1. education
2. graduate school
3. college

PANOLA
PARTNERSHIP, INC.
BOARD OF
DIRECTORS:
Joe Azar, President
M O N T H L Y
Jus n Hill, Vice President
Roy Girner, Past President
Sonny Simmons,
Director/Secretary
Dale Hart, Treasurer
William Pride
Brad Robison
Stephen Whatley
David Karr, City Rep.
Gary Kornegay, IDA President
Kelley Magee, County Rep.
Flip Phillips, Legal Counsel
INSIDE THIS
ISSUE:
Panola Co. Miss
2
Hospitality
YPP Upcoming
2
Events
Main Street
3
Annual Banquet
3
Invita on
SpringFest Youth
3
Talent
Compe
on
Membership
4
Report
Coming Events
Partnership Progress
4
N E W S L E T T E R
M A R C H
2 0 1 5
From the Director’s Chair by Sonny Simmons
Is it realis c to expect a county’s economic
development organiza on to land a new
project each and every year? Even though
we all would like to see this happen, and
that is what we strive for, these
expecta ons are not realis c. This is not to
say that our efforts have been diminished.
We are working harder now than ever
before due to strong compe on and due
to the limited number of ac ve projects
that are seeking to locate.
Many
communi es have not seen a new industrial
loca on in years. There are some 4,000
organiza ons similar to ours throughout the
United States all compe ng for projects,
with less than 400 ac ve projects at any
given me. Everything has to be just right
for a company to make the decision to
commit to locate and invest within a new
community.
Some mes I feel we forget about the past
successes we have been so blessed to
achieve and we only focus on when the next
new company or new business will locate. It
was just a few short years ago that we had
several vacant buildings located throughout
the county and now we have almost none.
The ARI/Moog building is now occupied by
Toyoda Gosei; the Batesville American
building is now occupied by Anderson
Technologies; the Steel Services building is
now occupied by Serta Ma ress; Panola
Mills is now occupied by Insituform; the
Toro building in Sardis is now occupied by
United Solu ons; and the Steelma c
building in Sardis has been sold. Let’s not
forget about the new Cube Ice facility in the
Airport Industrial Complex or GE Avia on’s
new state‐of‐the‐art facility with 480
employees and an investment that now
exceeds $100 million, as well as all the
expansions we have witnessed with our
exis ng industry base. We truly have a lot to
be thankful for.
The truth of the ma er is we have been
very successful, which has led us to a point
and also to a dilemma as to what we do
next in order to con nue to grow and
prosper. We recently purchased an
addi onal 300 acres of prime industrial
property to assure the availability of
sufficient land for future industrial growth.
We will be working hard to develop that
property into a first‐class industrial site. The
problem we face now is the lack of
marketable exis ng buildings that we once
had available. Site loca on consultants tell
us that 9 out of 10 companies that are
expanding and looking for new loca ons,
prefer to purchase an exis ng facility rather
than build. Because of our past success, we
simply have a very limited inventory of
buildings that are available and marketable.
The ques on now is, what do we do about
Logoright
here now we are only in
that? Even though
the talking stage, in the near future we may
have to consider if it’s me to invest in a
spec building in order to maximize our
chances of landing another new company.
Other communi es have done this and have
been successful, but there are no
guarantees. These facili es are expensive
and the decision to move forward with a
project like this has to be given serious
considera on. This will not be an easy
decision, but success seldom comes easily.
A project of this magnitude will have to be a
collabora ve effort between the Panola
Partnership’s board and our county’s
elected officials. As I said, this will not be an
easy decision to make, but with strong
decisive leadership and a vision for the
future of Panola County, I feel the right
decision will be made.
Forever forward!
PAGE 2
Panola Co. Miss Hospitality chosen
Each year we are impressed
with
the
candidates
submi ed
for
Miss
Hospitality. This year was
no excep on. All of the
young
ladies
who
par cipated
are
excep onal students and
are ac ve par cipants in
extracurricular ac vi es.
2014 Miss Hospitality
Emily Sigler crowns
2015 Miss Hospitality
Mary Beth Hays.
