Ryan Kelly presided over the meeting. Annie Jackson provided the opening prayer. Coty Primeaux led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Ryan led the club in the Four Way Test. The meeting was held at the Holiday Inn in Hattiesburg.
Ryan announced that our club will meet on August 30, which is the 5th Tuesday of the month. Congressman Roger will be the guest speaker. The club will not meet on the first Tuesday of September, which is the Tuesday after Labor Day. He also reported that Mallory plans to call a board meeting soon. Mark Killingsworth noted that we will have two guest speakers next Tuesday, including the District Governor. The meeting needs to begin at 11:30 a.m. to accommodate both speakers.
Lynn Walton then introduced today’s guest speaker, Chad Newell. Chad serves as President of the Area Development Partnership. Chad has worked in the private, public, and non-profit sectors for nearly three decades in Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee. He is a native Mississippian and holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Mississippi State University and a master’s degree in Economic Development from the University of Southern Mississippi.
Chad thanked Rotarians for their support of the ADP. Two-thirds of the organization’s funding comes from the private sector and one-third from public funding.
He noted that both the national and local economies were doing well in 2020 until March of that year when Covid hit causing a shutdown of the economies. The economic leaders figured out ways to navigate through the shutdown. The Federal government then inserted more than one-trillion dollars into the national economy, which caused it to overheat. As result we are now facing a 9.1% inflation rate, which is the highest inflation has been since 1981. Fortunately, wages are up, however, they are not keeping up with inflation. The FED has raised interest rates 3.3% since the beginning of this year, to slow inflation. They are expected to raise rates again when they meet next week.
Locally, we have seen $1 billion dollars of investments over the past five years. According to the 2020 census our state’s population decreased to 3 million. However, Hattiesburg’s population has increased by 6% since 2010. Our unemployment rate is at 3.3% which is much better than the national and Mississippi’s unemployment rate. The local cost-of-living rate is at 85% of the national average. Our local household income is at $75,000. The housing market was on fire in 2021 with 2,200 units sold. The average days-on-the-market was 35 and the average sales price was $221,000. Housing is expected to slow substantially in the coming months due to the increases in interest rates.
Chad reported that Idaho Forestry is building a $130 million dollar facility in Lumberton. It will employ 170 fulltime employees. Jones Company is building a new four-story headquarter building across from USM in the Mid-Town area. It will be a $30 million investment and will employ more than 200 employees. FedEx Ground is constructing a new facility near the airport. When completed it will employ 200 people. And finally, Chad sees a significant increase in green energy investments over the next several years and months. Ford has announced that their new F150 will be all electric. He sees the need for development of electric mobility plants.
There being no further business to come before the club, Ryan thanked Chad for his update and then adjourned the meeting with our motto: “Service Above Self.”