Mississippi State wins grant to help spur job growth and economic development
October 21, 2016
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Mississippi State’s Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems Extension will lead a team of seven centers and agencies in an effort to spur job growth and economic development in south Mississippi thanks to a $490,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Authority.
Dr. Clay Walden, director of the CAVS Extension, will head up a team that includes researchers and faculty from Mississippi State University organizations such as the Center for Entrepreneurship and Outreach, the National Strategic Planning & Analysis Research Center, the Franklin Furniture Institute and the Department of Agricultural Economics. The Mississippi Development Authority and Innovate Mississippi will also be involved in the project.
“We are very excited to be working with these partners from around the university and the state,” Walden said. “We are looking forward to working with manufacturers, entrepreneurs and others in south Mississippi to help support economic development and job growth in the area.”
The two-year Southeast Mississippi Jobs Accelerator project will focus on 18 counties in central and south Mississippi and seek to help new and existing businesses expand. The project will feature activities such as certification workshops, community development meetings, mentoring programs and professional development classes.
The project will kick off with an Open House at the Coastal Research and Extension Center in Biloxi on Thursday, Nov. 3. from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
For more about CAVS Extension, visit www.cavse.msstate.edu.
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By: Philip Allison