Progress 08/15/11 to 08/14/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Delta Data Center activities in 2011 included working with local, state and federal agencies to provide timely and accurate information to the public during the spring's historic flooding in the Delta. This information included road closings and openings, monitoring the main line and backwater levees, and the numerous protocols and procedures for dealing with flooded properties and re-entry into flooded areas. Workforce training is vital to the continued health of Delta businesses, and the Delta Data Center spends a considerable amount of time and resources ensuring programs on all levels are maximized so people already located and doing business in our region can remain economically viable with a stable and skilled workforce. In 2011, the Delta Data Center provided all the research, demographics, and visual aids used to highlight the Delta Workforce Investment Area initiative and continues to assist the workforce pilot coordinator with data collection and visual aids. The Delta Council Adult Literacy Program was started six years ago to help the more than 40 percent of people in the region who are functionally illiterate. The Delta Council and civic leaders ensure a pool of participants, privacy, a sound learning environment, and issues such as transportation or health do not derail progress. The Delta Data Center continues to provide all literacy demographics and printed materials for the program. Another goal of the Data Center, in cooperation with the Mississippi Delta Developers Association, is to combat the perceived disparity of the workforce in the Mississippi Delta and to provide more suitable access to statistics, site location, and key indicators for business and industry interested in locating to the region through technology and data availability. The Center outlined, developed, and built a new website for the MDDA. It is continually updated to meet the specific needs of local economic developers. The Southern Rural Development Center, in partnership with Mississippi Delta Developers Association, implemented a survey in 18 counties in the state's Delta region to provide updated information to both regional economic developers and industries regarding the wages and benefits of specific occupations in its industries. Human resources managers in manufacturing and food processing industries were the main targets for collecting this crucial information to help in recruiting new industries. The survey is ongoing, and preliminary results should be available spring of 2012. PARTICIPANTS: Lionel J. Beaulieu, Professor and Director - Southern Rural Development Center; Roberto Gallardo, Assistant Extension Professor - Southern Rural Development Center; Andy Ellis, IT Project Coordinator located at the Delta Data Center in Stoneville, MS. In addition, leadership from the Delta Council participated in carrying out the goals and objectives of the project. TARGET AUDIENCES: Local, state and national leaders and policy makers from the 18 Delta counties as well as agricultural producers, business people, and citizens are the targeted audience for this initiative. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
The Data Center acted as the central hub for flood information in the Delta, sending daily emails and posting updates on the Delta Council website, which received more than 150,000 hits for flood information from May to August 2011. The Delta Workforce Investment Area now serves as a one-stop shop pilot for the region's existing and prospective employers, with a new work force pilot coordinator who ensures employers' needs are met with the least amount of interruption and confusion, which could be caused by working with multiple entities. As a result, more employers took advantage of workforce training programs that will help prevent job erosion, plant closings, or phase-outs. The Delta Council Adult Literacy Program includes 175 participants in more than 32 Programs in 11 counties and 16 towns. Participants are now reading at a first or second grade level. Others with rudimentary skills were able to immediately seek better jobs with increased responsibilities or enroll in GED or junior college programs. Some participants started their own businesses. The new Mississippi Delta Developers Association website features interactive data sets, population information, demographic data and radial maps for use by local developers and interested businesses. This information, along with highlighting positive workforce training impacts, can help business and industry moving to the region.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 08/15/09 to 08/14/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Delta Data Center activities in 2011 included working with local, state and federal agencies to provide timely and accurate information to the public during the spring's historic flooding in the Delta. This information included road closings and openings, monitoring the main line and backwater levees, and the numerous protocols and procedures for dealing with flooded properties and re-entry into flooded areas. Workforce training is vital to the continued health of Delta businesses, and the Delta Data Center spends a considerable amount of time and resources ensuring programs on all levels are maximized so people already located and doing business in our region can remain economically viable with a stable and skilled workforce. In 2011, the Delta Data