JACKSON - Mississippi's need to build a stronger foundation for job development was the oft-repeated theme of Gov.-elect Haley Barbour's job creation summit on Tuesday.
"We need to talk about fresh ideas, develop long-term strategies with measurable milestones," said Aubrey Patterson, chairman and CEO of BancorpSouth. "We are here today to help Gov.-elect Barbour to give our state a fresh start."
Barbour said the summit, which was attended by several hundred elected officials and business leaders, was an important beginning to improving the jobs outlook for Mississippi. The summit featured sessions on work force training and development, tort reform and speeches by White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card and FedEx Corp.'s chairman and founder Fred Smith.
"All of us who ran for office this year were overwhelmed with the concern from the people of Mississippi about jobs. It was palatable," Barbour said. "It's important to show the voters of the state we heard what they had to say."
Barbour also offered a conciliatory remark aimed at Gov. Ronnie Musgrove, who attended Monday's reception opening the conference but not Tuesday's summit.
"I know Ronnie Musgrove had to deal with a difficult economy," Barbour said. "As I said throughout the campaign, it doesn't matter whose fault it is."
The jobless rate has been improving in recent months: The national rate fell one-tenth of a percentage point in November to 5.9 percent, the lowest rate since March.
Mississippi's jobless rate was 5.7 percent in October, compared to 7 percent a year ago but up slightly from 5.4 percent in September.
But Mississippi has lost about 52,000 manufacturing jobs since January 2000. And, here and nationwide, the job recovery still lags behind the recovery that is lifting the rest of the economy.
The U.S. Department of Labor says the ranks of the long-term unemployed continue to increase. In Mississippi, the average duration of unemployment during the third quarter was 23.2 weeks. By the end of November, there were 8,692 long-term unemployed.
U.S. Rep. Chip Pickering, R-Miss. - who helped secure a $1.15 million Department of Labor National Emergency Grant Award for Natchez and Adams County to help workers displaced by the closing of the International Paper mill - said Mississippi's job situation is improving. He pointed out that a similar federal grant last year for Clarke County, which was used to retrain workers, helped improve the jobless rate three to 5.7 percent from 14.7 percent.
"The Southeast is the fastest-growing region, and I really think Mississippi is the next state poised for explosive growth," he said.
Smith, chairman, president and CEO of FedEx and a native of Mississippi, said the state has some positive starting points to take advantage of the national recovery: A business-friendly environment, a tradition of cultivating nontraditional industries, well-regarded centers of research, relatively low union membership, good transportation systems and a variety of tax credits for businesses.
But he said Mississippi needs to create a more educated work force, motivate those with a good education to stop leaving the state, encourage entrepreneurship and have strong leadership.
Card, a longtime friend of Barbour, offered several reminders that Barbour - a former chairman of the Republican National Committee who heads one of the most high-powered Washington lobbying firms - has powerful friends in the nation's Capital.
"Haley's election has provided a wake-up call to people in Washington about Mississippi," Card said. "I don't frequently get to leave the president's side, but the president said I could come down to Jackson because of Haley's summit on jobs."
Card said three rounds of tax cuts proposed by President Bush have helped stimulate the national economy and that Mississippi can take part in the recovery, too.
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