The Mississippi Economic Council is holding their annual MEC Capitol Day in Jackson to meet and lobby with state lawmakers. Late last year, a special session of the legislature was called by the Governor to pass what became the state’s largest-ever economic development project. Scott Waller, President and CEO of MEC, says any economic investment made by the state can be reciprocated by businesses.
“We talked a lot about those today, everything from transportation to workforce development to healthcare. All of those are things that are really weighing on the business community in a sense that, hey, we’ve got to make sure we’re moving the state forward in a positive way.”
Waller says he was also encouraged to hear about plans to invest further in education this year to prepare a better workforce.
Healthcare is one of the largest business sectors in Mississippi, but many rural hospitals across the state are in a financial crisis that was exacerbated by the pandemic. Lawmakers are searching for ways to better support that healthcare system, whether that be through insurance, one-time investments or assessing community needs to re-appropriate services. House Speaker Pro Tem Jason White says they need input from the state’s business leaders.
“We’ve got to decide what healthcare is going to look like in Mississippi, both rural where I’m from and in the metro areas and urban areas as well,” says White. “What are taxpayers going to demand, what are communities going to expect. We need the business community to weight in on the direction we’re going to go.”
While advocates for economic development say they are excited to see major investments being made in Mississippi, they say it’s important lawmakers don’t forget about the smaller investments being made by businesses each day across the state.
