide accurate information, and will correct or clarify articles produced by the editorial department if we have made an error or published misleading information. The correction will be placed in the perspective section.

If you see inaccuracies in Mississippi Business Journal news stories, please report the mistake via e-mail at editor@msbusiness.com.

6 I Mississippi Business Journal I August 30, 2013 EDUCATION

Alcorn State plans $25-30M expansion to aid growth spurt » University eyes spring start on modern dorms, faculty apartments and mixed-use retail space

By TED CARTER I STAFF WRITER ted.carter@msbusiness.com

Having witnessed problems that can occur when a space crunch leaves too many students bumping up against each other, Alcorn State University is set to initiate a $25million to $30-million expansion in late spring that will add modern dorms, faculty apartments and mixed-use retail space.

The over-crowding that occurred in Dr. Christopher Brown II’s first year as president of Alcorn with the enrollment of more than 4,000 students in 2011 led the chief administrator to later curtail enrollment at the main campus in Lorman. The retrofitting of five residence halls and the addi-

other residence halls. “This is a critical component of our recruitment of students and faculty. Housing amenities are important,” he noted.

In addition to the modern apartmentstyle dorms that include separate bedrooms for students, also planned are apartments for faculty -- likely with two-and-threebedrooms, a couple of baths and washerdryer hookups.

The retail mix has yet to be decided but will seek to fill a void left by the absence of dining and shopping opportunities in Lorman, an isolated hamlet north of Natchez.

Brown said in addition to food, he sees an opportunity for house wares and apparel as part of the retail mix. “Some universities are

“We have a lot of credit liquidity.”

Christopher Brown II President, Alcorn State University

tion of the residence halls that will be built next spring will return the nation’s first historically black land grant college to a growth path that could eventually see enrollment as high as 5,100 students.

Brown, along with exBrown ecutive vice president and provost Samuel L. White and senior vice president and COO Betty Roberts, has not fully settled on the scope of the project that would span eight to 10 acres. White wants a $30-million expansion while Brown prefers a $25-million one.

Either way, Alcorn is positioned to take on the debt the construction will require, Brown said, and noted the university recently paid off much of its previous bond debt. “We have got a lot of credit liquidity.”

White, the provost, said the expansions will continue the quality of life enhancements begun with the refurbishing of the

starting to put in mini-WalMart like stores,” the president said, indicating he wants to explore such an option.

Whatever makes the final mix must meet the university’s desire to gain commissions from customer sales as part of the lease agreements, Brown said.

He and his staff hope to have a Request for Proposals ready by this fall and to award the construction project by the end of the year.

Funding will come through bonds backed by the university and sold through the Alcorn State University Foundation, a non-profit 501(c)3 that can issue tax-exempt bonds.

Brown said Alcorn wants to sell the bonds as soon as possible to avoid paying higher interest rates. “As those prices go up the scale of the project will go down,” he said of concerns over rising interest rates.

“So we want to move as quickly as possible to start construction.”

FRANK BROWN / The Mississippi Business Journal

ALCORN TO WELCOME STUDENTS TO NEW HOSPITALITY SCHOOL IN SPRING » With eye toward casino management training, ASU to launch graduate program before bachelor and certificate offerings

with a single instructor. The instructor is already in place, according to Alcorn.

Beyond the first year, the expectation is to move rapidly into a bachelor degree program and most likely a “certificate” offering that will focus on the nuts-and-bolts of hospitality and gaming management and require far fewer

By TED CARTER I STAFF WRITER academic courses than the bachelor’s program. ted.carter@msbusiness.com Brown said he expects two to three additional faculty members can carry the The casino industry from Natchez to Tunica has grown to adulthood without a designated instruction load for the bachelor program.

In the meantime, Alcorn is talking with casino higher education program to train its future executives from Natchez to Tunica to gain their managers — until now. insights on developing a curriculum, Brown With seed money from the Ayers higher noted.

“We are having conversations with education settlement of the early part of the gaming on what are the key competencies last decade, Alcorn State University this spring they are looking for.

We want to design will open its School of Hospitality and Gaming something to serve their existing staff.”

Management at its new Vicksburg campus.

The more students Alcorn enrolls, the more Like Mississippi’s gaming industry in its early latitude it will have in designing the course years, the Alcorn hospitality school will start work, Brown said, noting that as the program small and seek to grow steadily thereafter, said develops, he sees the school offering President Christopher Brown II, whose specialized training to individual casino background as an educator includes a stint as properties as well as groups of properties. executive vice president and provost of Fisk “From a casino prospective, the greatest need University in Nashville and dean of the College of Education at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. for graduates will be in Food, Beverage and “To stand up a school is a multi-million dollar Hotel,” said George Stadler, general manager of the Ameristar casino resort in Vicksburg. venture,” he said in an interview Tuesday.

Stadler said in an email that Ameristar and “The first plan is to add the degree at the other gaming resorts in the region need graduate level.” hospitality school graduates who understand Brown expects the early grad students to be working hospitality professionals, a student enrolment Alcorn expects to accommodate See HOSPITALITY, Page 8

August 30, 2013

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Mississippi Business Journal

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7

FROM THE GROUND UP

Tipping still not an exact science

T BIG BUSINESS

Sanderson Farms 3rd-qtr. profit leaps; shares slump LAUREL — Sanderson Farms said Tuesday its net income more than doubled in the fiscal third quarter, reflecting higher prices for its poultry products.

The company said the average price for a whole chicken rose about 12 percent compared with a year ago, and boneless breast meat prices were about 32 percent higher than last year. It said demand from retail grocery stores was steady during the quarter.

However, Sanderson said grain prices were higher during the quarter, but "favorable growing conditions this summer have fueled considerable optimism about this year's corn and soybean crops," chairman and CEO Joe F. Sanderson said in a statement. "While the available grain quantity and prices during the coming months will ultimately depend on this year's final crop performance, prices have recently moved lower."

The company posted earnings of $67.9 million, or $2.95 per share, for the three months ended July 31. For last year's third quarter, it reported net income of $28.7 million, or $1.25 per share. Its revenue for the period increased 18 percent, to $739 million from $624.9 million.

Analysts, on average, were expecting net income of $2.62 per share and $717 million in revenue, according to FactSet. Shares of Sanderson Farms Inc. initially jumped, but then turned down. The stock fell $5.14, or 7.4 percent, to $64.65 in morning trading, still toward the high end of its 52-week trading range of $39.91 to $75.53.

— from staff and MBJ wire services

ipping, a $40-billion item in the U.S. economy, is a subject about which there is no universal agreement. Although there are guidelines written about in numerous articles, it seems that the issue is getting more confusing. Some businesses have a policy against tipping. Some even say that tipping should be banned.

To illustrate the wide range of views and opinions about this topic, gather your colleagues and discuss the scenario that follows.

Roselyn works as a public relations advisor. She is a news junkie. So much so that she subscribes to three different newspapers. Last Christmas holiday season one newspaper carrier included an unaddressed, non-stamped envelope in her newspaper with a note that read, “Send tips to (carrier’s address).” The second carrier included a signed Christmas card and a self-addressed, stamped envelope. The third carrier did not include anything with the newspaper. Roselyn viewed numerous online articles about tipping and found that the recommended holiday tip for newspaper carriers varied from $10 to $30. What should she do? a. Determine an amount and tip all three carriers the same. b. Tip each carrier a different amount. c. Don’t tip at all.

In your discussion did it matter how the request for a tip was made? Is it expected that newspaper carriers should be tipped at the Christmas holiday?

Should they be tipped at other times? How much does the level of service determine the amount of tip? Should tipping be banned?

That last question was the title of a recent Freakonomics Radio podcast that shed a lot of light on the subject of tipping. The show’s researchers interviewed people across the country about their observations on the subject. In the opening segment, some of the comments about tipping servers in restaurants included: “Attractive waitresses get better tips; waiter

appearance is not important;” “Blondes get better tips than brunettes;” “If you see somebody smoking, they’re usually a good tipper;” and “Slender women get better tips than heavier women.” Wow! Those comments should be fodder for discussion.

Dr. Michael Lynn, a professor at the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration, was interviewed. He has written over 40 research publications on the topic of tipping. Additionally, he is also a former busboy, bartender and waiter.

Without doubt, he is the expert on the subject.

He has also covered the subject from almost every conceivable angle. Here are titles of some of his papers: » “Are christian/religious people poor tippers?” » “Black-White differences in tipping: Moderated by socio-economic status?” “Tipping and service quality: A within-subjects analysis.” » “Why tip? An empirical test of motivations for tipping car guards.” » “Tipping and its alternatives: Business considerations and directions for research.”

These papers and more can be found on his website at tippingresearch.com.

