Phil Hardwick's Blog

OUR TOWN Grant Application Info - Deadline March 1, 2012

2012-02-13T07:40:00.000-08:00

Through Our Town, subject to the availability of funding, the National Endowment for the Arts will provide a limited number of grants, ranging from $25,000 to $150,000, for creative placemaking projects that contribute toward the livability of communities and help transform them into lively, beautiful, and sustainable places with the arts at their core. Our Town will invest in creative and innovative projects in which communities, together with their arts and design organizations and artists, seek to:

Improve their quality of life.
Encourage creative activity.
Create community identity and a sense of place.
Revitalize local economies.

Partnerships

A key to the success of creative placemaking involves the arts in partnership with a committed governmental leadership and the philanthropic sector. All Our Town applications must reflect a partnership that will provide leadership for the project. These partnerships must involve two primary partners: a nonprofit organization and a local government entity. One of the two primary partners must be a cultural (arts or design) organization.

Additional partners are encouraged and may include an appropriate variety of entities such as state level government agencies, foundations, arts organizations and artists, nonprofit organizations, design professionals and design centers, educational institutions, real estate developers, business leaders, and community organizations, as well as public and governmental entities.

Projects

Our Town projects should represent the distinct character and quality of their communities and must reflect:

A systemic approach to civic development and a persuasive vision for enhanced community vibrancy.
Clearly defined civic development goals and objectives that recognize and enhance the role that the arts and design play at the center of community life.
An action plan aligned with the project vision and civic development goals.
A funding plan that is appropriate, feasible, indicates strong community support, and includes a well-conceived sustainability strategy.

Click on the link below for more information:

http://www.arts.gov/grants/apply/OurTown/index.html

Where Mississippi cities get their money.

2012-01-10T07:58:00.000-08:00

The Mississippi Municipal League recently surveyed 50 cities in Mississippi regarding their source of revenue. In an article by Shari Veazey published in the current (Vol.60. No. 4) issue of Mississippi Municipalities magazine, here is a list of sources or revenues and the percentages:

31%….. Sales Tax

24%….. Property Tax

17%….. Miscellaneous

14%….. intergovernmental Revenue

8%…… Franchise fees, license and permits

6%…… Fines and Forfeitures

This particular issue of Mississippi Municipalities Magazine is entitled How Mississippi Cities Work. I recommend it highly for anyone who wants to better understand the subject.

EDA requesting comments re economic development

2012-01-06T08:41:00.000-08:00

Deadline for Input is Monday, February 6, 2012

Click here to share your suggestions

On December 7, 2011, EDA published a Federal Register Notice (FRN) requesting public comment on proposed revisions to the agency’s regulations, particularly ways EDA can provide better customer service through its programs and processes and more efficiently leverage resources to help communities reach their goals.

EDA has incorporated public and internal input received earlier this year into a set of proposed revised regulations designated to streamline and clarify requirements, provide additional flexibilities to the agency's stakeholders, and support current best practices, while protecting taxpayer dollars. The agency is particularly interested in learning of any perceived impediments to contemporary economic development practices that are produced as a cause or consequence of a particular regulation.

Highlights of the proposed regulations can be found here. Also, for your convenience, please see the full set of the proposed regulations, which are posted here in both a track change version and a clean version. EDA will incorporate feedback received into final regulations that the agency expects to publish in 2012.

Stakeholders have until Monday, February 6, 2012 to provide comments.

Bridging the Gap: How Tupelo, MS is dealing with changes in its public schools.

2011-12-30T08:56:00.000-08:00

December 30, 2011

How a community solves its problems or deals with serious issues says a lot about a place. Tupelo, Mississippi is one of the best at this of any community I have dealt with. No matter the issue, public dialogue is a major part of the process. The key is to get problems out in the open and to provide forums where people can discuss the issues. There is an art to public forums. People must feel that they can speak about their true feelings instead of what they think other people want to hear. Tupelo’s success at this is a result of various local organizations, including local government, providing such opportunities. Another factor is the local newspaper.

Tupelo is now addressing the issue of some changes in the public schools, many of which are rooted in local demographics. For example, when Tupelo’s schools were integrated in 1970, 80 percent of the district’s students were white. Today, 56 percent of those students are minorities.

The local newspaper is providing a perspective that is thought-provoking, informational and non-patronizing. The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal’s “Bridging the Gap” series is well worth reading for anyone involved in education or community and economic development.

This Little Dollar Stayed Home - 2011

2011-11-21T10:06:00.000-08:00

NOTE: This is a column that I wrote several years and which was originally published in the Mississippi Business Journal. Permission to reprint with attribution to Mississippi Business Journal and Phil Hardwick.

THIS LITTLE DOLLAR STAYED HOME

This is a tale of two dollars. One stayed at home. One went to another town.

Once upon a time there were two dollars. They each lived with their owners in the small town of Make Believe in rural Mississippi. Make Believe was a nice little town. There was a Main Street that had lots of little shops that sold special items and arts and crafts and catered to people who drove through town. There was also a grocery store. There was even a doctor in Make Believe. It was a nice little town that was enjoyed by all its residents, none of whom wanted it to change.

This story of the first dollar is easy to tell. Its owner placed it snugly in her purse and drove 45 minutes to a nearby, larger town with a shopping mall. The owner stayed all day at the mall and spent the entire dollar on things bought in stores owned by big corporations in faraway states.

Part of the first little dollar stayed in that town and part of it went to the state government, but most of it went by electronic magic to another state. At the end of the day, the owner went back to Make Believe with all her treasures. Not one penny of the first dollar ever saw Make Believe, Miss., again.

The story of the second dollar is much different. The owner of the second dollar went to a little shop in downtown Make Believe. There the owner talked a long time to the shop owner about the beautiful merchandise in the store.

The shopkeeper told all about the things that were made right there in Make Believe. There were birdhouses built by Bob, beveled glass made by Beverly, blouses of silk designed by Betty, mocha chocolates by Missy, and even silverware crafted by Sam.

This owner of the dollar spent the entire dollar right there in the shop. The journey of the second dollar was much different from that of the first dollar. Yes, the first 7 cents arrived at the government in Jackson. One penny was sent back to the local town. So one penny of the sales tax came back to the Make Believe City Hall.

The owner of the shop took the next 50 cents and sent it to the manufacturers of the items that were bought. Because all of them lived right there in Make Believe, the 50 cents stayed there.

The next 16 cents went to the employee of the shop owner. Yes, you guessed it; the employee lived in Make Believe.

There was rent to pay on the shopkeeper’s retail space. It was paid to the owner of the building, who had lived in Make Believe all his life. The rent was 10 cents of the dollar.

There were operating expenses that the shopkeeper had to pay. Things such as utilities and maintenance and insurance. Sixteen cents of the dollar went to pay those expenses and some of the people that got paid lived in another town far away. Still, eight of those 16 cents was paid to people in Make Believe.

That left 8 cents. What would happen to it?

That’s right. Eight cents was the shopkeeper’s profit she got to keep. Of course, the shopkeeper lived in an apartment upstairs above the shop.

If we total where the second dollar went, we learn about 86 cents stayed in Make Believe.

I wonder what will happen to the 86 cents. Will the manufacturer, the employee, the real estate owner, the shopkeeper and the others spend the 86 cents in Make Believe? Or will they go somewhere else?

I wonder how much of the 86 cents will be spent in Make Believe. Because every time another penny is spent in Make Believe, the little town is better off because someone in Make Believe received it instead of another town.

Each person has a right to spend his or her money wherever and whenever he or she wishes. But when people spend their dollars in other towns, it does not help the economy of their hometowns.

The Tale of Two Dollars is told at this time every year because many people don’t know when they spend their money in their own hometown it helps their hometown.

Traits of a good mayor.

2011-09-15T12:52:00.001-07:00

Being a mayor is one of the toughest jobs going. A mayor does not have the influence and authority of a business CEO. Many new mayors are shocked to find that it oftentimes takes more persuasion skills than decision skills to run a city.

Sometimes, mayors are merely caretakers. They live in communities that are on a track upward or downward. They might live in communities where not much changes and not much is really expected of mayors. Sometimes, mayors sort of grow into the job. Sometimes, mayors cross the line and become leaders. They change their cities for the better. How do they do it? Most will tell you that they did it by involving people and that they had a lot of help. That is no doubt true. But it starts from within.

My list should be considered as a discussion starter. Please feel free to add and subtract from the list, or better yet name a mayor who exemplifies one of the traits.

* The ability to envision the future. It is said that management is the ability to move others from Point A to Point B, and that leadership is the ability to discern where Point B should be. The mayor should be the one who provides direction. Good mayors exhibit a vision for the future. But having a vision is no good if it cannot be sold to the public. That is why a good mayor must have …

* Good communication skills, especially the ability to listen. If one of the more effective leadership styles is the ability to envision the future, then convincing others to join in that vision is critical. That’s a difficult thing because the message that is sent is never the message that is received. If you don’t believe that, just ask any mayor if he or she has ever been misquoted or taken out of context. A good mayor must be able to sell his or her program. Unfortunately, sometimes mayors get too far ahead of their communities and attempt to sell a vision that the community simply does not feel can be reached. A mayor must listen to his or her constituents and make them feel that they have been heard. People want their mayor to care about their problems and their vision as well.

* The ability to inspire others. A good mayor inspires others. People want to get involved and be a part of the effort. One thing that good mayors do is start with a successful project and then build on it. One mayor I know even says that mayors should not make their big goals public because it gives their opponents ammunition if they fail. Keep it quiet and just do it, he says.

* The ability to delegate. Good mayors provide direction and hire capable managers to implement the plan. In the business world, a good executive hires good people and lets them make the decisions that they would make instead of what they think the chief executive would make. Not so in the political world. Politically-appointed managers must constantly consider the effect of their decisions on the public image of the mayor. Watch out when you hear a mayor being criticized for micromanaging. It might mean a lack of delegation skills and a lack of trust of those who report to the mayor.

* A bias for action. Planning without implementing is not leading. Too many mayors spend so much time on the visioning part that they do not accomplish anything. Visioning provides hope, planning provides involvement, but in the final analysis it is action that produces results. A mayor should be judged on results.

* Integrity. A mayor without integrity is not deserving of the public trust.

Finally, one mayor recently said, “A good leader needs to know when it is time to move on.”

Perhaps we should add that trait to the list.

Ten things I learned from visiting small town libraries.

2011-08-03T05:07:00.001-07:00

Recently I had the opportunity to visit eight libraries in rural towns in Mississippi during the course of one week. These libraries ranged from a two-room facility smaller than some master bedrooms to a full-service, modern library that offered a full range of activities for the community. Here are 10 things that I learned about rural libraries:

1. Each small town library is unique.

2. Patrons are flocking to their local libraries to use the Internet.

3. Job seekers are using the library to find employment, build resumes and even learn job skills.

4. There are after-school issues and opportunities. 5. Libraries are becoming more involved in their communities.

6. Community rooms are being used by the community.

7. The personality of the librarian is important.

8. Elected officials and other funders do not have library cards.

9. Technology will have dramatic change on libraries.

10. Libraries are safe places.

Gone are the days when a person went to the local library to do nothing more than check out a book and return it or renew it two later. Small town libraries have become a provider of numerous services to their communities. Their future will be one of expanding those services even more. The communities that support those services will be more vibrant, educated and engaged.

USDA Announces Regional Economic Development Strategies Grant Applications

2011-07-07T12:21:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON, July 5, 2011 – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that USDA is accepting applications for grants to support regional economic development strategies and promote job creation.

"The Obama Administration is working on a regional basis to build networks of strong, self-sustaining rural communities," Vilsack said. "This program will help create jobs and assist in identifying and developing business opportunities in rural areas."