Center provided all the research, demographics, and visual aids used to highlight the Delta Workforce Investment Area initiative and continues to assist the workforce pilot coordinator with data collection and visual aids. The Delta Council Adult Literacy Program was started six years ago to help the more than 40 percent of people in the region who are functionally illiterate. The Delta Council and civic leaders ensure a pool of participants, privacy, a sound learning environment, and issues such as transportation or health do not derail progress. The Delta Data Center continues to provide all literacy demographics and printed materials for the program. Another goal of the Data Center, in cooperation with the Mississippi Delta Developers Association, is to combat the perceived disparity of the workforce in the Mississippi Delta and to provide more suitable access to statistics, site location, and key indicators for business and industry interested in locating to the region through technology and data availability. The Center outlined, developed, and built a new website for the MDDA. It is continually updated to meet the specific needs of local economic developers. The Southern Rural Development Center, in partnership with Mississippi Delta Developers Association, implemented a survey in 18 counties in the state's Delta region to provide updated information to both regional economic developers and industries regarding the wages and benefits of specific occupations in its industries. Human resources managers in manufacturing and food processing industries were the main targets for collecting this crucial information to help in recruiting new industries. The survey is ongoing, and preliminary results should be available spring of 2012. PARTICIPANTS: Lionel J. Beaulieu, Professor and Director, Roberto Gallardo, Assistant Extension Professor, Andy Ellis, IT Project Coordinator located at the Delta Data Center in Stoneville, MS. In addition, leadership from the Delta Council participated in carrying out the goals and objectives of the project. TARGET AUDIENCES: Local, state and national leaders and policy makers from the 18 Delta counties as well as agriculatural producers, business people, and citizens are the targeted audience for this initiative. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
The Data Center acted as the central hub for flood information in the Delta, sending daily emails and posting updates on the Delta Council website, which received more than 150,000 hits for flood information from May to August 2011. The Delta Workforce Investment Area now serves as a one-stop shop pilot for the region's existing and prospective employers, with a new work force pilot coordinator who ensures employers' needs are met with the least amount of interruption and confusion, which could be caused by working with multiple entities. As a result, more employers took advantage of workforce training programs that will help prevent job erosion, plant closings, or phase-outs. The Delta Council Adult Literacy Program includes 175 participants in more than 32 Programs in 11 counties and 16 towns. Participants are now reading at a first or second grade level. Others with rudimentary skills were able to immediately seek better jobs with increased responsibilities or enroll in GED or junior college programs. Some participants started their own businesses. The new Mississippi Delta Developers Association website features interactive data sets, population information, demographic data and radial maps for use by local developers and interested businesses. This information, along with highlighting positive workforce training impacts, can help business and industry moving to the region.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 08/15/10 to 08/14/11
Outputs
OUTPUTS: (1) Invested in two MS State University Extension educators to spearhead innovative community and economic development activities in the region, in partnership with Mississippi State University and the Delta Council; (2) Supported and strengthened the work of the Delta Data Center, a facility housed in the Delta Council office, in providing local government leaders and economic development organizations with timely and up-to-date data/information that can guide and strengthen their local decision-making activities; (3) Helped organize and complete the annual Delta Economic Progress Report which showcases the important agricultural and non-agricultural activities in the region; (4) Distributed 19 studies (a regional report as well as one on each of the 18 MS Delta counties) information decision-makers in region of the economic value and impacts of agricultural production and processing in these geographic areas; (5) Updated the county-level data profiles that offer a statistical snapshot of each county in MS on 3 dozen variables; these attractive two-page reports are being used as part of the information packet being provided to firms that are exploring the feasibility of locating to the region; (6) Developed the instrumentation needed to examine the economic impact of the Delta Research and Education Center in Stoneville, MS on the vitality of the region; (7) Completed a county-level wage and benefits survey and developed instrument to conduct a region-wide wage and benefits survey. PARTICIPANTS: Lionel J. Beaulieu, Director; Al Myles, Interim Associate Director; Roberto Gallardo, Research Associate; Andy Ellis IT Project Coordinator; Amonzo Kincaid, Extension Associate TARGET AUDIENCES: policymakers, economic developers, businesses PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Studies completed on the economic value of agriculture and processing in the region revealed that agricultural activities contributed to an estimated total employment impact of 55,539 jobs or 19.3% of the region's employment. Moreover, such activities contributed an estimated $1.47 billion or 16.1% of the region's total income and an estimated $581 million of tax revenues for federal, state, and local governments.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 08/15/09 to 08/14/10