How to increase a tip makes a difference as Dr. Lynn’s research reveals. For example, one of his papers, “Techniques for Increasing Servers’ Tips: How Generalizable Are They?” reveals that servers can increase the amount of their tips by engaging in one or more of 14 certain behaviors, including repeating the order, calling the customer by name, touching the customer and writing “thank you” on the check.

Tipping does not occur in just restaurants.

Customers also tip barbers, taxi drivers, skycaps, porters, housekeepers, newspaper carriers and just about anyone who provides a service.

In order to glean more information about tipping, this writer took to asking service providers about their tipping policies. It was discovered that restaurants, in particular, have a variety of policies,

2012. Mississippi casinos, over the last 12 months, have collected only about 75 percent of what they collected in the peak revenue year of 2007.

The numbers exclude Choctaw Indian casinos, which aren’t required to report winnings to the state.

LAW AND ACCOUNTING

Ole Miss sets up free legal clinic GAMING

Casino revenue down once again ACROSS MISSISSIPPI — A sharp drop in coastal casino revenue contributed to a 6 percent drop in Mississippi gambling revenue in July.

Mississippi Department of Revenue figures show statewide casino revenue fell 6 percent to $192.1 million.

The 12 coastal casinos won $97 million from gamblers, down 8 percent from the $105.4 million they won in July 2012. The 18 river casinos from Tunica to Natchez won $95.2 million, down 4 percent from the $93.7 million they won in July 2012.

Year-over-year casino revenue has fallen in all but one month since July

A University of Mississippi program that provides free legal assistance to low-income people is teaming with the Mississippi Volunteer Lawyer Project for a clinic to help qualifying Lafayette county residents with family law matters.

The clinic, set for 1-4 p.m. Sept. 5 at the UM School of Law, will help participants prepare court documents for divorce, custody, child support, name changes and emancipations. The event is organized by the law school’s Pro Bono Initiative.

Attorneys and law students will be available to help income-eligible persons to draw up the necessary court documents and to explain how to present their cases in court. Participation is limited to Lafayette County residents with an annual income of less than $14,363 for an individual, less than $19,388 for a household of two, or less than $29,438 for a household of four.

To find out if you are eligible for this service, you must call 601-9509577 by Aug. 30. The program does not accept walk-ins. Please reference

depending on the restaurant. One server at a national chain said that Phil Hardwick tips were split between the server, the bartender (if a drink was ordered from the bar) and the chef. At another chain restaurant the server told me that all tips were placed in one “bucket” to be shared among the waitstaff and the greeter. At another, the server said that the cook gets a dollar and the server keeps everything else. In local “mom and pop” restaurants it seems that the serves keeps the entire tip. Other places, such as barber shops, hotels, auto repair shops, etc seem to have no policy, meaning that the person providing the service can keep the entire amount of the tip.

The idea of shared tips is not appealing to some patrons, who feel that service provided by the person with whom direct contact was made should be rewarded. It is also not appealing to some Starbucks baristas in New York. Two lawsuits against Starbucks seek to answer, among other things, who is entitled to the money in the tip jar. At issue is the definition of manager, agent and employee. It seems that baristas and shift supervisors are eligible for money in the tip jar, but assistant managers are not. The case is being watched by the restaurant industry because of possible national implications.

One of Dr. Lynn’s findings probably sums it up best, which is that there is no one best policy. For some businesses, it can lower the employee cost, attract talented workers and lower FICA payments.

On the other hand, voluntary tipping can result in discrimination, subject the business to tax audits and take away income that could go to the bottom line.

For the consumer, tipping is an expense that one is free to control, or even avoid. Nevertheless, it is a subject that has no set rules, only guidelines.

Phil Hardwick is coordinator of capacity development at the John C. Stennis Institute of Government. Pease contact Hardwick at phil@philhardwick.com.

the Oxford Family Law Clinic when you call.

HEALTHCARE

Financial firms vie for trust fund COLUMBUS — Twelve financial firms have submitted proposals to manage Lowndes County’s $30 million hospital trust fund.

The county wants a bigger return on its investment of those funds.

Board of Supervisors president Harry Sanders told the Commercial Dispatch that the county hopes the 0.2 percent ($60,000 annually) interest the county has recently earned on certificates of deposit will eventually turn into at least 4 percent ($1.2 million) and as much as 8 percent.

Sanders said the trust fund selection committee is expected to trim the list of firms to three this week. The three firms will be interviewed in meetings open to the public Sept. 3.

Sanders said the board of supervisors expects to receive a recommendation from the committee shortly after the interviews.

The Legislature created the Lowndes County Reserve and Trust Fund this year and authorized the county to place funds in interest-bearing accounts including state, federal, government and corporate AAA bonds, as well as common stocks.

— from staff and MBJ wire services

8 I Mississippi Business Journal I August 30, 2013 RESTAURANT

Abner’s celebrates 20 years of chicken

By CLAY CHANDLER I STAFF WRITER clay.chandler@msbusiness.com

In January 1993, years ago, Abner White started small in Oxford.

He had five tables, one cheap cash register, two small fryers, one griddle and a fountain drink machine.

“That was it,” he said. He shared eight parking spaces with an adjacent gas station.

The menu featured less than a halfdozen items – all fried to keep things simple, White said.

From that converted gas station at the corner of University Drive and Lamar Avenue, White build a chicken tender empire that has become a Mississippi landmark.

The first few days of operation in Oxford were not empire-like. White said most people didn’t understand the concept of a restaurant that specialized in chicken tenders. “I’d have to repeat myself,” he said.

“Then, they’d smirk and say ‘Good luck with that.’”

The confusion didn’t last long. Within two weeks of opening, lines of customers

HOSPITALITY

ran out the door. That led to the expansion of his existing building, an additional location in Oxford, and new stores in Starkville and Tupelo. “I had been so worried about failing that I didn’t have a plan for success,” White said.

His second year of operation, White bought the adjacent gas station, making him the owner of an expensive piece of college-town real estate at the age of 25.

“It was scary, but it turned out to be a

great move,” White said. “And it wouldn’t have been possible without the support of a young banker named Ben Bolton. He believed in me when I was just starting out.

His ability to assess my business and our potential in Oxford has meant a great deal over the years.”

The restaurants filled a niche. They offered a Southern staple food and served as a museum of sorts, with their walls lined with all manner of sports memorabilia, a lot of it autographed.

“The sports memorabilia started out as my way of putting something on the walls to keep them from being blank,” White said. “I’d played college football, so I had collected some souvenirs during my four years on the Ole Miss team — and I had some other random sports photos.”

“It was really exciting to send letters to sports greats all over the country—not just from Ole Miss — and to witness how surprisingly generous they were,” White continued.. Among his collection are signed photos from the likes of Bo Jackson and John Wooden. There are many others.

As Alcorn’s hospitality and gaming management program develops, it can become a strong asset for not just casino resorts but for hotels, restaurants and visitor destinations throughout the how the operation runs in the front of the house and back of the region, he added. house, the former term referring to workers who deal directly with Alcorn’s hospitality school will join university guests and the latter with staffers who work behind the scenes to degree programs at Delta State University keep operations moving smoothly.

(Hospitality Service Management of “For example,” Stadler said, “team members working in the hotel Mississippi); the University of Mississippi industry need a good understanding of how the front desk operates (Hospitality Management); and the University as well as laundry housekeeping and laundry departments.” of Southern Mississippi (Hotel, Restaurant and In the Vicksburg market, signing up hospitality workers with Tourism Management). Community college management potential are Ameristar’s biggest recruiting Gregory programs are offered at such institutions as challenge, according to Stadler. “We currently hire around 100 Northeast Mississippi Community College in team members per year in the hospitality field and welcome Booneville and the Gulfport campus of Mississippi Gulf Coast more hospitality graduates.”

Community College.

Essentially, as a part of the service industry, Ameristar wants Alcorn’s entry signals that the state’s higher education planners staffers “with good guest-facing skills,” Stadler said. Along with are listening to the pleas of the hospitality industry, especially those strong guest service and communication skills, a basic of the gaming sector, said Larry Gregory, executive director of the understanding of mathematics is crucial, he added.

Mississippi Casino Operators Association.

Mike Cashion has been around the hotel and restaurant “I think the industry shouted out a long time ago that they wanted business long enough to know surviving as a manager in the education” as part of the development of a mature visitor industry, demanding field requires a keen ability to stay focused amid said Gregory, who previously headed the Mississippi Gaming pressure from all directions. No where is this more true than in Commission. “We want an educated workforce that is made up of the back-of-the-house operations of a casino, said Cashion, Mississippians.” executive director of the Mississippi Hospitality and Restaurant Gregory serves on the advisory board of the Southern Miss School Association. “That is an animal all to itself,” he added. “It takes of Business of which the Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management focus. They really turn and burn.” program is a part. Gregory said in developing the hospitality school’s Thus, Cashion expects the gaming sector will put a premium on curriculum, the board has sought the guidance of hotel and casino hiring Alcorn hospitality school grads who can handle the hustle executives as well restaurant companies such as Darden. “They’ve and bustle of the back-of-the-house . done an outstanding job,” he said of the industry advisors.