Almost $2.5 million is available through USDA Rural Development's Rural Business Opportunity Grant (RBOG) program. The program promotes sustainable economic development in rural communities and regions with exceptional needs. Last year, for example, Ecotrust in Oregon received a RBOG grant to increase recruitment of producers and buyers in rural communities throughout the Pacific Northwest. It also used the grant to provide training and assistance for FoodHub, which is an online directory and marketplace designed to connect wholesale food buyers and sellers. The system will help agricultural producers tap into the consumer demand for food, help link food buyers and producers and shorten the supply chain between producers and wholesalers.

Applications for Rural Business Opportunity Grants are due August 1, 2011. Application instructions may be obtained from the July 1, 2011 Federal Register, page 38604, www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2011-07-01/html/2011-16555.htm or by contacting a USDA Rural Development State Office.

White House creates Rural Policy Council

2011-06-09T14:40:00.000-07:00

On June 9, President Obama signed an Executive Order establishing a White House Rural Council, the first entity of its kind established to focus on policy initiatives for Rural Americans. The announcement states that the White House Rural Council will focus on actions to better coordinate and streamline federal program efforts in rural America, and to better leverage federal investments. The collaboration will result in better programs and services in rural communities and maximize the benefits of those programs, according to the announcement.

"It is not what fields a state competes in that determines its prosperity, but how productively it competes."

2011-06-05T14:57:00.001-07:00

Those words are from a presentation by Harvard Business School Professor Michael E. Porter at the Mackinac Policy Conference on June 2, 2011 in Michigan. The title of his presentation was “Michigan Competitiveness: Creating an Economic Strategy in a Time of Austerity.” It is a good message for all states. Some of his key points:

Competitiveness is the productivity with which a state utilizes its human, capital, and natural endowments to create value;

Productivity determines wages, jobs, and the standard of living;

It is not what fields a state competes in that determines its prosperity, but how productively it competes; and

Businesses and government play different but interrelated roles in creating a productive economy.

Only businesses can create jobs and wealth.

States and regions compete to offer the most productive environment for business.

Patton, Twelve O’Clock High and Gettysburg.

2011-05-27T08:09:00.000-07:00

On this Memorial Day weekend I am thinking of those who have given their lives in the service of our country, and what all of that means. Thoughts are scrambling through my mind: the horror of war, the families of the fallen, patriotism, the freedom that has come from a strong U.S. military, the use and abuse of the military, the veterans’ needs that are not being addressed, the commercialization of holidays, how Rolling Thunder feels about Sarah Palin stealing some of their thunder, etc.

Sounds like I have had more than my share of caffeine this morning, doesn’t it? So let me move on to my main point.

One thing I often do in leadership and goal-setting retreats is a play a clip from a movie, and then have the group discuss its meaning. I encourage participants to put themselves in the role of each individual in the scene and talk about the scene from the perspective of that particular character. “Perspective” is a big thing with me because I have come to the belief most people have an opinion about things and most people are right in their opinions from their perspective. After one particular leadership retreat – Selected to Serve – I noticed that I had used scenes from Patton, Twelve O’Clock High and Gettysburg. Patton’s opening scene speech is a great example to use to discuss the elements of oral communication by leaders, General Savage and Colonel Davenport are classic examples of Theory X and Theory Y managers and Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain provides an opportunity to discuss decision-making under pressure.

I wondered if I was using too many military leadership examples. After all, there are plenty of leadership issues in other movie scenes. And then it dawned on me why the military scenes were so powerful. The stakes in military leadership scenes are so high. The decisions that military leaders must make are so often literally life and death.

Lest we forget. Happy Memorial Day.

Winston County Mississippi Scholars Recognized

2011-05-06T13:38:00.000-07:00

(May 6, 2011) Thirty-five Mississippi Scholars from Winston County were recognized Thursday evening at a banquet in Louisville. At the event students announced which colleges or universities they planned to attend and what their major course of study would be. Louisville Mayor Will Hill welcomed the students and challenged them to represent their communities well as they go out into the world. Mary Snow, emceed the program and represented the local business community and Phil Hardwick of The Stennis Institute was the keynote speaker.

The celebration was just one of the outcomes of the "Getcha Head in the Game," a project of the Louisville Municipal School District, the Winston County Economic Development Partnership and The Stennis Institute at Mississippi State University. "Getcha Head in the Game" is a program of the Mississippi Higher Education Initiative (MSHEI), which is funded through a grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC).

The Mississippi Scholars program requires students to take four English courses, four upper level mathematics courses, four science courses, four social studies, one art, two advance electives like foreign languages, 20 hours of community service, 2.5 grade point average and 95 percent school attendance. It began as a national program to utilize business leaders to motivate students to complete a more challenging course of study in high school.

Mississippi Scholars Course of Study Requirements

PERS Executive Director addresses Stennis press luncheon (video)

2011-05-03T06:26:00.000-07:00

PERS Executive Director Pat Robertson was the guest speaker at a Stennis Institute luncheon held at the University Club yesterday. Click on or go to the link below for entire presentation (video)

http://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2011/05/pers-executive-director-addresses.html

Change your city's name for $25,000? This one did.

2011-04-28T05:34:00.001-07:00

Altoona, Pennsylvania was offered – and accepted – $25,000 to change its name for 60 days to POM WONDERFUL PRESENTS: THE GREATEST MOVIE EVER SOLD, Pa. It is all part of a movie promotion. Last week I wrote a column about product placement at city halls. I guess this rather validates the idea that advertising is now everywhere.

Read the AP story entitled Altoona, PA, changes name to movie title.

The "Boys of Spring" are back.

2011-04-14T14:02:00.000-07:00

So who are the Boys of Spring, you ask? No, they are not baseball players. “Boys of Spring” is a nickname coined in the 1980s for a group of young staffers who, along with Gov. William Winter, Jack Reed Sr. and Rep. Robert Clark, took a stand for improved public education in Mississippi. They will be honored on the evening of April 26, 2011 at the Mississippi Association of Partners in Education annual Winter-Reed Award dinner.

The “Boys of Spring” to be honored on April 26 are Andy Mullins, Dick Molpus, John Henegan and David Crews. Though they were members of the original group, former Gov. Ray Mabus‘ current role as Secretary of the Navy prevents his participation in the award program, and Bill Gartin cannot participate due to a conflict.

When Mississippi was the only state in the nation that did not offer public kindergarten, this is the team that engineered the now historical Education Reform Act of 1982, also known as “The Christmas Miracle of 1982.” It is still considered the most significant educational legislation enacted in Mississippi since the establishment of the public school system. Today, these individuals continue in various ways to promote and enhance Mississippi.

Proceeds from the event will be used to enhance the program services of MAPE, including scholarships for member school districts to send representatives to training events.

Jailhouse Teacher and GIVE Award Winner - Cathy Johnson

2011-04-13T06:27:00.000-07:00

It is National Volunteer Week, and time to salute those who give to their communities. One of my favorite volunteers is Cathy Johnson, who just won theMississippi Commission for Volunteer Service Outstanding Achievement in Education Award.

Johnson has been an adult education teacher all of her adult life. She began by teaching soldiers GED skills in Germany in the mid seventies. As she moved from post to post with her Army husband she applied for adult education positions in each new location. Invariably, this would lead to the only opening available, which was in the city, or county jail where she would teach basic academic skills associated with receiving a General Equivalency Diploma (GED) to the inmates. She has worked in five jails in five different states.

When she moved to Mississippi in 1995 upon her husband’s retirement from the Army, she accepted a job with Hinds Community College teaching inmates at the Hinds County Jail, located in downtown Jackson. She loved her job, but the administrative paperwork associated with it continued to grow and eventually detracted from the teaching environment and became too much of a burden.In 2003 she quit her association with Hinds Community College and continued to work in the jail to this day as a volunteer. She teaches four classes a week, two to male inmates and two to female inmates. Over the course of her teaching downtown she has proudly been able to achieve more than 55 GED graduates, an amazing accomplishment considering that she often loses her students as they are transferred to other jails, or eventually freed. She has no control over how long her students remain in her classroom.

Cathy is a born teacher. She communicates with her students is a non-threatening manner. They quickly understand that she is there to help them gain or improve skills that they may not have used for many years. Unlike most students, hers literally beg her for homework. They come to class excited to turn the work they completed in their cells and eagerly await her assessment of their work.

Although stern when she needs to be, she creates an environment conducive to learning. She sees students almost every day have what she refers to as a “light bulb moment” when they suddenly capture a concept that they had never understood before. Since her students have such different academic backgrounds and skills, she quickly has to assess what student needs what skill. Basically, she has five separate subjects to teach to ready them to pass the GED: writing, reading, math, social studies, and science.

Cathy’s real gift is allowing and encouraging her students to not be afraid to ask the “dumb question”. She often strays from the subject matter to answer a question that might have no bearing on what they are talking about, because she feels that making everyone comfortable in a classroom is the only way to really impart knowledge.As important as the basic skills are, these students need life skills. Most come from broken homes and have not had the luxury of growing up with parental role models. They often lack even basic communication skills and have lived most of their lives without the love, care and concern of an adult guiding their way. It is obvious, however, that they do want to learn and they do want to be better people.

For many, Cathy is the first adult in their lives who has actually cared about them. She takes the time to ensure every student’s need are met. She treats each one with respect and in return they eagerly anticipate their time in the classroom where they know someone will be there to help them.It is important to note that Cathy teaches in a room by herself with absolutely no protection. Her students are in for a myriad of offenses up to and including murder. These are not white color crimes. For many years she has been asked if she were ever afraid to teach hardened criminals and her answer was best delivered by one of her students who said: “Don’t worry Mrs. J, is someone messes with you, we will take them out”. This is a very true and apt statement of the affection and respect that they have for Cathy.

Cathy Johnson is a unique teacher. She doesn’t work from a detailed lesson plan, and in fact her lessons for the day are often shaped by questions from the students. If they want to know about government she teaches government and draws the three arms of government on the board and talks in detail about each one and what they do. If a question comes up about the Civil War, the topic of the day will be the Civil War. Interestingly, most of her students couldn’t tell you what century the Civil War was in, or World War II for that matter. She is plowing fertile ground in any subject discussed.

Sheriff Malcolm McMillin is Cathy’s unofficial boss. He has long admired the success Cathy enjoys with his prisoners – and her students. Cathy asks for little in the way of support, but when she needs something for her classroom she marches into the Sheriff’s office and tells him. He will provide whatever it is she needs. Recently, after using the same blackboard for 14 years, she asked for a new one. The old one was totally worn out. Within a couple of weeks, a brand new board appeared and Cathy began filling up this one like she did the other one. The Sheriff’s respect and admiration for Cathy led to her receiving the Sheriff’s Star of Community Service award in 2006 in front of a crowd of 400 people.Cathy doesn’t just teach; sometime she’ll preach. She talks in definitive terms about how they can be successful when they get out and how to act in public. She won’t let them get away with street language and ebonics without telling them that there is a time and place to use that form of language, and a time and place to clean it up and speak so that everyone can understand them. If someone acts up in class and is disruptive she takes charge and sets them straight – FAST, much to the delight of the other students.

The atmosphere is constantly one of mutual respect; Cathy asks nothing of the students that she wouldn’t expect of herself, and they know that; it is cordial and unthreatening. Any question is fair game and she takes them all on. When she doesn’t know the answer, she goes to the Encyclopedia and finds out. If that doesn’t answer it, she comes home at night and researches it and reports back to the class the next day.

Cathy understands a classroom should not be all work and no play. She bought a TV and DVD for the classroom, and will show movies to her students on some days. Being a graduate of Marshall University, site of the horrific airplane tragedy in 1970, she showed the class “We Are Marshall,” mainly because of the great message of hope that it has. She carefully picks films that have life messages that can be easily understood by the students. Additionally, Cathy routinely has parties for her classes. Using her own money, she brings in food and beverages whenever a student earns their GED. She provides a cap and gown and has a ceremony celebrating their accomplishment. She is constantly buying her students dictionaries and other books that she gives to them. One would be surprised how treasured a dictionary isto someone who will be in jail for a long time.