Miss Hospitality is Panola
County’s
goodwill
ambassador and her du es
include promo ng Panola
County through public
appearances,
a ending
ribbon cu ngs and ground
breaking ceremonies as
well as various speaking
engagements.
Judging is based on the
following criteria for Miss
Hospitality: The young lady
must
be
a rac ve,
intelligent, a good speaker,
photogenic,
aggressive
without being forward or
self‐centered,
dignified,
have a friendly spirit that is
natural and spontaneous,
in good health, gracious
and sincere, and have a
general knowledge of state
tourist a rac ons, history
and economy.
The winner of the Miss
Hospitality Contest will
represent Panola County at
the statewide contest in
Ha esburg in July.
Our contestants for this
year’s Miss Hospitality are:
Ka e
Grace
Carlini
represen ng the Batesville
Lions Club; Mary Clay
Gentry represen ng the
Batesville Junior Woman’s
League; Mary Beth Hays
represen ng the Batesville
Garden Club; Charley Ann
Nix
represen ng
the
Batesville Woman’s Club;
Amy Kathleen Wallace
Walker represen ng the
Batesville Civitan Club; and
Mary
Ruth
Womble
represen ng the Batesville
Rotary Club.
Panola County’s new Miss
Hospitality for 2015 is Miss
Mary Beth Hays, daughter
of Mrs. Hollie Roberson &
Mr. Carlton Hays.
Winners were announced
during
a
recep on
immediately following the
closed tea pageant. The
recep on for family &
friends was held at First
United Methodist Church
this past Sunday.
Miss Emily Sigler has served
as Panola County’s Miss
Hospitality 2014.
We
appreciate
her
representa on of Panola
County at the state pageant
and her appearances at
county events throughout
the last year. She was on
hand at this year’s pageant
to crown the winners.
This year’s 1st Alternate is
Miss Mary Clay Gentry,
daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Jeff
Gentry.
YPP Events coming your way
YPP has some exci ng events
coming your way this month!
We invite all current members
& those who are interested in
joining YPP to a end any of
our events. You can see a list
of current members at h p://
chamber.panolacounty.com/
programs/young‐
professionals/.
PARTNERSHIP PROGRESS
On March 5th, we’ll have our
regular Lunch Break @ 12
noon at El Mariachi Bar & Grill.
Say “Adios” to the Winter
Blues at our YPP Wind Down
on March 10th (5‐7pm), at El
Mariachi.
On March 12th, we’ll have our
monthly mee ng at Panola
Partnership
to
discuss
upcoming projects.
On March 19th, we’ve been
invited by NMEI to tour the
Batesville Enterprise Center at
275 Nosef Drive just behind
the SMEPA power plant. Lunch
is provided by NMEI. This will
be during our regular Lunch
Break me of 12 noon‐1pm.
On March 26th, we’ll meet for
Lunch Break at Cracker Barrel.
See you soon!
MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
PAGE 3
Diamond Rio to headline SpringFest 2015
Vocal Group of the Year,
Diamond Rio will headline
Batesville
SpringFest
2015.
Formed in 1984,
Diamond Rio features lead
singer Marty Roe, guitarist
Jimmy Olander, drummer Brian
Prout, keyboardist Dan Truman,
bassist/harmony Dana Williams
and
Gene
Johnson
on
mandolin/harmony. The band
signed with Arista in the early
90′s and embarked on one
of the most successful careers
in country music. The band has
sold over 10 million albums
earning three pla num and five
gold records and won the
Country Music Associa on’s
Vocal Group of the Year award
four mes as well as ne ng
two Academy of Country Music
Awards in the top Vocal Group
of the Year category and
thirteen
GRAMMY
®
nomina ons.
When
they
debuted in 1991 with the hit
“Meet in the Middle,” Diamond
Rio became the first group in
the history of country music to
have a debut single reach No. 1.
They con nued to place
32 more singles on the
Billboard chart, including “How
Your
Love
Makes
Me
Feel,” “Norma Jean Riley,”
“Beau ful Mess,” “Love a Li le
Stronger,”
and
“One
More Day.”
Diamond Rio will
play on Saturday,
May 16, 2015.
