Delta Council’s new development director is ready to bring more economic development to the region.
Chavez
“My job is to find deals. I will pick up the ball from the prospecting activities of Delta Strong,” Jerry Chavez said Thursday during Greenwood-Leflore Industrial Board and the Greenwood-Leflore-Carroll Economic Development Foundation’s annual business and membership meeting, which was held over Zoom due to COVID-19.
Chavez, who has more than 24 years of experience in economic development, was hired by Delta Council in early October.
He was previously the president and CEO of the Marshall County Economic Development Corporation in Indiana and has also worked in economic development in North Dakota and his home state of Arizona.
“Each of these communities are rural in their nature,” Chavez said, adding that that will help him transition to the ruralness of the Delta.
Delta Council was formed in 1935 to represent 18 counties in northwest Mississippi and strengthen economic development to the area.
Chavez said his job is to find economic development projects to bring to the region to assist communities that have been challenged. “I have a long road ahead of me, but with your help, we can get there,” Chavez said.
Also, Angela Curry, executive director of the Greenwood-Leflore-Carroll Economic Development Foundation, said that more than 600 jobs were created and nearly $30 million was announced in capital investments in 2019.
Though 2020 has been tough due to the pandemic, Curry said, this year so far Blue Ridge Foods has expanded and Lynx/Viking Range have added 100 jobs since 2019. Additionally, improvements have been made to Greenwood-Leflore Airport, such as repairing the main road.
She said she and her team are optimistic, suggesting that the pandemic may spur a reshoring of factory jobs in the United States or bring other needed work to the Delta as people may be wary of hotspots for COVID-19 in urban areas.
• Contact Gerard Edic at 581-7239 or gedic@gwcommonwealth.com.