In 2010, Cathy not only worked in the County jail, but she also volunteered atMarshall Elementary School in South Jackson by reading to third graders. Education is her passion and teaching is her gift.

In short, Cathy Johnson is an amazing person who gives freely of her time and money in order to help others. She does so without fanfare and expects nothing in return. Over the years she has received hundreds of cards and letters from her students in appreciation for what she does, and particularly, how she does it. It is fair to say that she may be the only teacher in the country who daily receives the best accolade one could ever hope for, and that is a student simply saying “Thank You for being here and helping me.”

Poll on Interracial Marriages

2011-04-11T08:21:00.001-07:00

The headline read, "Poll on interracial marriage stuns some." Stennis Institute Director Dr. Marty Wiseman said, "That's the damnedest thing I've ever heard." Here is what the daily newspaper article said:

According to Public Policy Polling, 46 percent of Mississippi Republicans said marriages across racial lines should be illegal, compared to 40 percent who believe it should be legal. Fourteen percent were not sure.

Here is what the Public Policy Polling press release said:

46% of these hardcore Republican voters believe interracial marriage should be illegal,
while 40% think it should be legal. (emphasis added)

That is not a whole lot of difference to quarrel with, but it does aid in explaining what many consider are rather bizarre results. On the other hand, it leaves no doubt that "conservative and strongly conservative" Mississippi Republicans have a strong view on interracial marriages. Dr. Wiseman also wondered whether these poll results were from 2011 or 1961. I also wondered that.

Sometimes it is useful to go behind the headlines, and check out the poll itself. Fortunately, it is posted online at:

http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/pdf/PPP_Release_MS_0407915.pdf

Be sure to check out pages two and three of the poll where the questions can be found.

Follow SMA to D.C. - Day 3

2011-03-31T20:12:00.001-07:00

(Following the Stennis-Montgomery Association annual trip to Washington, D.C.) - Thursday was another busy day. First on the agenda was a viewing and discussion of the famous desk in Senator Stennis' office. The following excerpt from then-Senator Joe Biden's Farewell Speech to the Senate provides elucidation:

Senator Stennis ... "looked at me and said, "Joe, do you remember the first time you came to see me?" And I hadn't. He said, I asked you. And I told my friend from Mississippi this story before as he walks through the floor about Senator Stennis. I asked -- he asked me, "Do you remember?" I said, "No, I don't." And he said, "I asked you why you ran for the Senate?" And I said, "Oh I remember." As a smart young fellow, wouldn't I? And he looked at me and said -- he said "Y'all going to take my office, aren't you Joe?" And he caressed that table (inaudible) family members -- the table he loved so much -- he caressed it like it was an animate object. He said, "You're going to take my office." and I said, "Yes sir, I am."
He said, "Well I wanted to tell you then, in 1970, what I'm going to tell you now. He said, "This table here was the flagship of the Confederacy."
BIDEN: If you read "Masters of the Senate" about Johnson's term, you'll see in the middle of the book a picture of the table in my office, with the famous old southern segregationist senators sitting around that table, chaired by Senator Russell. And he said, "This was the flagship of the Confederacy. Every Tuesday we gathered here under Senator Russell's direction to plan the demise of the civil rights movement, from 1954 to 1968." He said, "It's time this table passes from the man who was against civil rights into the hands of a man who was for civil rights."
And I found it genuinely, without exaggeration, moving. We talked a few more minutes, and I got up and I got to the door, and he turned to me in that wheelchair, Thad, and he said, "One more thing, Joe." He said, "The civil rights movement did more -- more to free the white man than the black man."
I looked at him, I said, "Mr. Chairman, how's that?"
And probably Thad will only remember as well as I do, he went like this. He said, "It freed my soul. It freed my soul."

Students then moved to the Russell Office Building for a lobbyists panel that included representatives from Macon Edwards Company, EADS, Deloitte & Touche and Delta Strategy Group. The message from the lobbyists was that effectiveness in the political and government relations world is built on relationships and trust.

Lunch was served in an elegant 5th floor dining room at the Reserve Officers Association looking out at the Capitol. The view was stunning in spite of the cold drizzle outside. Students were treated to remarks by Seantors Cochran and Wicker and Congressman Gregg Harper. Also at the luncheon were a dozen staff members representing Mississippi's Congressional delegation.

After lunch the group was led on a special tour of the Capitol by members of the Capitol Historical Society.

The final presenter of the day was Jessica Grounds, Executive Director of Running Start, a nonprofit organization founded to inspire young women and girls to political leadership. Running Start furthers the work begun by the Women Under Forty Political Action Committee (WUFPAC). WUFPAC is a national women’s group dedicated to electing young women to political office.

Day 2 in D.C., Post 2

2011-03-31T05:49:00.000-07:00

The first stop on a busy day of briefings was the headquarters of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) where Political Director Mike Shields spent over an hour discussing how Republicans won the most recent Congressional election and how he personally got involved in politics. He outlined the role and purpose of NRCC, explaining that it was the political organization of House republicans, and that its mission was to keep Republicans in the majority. He told his personal story of how he first got interested in political activism as a youth growing up in the U.K. where his father was assigned as a NATO employee. The issue was American nuclear weapons are U.S. bases. He said that, “Political issues were our dinner table issues.” Shields attended college in the D.C. and related his personal story of climbing the ladder in politics. He pointed out that at age 41 he is the oldest staffer at the NRCC. There was plenty of Q & A with the SMA students. Notes from the meeting were tweeted by yours truly during the meeting, and can be found by going to the Stennis Institute Web site and clicking on the Twitter “T” on the top right of the page. Also of interest is a Politico article written by Shields entitled, “How the NRCC Won in 2010.”

Next was a chilly walk to the steps of the Capitol for as group photo. Next to us was Iowa Senator Check Grassley visiting with a group from his state.

From there it was on to 101 Constitution Avenue for a media panel discussion led by Rex Buffington of the Stennis Center for Public Service, and featuring Senator Thad Cochran’s Press Secretary Chris Gallegos and Matt Letourneau, Director of Communications and Media at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Each discussed their backgrounds and the challenges facing those who are the public relations personnel of their organizations, especially in the burgeoning age of social media.

The next presenter was Jessica Knight, Executive Director of the Congressional Black Caucus PAC. She is a native of Hattiesburg, and attended Millsaps College where she was the first African-American Homecoming Queen. She provided insight related to fundraising for a political caucus, as well as sharing her background and how she got interested and involved in politics.

By now it was mid-afternoon and time for a ride on the Metro to Foggy Bottom and a visit to The Watergate, where Mississippi State alums Tim and Grace Terpstra hosted the group in their apartment to snacks and a history lesson about the Watergate complex. Dr. Martin Wiseman of MSU, Dr. Tim Terpstra of George Washington University and Dr. Stephen Gordon of Old Dominion University discussed the political implications of the Watergate break-in, and how the surrounding events have influenced the country’s history. One of the threads running through the day was that each of the presenters told about their journeys from college student to where they are today. The Stennis Montgomery Association members thus gained valuable insight and motivation for their own futures.

Looking back on the day, one wonders what it must have taken to put all of this together. Credit for that task goes to SMA President Grace Craig, who coordinated the entire schedule of presenters and other aspects of the trip.

Grace Craig is a senior English major from Jackson, Mississippi. Actively involved as a student, she has served as Mississippi State University Student Association Director of City of Starkville Relations. She interned in Washington, D.C. last summer. She is interested in a career in economic development, preferably in Mississippi.

Day 2 in DC, Post 1

2011-03-30T02:36:00.000-07:00

We will begin the day by gathering in the lobby of the hotel and taking the Metro to Capitol Hill. It is a three block walk to the nearest Metro line that will take us directly to Union Station without changing trains. Our schedule today includes a briefing by the Director of the National Republican Congressional Committee, a media panel luncheon and an afternoon session at The Watergate.

Weatherwise, it looks like a cold and wet day. The high temp is forecast to be 43 degrees at 8:00 a.m., and then dropping to 41 degrees as a cold rain moves in about noon. They say that the cherry blossoms will be fine though.

I will be tweeting often during the day. To follow my tweets go to http://www.sig.msstate.edu/ and click on the "t" logo at the top right hand side of the page, or go to http://www.twitter.com/ and enter jcstennisinst in the search box. Later today I'll post a recap on this blog.

Thanks for your interest in the Stennis Institute and the Stennis Montgomery Association.

Day 1 in D.C.

2011-03-29T09:27:00.000-07:00

Students now arriving at hotel; some by taxi, some by Metro. They look great considering they began at 4:30 a.m. at MSU. A free afternoon, then a busy day tomorrow on the Hill.

Follow us to D.C.

2011-03-26T04:43:00.000-07:00

From Monday, March 28, 2011 through Sunday, April 3, I will be using this space to post a daily report of the Stennis-Montgomery Association trip to Washington, D.C.

Named after Mississippi State University (MSU) alumni, Senator John C. Stennis and Congressman G.V. Sonny Montgomery, the Stennis-Montgomery Association (SMA) allows students of all backgrounds and academic disciplines to become active on the political scene. Each year the most dedicated members of the organization visit Washington D.C. , to meet and network with MSU alumni and other prominent political figures.

The Stennis-Montgomery Association is a non-partisan student organization which is heavily involved on the Mississippi State Campus. The purpose of the organization is to provide opportunities for students to learn more about the role of politics in Mississippi . Ultimately, the Stennis-Montgomery Association will allow Mississippi State University’s influence in the arena of political decision-making to become as prominent as the other great successes of the “People’s University.”

Rent the House of Representatives

2011-03-20T06:56:00.000-07:00

Rent the House of Representatives? The one in Washington? The state Capitol? Well, not exactly. However, your organization can rent the House of Representatives Chamber at the Old Capitol Museum in Jackson, Mississippi. Also available for rent are the Chancery Court and the William Nichols Room at the facility.

As one who has attended a number of events there I can tell you with confidence that there is an aura there like no other meeting facility. The House of Representatives Chamber is exquisite. One can only imagine what it was like there when the Married Women’s Property Act was debated in 1839, or when representatives decided to secede from the Union in 1861, or when the 1868 and 1890 state constitutions were argued and drafted.

Cost to rent the facilities are nominal, beginning at $200 for four-hour daytime use of the House Chamber, $150 for the Chancery Court and $100 for the William Nichols Room. Costs are subject to change, and include additional fees for equipment, etc. Interestingly (and appropriately in this scribe’s opinion), “…no use of the building may be made by political candidates or political parties in support of a candidate or slate of candidates except presidential and vice‐presidential nominees of nationally recognized parties eligible for federal funding.”

A tip of the hat to the Mississippi Department of Archives and History for allowing organizations to use the most historic building in Mississippi for meetings.

Click on the Old Capitol Museum main Web site, and then Facility Use for complete information.

Gray Swoope and MDA's Guiding Principles

2011-03-14T13:10:00.000-07:00

It would be difficult to add much more to the accolades and tributes about Gray Swoope, Executive Director of the Mississippi Development Authority(MDA), who is leaving soon to take a similar post in Florida. Nevertheless, I’ll do my best to contribute by mentioning something attributable to Gray that often goes unnoticed.

Gray is a strategic thinker. That becomes immediately evident when you hear him speak. He understands his product (the state) and his agency's role. He instituted five guiding principles at MDA, which he enumerated in the fall 2010 issue of Developments, the newsletter of the Mississippi Economic Development Council. Those principles have served him and MDA well. They are as follows:

1. thinking globally;

2. building strategic partnerships;

3. being innovative;

4. adjusting to the market and

5. maintaining fiscal responsibility.

Thanks, and best wishes, Gray.

What community leaders should know about the 2010 census numbers

2011-02-08T07:18:00.000-08:00

The 2010 census data are resulting in a plethora of local news articles about population growth and decline. Many community leaders are cheering because their communities had a population increase. As sports commentator Lee Corso would say, “Not so fast my friend.” Population increase alone is misleading if migration is not also considered. So what is “migration?”