Outputs
OUTPUTS: The Delta Data Center of Mississippi State University has been instrumental in assisting the development, progress, and completion of many projects in the Mississippi Delta Region by providing real-time data responses to requests. Many of these projects are recurring, while several represent special requests from business, political, and civic leaders in the 18 Delta and part-Delta counties of Northwest Mississippi. The Delta Data Center provided the region with necessary information to retain jobs, grow businesses, and provide quick response data to companies looking to relocate in the Delta Region. The Delta Data Center offered services such as assisting businesses with site selection, workforce training and development, population studies, industry growth statistics/reports and unemployment figures. These services played a major role in the decision-making of industries looking to locate and/or to stay in the region, as well as utilization by partners to receive funds and provide best information on the work they are doing to improve the economy and quality of life in the region. The Delta Data center was instrumental in collecting reports from MSU agricultural specialists, taking flooded crop field photos as well as collecting flooded crop field photos from farms that were directly impacted by the heavy rainfall. The Delta Data Center developed visual maps of the Geneese and Wyoming Rail Line, which runs from Bolivar County of Northwest Mississippi to Lowndes County, located in Northeast MS. The maps were utilized to graphically demonstrate the importance of re-opening the rail line. The Delta Council Adult Literacy Program was started over six years ago to take a bite out of the staggering number of people in the region who are functionally illiterate. The Delta Data Center continues to provide all demographics about the literacy for the program, and is responsible for all materials that are distributed to community leaders and participants in meetings to increase the number of people that participate. The Delta Data Center continues to research and charge the impact of foreign imports and provide them to the catfish industry leadership for efforts with public officials and opinion makers to reverse that trend. The SRDC has created a Data Center that provides information on more than three dozen variables for every county in the region. The Center funded a series of economic impact analyses that showcase the value and importance of agricultural production and processing to the 18-counties that constitute the Mississippi Delta Region. PARTICIPANTS: Lionel J. Beaulieu, Professor and Director of the Southern Rural Development Center and Roberto Gallardo, Aaron Robinson and Andy Ellis (all Extension Associates with the Delta Data Center) worked on this project. In addition, leadership from the Delta Council participated in carrying out the goals and objectives of the project. TARGET AUDIENCES: Local, state and national leaders and policy makers from the 18 Delta counties as well as agricultural producers, business people, and citizens are the targeted audience for this initiative. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
This project represents a proactive effort to strengthen the long-term socioeconomic health of the region. It is doing so via the pursuit of a host of activities such as: (1) Investing in two Extension educators who are spearheading innovative community and economic development activities in the region in partnership with Mississippi State University; (2) Supporting and strengthening the work of the Delta Data Center, a facility housed in the Delta Council office that is providing local governments and economic development organizations with timely and up-to-date data/information that can guide and strengthen their local decision-making activities; (3) Launching of research and outreach education programs that explore the feasibility of alternative economic development strategies in the region; and (4) Providing timely and useful communication to local decision-makers, organizations, and citizens on important socioeconomic challenges and opportunities in the region.
Publications
- Delta Economic Progress Report published annually by Delta Council and through standardized regional and local charts and graphs that are displayed on regional websites such as Delta Council, Mississippi Delta Developers Association, and all local Chambers of Commerce and Development Foundations in the region. 2009
- Beaulieu, Lionel J. (Bo) and Marcus Littles. A Look at the Mid South Delta Region: A Glimpse of its Assets, Socioeconomic Complexion, and Emerging Opportunities. Southern Rural Development Center, Publication Series # 242. Mississippi State, MS. 2009. Special reports on The Economic Impact of Agricultural Production and Processing in the Delta Region.
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