Women Minority Business Development Center 

Delta State Program Provides Resources to Women of Color By Becky Gillette When the Women Minority Business Development Center (WMBDC) was launched at Delta State University one and half years ago with the help of a $1.5 million grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the intention was to serve seventy-five women of color with technical […]

New Cyber Unit

Bobby Freeman Named Director By Jack Criss Director Bobby Freeman was selected as director of the Mississippi Cyber Unit within the Mississippi Office of Homeland Security in January of this year.  Freeman  is a native of Lincoln County and he holds a Bachelor of Fine Art in Graphic Communication from the University of Southern Mississippi […]

Music Tourism Convention

Industry Leaders Coming to Cleveland April 11–14 By Robert McFarland, Jr. An event that has been years in the making will finally take place in Cleveland this spring. The Music Tourism Convention, an event being produced by Sound Diplomacy, a global research and strategy consultancy specializing in economic and community development through music, the City […]

Archie Tucker

Leading the Way for USDA-ARS in the Southeast Area By Becky Gillette  •  Photography by Johnny Jennings  L eland native Archie Tucker started out as a sixteen-year-old high school student working as a biological aide in the Southern Insect Management Research Unit at the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) at Stoneville. He rode his bike […]

Thoughts from the Lt. Governor’s Office

By Delbert Hosemann Some politicos say the agenda during an election year is always pared down to bare necessities. Not this year. From transportation to education, the Lieutenant Governor’s Office is preparing a full slate of conservative legislation. Here are our top priorities: Tax Rebate. This year, the largest tax cut in Mississippi history begins […]

Stonewater Adolescent Recovery Center

Providing Compassionate Care and Treatment By Amile Wilson Quietly nestled on sixty-five acres, Stonewater Adolescent Recovery Center in Oxford has turned one family’s struggle into a refuge of hope.  CEO Bryan Fikes and his sister Elizabeth Fikes are co-founders of Stonewater. Bryan, age thirty-five,will celebrate ninteen years of his own sobriety this May. Originally from […]

Dodie McElmurry

Delta Native Working to Make a Difference in Rural Healthcare  Dodie McElmurray, RN, MSN/ MBA, grew up in rural Belzoni, got a nursing degree from Delta State University in 1997 and went on to get advanced degrees in nursing and healthcare administration from the University of Phoenix. After working about twenty years in healthcare administration […]

Teresa Hubbard

Trailblazing Mississippi CEO By Jack Criss  •  Photography by Timothy Ivy As President and CEO of Cite Armored—a major truck manufacturing company based in Holly Springs, with an additional location in her hometown of Batesville—Teresa Hubbard has become one of the leading entrepreneurs in the state. Quietly and without fanfare, Hubbard made a total pivot […]

MVSU Highlights

University Supports Students on Multiple Career Paths  By Becky Gillette The eighth president of Mississippi Valley State University in Itta Bena, Dr. Jerryl Briggs, Sr., is proud of the many good things happening at MVSU. One of the highlights that helps students with a pipeline to a good job is the university’s collaboration with FedEx […]

Cook Coggin Engineers, Inc.

Longtime Company Opens Delta Office By Jack Criss  Cook Coggin Engineers, Inc., a well-respected professional firm with a long, firmly-established base in Northeast Mississippi, has just expanded into the Delta, opening an office in Clarksdale at 223 Sharkey Avenue. Currently, Marketing Representative Nancy McKee is overseeing the office, with company field representatives and inspectors coming […]