Migration refers to the movement of people from one area to another. To calculate the migration for a community take the current population, subtract the previous population, add the number of births during the period, and then subtract the deaths during the period. Consider this example of a fictional community I’ll call Center City:

52,000 2010 Population
50,000 2000 Population
——————————
2,000 Population increase

Most people would say that a population increase is a good thing for a community. In general, that would be true. But what if Center City had 3,000 births during the 10-year period and 900 deaths? The difference in those two numbers is 2,100, which is how many new residents there would be if somehow a wall had been around the city. In other words, Center City would have a natural population increase of 2,100. But it only grew by 2,000. What happened to those 100 people? The answer is that they moved away, which is another way of saying that there was out-migration. Conversely, if the population increase is greater than the difference in the number of births and deaths there is in-migration.

In summary, failing to consider migration could lead to a misinterpretation of a community’s true growth trend.

Increasing the college-going rate

2011-01-27T05:19:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I had the opportunity to moderate a forum of school counselors on the issue of how to increase the the college-going rate for high school students, especially underserved students. One of the things that came out was the influence of peers on the the college decision. The counselors also pointed out that the discussion of college should begin in the 9th grade, not the 11th or 12th.

An article in the January 22, 2011 Wall Street Journal entitled “Why Rich Parents Don’t Matter” discusses some research that points out that “… the power of the home environment pales in comparison to the power of genes and peer groups.” It’s an interesting article and one I recommend.

This little dollar stayed home.

2010-11-17T06:22:00.000-08:00

THIS LITTLE DOLLAR STAYED HOME

This is a tale of two dollars. One stayed at home. One went to another town.

The owner of the shop took the next 50 cents and sent it to the manufacturers of the items that were bought. Because all of them lived right there in Make Believe, the 50 cents stayed there.

The next 16 cents went to the employee of the shop owner. Yes, you guessed it; the employee lived in Make Believe.

There was rent to pay on the shopkeeper’s retail space. It was paid to the owner of the building, who had lived in Make Believe all his life. The rent was 10 cents of the dollar.

That left 8 cents. What would happen to it?

That’s right. Eight cents was the shopkeeper’s profit she got to keep. Of course, the shopkeeper lived in an apartment upstairs above the shop.

If we total where the second dollar went, we learn about 86 cents stayed in Make Believe.

Each person has a right to spend his or her money wherever and whenever he or she wishes. But when people spend their dollars in other towns, it does not help the economy of their hometowns.

The Tale of Two Dollars is told at this time every year because many people don’t know when they spend their money in their own hometown it helps their hometown.

How to help underserved students reach college.

2010-10-06T04:39:00.000-07:00

Recently I had the opportunity to facilitate a discussion with a group of 27 high school counselors about college counseling. The issue was framed as "How do we help low income/underserved students reach college and be successful there?"

There were many inspiring and enlightening examples, as well as a sharing of some of the barriers faced by the counselors. At the end of the day the following options emerged as ways of dealing with the issue:

- focus on parents and their roles/responsibilities/needs;
- instill more college information in the high school curricula;
- more ACT test prep; and
- provide more information about the benefits of going to college.

Senator Terry Burton recognized as Mississippi's "Champion of Aging"

2010-10-02T04:50:00.000-07:00

District 31 Senator Terry Burton of Newton, has been recognized as Mississippi's "Champion of Aging" by the Southeastern Association of Area Agencies on Aging.

The association honored Burton recently at their annual conference in Louisville, Ky.

Burton was chosen for his "initiatives, dedication, courage and determination," to better the lives of Mississippi's senior citizens through authoring legislation like Senate Bill 2416 during the 2008 Session, which defined adult foster care facilities and set standards that required informal operators of senior care facilities to meet licensing standards to continue operating.

The five-term Republican senator who represents District 31, comprised of Lauderdale, Newton and Scott counties, has authored numerous other items of legislation to educate and protect senior citizens and to enhance punishment of those who would exploit, neglect or abuse vulnerable adults.

Other than authoring laws that created the Leadership Council on Aging and another that required significant improvements to Mississippi's Vulnerable Adult Act, Burton has authored laws requiring:

* Mandatory dual reporting of suspected abuse, exploitation or neglecting a senior citizen.

* Creating the Vulnerable Adults Unit in the Mississippi Attorney General's Office.

* Mandatory fingerprinting and background checks of direct care workers and employees of service providers to the elderly.

Burton has been recognized on the local, state and now the national level for his dedication and service in the area of aging.

The Southeastern Association of Area Agencies on Aging is comprised of the state of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina and South Carolina.

Senator Cindy Hyde Smith appointed to National Committee

2010-09-28T13:35:00.000-07:00

The National Conference of State Legislatures has named Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith of Brookhaven, Vice Chairman of the Agriculture and Energy Standing Committee.
In the position, Senator Hyde-Smith, who serves as Chairman of the Mississippi Senate Agriculture Committee, will share her knowledge of the industry with peers from across the country, as well as gaining from their insight.
Massachusetts Senator and NCSL President Richard T. Moore made the appointment. NCSL officials will use Hyde-Smith’s keen knowledge of agricultural for framing their debates on Capitol Hill.
“I am very pleased to be selected as the national Vice Chairman of the Agriculture and Energy committee of such a respected organization. I have been a member of NCSL for many years and I am honored to be asked to serve in a position of leadership. This provides the opportunity to promote Mississippi Agriculture throughout the country. It also allows me to have a bigger voice in Congress concerning farming and energy issues,” Senator Hyde-Smith said.
Senator Hyde-Smith was recently presented the prestigious Delta Council Achievement Award for outstanding contributions to aquaculture for her leadership in pushing legislation to protect Mississippi consumers and catfish farmers by requiring Country of Origin labeling.

For more information contact
Arnold Lindsay, 601-359-4067 or alindsay@senate.ms.gov

Unemployment in Rural America

2010-09-08T06:47:00.000-07:00

The image says it all. Well, most of it anyway. When unemployment is high in a community it is difficult to sell real estate. Special appreciation to Bill Bishop and the folks at Daily Yonder who focus on rural America issues. For more info read this post on the Daily Yonder Web site.

Dr. Wiseman predicts less Republican unity in 2011

2010-08-12T13:42:00.000-07:00

The state's Republican unity may breakdown in 2011, as Gov. Haley Barbour's term comes to an end, predicts Dr. Marty Wiseman the director of the John C. Stennis Institute of Government at Mississippi State University.

Click here to read the article in The Jackson Free Press.

US Dept. of Justice seeking comments on applying ADA standards to local government Web sites

2010-07-30T07:52:00.000-07:00

The Department is providing advance notice that it is considering revising the regulations implementing title II and III of the ADA to establish specific requirements for State and local governments and public accommodations to make their websites accessible to individuals with disabilities. The purpose of the Department’s proposal is to solicit public comment on various issues relating to the establishment of any such Web accessibility requirements and to determine the costs and benefits of any requirements that the Department might adopt.

Click here to read the notice.

The link between education and economic development

2010-07-26T05:52:00.000-07:00

There is a strong link connecting education and economic development in a community.

Recently retired state economist Dr. Phil Pepper knew it and preached it. He told just about every group he spoke to that education is the key. Counties with population growth have good schools, he would remind them. He often said, “The primary economic development tool for any county is the education level.”

He is not the only one. Click here to continue.

Using the arts for revitalization

2010-07-25T15:35:00.000-07:00

Pittsfield, Massachusetts and Meridian, Mississippi are over 1,300 miles from each other. Pittsfield is in the heart of the Berkshires, while Meridian is in the foothills of Appalachia. Pittsfield's average household income is around $35,000; Meridian's is closer to $25,000. But they may have more in common than first meets the eye. Each has a population of about 40,000 residents, both are over 80 miles from the nearest metropolitan area and both lost population beginning in 1960, although it appears that recently there has been population growth in both places.

What struck me about these cities is how each is using the arts as a catalyst for revitalization. In Meridian, the Riley Center attracts over 60,000 visitors for concerts, conferences and other events. In Pittsfield, the Barrington Stage Company is bringing in over 45,000 visitors annually.

For more on how Pittsfield is using arts to revitalize the community, click here to read an article in the online edition of the Boston Globe. Then check out the Wikipedia entry for Pittsfield and the entry for Meridian to compare the two cities.

Best degree for a CEO job

2010-07-09T07:59:00.000-07:00

When adjusting for size of the pool of graduates, those with undergraduate degrees in Economics are shown to have had a greater likelihood of becoming an S&P 500 CEO than any other major, according to research by the Social Science Research Network.

Click her e to read the report.

The 4 stages of community leadership programs.

2010-06-01T06:27:00.000-07:00

Community leadership programs are a good way to improve the quality of life in a community. My experience with such programs is that there are four distinct stages as presented below. Most management texts say that when it comes to group formation that the stages are forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning, so my list is a slight variation of that theme.

Most community leadership programs are managed by a local chamber of commerce or similar organization. The basic goals are to identify emerging leaders in the community, bring them together as a group, present issues that the community needs to address and then turn them loose with the skills and contacts necessary to make the community a better place. There are as many degrees of success of such goals as there are leadership programs.

Stage One – Bonding, aka teambuilding, aka forming. In this stage the leadership class is taken on a retreat and engaged in teambuilding activities. Often there are personality tests given to illustrate and identify the various personalities in the class.

Stage Two – Learning. The class is presented with leadership skills and with information about the community and its issues.

Stage Three – Taking Action. The class, which had been subdivided into groups, selects a project to work on as a group. Usually, the project is related to some issue in the community.

Stage Four – Networking. In an ideal world this is the stage where an alumni association is formed and sustained. The alumni from all classes meet regularly and deal with community issues. This rarely happens because alumni tend to get back to their busy jobs and network only with other alumni who share their opinions, values and beliefs. Nevertheless, there are examples of leadership alumni programs around the country that stick together and become a true force for betterment in their communities.

Are you a School-Community Connector?

2010-05-28T08:25:00.001-07:00

One of the more important contributions a person can make to his or her community is to get involved with the local public school. Public policymakers are finally realizing that there is a strong relationship between economic development and the overall success of communities. Nevertheless, it should be obvious by now that it takes more than just funding and government programs to create really good schools. There are critical roles for parents, educators, business, and the community at large. It also takes persons who are known as school-community connectors.

A school-community connector is "a person whose job it is to find and build relationships with a wide range of neighborhood ―assets‘ -residents, voluntary associations, local institutions, businesses- and then to connect them to the neighborhood school and its assets -teachers, students, space, equipment, just to name a few." according to a recently released report from the Asset Based Community Development Institute at Northwestern University (see link below).

The report cites the experience of the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, which undertook a project it labeled Ivolving All Neighbors. The project resulted in a good job description, so to speak. The project found that School-Community Connectors tend to have the following attributes or characteristics:

Strongly believes that every person belongs and has contributions to make and gifts to give to the community;

Works to build community in his or her life;

Is always on the lookout for what‘s happening in the neighborhood and knows its places, events, groups and people;

Looks for opportunities for people to connect with others and contribute their skills;

Enjoys meeting people and bringing together people with common interests;

Gets involved and asks others to get involved;

Enjoys challenges and doesn‘t give up;

Stays flexible, adjusts expectations, and knows that things take time;

Focuses on one person at a time and considers how that person‘s interests and skills can be assets for the community;

Finds ways for others in the community to sustain new connections;

Finds ways to take care of and renew him- or herself;

Believes that anything is possible.

If you would like to learn more about school-community partnerships in Mississippi contact the Mississippi Association of Partners in Education.

Building Mutually-Beneficial Relationship Between Schools and Communities - The Role of A Connector, published by the Asset Based Community Development Institute at Northwestern University

Best jobs for the future

2010-05-26T04:29:00.001-07:00

The Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 edition is now available. Here’s one of the more interesting charts for those wondering about which jobs will be in demand for the future. Click here for the full report.