“That’s where a lot of the external recruitment goes on” and Also, USM has recruited executives and supervisors of the Alcorn could be especially helpful in that effort, Cashion predicted. Mississippi coast casino resorts to present special training programs Continued from Page 6

“My mother is an artist, so she helped me turn those photos into large collages,” White said. “That was the beginning of a new tradition: parents and grandparents bringing children into Abner’s to show them the sports greats that spanned generations.”

Aside from the chicken tenders and memorabilia, the restaurants’ calling card has been the Abner’ sauce, a recipe White developed with his mother.

“She always made this remarkable shrimp sauce,” White said. “So, the two of us went into her kitchen and started experimenting with different spices and recipes until we got it just perfect. It took lots of trial and error.”

To celebrate 20 years in business, Abner’s Famous Chicken Tender Restaurants will be running special programs to recognize their loyal customers. In addition to daily specials, free drinks and discounts, Abner’s is sponsoring a “Wall of Fame” contest in which customers can submit their own sports shots. The winning entries will share wall space with the restaurants’ existing memorabilia. Customers can enter by visiting the Abner’s Famous Chicken Tenders Facebook page.

that include management, security and back-of-the-house operations, he said, and noted he has taught classes as well.

Gregory and others in the gaming resort business are especially excited by Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College’s ambitious culinary and hospitality program that just recently moved into a $10 million home on the college’s Jefferson Davis campus in Gulfport.

“It’s absolutely amazing,” he said of the resort management training facility, describing such instructional features as fully equipped Viking Range kitchens, banquet training rooms and even a mock hotel room.

Gulf Coast Community is concentrating on a two-year certificate program that will eventually include gaming surveillance training, slot machine repair and other technical aspects of casino operations,“ he said.

“They have done a lot of work and planning with the industry,” Gregory said, and noted he personally has met with college officials on about 10 occasions. “They’ve been tapping our brains. They know we helped get USM started from nothing.”

Gulf Coast Community’s hospitality school can accommodate upwards of 200 students and has multiple specialties and exit points for students, said Dr. Jason Pugh, VP of instruction.

The culinary offerings include such specialties as mass food production, baking and pastry preparation, Pugh said.

The tourism management program has a large concentration on customer service training, while the casino resort management offerings are varied and in the future likely will be weighted toward meeting some of the technological needs of the gaming industry, he added.

“The technology behind gaming is certainly a hot trend these days. We’re trying to understand what their needs are so we can design a curriculum around those needs.”

August 30, 2013

I

Mississippi Business Journal

I

DeSoto 6.5

9 Tunica 12.6

MISSISSIPPI’S JULY UNEMPLOYMENT FIGURES Coahoma 12.6

July ‘13 1,308,300 112,300 8.5 8.6 1,196,000

June ’13 1,317,700 128,900 9.0 9.8 1,188,800

July ’12 1,354,200 140,000 9.3 10.3 1,214,200

’12 Avg. 1,333,100 122,100 XXX 9.2 1,211,000

Moving Avg.** 1,322,400 120,100 XXX 9.1 1,202,300

UNITED STATES Labor Force Data Civilian Labor Force Unemployed Unemployment Rate (Adjusted) Unemployment Rate (Unadjusted) Employed

July ‘13 157,196,000 12,083,000 7.4 7.7 145,113,000

June ’13 157,089,000 12,248,000 7.6 7.8 144,841,000

July ’12 156,526,000 13,400,000 8.2 8.6 143,126,000

’12 Avg. 154,975,000 12,506,000 XXX 8.1 142,469,000

Moving Avg.** 155,396,000 11,964,000 XXX 7.7 143,432,000

June 2013 10,514 115,550 $14,905,187 80,209 5,475 1,746 $185.83

July 2012 12,465 149,399 $20,719,760 112,634 7,582 2,609 $183.96

Alcorn 7.6

Tippah 10.2

Prentiss 9.2 Lafayette 7.1

Yalobusha 8.9

Bolivar 10.7 Leflore 12.3

Carroll 7.8

Montgomery 11.3

Tishomingo 9.8

Humphreys 14.6 Sharkey 10.0

Holmes 18.2

Lowndes 9.5

Oktibbeha 9.7

Choctaw 9.4

Winston 11.6

Leake 10.3

Neshoba 6.5

Scott 6.6

Newton 7.4

Noxubee 15.1

Kemper 13.3

Madison 6.8 Warren 9.7 Rankin 4.6

Hinds 7.8

Claiborne 15.7

Adams 9.3

Wilkinson 11.1

Franklin 9.4

Lincoln 8.3

Amite 9.8

Pike 10.3

4.6 - 6.5 6.6 - 9.7 9.8 - 15.0 15.1 - 19.0

Jasper 10.0

Smith 8.1

Simpson 7.0

Copiah 8.6

Covington Jones 7.0 6.0

Walthall 11.0

Marion 9.8

Lamar 5.9

Pearl River 8.1

Hancock 7.9

Lauderdale 8.4

Clarke 10.1

Wayne 10.2

Lawrence Jeff Davis 9.8 11.3

Unemployment Rates Unem ates

— Mississippi Department of Employment Security

Monroe 12.3

Clay 19.0

Attala 10.8

Yazoo 11.8

Issaquena 15.0

Itawamba 9.1

Chickasaw 11.8

Webster 11.9

Washington 13.9

Jefferson 18.1

** Average for most recent twelve months, including current month •• Unemployment Insurance amounts presented in this section only represent regular UI benefits, federal program amounts are not included.

Labor force amounts are produced in cooperation with the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Note: Unless indicated state and county data presented are not seasonally adjusted.

Calhoun 9.8

Grenada 8.7

Sunflower 13.3

Lee 7.9

Pontotoc 7.6

Quitman 13.2 Tallahatchie 11.0

July 2013 12,042 122,137 $18,706,473 100,076 7,160 2,283 $186.92

Benton 11.3

Union 6.8

STATE OF MISSISSIPPI Labor Force Data Civilian Labor Force Unemployed Unemployment Rate (Adjusted) Unemployment Rate (Unadjusted) Employed

RUSS

Tate 9.3

Panola 10.8

Labor force and employment security data

STATE OF MISSISSIPPI Unemployment Insurance Data •• Initial UI Claims Continued Claims Benefits Paid Weeks Paid First Payments Final Payments Average Weekly Benefit

Marshall 11.3

Forrest 8.1

Perry 9.0

Stone 7.4

Harrison 7.7

Greene 10.8

George 10.4

Jackson 8.5

Source: Labor Market Data Publication July 2013 Design: Labor Market Information Department, MDES

But, Russ found more opportunity than he expected, and with the chance to move closer to home as an extra perk accepted the position of executive director of the Brookhaven/Lincoln County Chamber of Commerce and Industrial Development destination for Russ whose career path has taken several turns and would have Foundation. led him out of not only Natchez but the entire state if not for the efforts of a From there his fast rise continued. Russ was tapped by the Tennessee Valley mentor/economic developer.

Authority as Mississippi Region project manager in 2004, was named director of the Growing up in a home full of University of Southern Mississippi Mississippi Development Authority's Existing Industry and Business Division in 2008 fans, Russ entered USM after high school, earning a B.S. in regional before coming back to Natchez in November 2010. and community planning, and promptly found work in his field.

By that time, Russ had forged a solid reputation as a savvy economic developer.

But he wasn't entirely satisfied in his new career, and turned When the Mississippi Business Journal polled economic developers on who they to Robert Ingram for advice. thought should be the new executive director of the MDA when Gray Swoope Ingram, a former mayor of McComb who would subsequently announced he was leaving in 2011, Russ was one of a few who garnered multiple votes. forge a successful economic development career (he recently But, Russ was already at Natchez Inc. by then, and when told he was a popular retired as lead economic developer in Baldwin County, Ala., and is Russ candidate for the MDA job just laughed, said he was honored and quickly added he now a consultant), had gotten to know Russ' family through USM was happy in Natchez. activities, and he recommended Southern Miss' graduate economic development Two years later, Russ has played a key role in turning around the major manufacturing program. job losses seen by the area over the last couple of decades. He continually talked of This would prove a career spark for Russ. After earning his master's degree, he was consensus and community and the optimism that the recent successes has brought to named executive director of the Nevada County Economic Development Office in his hometown.

