Mississippi Economic Council
 Leadership Mississippi
The Leadership Letter is a monthly newsletter dedicated to announcing current events related to MEC's Leadership Mississippi Program. It is a special publication that highlights alumni and their outstanding work and achievements in the business economy across the state of Mississippi.
Quote of the Month

"What you do has far greater impact than what you say." 
- Stephen Covey

Leadership Mississippi would like to wish all of our alumni a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

This is the start of a new decade, with promises of great things in store for you!

May your year as a leader be as fulfilling and enjoyable as you desire.
We look forward to working closely with you this year!
            
The Leadership Mississippi Class of 2020 will begin sessions next month!

We have selected the best and brightest leaders from a highly competitive pool of over 150 applicants. The Class of 2020 will become the next cohort of leaders to experience and cherish this program as did you, our alumni!

The prospective class has been notified of their selection and we will be announcing them in the February newsletter!


EXCITING NEW THINGS ARE UNDERWAY FOR LEADERSHIP MISSISSIPPI!

Special Thanks to All of Our 2019 Alumni Contributors
  • Linda R. Aldy (Class of 1982) - Aldy & Company
  • R. Mark Alexander, Jr. (Class of 2008) - Balch & Bingham, LLP  
  • David L. Allen (Class of 1983) - Mississippi Blood Services, Inc.
  • Sidney Allen, Jr. (Class of 2010) - Butler Snow, LLP
  • Robert J. Barnes (Class of 1994) - PriorityOne Bank
  • Carlos Bell (Class of 2010) - Mississippi State Port Authority At Gulfport
  • Michael Bellipanni (Class of 2015) - Northcentral Electric Power Association
  • Heather Farris Bennett (Class of 2017) - W.G. Yates & Sons Construction Company
  • Russell Bennett (Class of 2014) - Entergy Mississippi, Inc.
  • Leonard Bentz (Class of 2012) - Southern Mississippi Planning & Development District
  • Paul Bertucci (Class of 2008) - F. E. B. Distributing Company, Inc.
  • Christa Bishop (Class of 2017) - Cooperative Energy 
  • Steven Blaylock II (Class of 2017) - North Mississippi Health Services
  • Dianne Bolen (Class of 2011) - Retired
  • Barry Bouchillon (Class of 1980) - State Farm Insurance Companies
  • Mark S. Bounds (Class of 1983) - NAI/Mark S. Bounds Realty Partners
  • Jerome Brown (Class of 2014) - The First Bank, A National Banking Association
  • Greg Burks (Class of 2017) - Renasant Bank
  • William L. Burle, Jr. (Class of 1990) - W. L. Burle Engineers, P.A.
  • Odean Busby (Class of 1985) - PriorityOne Bank
  • Augustus L. Collins (Class of 2012) - MINACT, Inc.
  • Martha C. Cooke (Class of 2016) - MISSCO
  • Goerge P. Cossar III (Class of 2007) - Entergy Mississippi, Inc.
  • James Covington (Class of 1984) - First Bank
  • Richard Cowart (Class of 1974) - Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz
  • Angela Curry (Class of 2007) - Greenwood-Leflore Industrial Board
  • William Daly (Class of 1980) - The Personnel Department
  • John M. Dean, Jr. (Class of 1974) - LANDMART/ Dean Land & Realty Company
  • Dave Dennis (Class of 1993) - Specialty Contractors & Associates, Inc.
  • J. Kane Ditto (Class of 1975) - StateStreet Group, LLC
  • Portia B. Espy (Class of 2010) - The William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation
  • Jan Farve (Class of 2016) - Merchants Foodservice 
  • Keith Ferguson (Class of 2009) - LogoStoreUSA, Inc
  • Robert Gibbs (Class of 1982) - Gibbs Travis, PLLC 
  • Allison L. Graves (Class of 1997)
  • Thomas G. Gresham (Class of 1987) - Double Quick - Gresham Petroleum
  • Walton Gresham, III (Class of 1976) - Gresham Petroleum Company
  • Rodney L. Grogan (Class of 2003) - MMC Materials, Inc. 
  • Rodney Harris (Class of 2014) - Mississippi National Guard
  • John Hatmaker, Jr. (Class of 1990) - Tronox
  • Jamie Higdon (Class of 2013) - TempStaff, Inc.
  • William Hodges (Class of 2017) - Hancock Whitney Bank
  • Jamie Holder (Class of 2009) - Hol-Mac Corporation
  • Ryan Holmes (Class of 2015) - Dungan Engineering, P.A.
  • Rosalyn Howard (Class of 2016) - Mississippi Nurses Foundation
  • Chuck Howell (Class of 1985) - Pontotoc Electric Power Association
  • Edmond Hughes (Class of 2012) - Ingalls Shipbuilding
  • Susan Hunt (Class of 2008) - Retired
  • Elizabeth Corso Joachim (Class of 2009) - Corso, Inc.
  • David Johnson, Sr. (Class of 2000) - BankPlus
  • Samuel Jones (Class of 2010) - Jones County Junior College
  • Rex Kelly (Class of 1979) - Strategic Communication
  • Carmen Kyle (Class of 2018) - Southaven Chamber of Commerce
  • Amanda Lott (Class of 2018) - Irby Construction Company
  • Robert Luke (Class of 1988) - LPK Architects
  • Nora Miller (Class of 2008) - Mississippi University for Women
  • Melanie Morgan (Class of 2002) - Trustmark
  • Charles L. Morris (Class of 1987) - Morris Petroleum, Inc. 
  • Deanne Mosley (Class of 2016) - The Mississippi Bar
  • Barbara Ousby (Class of 2007) - C&B Enterprise, Inc.
  • Rebecca Phipps (Class of 1988) - Rebecca Phipps Law Office
  • Jack Reed, Jr. (Class of 1976) - R. W. Reed Co.
  • Dr. Michael Robbins (Class of 1975) - Robbins Research & Planning, Inc.
  • Paige Roberts (Class of 2010) - EPIC Enterprises, LLC
  • Ginger Robey (Class of 2012) - Daniel Coker Horton & Bell, P.A.
  • Robin Robinson (Class of 1988) - Retired
  • Jason Siegfried (Class of 2009) - Southern Pine Electrical Power Association
  • Ed Simmons (Class of 2015) - Benefit Administration Services
  • C. D. Smith (Class of 2010) - AT&T
  • Deidre D. Smith (Class of 2018) - Mississippi National Guard
  • Mark Smith (Class of 2004) - The CPI Group, LLC
  • E. Gregory Snowden (Class of 1984) - Mississippi State Representative
  • Honorable Keith Starrett (Class of 1979) - U. S. District Judge
  • Belinda Stewart (Class of 1993) - Belinda Stewart Architects, PA
  • Dr. Jennifer Sutton (Class of 2018) - Gulf Coast Veterinary Services
  • William A. Taylor, III (Class of 1979) - The Taylor Group of Companies
  • Denny Terrell (Class of 2007) - Ivey Mechanical Company 
  • Pat Thomasson (Class of 2007) - Thomasson Company
  • Amanda Tollison (Class of 2008) - Butler Snow, LLP
  • Clay Wagner (Class of 2016) - Hancock Whitney Bank
  • Amy Walker (Class of 2017) - Ergon, Inc.
  • Anthony Webb (Class of 2011) - Community Bancshares of Mississippi, Inc.
  • Lewis Whitfield (Class of 1974-1975) - CREATE Foundation
  • Rebecca Lee Wiggs (Class of 1994) - Butler Snow, LLP
  • Kenneth W. Williams, Sr. (Class of 1974-1975) - Butler Snow, LLP 
  • Anthony Wilson (Class of 2000) - Mississippi Power
The 2020 Program Year is right around the corner!