The Myth of Multitasking

2010-05-11T16:57:00.001-07:00

Most of us multitask, i.e. have several things going on at once. Sometimes it is necessary, such as when preparing a meal or preparing a business conference. Some managers believe that multitasking is a required skill for a supervisor or manager. I recall one time when a leader of an organization told me that a certain employee would not be a good successor “… because he doesn’t know how to multitask.” The employee not only received the promotion, but became one of the best managers ever for the organization. He later told me that his secret was to focus on one thing at a time. So what’s the real story on this thing known as multitasking that we all seem to be caught up in?

As it turns out, quite a few studies have shown that multitasking is not as efficient as some might think. Christine Rosen’s, “The Myth of Multitasking,” in the Spring 2008 issue of The New Atlantis, is an excellent summation of the subject. In it she provides an overview of several studies on the subject. I consider the article recommended reading.

So below is my thought for the day, courtesy of Soko Morinaga.

When you go to the kitchen to prepare dinner, be born in the kitchen. When you finish there, die. Then be born at the dining table as you eat your dinner and, when you finish eating, die there. Be born in the garden, and sweep with your broom. When you get into bed at night, die there. And when daylight comes, and you awaken in your bed, be born anew.

Notes from Madison County Business League Economic Symposium

2010-05-04T13:43:00.000-07:00

(May 4, 2010) I had the opportunity today to attend the Economic Symposium 2010: Economic Perspectives for Madison County, which was offered by the Madison County Business League. Featured presenters were Dr. Phil Pepper, Assistant Commission for Policy Research and Planning for the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning, Dr. Marty Wiseman, Director of Mississippi State University‘s Stennis Institute of Government and David Altig, Senior Vice President and Director of Research for the Federal Reserve bank of Atlanta. Here are my rough notes.

Dr. Phil Pepper
Things are good and going to get better for Madison County.
Things are not as good for Mississippi. Slower growth. More recessions.
Education is the key. Counties with population growth have good schools. “The primary economic development tool for any county is the education level.”

Dr. Marty Wiseman
No county in Mississippi is insulated from the international economy.
Public education is a key to economic development. Period.
When a municipality has population growth it must keep a constant eye on annexation.
Madison County would be a prime place to have the pro and con discussion on the subject of eliminating the inventory tax.
As long as there is growth there is less need to worry about where local government revenues come from.

David Altig
The labor market is beginning to improve … employers remain reluctant to add payrolls.
Employment took a sizable step up in March. The demand for workers appears to be improving.
If 200,000 jobs are created every month for the next 12 months it would bring the unemployment rate down by one oerscent.
Consumer spending has surprised to the upside. Personal income growth, however, has been quite timid.
Spending on equipment and software rose rapidly in the 4th Quarter, and looks to be on a healthy pace in the 1st Quarter.
“Core” capital goods order have been rising. Housing starts have shown modest improvement from a very low level.
Inventory adjustments are still making an outsize contribution to CDP growth, which is forecast for 2.8% in 2010.
Employment losses have been more severe in the United States than other countries. Productivity is up in the Untied States; down everywhere else.

Mississippi legislators' "tweets" now available online in one place

2010-04-13T12:08:00.000-07:00

The Mississippi Center for Public Policy just announced a novel service as follows:

MStweets.org is a new service that allows the public to see the Twitter postings (or "tweets") of Mississippi legislators. It also allows non-legislators to share their tweets on Mississippi government and politics by using the #MSTWEETS hash tag.

MStweets.org is:

Easy to use
Non-Partisan
No cost to you

"B" is for Plan B

2010-04-12T04:45:00.000-07:00

Admiral William Frederick Halsey is credited with saying, “There are no great men. Just great challenges which ordinary men, out of necessity, are forced by circumstance to meet.”

Leadership is often as much about opportunities for leadership as it about leaders. Often great leaders emerge in a crisis. What a person does when Plan A – the strategic plan – goes awry is a real test of leadership. In other words, a leader is someone who manages Plan B. And let use not confuse Plan B with the contingency plan. Plan B in the context I refer to is when there is no alternative plan.

NOTE: The above is from the draft of “The ABC’s of Economic Development for Small Town Mayors,” by Phil Hardwick.

“A” is for asset-based economic development.

2010-04-02T09:56:00.000-07:00

There are basically two approaches in the process of creating an economic development strategy for a community. The first approach is to determine what the community needs in order to be successful. It looks at things that the community does not have now, but if it had them would stand a good chance at economic success. For example, one rural community that I worked with last year determined that most citizens had to drive to another county for basic health care. It concluded that it needed a health clinic. Having a health clinic would keep money in the local area, and may even bring in more money. It was something that the community did not have now. Therefore, the strategy was to bring in a health clinic.

The other approach does just the opposite. It looks at the resources that the community has now that it can capitalize on. The key phrase here is “that it can capitalize on.” I have found that two of the more common things that communities overlook as assets are natural resources and history. The natural resource may be something that can be developed and marketed, while the history may be an event in the past that today’s outsiders may be interested in coming to see where it happened. Pelahatchie, Mississippi capitalized on a local lake and the town’s location on an Interstate highway to create a Yogi Bear Jellystone Campground-Resort.

MPB's Quorum on March 24, 2010 - Focus on Jobs

2010-03-30T06:18:00.000-07:00

The March 24th edition of QUORUM on MPB focused on the state's economic and employment prospects. The programs are now archived on YouTube. This one is well worth watching if you want to understand current economic conditions in Mississippi. Click here to view the program.

The panel consisted of Gray Swoope, executive director of the Mississippi Development Authority; Mississippi Economic Council president Blake Wilson; and Maury Granger, chairman of the Department of Economics at Jackson State University.

To view archived editions of Quorum go to YouTube.com and search for quorum mpb.

Unemployment rate for one group - 15.7%; for other group - 4.7%. What's going on?

2010-03-23T05:46:00.000-07:00

The Southern Education Foundation just released a new brief, Miles to Go - Mississippi, Pre-Kindergarten: Time to Begin, which documents the impact of education on poverty and which makes the case for Mississippi to establish a Pre-K program. The brief gives the adult unemployment rates in Mississippi by educational level, as follows:

high school dropout: 15.7%

high school/GED graduate: 10.6%

some college: 8.5%

bachelor's degree and higher: 4.7%

Those figures were as of December 2009. Education makes a huge difference even in distressed economic times.

A neat tool for organizing your community

2010-03-11T19:40:00.001-08:00

A community is more than a place. It is a collection of people with a common interest. That interest might be anything from sports to religion to politics. It often amazes me how people who have the same interest have a way of finding each other in a crowd. But what about people who move to a new town and want to find others who share their same interests? It can be tome-consuming and difficult. Or what about people who want to start a community if people with a certain interest?

Fortunately, there is an excellent online tool to assist in creating communities. It’s called Meetup, and it describes itself as follows:

Meetup is the world’s largest network of local groups. Meetup makes it easy for anyone to organize a local group or find one of the thousands already meeting up face-to-face. More than 2,000 groups get together in local communities each day, each one with the goal of improving themselves or their communities.

Meetup’s mission is to revitalize local community and help people around the world self-organize. Meetup believes that people can change their personal world, or the whole world, by organizing themselves into groups that are powerful enough to make a difference.

Wow! That sounds rather ambitious and profound. But you know what? It is working. I entered my zip code on the meetup.com Web site and was pleasantly surprised to find that in my neck of the woods there is a lot going on, to wit: a women’s book lovers group, a real estate study hall, a gamers group, an Internet marketing club, an actors and filmmakers discussion group, and the list goes on.

I’ve been toying with the idea of forming a discussion group in the manner of Benjamin Franklin’s Junto group to discuss philosophy, current events, business affairs and politics, with the idea of implementing some of the discussed outcomes in the broader community. Meetup.com may just motivate me to put the idea out there to find out if there is anyone else who wants to engage in such an activity.

Check it out. It might be just the thing for you and your community.

Political labels can be tricky

2010-03-08T04:48:00.001-08:00

Are you conservative, moderate or liberal? Or are you traditional, neocon or libertarian? Republican, Democrat or Independent? Do you consider yourself a Progressive? Perhaps you are some of these some of the time, but not all of them all of the time. Whatever the case, political labels can be tricky.

Certain labels mean one thing in one part of the country and another in another part of the country. Governor Bill Ritter presides over the "moderate" state of Colorado, but is having difficulty governing from the center. (Perhaps we should add "centrist" to the label list above.) Ritter ran as a pro-business Democrat. How many people do you know who would say that term is an oxymoron?

City-Data.com is a Web site that gives people the opportunity to discuss just about everything related to places in the United State. Postings in the "Most conservative states, cities" section reveal how the label issue can be defined in many ways.

The Gallup organization often asks respondents about their political ideology, and then publishes a state ranking. In 2009 people who identified themselves as conservative outnumbered those who identifies themselves as liberal in every state, but not in Washington, D.C.

By the way, the Gallup survey revealed the one state that is more conservative than Mississippi? Can you name it?

Click here for the answer.

Where we get our news

2010-03-03T05:03:00.001-08:00

A just-released report by the Pew Internet & American Life Project and the Project for Excellence in Journalism has some good news for Howard, Maggie and their colleagues at WLBT-TV, a Jackson, Mississippi television station. The local television station is still the number one source for Americans. The rest of the story – actually the main story – is that we news consumers are utilizing multiple formats, and that the Internet has moved ahead of radio and newspapers as news sources.

In this writer’s younger days it was network news and the local newspaper. These sources were supplemented by magazines. Today it’s the Internet, tv news, radio, newspapers, etc. Although the sources have changed, what is really new is the instant feedback from readers to news stories. Instead of waiting until tomorrow to discuss the news with a co-worker I can read multiple reader reactions posts on the news source’s Web site.

Some other findings from the study:

Portable: 33% of cell phone owners now access news on their cell phones.
Personalized: 28% of internet users have customized their home page to include news from sources and on topics that particularly interest them.
Participatory: 37% of internet users have contributed to the creation of news, commented about it, or disseminated it via postings on social media sites like Facebook or Twitter.

Oh, one other thing that has changed. You can now click on these three words, and go directly to the report that I am referring to.

OH, again. Watch out, Howard and Maggie. The Internet is moving up fast.

Which leaders do we trust most?

2010-01-23T20:10:00.001-08:00

The 2009 National Leadership Index is out. Among other things, it measures confidence of respondents to various sectors of leaders. Below is a list of those sectors. Average confidence is 100.0. The highest sector had a rating of 119; the lowest 69.7. Care to guess which? Wait! I’ll go ahead and tell you. Military leaders ranked highest and Wall Street ranked lowest. Check out how the rest of them fared at The Center for Public Leadership at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Military
Medical Nonprofit & Charity
Supreme Court
Local Government
Education
Executive Branch Religious
Business State Government
Congress
News Media
Wall Street

Coming January 1, 2010: My week of software, hardware and assorted technology

2009-12-31T07:47:00.000-08:00

I did it. Two weeks ago this longtime Windows(PC) user bought a MacBook. One of the most difficult things so far is discovering that some of my favorite software is not available in a Mac application, or that it is not easy to make it work properly on a Mac. Nevertheless, I am forging ahead and at this point I believe the pros are going to outweigh the cons. The experience has me looking at new software and evaluating the software that I currently use. Then yesterday someone asked me, “What technology do you use?” My immediate reaction was to say, “What technology do I NOT use?” If I had the time and money, I’d be attending the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next week. I love innovation and technology.

Anyway, as a result of the above, I will be posting five days of blogs beginning Monday, January 4, on the subject of which technologies I use, more specifically which software and hardware that I use regularly. You’ll learn such things as my favorite word processor, why I bought a MacBook, my communication devices, favorite Internet sites, my all-time favorite software program, email I use and much more. I’ll go ahead and tell you now that I will not have any recommendations for you. That’s because so much of technology, in general, and software, in particular, is about personal preference.

So check back first thing Monday, January 4, 2010. And I wish you a 2010 filled with success, happiness and peace.