Prescott, Ark. Leaving the Rentech property, he swung by a 3,000-plus-acre site that he sees as Russ had held the position for about two years and had grown comfortable when he the place for future growth of the Natchez-Adams County Port. Russ turned off the got a call from Ingram about a position back in Brookhaven. Russ initially said he wasn't road to a spot on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River. very interested, but Ingram persisted and Russ eventually agreed to an interview.

"I spent many a day here as a kid," he said. Pointing toward a large pile of ashes, he In the mean time, Russ had gotten a call from a prominent Arkansas utility about a added with a grin, "I'm glad to see the tradition of building a bonfire here is still being plum job as project manager. He was offered the job, wanted it, but couldn't commit. observed."

"I told him I was 95 percent sure I would take the job, but I had promised a friend I As he pulled off, Russ had to negotiate a fair-sized ditch and a rutted dirt road. would do this interview back in Mississippi," Russ remembered.

"I hope I don't get us stuck," he said, "but it's okay. I know a lot of people who would Continued from Page 4

Director of Real Estate Development Needed to oversee the Montgomery Housing Authority’s housing development, rehabilitation, and redevelopment programs.

Applicants will possess a bachelor’s degree, 7 years experience in public housing real estate development, and two years of supervisory experience or equivalent.

Application and job information is available online at: www.mhatoday.org

AN MBJ FOCUS: ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Where does it all go?

Major exports in 2012

Mississippi exports in 2012 were $11.8 billio over 2011. Mississippi exported to 184 foreig Some of the top export commodities:

» Mineral Fuel/Oil (Ashland, Ergon, Loresco)

» Automatic Data Processing Machines (Trit » Tanning/Dye/Paint/Putty (du Pont)

» Electrical Machinery (Peavey, Viking, How » Cotton & Yarn/Fabric (StaplCotn)

» Vehicles/Not Railway (Griffin, Nissan, Toyo » Woodpulp (Georgia-Pacific)

» Plastic (Miss. Polymers, Sanderson Plumb » Meat (Poultry) (Sanderson Farms, Tyson) » Paper/Paperboard (GP, IP, Weyerhauser)

Matching firms, foreign markets vital part of s » Trade office’s services are available to businesses of all sizes wanting to find an export partner overseas

By LISA MONTI I CONTRIBUTOR mbj@msbusiness.com

T

HE WAY MISSISSIPPI Development Authority officials see it, helping to match businesses in the state with foreign markets is as practical as a financial planner advising a client to diversify an investment portfolio.

MDA’s efforts include setting up meetings for Mississippi business leaders in foreign countries, organizing trade fairs and overseeing a network of representatives looking after the state’s interests in generating trade.

“By introducing Mississippi companies to international markets, we hope to help diversify their sales markets,” said William “Skip” Scaggs, head of MDA’s Existing Industry and Business Division.

The trade office’s educational, marketing and referral services are available to small and mediumsized companies who want to do business overseas.

MDA’s goal is to grow existing businesses long-term, create jobs and add an international dimension to the state’s economy.

“We run the gamut from small offices with one or two people and small manufacturers up to your major employers,” Scaggs said.

“If you’ve got a competitive product that meets a need within the market here in the U.S., chances are that need is also somewhere around the world and we’d like to help them identify how to take advantage of those opportunities.”

The state’s trade overview compiled by the Bureau of the Census, shows that in 2012, Mississippi exports totaled $11.8 billion, a 7.8 percent increase from 2011. The exports were dispersed to 184 foreign destinations and are credited with creating 65,076 direct jobs.

“I think it’s been very successful when you look at the growth of Mississippi exports. Over the last 15 years we have continued to increase the number of firms exporting as well as the dollar value of what they’re shipping,” said Scaggs.

The top export commodities are led by mineral fuel and oil valued at about $4 billion. ATMs are second, valued at a little more than $1 million, followed

“If you look at the countries that Mississipp seven of the top 10 markets have free trade with the U.S.” Director of MDA’s Existing

by dye products at $928,000. Exports of electrical machinery by Peavey Electronics, Viking, Howard Industries, Triton and others ranks fourth at $815 million. The remainder of the list includes electrical machinery, cotton, vehicles, wood pulp, plastic, poultry and paper.

Hartley Peavey, founder of Peavey Electronics in Meridian, describes himself as a “road warrior” when it comes to doing business all over the world. He’s been doing it since 1972. “We sell to 136 countries,” he said. “I’ve learned a lot of things.”

Peavey, whose company sells some 2,000 products, said there are “huge opportunities out there” but doing business internationally is “a whole different ball game” with rules and obstacles to overcome. But it’s worth it in the long run. “The bottom line: 96 percent of the world population lives outside the

USA. To ignore that is stu So who’s buying Mississ Panama tops the list at Canada at nearly $2 billio $1.2 billion.

“If you look at the coun ports to, seven of the top 1 agreements with the U.S.,” Another factor that put list is the expansion of t money that’s being spent addition to the free trade a mand that Mississippi c Scaggs said.

The next international businesses could benefit fro ing up to host two major ev

August 30, 2013 • MISSISSIPPI BUSINESS JOURNAL • www.msbusiness.com

2

Top state export destination markets in 2012

NON-RETAIL FOREIGN INVESTMENT (Percentage of employees in foreign-owned firms)

ere $11.8 billion, a 7.8 percent increase d to 184 foreign destinations in 2012. odities:

rgon, Loresco)

Machines (Triton)

26,000 total estimated employment

» Panama

$2.1 billion

$3.96 billion

» Canada

$1.9 billion

$1.1 billion

» Mexico

$1,2 billion

u Pont)

$928 million

» PRC

$864 million

y, Viking, Howard, Triton)

$815 million

» Honduras

$390 million

Cotn)

$708 million

» Peru

$367 million

n, Nissan, Toyota)

$604 million

» Guatemala

$366 million

$476 million

» Brazil

$334 million

derson Plumbing)

$302 million

» Belgium

$333 million

arms, Tyson)

$290 million

» Columbia

$273 million

eyerhauser)

$289 million

t of state’s trade plan

at Mississippi exports to, ve free trade agreements Skip Skaggs

or of MDA’s Existing Industry and Business Division

gnore that is stupid,” he said. s buying Mississippi products abroad? tops the list at $2.1 billion, followed by t nearly $2 billion and Mexico is third at n. look at the countries that Mississippi exeven of the top 10 markets have free trade ts with the U.S.,” Scaggs said. r factor that put Panama on the top of the expansion of the Panama Canal. “The at’s being spent on that major project, in o the free trade agreement, helps drive deat Mississippi companies are meeting,” d. xt international hot spot that Mississippi could benefit from is Brazil, which is gearhost two major events: the World Cup next

year and the 2016 Olympics.

“So there will be a lot of construction related to hosting major events like that and we are looking at how we can open doors to Mississippi companies to participate in that opportunity,” Scaggs said.

Gov. Phil Bryant will lead a trade mission there next month and meet with the Olympic Committee, promoting Mississippi products and services, Scaggs said.

“Hopefully we will be able to strengthen ties around both of those events.”

MDA will arrange appointments for company officials participating in the trade mission to Brazil to make their own pitches and contacts. A Commerce Department grant may help companies with promotion expenses for the trade mission.

“Despite the lack of a free trade agreement, Brazil still presents a very good market for Mississippi given the size of its population and sophistication of their economy,” said Scaggs. “They’ve got a budding automotive industry there, one that we think we might be able to tie in to.”

Japanese automakers Nissan and Toyota represent the biggest chunk of employment in Mississippi through foreign investments at 32 percent with 26,000 employees. Yokohama Tire Corp. will increase that number when it opens its West Point truck tire plant in late 2015.

Source: Mississippi Development Authority

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12 I Mississippi Business Journal I August 30, 2013

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

PROFILE: JOEY HUDNALL

Surviving economic hard times » While some businesses shrink, Mississippi’s Neel-Shaffer found a way to grow, says COO

By BECKY GILLETTE I CONTRIBUTOR mbj@msbusiness.com

The regional planning and engineering powerhouse Neel-Schaffer Inc., is headed by a chief operating officer who has accomplished a lot at an early age.

Joey Hudnall, 44, a native of Columbus, graduated from Mississippi State University in 1990 with a B.S. in civil engineering.

He went to work for his father’s Columbus firm, Charles Hudnall Engineering, after college, and began running the business soon after when, at age 23, his father became sick.

“In 1995, I merged the business with Neel-Schaffer and in 2009 I was named senior vice president and COO,” he said.

“In 2010, our family moved to Madison.”

Neel–Schaffer has grown to become one of the largest privately held engineering firms in the South. Headquartered in Mississippi, Neel-Schaffer also has offices in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky,

“We’re going to have to do more with less, and by less I don’t mean less people.”

Joey Hudnall COO at Neel-Schaffer

Louisiana, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. Core disciplines include civil, water/wastewater, storm water, aviation, structural and hydraulic engineering, as well as environmental science and planning services.

