While Clarksdale and Coahoma County may share some of the same struggles of businesses and schools in the rest of Mississippi, local leaders believe they stand apart with their ability to work together.
Those were just some of the themes touched on during Tuesday’s tour stop in Clarksdale by the State Chamber of Commerce’s Mississippi Economic Council.
While a majority of the approximate 75 people in attendance agreed that the state’s economy was in better shape than it was five years ago, 60 percent believed the state’s economy is worse than surrounding states.
Locally, 65 percent of those present said they believed today’s Coahoma County workforce was somewhat ready and prepared to handle an influx of jobs.
Scott Waller, president and CEO of the Mississippi Economic Council, said the 65 percent “was a good number.”
“That tells me that you, as a community, believe that there are some things happening right now that are better preparing those people who are either in the workforce or getting ready to enter the workforce to be successful once they do,” he said. “That’s a very encouraging number.”
Clarksdale mayor Chuck Espy said the city is “no longer in the position of just acquiescing.”
He said while other areas of Mississippi struggle with different personalities pulling in different directions, the “movers, shakers and playmakers of Clarksdale are on one page, one accord and all ready to move forward.”
Jon Levingston, president of the Clarksdale/Coahoma County Chamber of Commerce, echoed that sentiment as he pointed to the combined efforts of city and county officials working to bring new industry here.
“I couldn’t be more proud and more excited to be in Clarksdale, Mississippi, than I am right now because we are together doing some extraordinary things here,” he said.
Levingston pointed to the plant expansion at the MAP of Easton manufacturing facility last spring and the location of the tech company PeopleShores to Clarksdale at the end of 2018.
“We’ve got more announcements that will be coming shortly,” he said. “We are so fortunate, blessed to have people from outside this area who are coming to Clarksdale to make a difference in our community.”
And in meeting the demands of those new companies, Clarksdale and Coahoma County, like most of Mississippi, must do a better job of preparing a workforce that is willing and able to do the work demanded of them.
“There’s never been a better time to be extraordinary… but there’s never been a worse time to be ordinary,” Waller said.
He pointed to studies showing that, by 2020, 65 percent of jobs will need some post-secondary education and training beyond high school. And a survey of those present Tuesday showed that 67 percent of them agreed that career/tech preparedness is the most needed skill set in today’s workplace.
Waller said we’ve got to get past the misconception of what “post-secondary education is.”
“So many people have got it in their mind they’re not successful if you don’t go to college. That is the most false statement that could be made. There are so many opportunities,” he said.
Where Mississippi is lacking is in a failure to explain what those opportunities are, Waller said.
“We’ve got to do a better job of letting people know what’s going on and help them get on that right career pathway. Because at the end of the day, it comes back to that passion,” he said, pointing out that discovering that passion will often lead to one’s purpose.
And he said Clarksdale and Coahoma County are headed in the right direction with a spirit of cooperation.
“When you have a community working together, when everybody has the same focus… what a difference it makes,” Waller said. “To be successful, we as a community, we as a state, have to be working together.”
He asked as the attendees left Tuesday’s luncheon that they consider one thing: “Are you going to be the type of community that works together, that has a vision, that has a focus? If you have that vision, if you work together, then things can happen that matter.”
One thing that most of those in attendance agreed upon was that it was very important to have a healthy workforce.
Jack Harris, with Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi, said his company is pushing healthy lifestyles and there’s been a shift on emphasizing primary care. He said they are introducing new wellness programs and seeking to identify potential risks before they become major problems.
“We’re trying to get across how you need to start going to the doctor when are well and not just when you’re sick,” Harris said.
And a healthier workforce leads to a better bottom line for businesses, which makes this area attractive for existing and potential companies.
Waller said one of the key ways that Coahoma County and Clarksdale will benefit from its recent jobs expansion is in “that it keeps people home or it brings people here.”
“That’s how we’re going to grow our economy,” he said. “We can’t keep losing people to larger cities or larger places if we’re going to grow the economy in the small towns across the state.”
