Page 162 - South Mississippi Living - August, 2026

FINAL SAY
President Emeritus, Specialty Contractors and Associates, Inc.
Recently, a very high level statewide elected official called to visit
and told me, “the Coast economy is on fire!” That’s an intriguing descriptor of South Mississippi’s current economic momentum, but so true in many ways.
Harrison County, at the center of the Coast with Biloxi and Gulfport, has the fastest growing population of any county in Mississippi. Our employment numbers for the entire Coast are at an all time high of approximately 175,000.
Tourism is a rock star, firing on all cylinders and doing extremely well on the length of stay for our visitors—and indeed on a per visitor expenditure while visiting the Coast. Our markets are very competitively positive and healthy in hospitality, manufacturing, retail trade, commercial and residential construction, and also many other sectors. We are overall exceeding most of the country’s economic performance.
We simply have a world class diverse economy in Coastal Mississippi. Given the likes of Huntington Ingalls Shipbuilding, described as
the premier ship builder in the world; Chevron’s state-of-the-art refinery; top-tier resorts in gaming; technology centers of excellence; entertainment; golf; performing and visual arts attractions; renowned restaurants; and arguably the best overall education in the state, we are simply a very attractive place!
Much of our exceptional educational emphasis has been a catalyst for the “Mississippi Miracle,” lifting us from 49th to 16th overall in education, and to 1st in Grade Level Reading in several categories. A truly remarkable accomplishment for Mississippi!
We have done a phenomenal job in the past 21 years of being resilient, working through and exceeding expectations with recoveries from the challenges of Hurricane Katrina, the oil spill, a pandemic, and economic headwinds. We have succeeded in pivoting past these into new economic realities and horizons.
The strong momentum we have self generated is to be applauded. Most of the leaders, both private sector and public sector, that have lead us forward these past few historic decades are less involved now. Current public leaders and the business community must step up and look forward to position ourselves to continue leading the new age economy, while continuing to embrace and advance existing solid
employers and businesses. There is a strong need to build additional tiers of employment to retain our younger citizens and provide them with attractive opportunities and reasons to be an integral part of the Coast’s future success.
Will the next and rapidly evolving economy for the Coast be lead by the likes of currently and exponentially blossoming industries such as the blue economy, cyber facilities and centers, space component manufacturing, technology centers, and digital infrastructure? Perhaps, but they are already here and expanding.
Our time and opportunity is now to leverage our unparalleled assets of natural resources, a skilled and motivated work force, organizational leadership, and entrepreneurial capacity to achieve the highest possible levels of retention and promoting existing economic prosperity to include looking forward to the world’s new economy. We are positioned perfectly to expand the possibilities and “bandwidth” of our incredible horizons. It is time for our private and public sector leaders to step up as voices by being true “Leader’s Leaders.”
Our past economic success is incredible, our current economy is percolating very well, and our horizons for future prosperity project and shine very brightly—but if and only if we pursue and demand that success for our children.
162 | August 2026
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