Religion and Politics

2009-12-22T16:31:00.000-08:00

They don't mix, you say?

Consider Article 6, section 8 of the North Carolina Constitution which reads, “The following persons shall be disqualified for office: First, any person who shall deny the being of Almighty God.”

Six other states - Arkansas, Maryland, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas - have clauses in their Constitutions requiring that officeholders, according to an article in the Asheville Citizen-Times. The article discusses the case of a person recently elected to the City Council in that city. He chose to affirm, rather than swear, his oath of office. Cecil Bouthwell has received plenty of national attention, especially from bloggers who say that atheists should not be allowed to hold office.

Now for the pop quiz. What is the wording the the oath of office for members of the legislature as stated by the Mississippi Constitution?

Scroll down for answer -----

SECTION 40.
Members of the legislature, before entering upon the discharge of their duties, shall take the following oath: "I, ----, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully support the Constitution of the United States and of the state of Mississippi; that I am not disqualified from holding office by the Constitution of this state; that I will faithfully discharge my duties as a legislator; that I will, as soon as practicable hereafter, carefully read (or have read to me) the Constitution of this state, and will endeavor to note, and as a legislator to execute, all the requirements thereof imposed on the legislature; and I will not vote for any measure or person because of a promise of any other member of this legislature to vote for any measure or person, or as a means of influencing him or them so to do. So help me God."

Howard Dean takes flak for "kill the bill" comments

2009-12-17T04:45:00.000-08:00

Howard Dean, M.D., the former Democratic National Committee chairman and former Governor of Vermont, made that statement this morning (12-17-2009) on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. Dean is taking flak for his “kill the bill” comments about the current version of the Senate’s health care bill. After listening to Dean for the past few days, I am beginning to believe that he is one of the few people who really care about health care reform instead of the politics of health care reform. Here’s are a few links that provide further enlightenment and elucidation:

Huffington Post – Howard Dean Debates Health Care With Mary Landrieu, Chris Matthews;

NY Daily News – Howard Dean Flashback;

AP – Dean Urges Defeat of Health Care Bill.

Does shopping locally really matter?

2009-12-12T06:14:00.000-08:00

That question should be easily answered after reading this column that I wrote for the Mississippi Business Journal.
*****
This is a tale of two dollars. One stayed at home. One went to another town.

Once upon a time there were two dollars. They each lived with their owners in the small town of Make Believe in rural Mississippi. Make Believe was a nice little town. There was a Main Street that had lots of little shops that sold special items and arts and crafts and catered to people who drove through town. There was also a grocery store. There was even a doctor in Make Believe. It was a nice little town that was enjoyed by all its residents, none of whom wanted it to change.

This story of the first dollar is easy to tell. Its owner placed it snugly in her purse and drove 45 minutes to a nearby, larger town with a shopping mall. The owner stayed all day at the mall and spent the entire dollar on things bought in stores owned by big corporations in faraway states.

Part of the first little dollar stayed in that town and part of it went to the state government, but most of it went by electronic magic to another state. At the end of the day, the owner went back to Make Believe with all her treasures. Not one penny of the first dollar ever saw Make Believe, Miss., again.

The story of the second dollar is much different. The owner of the second dollar went to a little shop in downtown Make Believe. There the owner talked a long time to the shop owner about the beautiful merchandise in the store.

The shopkeeper told all about the things that were made right there in Make Believe. There were birdhouses built by Bob, beveled glass made by Beverly, blouses of silk designed by Betty, mocha chocolates by Missy, and even silverware crafted by Sam.

This owner of the dollar spent the entire dollar right there in the shop. The journey of the second dollar was much different from that of the first dollar. Yes, the first 7 cents arrived at the government in Jackson. One penny was sent back to the local town. So one penny of the sales tax came back to the Make Believe City Hall.

The owner of the shop took the next 50 cents and sent it to the manufacturers of the items that were bought. Because all of them lived right there in Make Believe, the 50 cents stayed there.

The next 16 cents went to the employee of the shop owner. Yes, you guessed it; the employee lived in Make Believe.

There was rent to pay on the shopkeeper's retail space. It was paid to the owner of the building, who had lived in Make Believe all his life. The rent was 10 cents of the dollar.

There were operating expenses that the shopkeeper had to pay. Things such as utilities and maintenance and insurance. Sixteen cents of the dollar went to pay those expenses and some of the people that got paid lived in another town far away. Still, eight of those 16 cents was paid to people in Make Believe.

That left 8 cents. What would happen to it?

That's right. Eight cents was the shopkeeper's profit she got to keep. Of course, the shopkeeper lived in an apartment upstairs above the shop.

If we total where the second dollar went, we learn about 86 cents stayed in Make Believe.

I wonder what will happen to the 86 cents. Will the manufacturer, the employee, the real estate owner, the shopkeeper and the others spend the 86 cents in Make Believe? Or will they go somewhere else?

I wonder how much of the 86 cents will be spent in Make Believe. Because every time another penny is spent in Make Believe, the little town is better off because someone in Make Believe received it instead of another town.

Each person has a right to spend his or her money wherever and whenever he or she wishes. But when people spend their dollars in other towns, it does not help the economy of their hometowns.

The Tale of Two Dollars is told at this time every year because many people don't know when they spend their money in their own hometown it helps their hometown.

Editor's Note: Phil Hardwick is a contributing writer for the Mississippi Business Journal.

The secret to escaping poverty.

2009-12-08T03:28:00.001-08:00

The secret to escaping poverty is no secret at all, according to Ron Haskins and Isabel Sawhill in their new book Creating an Oportunity Society. Those who finish high school, work full time and marry before having children are virtually guaranteed a place in the middle class. Only about 2 percent of this group ends up in poverty.

They say that there are three things that the government could do to reduce poverty.

(1) Improve public education:
Expand pre-school programs, implement national achievement standards and establish more "paternalistic" charter schools.
Provide low-income and minority pupils with better college-prep services.

(2) Encourage work:
Enlarge the size and scope of the Child Tax Credit, increase child-care funding and bolster job-training programs.
Building on the successful Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and experiment with "EITC-type wage supplements" for workers who either don't have children or don't have custody of their children.

(3) Strengthen families:
Address a longstanding social crisis: the surge in non-marital births; in 2007, nearly 40 percent of all United States births were outside of marriage, up from 34 percent.
Last year, according to the Census Bureau, only 40 percent of African-American children lived with two parents, compared with 78 percent of non-Hispanic white children.

Source: Creating an Opportunity Society (Brookings Institute Press) as reported in The Mobility Agenda, National Center for Policy Analysis.

Citizen democracy and technology

2009-12-07T06:10:00.001-08:00

The lack of citizen participation in government at all levels has been lamented many times. Often, elected officials will merely announce that they welcome comments and ideas about new inititives - and they usually mean it. However, citizens who submit ideas never realy know if their ideas were considered or even received. They certainly do not know what ideas other citizens might have submitted. Perhaps technology can improve the situation.

An example can be found in Seattle, Washington, where the new mayor is using the Internet to ask for advice from citizens. It's called Ideas for Seattle, a Web site where citizens can contribute new ideas for the future of the city and vote on ideas submitted by other citizens. Check it out atwww.ideasforseattle.org.

"Thinking" in North Carolina

2009-11-06T06:35:00.000-08:00

Today I'm off to the Better South conference at Davidson College in North Carolina.
Special conference to focus on developing Southern agenda

• Download the Briefing Book

• Read the news release

• Visit the conference Web site

NOV. 4, 2009 -- More than three dozen thinkers from across the South will gather this weekend for a two-day conference to develop an "Agenda for a Better South" that seeks to inspire Southern leaders to move the region forward. (Read the news release)

"In our increasingly partisan and media-saturated world of small soundbites for big problems, it's often hard for elected and appointed officials, and other leaders to make serious inquiries and give thoughtful consideration to big problems facing the South," said Andy Brack, president of the Center for a Better South. "Instead, they often have to put out the fires of immediate problems rather than finding solutions for decades-old challenges.

"By crafting this new Agenda for a Better South, we will highlight for our leaders that public policy matters … and that they can make significant progress for the future by focusing on the big picture for each state."

http://www.bettersouth.org/

Government Credibility

2009-10-26T06:01:00.000-07:00

Last week TARP Special Inspector General Neil Barofsky issued a report that “blasted” the Tresury Department’s handling of the $700 billion bailout program. An article in USA TODAY provides a good summary. There is a lot to read in the report, but a comment made by the IG relates to something that this writer believes is at the root of where the United States is today. He said (emphasis added) that, Treasury’s failure to provide more details about the use of TARP funds has helped damage “the credibility of the program and of the government itself, and the anger, cynicism, and distrust created must be chalked up as one of the substantial, albeit unnecessary, costs of TARP.”

By the way, did you know that the Special IG has a Web site where you can sign up for reports, press releases, etc. from his office?

Why Strategic Plans Fail

2009-10-12T05:56:00.001-07:00

I've seen research reports that put the failure rate of strategic plans as high as 80 percent and as low as 30 percent. How can there be such a wide difference? Well, the discrepancy in those rates is easily understandable when one looks behind the numbers. It's not that the researchers looked at the same data and came up with different conclusions. It's more about who was was surveyed and how the survey was conducted.

One recent survey "of 163 executives" reported that the respondents said that 82 percent of strategic plan failure was preventable and offered the following reasons for why strategic plans fail:

1. Failure of unforseen external circumstance (24%);

2. lack of understanding among those in developing the strategy and what they need to do to make it successful (19%);

3. the strategy itself is flawed (18%);

4. poor match between the strategy and core competencies of the organization (16%); and

5. lack of accountability or holding the team responsible (13%).

This particular study was reported in the Forbes Insight series and can be accessed by clicking here. It should be noted that you will be required to register to see the study.

Is your community a mac or a pc? Vol. 2

2009-09-22T12:21:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I discussed how communities and organizations are often seen as having human characteristics. I also suggested an exercise for your staff meeting to discuss what your organization would look like as a person.

The primary reason for the exercise is to gauge how your employees perceive your organization. It could also be used to determine how your customers or the community in general perceives your organization. The point is not so much how your organization is perceived as it is whether different groups see the organization in the same way. For example, let’s say that your organization had 30 offices. Going through this exercise in every office would be valuable because it would reveal whether different offices see the organization in the same. If one office describes the organization as an old lady, and another described it as a young man then clearly there is something going on. In this case the exercise reveals that the organization apparently has an internal communication problem. And that’s the punchline: this exercise is one way to measure your communication effectiveness. If different offices or divisions perceive the company or organization differently, then that is valuable information to know. Of course, if your organization is a clandestine spy agency you probably want each division to perceive the organization in a different way.

Tomorrow, I’ll tell you what happened when I divided a community leadership class into groups of white males, non-white males, white females and non-white females and then had them describe their community as a person.

Is your community a mac or a pc?

2009-09-21T06:22:00.000-07:00

Don’t you just love those mac vesus pc commercials? Especially the mac ones that portray mac as a young, hip dude and pc as the suit-wearing, paunchy salesman? Regardless of which computer system is better it must be admitted that by assigning human images to a product an impression has been created about the product.

And so it is with communities. Cities and towns are often perceived as having human attributes. For example, would you say that Austin, Texas is young and hip or old and out-of-touch? How about Detroit? Or Miami? Or Atlanta?

There is an interesting exercise that I use in my strategic planning retreats that relates to this phenomenon. I assign breakout groups the task of describing their community or organizations as though it was a person. Usually I will ask them to come up with the following characteristics: age, race, gender, vacation preference, last book read, political views, type of vehicle driven and favorite restaurant. The results are always fascinating.

Want to have an interesting staff meeting this week? Have your employees describe your organizations as if it were a person. Use the above characteristics as a starting point.

Tomorrow I’ll tell you what it means when the groups are conflicted over the image of the organization.

What is asset mapping?

2009-09-08T07:11:00.000-07:00

What is asset mapping?