Panola Partnership, Inc. cordially invites you to their
19th Annual Meeting & Dinner
Guest Speaker, Mike Tagert
Northern District Commissioner
Mississippi Dept. of Transportation
Thursday, March 19, 2015
5:30 p.m. Social
6:30 p.m. Dinner
211 Main Hall & Gardens, 211 Main Street, Como, Mississippi
R.S.V.P. to 563-3126 or [email protected] by March 6. Each membership receives one admittance.
Additional dinners may be reserved for $30.00 each. Payments must be made in advance.
Business Attire
YPP hosts Annual SpringFest Youth Talent Show
For the third consecu ve year, the
Young Professionals of Panola will
host the Annual SpringFest Youth
Talent Compe on. The event will
be held on Saturday, May 16 on the
SpringFest stage. The Youth Talent
Compe on is a Mid‐South Fair
sanc oned event meaning Mid‐
South Fair talent judges are on‐
hand to witness our event and have
the ability to invite any performing
act to compete at the Mid‐South
Fair this fall.
Partnership’s
website,
Facebook page & the
Partnership office.
The contest is open to compe tors
ages 9‐21. The Jr. Division is ages 9‐
12 and the Sr. Division is ages 13‐
21. Soloist, Duets, or groups of 3 or
more are invited to compete.
Low‐cost sponsorships are
available for just $100 to
businesses or organiza ons
wishing to support this
year’s event. For ques ons,
call us at 662‐563‐3126.
Applica ons and Contestant rules
will be available soon on Panola
New Members and Coming Events
Welcome to our New
Members
Coming Events
A1 Wings & Things
5 (1‐2:30p): Star ng a Business‐First Steps (UMSBDC)
5 (12‐1p): YPP Lunch Break @ El Mariachi Bar & Grill
March
3 (2p): Batesville City Board Mee ng @ City Hall
440 Highway 6 East
Batesville, MS 38606
662‐712‐6102
9 (9a): Panola Co. Board of Supervisors Mee ng (Batesville Courthouse)
El Mariachi Bar & Grill
10(5‐7p): YPP Wind Down @ El Mariachi Bar & Grill (details inside)
325 Lakewood Drive, Suite 16
Batesville, MS 38606
662‐561‐0020
L&L Dirt Works
395 Parker Road
Pope, MS 38658
662‐809‐0996
Thank you to these members for
con nuing your commitment to
Panola Partnership!
Batesville Dental Clinic ‐ Batesville Lions Club
Batesville Refrigera on ‐ Buchart Horn, Inc.
CableONE ‐ Fox Bail Bond ‐ GE Avia on
Hampton Inn ‐ Jimmy McClure
Mathews Proper es ‐ Margaret O’Keefe
MS Detec ve & Security Services, Inc.
Oxford Printwear ‐ Panola Country Club
Panola Co. Humane Society
The Pier Seafood & Steaks ‐ Q93.7 FM
Stubbs Department Store ‐ Welshans Law Firm
150‐A Public Square
Batesville, MS 38606
Phone: 662.563.3126 | Fax: 662.563.0704
Toll‐Free: 888.872.6652
E‐mail: [email protected]
Website: www.panolacounty.com
12 (8a): Panola Partnership Ambassadors Monthly Mee ng
12 (12‐1p): YPP Monthly Mee ng @ Panola Partnership
12 (12‐1p): Grow Your Business Spring Webinar Series
13 (12p): Batesville Main Street Board Monthly Mee ng
16 (4p): Deadline for Miss SpringFest Pageant Entries
17 (2p): Batesville City Board Mee ng @ City Hall
19 (12‐1p): YPP Lunch Break @ Batesville Enterprise Center (Details inside.)
19 (1‐2:30p): How to Develop a Business Plan (UMSBDC)
19 (5:30p): Panola Partnership Annual Mee ng & Dinner
21: Jr. Auxiliary of Batesville Annual Charity Ball @ The Wilbourn Building
22 (2p): Li le Miss Batesville Pageant hosted by Batesville Jr. Woman’s League
24 (5:45p): Panola Co. Humane Society’s Monthly Mee ng
26 (12‐1p): YPP Lunch Break @ Cracker Barrel
26 (6p): Boys & Girls Club Annual Steak & Steak Banquet