The staff, along with the new Leadership Mississippi Chair, Melanie Morgan, are excited to bring to you a new year of events and sessions that will take Leadership Mississippi to a new level!

You won't want to miss out on the exclusive, paid members-only information during this process!

This is going to be a Leadership Mississippi year like you've never seen!
Stay tuned! More details to soon come.

Happy Birthday 

C. Ryan Akers  - January 16
Dr. Julian Allen  - January 11
Christopher Barnard  - January 20
Russell Bennett  - January 31
Leonard Bentz  - January 21
Allyson Best - January 8
Penny Bunch - January 2
Jennifer Buster  - January 18
Bridgette Butler  - January 4
Anthony Caranna, Jr.  - January 13
Corrie Cockrell  - January 1
Ricky Cox  - January 11
Kameron Dale  - January 21
Kyle Dew  - January 28
Marlo Dorsey  - January 1
Thomas Edwards  - January 18
Tara Ellis  - January 27
Arthur Lee Evans, Jr.  - January 27
Masella Farnam  - January 5
Shannon Favre  - January 15
David Goad -  January 25
Thomas Gregory  - January 30
Julie Gresham  - January 15
Glenn Griffin  - January 2
Terrell Grindle  - January 20
Rodney Harris  - January 15
Dr. Michael Heindl  - January 24
Lylla Joe  - January 9
Brent Johnson - January 16
Michael Scott Jones  - January 12
Michael Korpiel  - January 22
Blaine LaFontaine  - January 8
Ryan Leister  - January 14
Justin Martin  - January 25
Suzette Matthews  - January 14
Marc McGee  - January 19
Jason McNeel  - January 3
Kelly McQuaig  - January 7
Ginger Robey  - January 25
Gordon Sanford  - January 11
Shad Schipke - January 21
Cynthia Shaw  - January 22
Brooke Shoultz  - January 29
Rebekah Staples  - January 10
Lori Stewart  - January 19
Amanda Taylor  - January 29
Tony Taylor  - January 13
Alex Thomas  - January 21
J. T. Tisdale  - January 21
Hunter Walters, Esq.  - January 13
Dr. Rebecca Waterer  - January 27
Anthony Whirley  - January 9
Tice White  - January 22
Michelle Whittle  - January 27
 
And all other alumni celebrating  January  birthdays!


If you have any news you would like to share or see featured in next month's newsletter, let us know!

We hope to hear from you!
Our Mission

To build a strong diverse network of leaders from every corner of the state balanced with a broad variety of leadership abilities and career accomplishments creating a core of individuals committed to Mississippi's future.

MEC's Leadership Mississippi is a program of the 

M.B. Swayze Foundation 
Mississippi Economic Council - The State Chamber of Commerce

248 E. Capitol Street, Suite 940 - Jackson, Mississippi 39201

P.O. Box 23276 - Jackson, Mississippi 39225-3276

Phone: 601-969-0022 - 1-800-748-7626

Fax: 601-353-0247 - 1-888-717-2809

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