“Asset mapping” is the current buzzterm in economic and community development. Everywhere I turn it seems that I find that organizations and communities are doing asset mapping. So, exactly what is asset mapping? There are no shortage of definitions. Consider:

A disciplined, structured process of listing key community features in spreadsheet format designed to discover unique and unknown assets. Mapping should always be contained within a defined geographic boundary - ConnectSI (Southern Illinois – 20 county collaborative)

An asset map is an inventory of the strengths and gifts of the people who make up a community. Asset mapping reveals the assets of the entire community and highlights the interconnections among them, which in turn reveals how to access those assets. – Northwest Regional Education Laboratory

At its most basic level, the asset mapping process will provide leaders with an inventory of key resources that can be utilized in a development effort. A more comprehensive asset mapping initiative will provide a deep understanding of the key networks and cultural attitudes that shape the regional economy, indicate “gap” areas that require further investment, and provide a baseline by which to judge future progress toward regional prosperity. – U.S. Dept. of Labor and Training Administration

Community Asset Mapping is a capacity-focused way of strengthening communities. This positive approach can be used instead of the typical focus on a community’s needs and problems to start community development work. The community assets mapping approach:

• starts with what is present in a community
• concentrates on the agenda-building and problem-solving capacity of the residents
• stresses local determination, investment, creativity, and control. –Mapping Assets for Biloxi’s Youth

Asset mapping identifies resources or assets in the community. It is essential in identifying local organizations and businesses that have resources that can meet residents’ needs. Asset mapping is an inventory of the businesses, organizations, and institutions that help create a community. The asset mapping process identifies local resources, such as: organizations; businesses; and schools that have the potential to provide programs, services, funds, or in-kind gifts to a center. U.S. Dept. of HUD, Connecting to Success – Neighborhood Networks Asset Mapping Guide

In short, asset mapping is simply identifying things of value (assets) in a community. Once that is done, it’s time to figure out ways to capitalize on those assets.

Why Coaches Vote Republican

2009-09-02T04:54:00.000-07:00

Interesting article in today's Wall Street Journal about why it appears that most college football coaches vote Republican. It should be fodder for plenty of discussion, especially the comments of Coach Lou Holtz:

Mr. Holtz, who coached Notre Dame to its last national championship in 1988, draws a parallel between the standards and rules that most coaches set for their players and the Republican vision of how American society ought to operate.

"You aren't entitled to anything. You don't inherit anything. You get what you earn—your position on the team," Mr. Holtz said. "You're treated like everybody else. You're held accountable for your actions. You understand that your decisions affect other people on that team…There's winners, there's losers, and there's competitiveness."

Latest World Internet Statistics

2009-08-31T06:12:00.001-07:00

From the August 31 edition of Internet World Stats News comes the following:

The new total for the world population is estimated at 6,767,805,208 persons for mid-year 2009. This represents an increase of 91,684,920 persons, a 1.4% population increase since one-year ago.

On the other hand, our mid-year 2009 estimate for world Internet users is 1,668,870,408. Internet penetration is 24.7%. This means that approximately one out of every four persons in the world uses the Internet. The new user distribution by geographic regions can be observed in the world stats table.

Why strategic plans fail

2009-08-28T03:28:00.000-07:00

I did an Internet search for "why strategic plans fail," and was presented with one post that purported to contain the top five reasons and one post that contained 37 reasons. The latter was a blogger who said that he was asking his clients to give him more reasons so that he could have 50 reasons. Perhaps I'm oversimplifying this subject, but I am of the opinion that there are two main reasons why strategic plans fail. This assumes that the plan is sound in the first place. The first reason is that no one is responsible for achieving the goals and the second reason is that there is no accountability. If I had to add a third reason, it would be that the environment has changed.

Speaking of strategic planning, I'll be conducting a workshop presented by the Stennis Institute of Government on "How to facilitate a strategic planning retreat" on Thursday, September 3, in Jackson. More information about that at the Stennis Institute Web site training page.

What's your story?

2009-08-26T06:56:00.001-07:00

Stories are powerful when used correctly in meetings. Not just any story though. Stories should have certain characteriestics. Professor Stew Friedman of Wharton's Leadership Program says that the use of stories can provide valuable leadership lessons and opportunities. Here's his advice:

A good leadership story has the power to engage hearts and minds. It has these six crucial elements:

Draws on your real past and lessons you've learned from it.
Resonates emotionally with your audience because it's relevant to them.
Inspires your audience because it's fueled by your passion.
Shows the struggle between your goal and the obstacles you faced in pursuing it.
Illustrates with a vivid example.
Teaches an important lesson.

Rural Economic Development Strategies

2009-08-25T05:32:00.000-07:00

A meeting was held in Clarksdale last week to discuss the future of the community after a local company closed its doors and left 76 workers without jobs. The Clarksdale Press Register article provides a good summary of the meeting and the various perspectives of the public officials and community leaders. Opinions ranged from looking on the bright side for what we had to blaming the media. Pete Johnson, former co-chair of the Delta Regional Authority had this observation:

“For us to sit here and think we are not on the road to extinction we are kidding ourselves,” said Johnson after discussing the dramatic population declines in Clarksdale and other rural cities. “We are looking at a 40 year trend in rural America and it seems nothing is going to change that trend. Why do we sit here and think we can hope for an automobile plant or hope for these other things. Hope isn’t going to feed this gentleman’s family that just got laid off.”

The data support Johnson’s comments. Eleven counties in the Magnolia state touch the Mississippi River; nine of them lost population between 2000 and 2008, Tunica and DeSoto being the exceptions. During that same period 39 counties lost population. Three of those are on the Gulf Coast and lost population due to Hurricane Camille. The population of Mississippi, like that of most states, tends to be clustered in a few counties. In Mississippi’s case, 42.5% of the population live in the 10 most populous counties.

Understanding this data is one of the keys for rural Mississippi’s economic development strategies.

IRS on YouTube - Who would have thought?

2009-08-24T07:37:00.000-07:00

IRS Press Release-

The Internal Revenue Service today announced the availability of video and audio products to help taxpayers take full advantage of the 2009 tax provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The IRS has launched a YouTube video site and an iTunes podcast site to better serve taxpayers. People can visit the video site at www.youtube.com/irsvideos to view information about the Recovery, tax tips and how-to videos. These videos will be in English, Spanish, American Sign Language and other languages. The YouTube focus will be on the provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Videos will highlight the $8,000 first-time homebuyer’s credit for those who purchase a house this year, the sales or excise tax deduction on new car purchases and the expanded credits for education and energy conservation. The IRS YouTube channel will debut with seven Recovery videos in English and ASL and eight in Spanish. Also, included will be a video on using the IRS Withholding Calculator. Many workers received the Making Work Pay tax credit in April through their tax withholding at work. However, people who have more than one job or working spouses should especially check their withholding to ensure neither too much nor too little is being withheld. People can use the calculator to help determine if they should make adjustments. People can visit the audio site at iTunes to listen to IRS podcasts about ARRA tax credits. People without an iTunes account can hear those same podcasts, in English and Spanish, on IRS.gov’s Multimedia Center.

Deliberate Practice

2009-08-21T05:59:00.001-07:00

Yesterday someone told me that I seemed so natural and at ease speaking before a group that it must come naturally. Ha! Early in my career I was so afraid of public speaking that I took a speech course at a local community college to force myself to talk in front of a group. And then I practiced, practiced, practiced before giving a speech. Some would call it deliberative practice, the idea that experts in many fields of endeavor, especially sports, concentrate relentlessly on technique as opposed to outcome, set specific goals and get feedback and use it. A-Rod, Tiger Woods, Michael Jordon and Jay Leno come to mind.

Jay Leno?

Yes, Jay Leno. An article in today’s Wall Street Journal says that in preparation for his upcoming primetime show Leno -

He arrives at NBC Burbank studios at 8 a.m., an hour before anyone else. He spends his days involved in details like designing the seating layout for the new studio. To tune his act, he has done almost weekly stand-up performances at the Mirage Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas and the Comedy and Magic Club in Hermosa Beach, Calif., as well as free shows in Detroit and Wilmington, Ohio, that attracted as many as 20,000 people each. It is all part of his plan to woo as many constituents as he can —audiences, network executives and local NBC affiliates. He runs four miles a day and has lost 12 pounds in the past couple of months.

Sounds like deliberate practice to me. Good luck, Jay. I’ll be watching on Sepember 14 on NBC.

Best and Worst College Degrees by Salary

2009-08-18T22:50:00.000-07:00

With colleges starting back this month it is useful to look at the earning potential of various degrees. According to a recent survey, below are the Top Ten and Bottom Ten degrees. If your degree is not listed below check out the complete list at Payscale.com.

Top Ten	Starting	Mid-Career
Aerospace Engineering	$59,600	$109,000
Chemical Engineering	$65,700	$107,000
Computer Engineering	$61,700	$105,000
Electrical Engineering	$60,200	$102,000
Economics	$50,200	$101,000
Physics	$51,100	$98,800
Mechanical Engineering	$58,900	$98,300
Computer Science	$56,400	$97,400
Industrial Engineering	$57,100	$95,000
Environmental Engineering	$53,400	$94,500

Bottom Ten	Starting	Mid-career
Drama	$35,600	$56,600
Fine Arts	$35,800	$56,300
Hospitality and Tourism	$37,000	$54,300
Education	$36,200	$54,100
Horticulture	$37,200	$53,400
Spanish	$35,600	$52,600
Music	$34,000	$52,000
Theology	$34,800	$51,500
Elementary Education	$33,000	$42,400
Social Work	$33,400	$41,600

The Importance of Details

2009-08-18T04:41:00.000-07:00

One recent morning I received an e-mail inviting me to attend an event that was to occur in a couple of days. The invitation was from a community leader who had formed a monthly discussion group regarding an issue that was important to the community. Indeed, this person is what I would call a great community builder. I had been to the discussion group a year earlier and found it well-intended, but lacking very much honesty among the discussants, myself included. I decided to give it – and me – another chance even if I had to squeeze it in around other appointments.

Now to make my reservation. I was already feeling better for making the decision to attend. The e-mail message instructed me call a certain person at a certain number. I called and asked to speak to the designated person. A rather gruff voice said, “She’s not here. Would you like her voicemail?” I replied in the affirmative and was connected to the voicemail of a man who was obviously not the right person. I hung up and called back. It was instant replay. By now I was frustrated. So much so that I decided that if the group did not have its act together any more than that I would not attend.

Then I started thinking. Was this my excuse for not attending an event that I “should” attend, or did I have a responsibility to overlook the poor execution of details by the organizer? I wondered how many others had called and decided not to attend the event because of the telephone snafu. After I made my decision, I reflected on how important it is to pay attention to the DETAILS when putting on an event.

Your town's name may be a big asset.

2009-08-16T21:02:00.001-07:00

What’s in a name?

A lot if your town’s name is Sturgis.

(photo courtesy Steve Corbitt)

During the weekend of August 15-16, 2009 thousands of motorcyclists (bikers) descended on towns named Sturgis. The Grandaddy of course is Sturgis, South Dakota where bikers congragate for a full week of activities. Statistics are not in yet for this year, but in 2008 there 400,000 in attendance, 66 marriage licenses issued, $10.45 million in taxable sales, $418,932 South Dakota sales taxes collected, $217,213 Sturgis city sales taxes collected and 543 tons of garbage hauled. The event has grown so big that other towns in the U.S. named Sturgis have been having there own biker festivals during the same weekend. More…

In Sturgis, Mississippi over 850 bikers pre-registered for the event, and many more showed up without being pre-registered. Sturgis Mayor Walter Turner said the event is great for the city and the bikers and families are welcome. In advance of the even city crews performed such tasks as tree trimming, grass mowing, making sidewalk repairs, spraying for mosquitos and working to control fire ants.