There have been some lean years since the recession began in 2007. Hudnall said Neel-Schaffer weathered the storm and maintained their business through the recession because of their diversification.

“When Hibbett Neel and Gorman

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Schaffer started this company 30 years ago, the main discipline was traffic engineering,” Hudnall said. “We have since branched out into many different disciplines. We did better in some areas than others during the recession but, because of our diversification, we were able to maintain our number of employees and still move in a positive direction.”

Hibbett Neel has a friend who made the comment, ‘Don’t let a good recession pass you by,’ and by that meant you can look at a recession two ways.

“You can look at the negatives or you can look at the positives,” Hudnall said. “While some firms were shrinking, it gave others the chance to grow. We acquired two businesses during the recession, an engineering firm based in Arlington, Texas, and an architectural firm with offices in Shreveport, La., and Houston, Texas. Both acquisitions have helped us diversify and grow our business in Texas.”

Due to healthy growth, Neel-Schaffer’s ranking in the Engineering News-Record Top 500 Design Firms in the U.S. improved from 458 in 1994 to 197 in 2013.

Hudnall said he feels good about where the firm is headed, but is also scared, for this reason: If you’re not always somewhat scared, you’re going to lose your edge, and you’d better not lose your edge.

“We’re going to have to continue to be as innovative as we can and continue to be at the top of our game,” he said. “We need to be a firm that’s recognized as having the best and the brightest. Our engineering capabilities are how we take care of our clients.

“We’re also going to have to do more with less, and by less I don’t mean less people. I’m talking about less effort and being more efficient, and that’s through innovation and by embracing the new technology that’s becoming available as we move forward.”

One important strategy is to continue to diversify in every state they are in, and to sell all of their services. Hudnall said that’s going to be a key. “We don’t sell every service we offer in every state yet, but we’ll

do that,” he said. “We need to have experts in each of these fields and somebody needs to step up and be a champion in every discipline. There are more opportunities in our company than any other company, in my opinion.”

In addition to diversification, Hudnall considers the major strengths of the company to be their core values and their people.

“I know that sounds like a cliché, but it’s true,” he said. “Our number one strength is our employees. I already feel we have the best and brightest employees, but that doesn’t mean we can’t improve. I also truly believe that we put our clients’ best interests at heart and try to do the right thing at the end of the day, and that goes back to our core values.”

For Hudnall, one of those core values is giving back to the community. One way he is doing that at present is serving as president of the Mississippi Main Street Association board of directors.

“I was involved with Main Street when we lived in Columbus and I’ve always had a passion for Main Street, mainly because I think it’s the heart of a community and it’s about the quality of life,” he said. “If you can improve your downtown and the heart of your community, you can usually improve and make the rest of your community grow.

“One thing I really believe is that for Main Street to continue to serve the communities in the best way we can, we have to figure out ways to do business a little bit differently. We’re at a point where we have to think differently. We can’t say, ‘This is the way we’ve always done it.’ We’ve got to do some things differently.”

When Hudnall is not working, he enjoys time with his family and outdoor recreation. He married his high school sweetheart, Neely, 19 years ago, and they have two boys, Harper, 15, and Hampton, 12.

“Harper’s passion is basketball and Hampton plays football and basketball,” Hudnall said. “They’re both also into hunting and fishing.

“I have always loved to hunt and fish.

Growing up in Columbus, I did that with my father and my buddies. It’s always been one of my biggest outlets. Now that my boys are old enough, I’m enjoying taking them. We go deer hunting, duck hunting and dove hunting. We bass fish and we’ve also fished for redfish off the coast of Louisiana.

“I love it and my boys love it, too.

“I also like to play golf. I’m not good at it, but I like to go out with my friends and clients and play.”

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

August 30, 2013

I

Mississippi Business Journal

I

13

AGRICULTURE

More state farmers favoring peanut crops

By LISA MONTI I CONTRIBUTOR mbj@msbusiness.com

Peanuts, long associated with the states of Georgia and Virginia, are gaining favor among Mississippi farmers who are adding the nuts in rotation with their more traditional crops.

Back in the 1940s it was common for Mississippi farmers to plant peanuts but they disappeared for the most part until a comeback began in 2005.

Don Self, a cotton farmer in Hamilton, was among the first to plant peanuts in the northeastern part of the state. He credits Dan West for planting the first significant peanut crop in the state. The Self family of farmers followed in 2007. Now Self rotates peanuts with cotton and corn. “Peanuts revitalized farming for us in our area,� said Self, who is active in peanut business circles. He is Mississippi’s first representative on the National Peanut Board and also is a member of the Mississippi Peanut Growers Association.

Malcolm Broome is executive director of the state Peanut Growers Association. He is a retired MSU agronomist who worked with Mississippi farmers during his career through the MSU Extension Service.

Broome said that after a drought in Georgia, the largest peanut producer by far, supply and demand kicked in.

When the price was high, everybody got in. Mississippi doubled its peanut acres to 50,000 “and everybody else did too.�

That’s when the price went down, he said.

This year acreage has dropped to 29,000. “It’s year to year, like a yo-yo,� Broome said. “It’s something the industry is working on to try to get leveled out.�

Right now, Mississippi is seventh in the nation in acres of peanuts. The state is ranked first or second in yield per acre, about two tons on average, he said. Success with the crop has added jobs in the Delta, Broome said.

One economic boost comes from large companies that have bought old facilities including a cotton gin and boat plant for peanut storage. “We now have four delivery points in Mississippi,� Broome said, “including two of the largest peanut warehouses in the nation.� They each can hold 25,000 tons.

Broome said farming peanuts is very labor intensive and expensive to begin with. “You need at least 300 acres to make it a profitable venture,� he said. And farming them requires a special combine and other tools that farmers have to invest in. About the only piece of equipment that can be used for peanuts and other crops is a tractor.

On the up side, Self said peanut consumption is increasing every year. He likes to spread the word about the nutritional benefits of peanuts as a cheap source of

protein. “People are just finding out that peanuts have 30 essential vitamins and nutrients, no transfat, seven grams of protein per one-ounce serving, that they’re good and good for you.�

Of the four types of peanuts grown in a swath from Virginia, across the South and into the Southwest, 80 percent of the most common runner variety goes into peanut

pers well and it’s a great rotation crop.�

Still, he said, the last few years have been a roller coaster with prices going up and down. “My daddy (Dennis) is 79 years old. I told him if we can survive this learning curve, it will be good. We got 35 inches of rain in 2009 and he asked me, ‘How long is that curve supposed to last, son?’ I’m still learning.�

butter and candy bars. The Virginia peanut is the familiar in-the-shell ball park treat, the Valencia peanut is the boiling variety and the red-husked Spanish peanut is served by the bowlful at bars everywhere.

Self can attest to the nail biting aspect of peanut farming but he said peanuts fit in to Mississippi farming very well. “It’s a great nitrogen booster for the soil, it pros-

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FOR MORE INFORMATION ON HOW TO ADVERTISE CONTACT Tami Jones, Advertising Director Melissa H. Killingsworth, Senior Account Executive Virginia Hodges, Account Executive

(601) 364-1011 (601) 364-1030 (601) 364-1012

tami.jones@msbusiness.com melissa.harrison@msbusiness.com virginia.hodges@msbusiness.com

14 I Mississippi Business Journal I August 30, 2013 City/County Aberdeen Amory Baldwyn Batesville Bay St. Louis-Waveland Biloxi Booneville/Prentiss County Canton Carthage Cleveland Clinton Columbia Columbus Corinth Greater Belhaven (Jackson) Greenville Greenwood Gulfport Hattiesburg Hernando Holly Springs Houston Indianola Kosciusko Laurel Louisville/Noxapater Macon McComb Meridian Moss Point Natchez New Albany Ocean Springs Okolona Olive Branch Pascagoula Pass Christian Philadelphia Picayune Pontotoc County Port Gibson Ripley Senatobia Starkville Tunica Tupelo Vicksburg Water Valley West Point Woodville

