It’s now been a year since I returned to Cleveland and the Delta to work with Scott Coopwood again, the man who gave me my start in publishing thirty-four years ago. And, to be honest, this may be my best experience in print ever. That’s not only due to the great team I work with at Coopwood Publishing, but also because of the incredible progress the Delta has experienced since I departed twenty years ago to return to my hometown of Jackson.
Jackson and other areas of the state may get the headlines but I must admit: the Delta has a history, legacy…and feel…unlike any other part of Mississippi. These days, for instance, Jackson and the Metro area is filled with transients and fellow travellers due to its growth. That’s all well and good and not a negative observation. However, the Delta has a real sense of place, as the novelist Walker Percy used to put it. The people here love their home and history. And, as somewhat of an outsider, I pick up on it myself. Believe me, there’s not a similar “sense of place” in Jackson or probably any other region of the state. But there certainly is in the Delta.
But, this is the Delta BUSINESS Journal, so let me also mention the economic and cultural gains that are taking place here now. As we try and document in these very pages, I see the Delta growing and progressing in ways that weren’t happening the last time I worked here. From Jack and Elizabeth Coleman’s distillery set to open soon in Rosedale, to the exciting transition and growth taking place at Northwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center in Clarksdale (just to mention two instances), each issue of the Delta Business Journal is filled with stories of local business success. In fact, it is a very difficult task every month trying to narrow down the selection of available features we could run in the DBJ due to space constraints!
Plus, I think the rest of Mississippi—and even the nation—is starting to take more notice of the Mississippi Delta. Yes, we are the birthplace and home of the Blues (an incredible and beneficial distinction, to be sure) but we’re also more than that. Economic and business opportunities abound here and our local economic developers and Chamber leaders are working hard to spread the word and guess what? They are being heard—and sought out.
But when I think about Delta business, I always come back to the local entrepreneurs here who are doing tremendous work and providing jobs, services and creative, helpful products to our communities. I work for one such entrepreneur, and I can name probably 100 off the top of my head. These are business people who may not run multi-million dollar corporations, but who nonetheless oversee successful, local businesses that serve and employ members of their respective towns. Where would the Delta be without such innovative folks? And their numbers seem to be growing every month. Again, that presents a good “problem” for us at the Delta Business Journal!
It’s not hyperbole or feel-good hype when I say that I think—I know—the Delta’s best days are ahead. The signs are all around us. Certainly naysayers exist, even here in our own region. But naysayers don’t move the chains: entrepreneurs, dreamers and creators do. And the Delta has such people in spades here. I’m especially excited about the young Deltans coming up who have decided to stay here at home, make a difference and earn a living. That’s another reason I believe the best is yet to come.
I’m so happy to be back in Cleveland and the Delta at a time when we’re on the rise. I’ve been welcomed with open arms in the way that only Delta people can make you feel and as part of the community. Again. I’m not naive and I realize we still have many problems to face and overcome. But, who doesn’t anywhere else in the country? The difference in the Delta, however, is that we are armed to take on those challenges with full knowledge of our resilient history, growing economic base and decent, hard working people that make up our workforce. DBJ
(Jack Criss is the Executive Editor of the Delta Business Journal)