Most Prestigious Occupations

2009-08-10T06:37:00.000-07:00

The latest Harris Poll lists the Most Prestigious Occupations. The Top Five are:

Firefighter
Scientist
Doctor
Nurse
Teacher

The bottom four are:

Real estate agent/broker
Accountant
Stock broker
Actor

What would happen if one of the greatest musicians played on a street corner in your town - anonymously!

2009-08-09T13:51:00.001-07:00

What would happen if one of the greatest musicians played on a street corner in your town - anonymously!

Joshua Bell is one of the world's greatest violinists. His instrument of choice is a multimillion-dollar Stradivarius. If he played it for spare change, incognito, outside a bustling Metro stop in Washington, would anyone notice?

The Washington Post found out.

Click here for the rest of the story

Teenagers and Success

2009-07-28T12:40:00.000-07:00

A national survey of 1,817 teens, conducted by Search Institute – Teen Voice 2009: The Untapped Strengths of 15-Year-Olds – finds that a majority of 15-year-olds lack high levels of each of the concepts: “sparks,” “teen voice” and “relationships and opportunities.” These three factors, when experienced at high levels and combined, provide young people the support they need to set and keep a positive course in the midst of a critical time in their lives. More...

City Flags

2009-07-15T20:41:00.000-07:00

The Mississippi Municipal League conference on the Gulf Coast opened with a parade of city flags. Some of the city officials in towns without flags wished they had a city flag.

What makes a great flag? The answer to that question can be found in a great little booklet compiled by Ted Kaye and published by the North American Vexillological Association. Here are the five basic principles to create an outstanding flag for your organization, city, tribe, company, family, neighborhood or even country:

1. Keep It Simple – the flag should be so simple that a child can draw it from memory;

2. Use Meaningful Symbolism – the flag’s images, colors or patterns should relate to what it symbolizes;

3. Use Two or Three Basic Colors – Limit the number of colors on the flag to three, which will contrast well and come from the standard color set;

4. No Lettering or Seals – Never use writing of any kind or an organization’s seal; and

5. Be Distinctive or Be Related – Avoid duplicating other flags, but use similarities to show connections.

Inaugural Prayers

2009-07-06T05:05:00.000-07:00

There were quite a few inaugurations in Mississippi last week. At most, if not all, of them a prayer were delivered by a local minister. Even Presidential inaugurations feature a prayer.

Steve Waldman, Editor-in-Chief of Beliefnet, has performed a great public service by collecting the texts of all Presidential inaugural prayers from 1937 to date. Click here to read them.

How to apply for broadband funding.

2009-07-03T07:33:00.001-07:00

Information about how to apply for broadband funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

AGENCIES: Rural Utilities Service (RUS), Department of Agriculture, and National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) and solicitation of applications.

SUMMARY: RUS and NTIA announce general policy and application procedures for broadband initiatives established pursuant to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). RUS is establishing the Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP) which may extend loans, grants, and loan/grant combinations to facilitate broadband deployment in rural areas. NTIA is establishing the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) which makes available grants for deploying broadband infrastructure in unserved and underserved areas in the United States, enhancing broadband capacity at public computer centers, and promoting sustainable broadband adoption projects. In facilitating the expansion of broadband communications services and infrastructure, both programs will advance the objectives of the Recovery Act to spur job creation and stimulate long-term economic growth and opportunity.

DATES: Applications will be accepted between July 14, 2009 at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time (ET) until August 14, 2009 at 5:00 p.m. ET.

APPLICATION SUBMISSION: The application packages for electronic and paper submissions will be available at http://www.broadbandusa.gov.

The Two Most Admirable Qualities in a Leader

2009-07-01T07:03:00.000-07:00

The Two Most Admirable Qualities in a Leader When asked what they look for and admire in a leader and in a colleague, people put honesty at #1. But the second-highest requirement of a leader — that he or she be forward-looking — wasn’t applied to colleagues. 72% of respondents wanted leaders to be forward-looking, but only 27% looked for that trait in a colleague.

SOURCE: “To Lead, Create a Shared Vision” in Harvard Business Review, January 2009

How Do We Pay for Health Care?

2009-06-29T06:09:00.001-07:00

Posted by philhardwick on June 29, 2009

There seem to be weekly snapshot pools on what people think of health care reform. A better tool, in my opinion, for guaging the public sentiment on this issue is a report prepared for the Kettering Foundation that was released June 19, 2009 at briefings in Washington, DC. The Stennis Institute held one of the forums last year for this report. Here’s more info about the report:

The report, titled Public Thinking about Coping with the Cost of Health Care: How Do We Pay for What We Need, presents outcomes of the 2008 National Issues Forums (NIF) where participants used the issue book titled Coping with the Cost of Health Care: How Do We Pay for What We Need? in deliberative public forums around the country.

The following are excerpts from the report’s executive summary.

This report examines public thinking about the rising cost of health care–the values, thoughts, insights, and struggles voiced by a diverse collection of thousands of Americans in deliberative forums in 40 states and the District of Columbia from July 2008 to January 2009. Forum participants gathered in educational and faith-based institutions, clubs and community centers, and libraries to deliberate about an issue that is currently of central importance to this nation–the challenges associated with the rising cost of health care. (report page 6)

Areas of Common Ground

Despite the complexity of the issue, participants in a great many forums did find areas of common ground.

People agreed that the issue of cost–the cost of providing both health care and health insurance–poses the greatest threat to the system

They favored providing at least minimal insurance to all Americans, especially children.

Many strongly endorsed increasing wellness and prevention programs, particularly in schools, saying these could help decrease health-care costs in the long run. Participants also favored educating the public about making good personal health decisions, and providing incentives for better behavior.

Most important–and despite the fact that they did not reach consensus on every aspect of the issue–participants agreed that the nation’s health-care system is in dire need of a complete overhaul and that increased public deliberation and dialogue is crucial to moving forward and reaching that goal. (report page 4)

The report Table of Contents includes:

Executive Summary: What Mattered Most

A Framework for Public Deliberation

Health-Care Costs and the Economy

Finger-Pointing…and Some Nuanced Thinking

Health as a Public Good

Areas of Common Ground

Questions and Answers about the Forums

Appendices
Postforum Questionnaire Results and Demographics
Methodology
Issue Map

About National Issues Forums

About Public Agenda and the Report’s Authors

About the Kettering Foundation

The report can be downloaded by clicking here, or by contacting the Ruffolo Company at 800-600-4060 (phone) or 937-388-0494 (Fax) and ordering ITEM # 10184.

Using the Internet to Communicate

2009-05-26T06:48:00.000-07:00

I’m developing a one-day workshop on the above subject. It is geared for elected officials who want to use the Internet to communicate with their constituents. Anyone can attend, but elected and public officials are who it is designed for. I’ll cover things like e-newsletters, blogs, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc. and will focus as much on content, legal issues, etc. (Two etc’s in one sentence!) although there will be a how-to aspect. It will be offered by the Stennis Institute in June. We will be announcing it soon, but just thought I’d give you a heads-up. E-mail me at phil.hardwick@msstate.edu more info.

New Graduates: Here are three keys to success.

2009-05-11T05:38:00.000-07:00

Success in the workplace is a complicated matter. Nevertheless, I have found that there are three basic things that are characteristic of people who have successful careers. Might as well label them as The Three C's.

Competency - First and foremost, a person must be able to do the job, whether it's flying a plane, driving a truck or operating a word processor.

Communication - The most successful people have an ability to communicate, especially to speak well in front of a group.

Connections - My students want to argue with me when I tell them how important this is. For better or worse, it's a fact of life. A better job comes from knowing people, expanding one's network and especially displaying one's work to others.

Political Polling

2009-05-06T06:25:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was municipal election day where I live. When I arrived home there were 10 messages on my answering device from mayoral candidates or their supporters. Actually, the messages were from a computer. No candidates personally called me. These messages were simply one manifestation of how technology is playing a more dominant role in local politics. Technology is also playing a role in political polling and research. If you’ve been following my blog lately you may have noticed that I have been posting Brad Chism’s Zatapulse surveys. When I posted the first one I received a couple of e-mails from people who told me how the validity of this type of polling was questionable. Well, the mayoral race is over and Brad is probably smiling. The Zatapulse polls proved more accurate than others. Judge for yourself:

Candidate 5/2 Zatapulse survey Actual Primary Results

H Johnson 26% 27.6%
Crisler 26% 27.2%
Melton 18% 18.0%
Hohrn 11% 17.6%
Fair 4% 3.7%
Other
Candidates 7% 5.9%
Undecided 8% 0.0%

Total 100% 100%

_____

The following is from Brad Chism’s report:

Why we did this: We had several friends in the Jackson Mayor’s race but no candidates who were clients. We were intrigued by the dynamics of this race and decided to do some survey work for public dissemination.About the surveys. These five samples of 500+ voter phone households were rough approximations of historical voter registration and turnout. While we did not track the respondents self-identification by age, race, and gender we did not weighted the survey by these demographics or by voter frequency.

Methodology We used an interactive, automated call with keypad responses to record results. The numbers were scrambled and randomly dialed with a quota of respondents by ward. As the name suggests, our ZATAPULSE takes the pulse of the electorate. It is not an “MRI”. It is a useful tool for short surveys of this nature and we have used it for more than 200 races across the country. We employ a similar methodology as Survey USA or Rasmussen.

About Zata3 Zata|3 is a political consulting firm for Democratic candidates and progressive causes. Company President Brad Chism splits time between his Washington, DC and Jackson, MS offices. For each of the last three years, Zata|3 had won more awards by the AAPC for its telephone voter contact programs than any other firm in America. For more information, go to www.zata3.com.

7 Measures of Success: What Remarkable Associations Do

2008-08-03T19:47:00.001-07:00

From the book, 7 Measures of Success: What Remarkable Associations Do That Others Don’t

Measure 1: Customer Service Culture - a “we’re here to serve you” approach, not only for individual encounters, but built into the entire organizational structure;

Measure 2: Alignment of Products and Services with Mission - doing what it takes to make sure offerings are consistent with mission, even in the midst of change;

Measure 3: Data-Driven Strategies - knowing how to analyze data and determine actions based on solid foundations;

Measure 4: Dialogue and Engagement - the ability to keep an internal conversation going among staff and volunteers regarding direction and priorities;

Measure 5: CEO as a Broker of Ideas - a CEO who takes steps to facilitate visionary thinking in his or her staff;

Measure 6: Organizational Adaptability - knowing when and when not to change in a fast-paced environment; and

Measure 7: Alliance Building - seeking partners and projects that complement the mission and purpose.

This book is available from the American Society of Association Executives online bookstore.

Why not a community calendar?

2008-03-10T12:40:00.000-07:00

This morning I received a request to make a presentation at a seminar in a nearby town. I had to turn it down because I was already scheduled to do a similar presentation with another group in the same town. When I had to decline, the person who invited said that he wished the other group had checked with their group first. Hmm.

Sounds like an opportunity for an online community calendar. Does your town have one?

Tell your mayor about this

2008-03-09T09:42:00.000-07:00

The Working to Play: Design for Public Officials Conference is coming up! Scheduled for March 27, 2008 at Giles Hall on Mississippi State University's campus, the symposium will focus on improving the design and livability of Mississippi's towns and cities by giving public officials the tools to become advocates on good design, who are capable of leading their community through the design process while ensuring that all voices are heard. The 2nd Design for Public Officials Conference will focus on the economic and design importance of recreation, the arts, historic preservation and tourism in Mississippi communities.
Info at http://blufishdesign.com/client/cstc

What is a Kite Community?

2007-03-21T04:45:00.000-07:00

A Kite Community is one where many people play a part in making the community soar. In Kite communities, individuals know that they can't do it alone, that they are part of an effort that requires others to "fly the kite." Flying a kite takes a string, a tail, some wind and a person. Remove any one of these and the kite does not fly very well, if at all. In coming posts, I'll share some Kite Community stories and tell you how you can get involved in making your community a Kite Community.

The name comes from a poem entitled, "Who flies the kite?" To read the poem, go to http://www.philhardwick.com/kite.htm.