MISSISSIPPI MAIN STREET ASSOCIATIONS

Address 125 W. Commerce St., Aberdeen, MS 39730 129 N. Main St., Ste. Amory, MS 38821 202 S. Second St., Baldwyn, MS 38824 150 A Public Square, Batesville, MS 38606 P.O. Box 3002 Bay St. Louis, MS 39521 PO Box 253, Biloxi, MS 39533 P.O. Box 932 Booneville, MS 38829 100 Depot Dr., Canton, MS 39046 214 W. Main St., Carthage, MS 39051 P.O. Box 490, Cleveland, MS 38732 P.O. Box 156, Clinton, MS 39060 P.O. Box 1342, Columbia, MS 39429 107 5th St. N., Columbus, MS 39701 P.O. Box 393, Corinth, MS 38835 954 Fortification St., Jackson, MS 39202 508 Washington Ave., Greenville, MS 38701 P.O. Box 8236, Greenwood, MS 38935-8236 P.O. Box 1780, Gulfport, MS 39502 P.O. Box 150, Hattiesburg, MS 39403 2440 Hwy. 51 S., Hernando, MS 38632 148 E. College Ave., Holly Springs, MS 38635 P.O. Box 505, Houston, MS 38851 315 Main St., Indianola, MS 38751 101 N. Jackson St., Kosciusko, MS 39090 P.O. Box 1256 Laurel, MS 39441 P.O. Box 551, Louisville, MS 39339 P.O. Box 892, Macon, MS 39341 109 Main St., McComb, MS 39648 2120-A Main St., Meridian, MS 39302 P.O. Box 8275, Moss Point, MS 39562-2738 108 S. Commerce, Natchez, MS 39120 P.O. Box 125, New Albany, MS 38652 1000 Washington Ave., Ocean Springs, MS 39564 P.O. Box 446, Okolona, MS 38860 P.O. Box 219, Olive Branch, MS 38654 P.O. Drawer 908, Pascagoula, MS 39568 P.O. Box 403, Pass Christian, MS 29571 256 W. Beacon St., Philadelphia, MS 39350 P.O. Box 1656, Picayune, MS 39466 109 N. Main St., Pontotoc, MS 38863 P.O. Box 607, Port Gibson, MS 39150 205 E. Spring Street, Ripley, MS 38663 135 N. Front St., Senatobia, MS 38668 200 E. Main St., Starkville, MS 39759 P.O. Box 2654, Tunica, MS 38676 108 S. Broadway St., Tupelo, MS 38802-0468 1010 Levee St., Vicksburg, MS 39181 207 N. Main St., Water Valley, MS 38965 510 E. Broad St., West Point, MS 39773 P.O. Box 1546, Woodville, MS 39669

Phone (662) 369-4864 (662) 256-8700 (662) 365-1050 (662) 563-3126 (228) 463-9222 (228) 435-6339 (662) 728-4130 (601) 859-5816 (601) 267-6764 (662) 843-2712 (601) 924.5472 (601) 736-5034 (662) 328-6305 (662) 287-1550 (601) 352-8850 (662) 378-3121 (662) 453-7625 (228) 575-7794 (601) 583-4329 (662) 429-9055 (662) 252-2943 (662) 456-2321 (662) 887-4454 (662) 289-2981 (601) 433-3255 (662) 773-8719 (662) 574-5680 (601) 249-2927 (601) 693-7480 (228) 235-4700 (601) 442-2929 (662) 534-3438 (228) 875-4424 (662) 447-5913 (662) 893-0888 (228) 938-6604 (228) 452.3315 (601) 656-1000 (601) 799-3070 (662) 489-5042 (601) 437-4500 (662) 512-0226 (662) 562-8715 (662) 323-3322 (662) 363-6611 (662) 841-6598 (601) 634-4527 (662) 473-3796 (662) 494-5121 (601) 888-3998

Source: Mississippi Main Street association. Please direct questions and comments to Wally Northway at research@msbusiness.com/.

Website

Top Officer

www.aberdeenms.org Glen Houston www.amorymainstreetinc.com Carol Knight www.cityofbaldwyn.com Lori Tucker www.panolacounty.com/main_street.php Colleen Clark www.bwmainstreet.com Myrna Green www.mainstreetbiloxi.com Kay Miller www.boonevillemainstreet.org Trudy Featherston www.canton-mississippi.com/index.php Jordan Hillman www.carthagemainstreet.com Russell Baty www.visitclevelandms.com Anne Dilworth www.mainstreetclintonms.com Tara Lytal NA Shannon Ellis www.columbusmainstreet.com Barbara Bigelow www.mainstreetcorinth.com Taylor Coombs www.greaterbelhaven.com Virgi Lindsay www.mainstreetgreenville.com Betty Lynn Cameron www.mainstreetgreenwood.com Brantley Snipes www.ci.gulfport.ms.us Lisa Bradley www.downtownhattiesburg.com Betsy Rowell www.hernandoms.org Susan Fernandez NA Shanette Folsom NA Joyce East www.indianolamainstreet.org/blog Cherrie Lynn Britt, Sherilyn Jones www.kadcorp.org Tonya Threet www.laurelmainstreet.com Judi Holifield www.winstoncountyms.com Linda Skelton www.mainstreetmacon.org Joe Shelton www.mccombmainstreet.com NA www.meridianmainstreet.com Karen Rooney www.mosspointmainstreet.com Kristen Holley www.natchez.ms.us NA www.newalbanymainstreet.com Vickie Duke www.oceanspringschamber.com/index.php Margaret Miller www.okolonams.org Perry Grubbs www.olivebrancholdtowne.com Dee Dee Erfurdt www.cityofpascagoula.com/main%20street.html Rebecca Davis NA Lisa McCombs www.neshoba.org/index.php Tim Moore www.picayunemainstreet.com Reba Beebe www.pontotocchamber.com/contact.html Ellen Russell www.portgibsonmainstreet.com Kenneth Ross www.mainstreet.ripley.ms Libbi Bryant-Bennett www.tatecountyms.com Tim Climer www.starkville.org Jennifer Gregory www.Tunicamainstreet.com Lynn Ryals www.tupelomainstreet.com Debbie Brangenberg www.downtownvicksburg.org Kim Hopkins www.watervalleymainstreet.com Mickey Howley www.westpointms.org Cynthia Wilson NA Polly Rosenblatt

HIGHEST PAID OCCUPATIONS Position

Average Annual Salary

August 30, 2013

I

Mississippi Business Journal

Position

Average Annual Salary

Obstetricians and gynecologists

$237,390

Engineering managers

$108,870

Physicians and surgeons, all others

$236,470

Geoscientists, except hydrologists and geographers

$99,210

Oral and maxillofacial surgeons

$234,120

Optometrists

$98,810

Internists, general

$227,280

Natural sciences managers

$98,630

Pediatricians, general

$217,870

General and operations managers

$98,520

Orthodontists

$190,610

Managers, all others

$98,430

Psychiatrists

$178,740

Computer hardware engineers

$97,510

Family and general practitioners

$169,510

Lawyers

$97,060

Dentists, general

$158,560

Petroleum engineers

$96,980

Anesthesiologists

$155,940

Engineers, all others

$96,190

Dentists, all other specialists

$147,530

Aerospace engineers

$94,480

Nurse anesthetists

$135,630

Physicists

$92,770

Actuaries

$117,630

Nurse practitioners

$91,940

Pharmacists

$115,690

Marine engineers and naval architects

$91,730

Chief executives

$103,730

Education administrators, all others

$91,230

Source: Mississippi Department of Employment Security. Please direct questions and comments to Wally Northway at research@msbusiness.com/.

It’s easy to get caught up in day-to-day business and not see potential hazards ahead.

At Butler Snow, we understand our clients and work in partnership to create strategies for success. Our eyes are always trained on the future, mitigating risk and facing the challenges ahead. Our culture of teamwork, innovation and unparalleled service is our defining difference. To learn more, visit www.butlersnow.com.

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This ad authorized by Donald Clark, Jr., Chairman, 1020 Highland Colony Parkway, Suite 1400, Ridgeland, MS 39157.

I

15

NEWSMAKERS

16 I Mississippi Business Journal I August 30, 2013 Profiles of growing young professionals in Mississippi

Keeping our eye on... REAGAN JACKSON Reagan Jackson says her mentor and hero was her first boss, her grandfather O.D. Jackson.

The younger Jackson says her first job ever was as an office assistant “at my Papaw’s Northside Self Storage in Philadelphia.”

Jackson wanted to be a librarian as a child and studied English at Mississippi College and worked three part-time jobs starting out including in the university’s admissions office.

“Having multiple part-time jobs after graduating showed me various work environments and helped me to not only better see where I would fit best, but made me more appreciative of where I ended up,” she says.

An internship with Innovate Mississippi, a Ridgeland technology and economic development non-profit led to a position for

Firm welcomes Barker Claire Barker has joined the Jackson office of Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs, LLP, in the Litigation and Dispute Resolution Service.

Barker comes to Wyatt from the Jackson City Attorney’s Office, where she represented the City of Jackson in litigation of all civil matters in state and federal court. Prior to joining the City Attorney’s Office in 2007, Barker was an attorney with Whittington & McGehee in McComb and Baker Page, Mannino, Peresich & McDermott, PLLC, in Biloxi.

Barker received her law degree in 2003 from the Mississippi College School of Law, where she received the American Jurisprudence Award for Wills and Estates, and participated in Moot Court. She received her bachelor of arts degree in political science from Southeastern Louisiana University, where she held a Presidential Honors Scholarship and was a member of Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society.

Doyle returns to DSU Delta State University recently named Rory Doyle, a 2011 alumnus, as the campus news writer/photographer with the Department of Communications and Marketing. The West Newfield, Maine, native graduated cum laude from St. Michael’s College in 2008 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. In 2009, Doyle began his master’s program in the Delta State department of health, physical education and recreation. While in graduate school, he also taught physical education in the Cleveland School District for two years through the PEAK Project Grant. Doyle’s thirst for writing and photography led him back to his original field of study in 2012 when he began working in the newsroom at The Bolivar Commercial.

Doyle is an avid world traveler and enjoys documenting cultures when he gets the chance to pack his bags. His travels have allowed him to photograph New England, Mexico, Southeast Asia, Central America and many areas across the United States. Doyle’s freelance photography also brings him nationwide to cover assignments. The Mississippi Press Association recently honored Doyle with first place for the "2012 Best Spot News Photo." He also took home third place in the same category.

Doyle resides in Cleveland with his wife, Marisol.

Reagan as marketing manager and editorial assistant of the group’s statewide magazine.

“I enjoyed learning about all the companies and entrepreneurs we were writing about. It is fun to learn about all these innovative things happening right here in Mississippi,” she says.

Jackson is an avid reader and attends and sings in the choir at Broadmoor Baptist Church in Madison.

“Don’t get caught up in the idea that you have to find the perfect job straight out of graduating college,” Jackson advises young professionals.“In everything I do, I want to be obedient to the Lord.

In three to five years, I hope to be right where He needs me to be.”

— By Stephen McDill

He enjoys getting to know the community by taking photos regularly for the Cleveland-Bolivar County Chamber of Commerce and the Cleveland-Bolivar County Young Professionals. Doyle is also a returning artist for the recently established “Art in the Alley” program.

White taps Bailey Tracy B. Bailey has been promoted to director of preconstruction services for White Construction’s Ridgeland headquarters. Bailey has an impressive 30 years of experience in the construction industry, having been involved in the construction industry since 1983. He joined the White Construction Company staff as a project manager in 2007. He has recently served the last 39 months as senior project manager on the Mississippi Gulf Coast Hurricane Katrina Recovery projects overseeing 17 public projects in Hancock County with program budget in excess of $100 MM. He has been instrumental in the successful completion of multiple Mississippi-based projects with experience in estimating and managing various type projects. Additionally, Bailey has managed the construction of several award-winning projects.

Bailey earned his A.D. from Copiah-Lincoln Community College and a B.S. degree from Mississippi State University.

Sanderson promotes Burroughs Hilary Burroughs of Laurel-based Sanderson Farms Inc. has recently joined the statewide board of directors of the Mississippi Main Street Association.

Burroughs is manager of marketing at Sanderson. She serves on the company’s Corporate Responsibility Council, the Wage & Salary Committee and is a participant in the company’s Leadership for Effectiveness program. Recently, Burroughs managed the company’s participation as title sponsor of the inaugural Sanderson Farms Championship at Annandale Golf Club in Madison. She has been with Sanderson Farms since 2000.

Burroughs graduated with a bachelor of science degree from the University of Mississippi in 1998.

Shortly after graduation from college, she began her career at Sanderson Farms in the Export Sales Department. She has since held several positions within the company, including management trainee, corporate poultry buyer, national sales representative and corporate sales manager. She was promoted to her current position in January 2007.

Age: 25 Marketing and External Affairs Manager, Innovate Mississippi Best Mississippi event: The Neshoba County Fair

Favorite hangout spots: Cabin 600 at the Neshoba County Fair.

Favorite Mississippi food: Lunch at Peggy’s in Philadelphia

Favorite TV show: “Criminal Minds” Favorite Movie: “Pirate Radio” Favorite music: Folk Twitter handle: @reaganejackson Read the full biography at www.msbusiness.com

Actively involved in the industry and her community, Burroughs is currently an active member of the Marketing Committee for the National Chicken Council where she has served as the Committee Chairperson for two years. In her community, she is serving her sixth year on the Board of Commissioners for the Laurel Housing Authority and her first year with the Laurel Main Street organization. She is also actively involved with the United Way Chapter of the Pine Belt where she is Chairperson of the Marketing committee.

Burroughs and her husband, Michael, have one son, Carter.

Taylor supervising forests

Malozzi joins staff

Association chooses Karmacharya

Singing River Health System, along with the Southern Mississippi Heart Center, recently welcomed Christopher Malozzi, DO, cardiologist, to the community. Malozzi is a graduate of Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in Philadelphia.

He completed his internship and residency in general internal medicine at the University of South Alabama Medical Center in Mobile. During his time in residency, he was named chief resident in internal medicine and Malozzi served as a member of the clinical teaching faculty. Malozzi then completed his cardiology fellowship at USA Medical Center, where he also served as chief cardiology fellow. He is board certified in internal medicine and board eligible in cardiovascular disease.

Malozzi is now accepting new patients at Southern Mississippi Heart Center.

Lisa Karmacharya has been named executive director of the Mississippi Association of School Administrators. She had been superintendent of the Brookhaven school system since 2011. She will work with the current association executive director Anna Hurt until Hurt retires at the end of December.

Karmacharya left the Brookhaven position in June.

Green elected president Robert Green has been elected president of the National Society of Professional Engineers. Green is a research engineer and undergraduate coordinator for the James Worth Bagley College of Engineering at Mississippi State University. He is the second Mississippi State University engineer to serve as the organization's president. In 1970-71, Harry Simrall, the university's dean of engineering, served as the national leader.

Green holds a master's degree in national security and strategic studies from the Naval War College. He is working toward completion of a doctoral degree in public policy and administration at Mississippi State.

William "Eddie" Taylor Jr. has been appointed deputy forest supervisor for national forests in Mississippi. Since 2004, Taylor, a wildlife biologist, has served as ranger on the Sabine District and later on the combined Angelina/Sabine District on the National Forests and Grasslands in Texas. Since 2011 he has served as acting forest supervisor in Alabama and Texas.

Taylor holds a bachelor's degree from Texas A&M University and has done post-graduate work at Clemson University.

Council seats officers, board Allen Scott of Engineering Service was recently installed on the Executive Board of the American Council of Engineering Companies-Mississippi (ACEC/MS).

Members of the 2013-2014 board include: president Jeff Dungan of Dungan Engineering, P.A.; president-elect Jimmy Nelson of Allen & Hoshall; secretary/treasurer David Bowman of Neel-Schaffer Inc.; past president Ron Cassada of Gardner Engineering, P.A.; national director David Compton of Compton Engineering Inc.; and, board members Scott Burge of A. Garner Russell & Associates and Carey Hardin of Clearwater Consultants Inc.

For announcements in Newsmakers; Contact: Wally Northway (601) 364-1016 • wally.northway@msbusiness.com

August 30, 2013

I

Mississippi Business Journal

I

17

» MISSISSIPPI LEADERS by Martin Willoughby

Vision for success Jeffreys keeps eye on the future

M

y father was a pitcher in the New York Yankees minor league system, so I grew up a passionate Yankees fan. I learned all about the lives of famous Yankees ballplayers including the iconic Babe Ruth. I remember that when he retired he not only held the record for single season home runs (60), career home runs (714), but also strikeouts (1,330).

Ruth once said, "Never let the fear of striking out get in your way." Leaders face a similar challenge. There are always large obstacles in the journey of success. Often uncertainty and change lies just around the corner. However, leaders summon the courage to press ahead and move down the path of pursuing their dreams.

Winston Churchill observed, “Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities . . . because it is the quality which guarantees all others."

The health care business is in a seismic state of change. For physicians it is a challenging and stressful time. Dr. Kirk Jeffreys, owner of EyeCare Professionals and Eyebar Optical Shop, has pursued his dream in spite of the challenges to build a very successful practice. Jeffreys is a native of Yazoo City, but moved to Jackson in junior high.

Upon graduation from Jackson Prep, he continued his studies at Mississippi State followed by medical school at UMMC. Jeffreys' professional training in ophthalmology includes an internal medicine

Up Close With ... Dr. Kirk Jeffreys Title: Owner, EyeCare Professionals and Eyebar Optical Shop

First Job: “I had a paper route in junior high.”

Favorite Books: E-myth Revisited (Michael Gerber); Good to Great (Jim Collins).

Proudest Moment as a Leader: ”Grand opening of our new location”

internship and ophthalmology residency at UMMC as well as a basic sciences course in ophthalmology from Harvard University.During his residency, Dr. Connie McCaa, M.D., became a valued mentor. He shared, “She showed me tremendous work ethic and a true compassion for her patients.

I have modeled many aspects of my own practice after her approach.”

His real on the job training as a leader

began when bought a practice and went out on his own in 2002. Jeffreys said, “I had never owned or run a business before, so I had to convince the five retained employees that I was a person of high integrity that they would enjoy working with. They bought in and helped show me the way. Together we have grown to where we are today — a thriving practice with 16 employees.”

After 10 years in practice, Jeffreys faced a

“You can’t let fear and uncertainty prevent you from achieving your goals” Dr. Kirk Jeffreys Owner, EyeCare Professionals and Eyebar Optical Shop

very difficult decision.

He had the opportunity to expand into a new location, doubling his office space and adding a new optical shop. He noted, “While requiring sigMartin Willoughby nificant investment, particularly during a down economic time, it provided me with a tremendous opportunity for growth. I had to trust my abilities to overcome any concerns over such an aggressive move. Jeffreys said that he learned that, “You can’t let fear and uncertainty prevent you from achieving your goals.”

As a young child, Jeffreys was influenced by a great uncle who had an ophthalmology practice in New Orleans. He said, “My family made annual trips to New Orleans for our eye exams. Observing how he related with patients and how respected he was made a huge impression on me. Since my early years, I had ophthalmology in the back of my mind, and as I progressed through medical school, it was always at the top of my list.” Jeffreys held onto his dream and continues to take bold moves to pursue it.

For example, he recently added a surgery center and a LASIK center. As leaders, we can relate to these “fork in the road” moments where we have to summons the courage to press ahead. General George S. Patton once said, “Courage is fear holding on a minute longer.” Sometimes, like Dr. Jeffreys, we just have to hold on a minute longer and persevere even when are fears try to hold us back.

Martin Willoughby is a business consultant and regular contributing columnist for the Mississippi Business Journal. He serves as Chief Operating Officer of Butler Snow Advisory Services, LLC and can be reached at martin.willoughby@ butlersnow.com.

Khayat's life has had many twists and turns along the way

F » The Education of a Lifetime

By Robert Khayat Published by Nautilus Publishing $24.95 softback

ormer Ole Miss chancellor Robert Khayat has written his memoirs and dedicated the book to his family and Ole Miss. He distinguished himself on various fronts that included being an All-American football and baseball player at Ole Miss during his undergraduate years. He went on to become an All-Pro kicker for the Washington Redskins, earn a degree from Yale and serve as a law professor and president of the NCAA Foundation. He also received the NFL Lifetime Achievement Award and the National Football Foundation Distinguished American Award. Undoubtedly, his life's education has come from many fronts and his memories are rich and plentiful.

The 300-page book has lots of photos, too. Khayat expresses his thanks to readers for sharing his personal journey. He writes, "Through the years, I have felt a deep frustration with my inabil-

ity to express to God, family and friends my gratitude for this wonderful life. Perhaps by reducing the story to writing, that need to say thank you will finally be satisfied."

The author says when he looks back on his life — the sacred places he's been, the fascinating people he's encountered, and the challenges God assembled for him — he is humbled and profoundly grateful.

Publisher Neil White is excited to introduce Khayat's book.

"In 1962, while a riot was in full swing on the University of Mis-

sissippi campus over the admission of James Meredith, Robert Khayat was an All-Pro kicker for the newly integrated Washington Redskins," White writes. "He had no way of knowing that 35 years later he would be leading the University through one of its greatest challenges — its association with the Confederate flag."

It's a compelling memoir beginning with his early days in Moss Point, the state's segregationist policies that prevented his SEC championship baseball team from playing in the College World Series, and the sadness of watching his father's arrest. These seemingly disparate events worked to prepare him for his future battle with the vestiges of racial strife that continued to haunt Ole Miss' culture as he accepted the honor of becoming the 15th chancellor.

— Lynn Lofton, mbj@msbusiness.com

“It’s a compelling memoir beginning with his early days in Moss Point...”

18 I Mississippi Business Journal I August 30, 2013 SMALL BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT: The Blue Rooster

Standing Strong Photo by Stephen McDill / MBJ

Meredith Stringfellow opened her Flora restaurant The Blue Rooster in 2008. She was honored in 2012 as a Mississippi Business Journal “50 Leading Business Woman.”

» Flora family tackles restaurant business

By STEPHEN McDILL I STAFF WRITER stephen.mcdill@msbusiness.com

M

eredith Stringfellow says you’re not going to do a restaurant if you don’t love it.

A recent industry survey reported that new restaurants in the United States have a one in four chance of closing or changing ownership within their first year. Those odds increase to three in five during the restaurant’s first three years.

Fighting those odds, Stringfellow and husband, Ryan, opened The Blue Rooster in downtown Flora in 2008 after a year of running the nearby Coach’s Country Store.

Now in its fifth year, the tiny restaurant in the rosy red brick building on Mississippi 22 is going strong. The Stringfellows opened a second Blue Rooster location last year on Northside Drive in Clinton.

“I love to hear people say I’ve been everywhere but this is the best burger I’ve ever had,” Stringfellow says.

Comments like that from customers after a good meal are the lifeblood of Blue Rooster, and as critical for staying in business as any revenue stream.

“I want their plate to be clean,” Stringfellow says. “It just fills my soul to take that plate back to the trash can and dump it and they’ll be nothing on it.”

In a recovering economy, dining out might still be a pinch for some budgets, but the lunch and dinner hours are always packed at Blue Rooster with everyone from farmers and small business owners to high

The Blue Rooster menu includes appetizers, salads and sandwiches but the real draw is their signature burgers with mouth-watering names like the Big Nasty (left), the Flamethrower (above) and the buildyour-own Rooster Burger.

plant her feet. She can’t wear high-heels and resorted to wearing white Pumas to her wedding.

Name: The Blue Rooster With inward grit and a gleam in her eye, Stringfellow admits she’s too busy to worry Address: 4822 Highway 22, Flora about whether she will ever walk as well as Phone: (601) 879-3289 she did before the accident.

Hours: Monday-Saturday “There came a point in my recovery where it just kind of stopped,” she says. “If I 11 AM - 9 PM had time to stop life and just do that — but I Website: www.thebluerooster.info don’t — I don’t have time to go and be with a therapist all the time and take whatever experimental drugs that are going to make me feel weird. I’m so grateful and so thankful. I have to keep my eye on the prize.”

Photo by Stephen McDill / MBJ What does keep Stringfellow wondering is managing her cherished restaurant. Inconsistencies with the menu, foot traffic, employees, even utilities all can be a challenge. The biggest thing is just the unknown factor: Will Blue Rooster beat the odds another year or two or three?

Stringfellow says it all comes down to her employees and customers.

Meredith Stringfellow “If you’re going to be here and give me 175 percent, I’m going to pay you,” she says, in the front of the house managing the cus- adding that she’s happy to include overtime. schoolers and tourists dining in or picking tomers, Ryan cooks and manages the staff. up orders.

Regarding her customers: “Business is “We didn’t have a whole lot of money to fantastic. Flora is our town. We’d like to Born Meredith Johnson in Delhi, La., the future restaurant matron earned a busi- get started,” Stringfellow says. “He just got make this something really great. Its so nice ness management degree from Mississippi in the kitchen and started cooking and I’d to be a part of something.” be up front working the register.”

State University in 2005 then moved to Right now, the Stringfellows are holding Meredith Stringfellow’s walk is slightly Hattiesburg one month before Hurricane their own managing both restaurants, stayKatrina hit. It was during that time that she stiff as she opens up the restaurant one Fri- ing active in their community and raising met Ryan Stringfellow, a cook and budding day morning. A car crash at the age of 14 their 14-month-old son Johnson Drew. left her paralyzed from the knees down. restaurant manager from Lucedale.

The Blue Rooster was a finalist in the “I was in a wheelchair for a year and a “I couldn’t do anything without him,” Mississippi Beef Council’s “Best Burger” half,” she says rolling up a pant leg to show contest in 2010 and won statewide in 2012.

Stringfellow says today of her husband. the braces that help her walk. “We’re fight- Also last year, Stringfellow was inducted “He’s taught me everything I know.” ers. My brothers both played football. I was into the Mississippi Business Journal’s “50 LeadIt was Ryan who came up with the name a cheerleader, captain of my eighth-grade for the restaurant. He frequently tells ing Business Women” annual class. younger customers an imaginative tale about squad. My world was turned upside down.”

“I want you to fall in love with this Stringfellow admits that she can walk being shipwrecked on a deserted island, place,” she says she told a recent job applitoday “by the grace of God.” Her quadricep cant. “That’s what we do. This is our life. “with nothing to eat but a blue rooster.”

While Meredith spends most of her time and hamstring muscles help her lift and Our passion. It’s not just a job for us.”

At a Glance ...

“I love to hear people say I’ve been everywhere but this is the best burger I’ve ever had.”

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