MPA/MPS Press Releases

Vendors sought for Hazlehurst Rockin’ Railroad Festival

HAZLEHURST, MS – Only ten weeks remain until the first annual Rockin’ Railroad Festival kicks off in downtown Hazlehurst, MS and planners have picked up the pace to ensure that everyone enjoys the day.

Space for arts & crafts vendors is still available for the event, which will be held along Ragsdale Avenue in Hidalgo Park by the Depot on October 3.

Vendor applications are available by contacting the Hazlehurst Chamber at 601-894-3752 or through email at hazlechamber@bellsouth.net. Vendors may also contact Janet Foster at 601-894-4141, Joe Buck Coates at 601-894-3141 or John Huntington at 601-894-3171.

VENDOR SET-UP

The Festival officially kicks off at 10 a.m. Vendors can begin setting up early Saturday morning and are expected to be finished by 9:30. Each vendor will be assigned a space number that will be indicated on lay-out of the vendor area. Vendors will notified of their space number and the layout of the vendor area prior to the event.

VENDOR PARKING

Vendors will have secure, priority parking in front of Hazlehurst High School, and the Festival will provide courtesy transportation for vendors throughout the day to and from the area. Vendors may bring their own golf carts or other wheeled vehicles if they choose.

Vendors will be allowed to take down their displays around 5 p.m. Vendors who choose to stay open past 5 p.m. will only be allowed to take down displays at the conclusion of the festival, around 9:30 p.m.

SALES TAXES

Vendors will be responsible for reporting and paying sales taxes to a designated chamber member at the end of the festival.

Other special treats of the festival include: musical entertainment throughout the day with a performance by Pat Roper to close out the show; a kids’ zone with age-related super jumps, games and other activities; a classic car show; an art contest for children and adults; book signings and art displays by local authors and artists, respectively; food sales by local volunteer fire departments; tours of the Depot and Caboose and more.

Contact the Chamber for more information.

Major sponsors for the 2009 Rockin’ Railroad Festival presented by the Hazlehurst Chamber of Commerce include:

ENGINEER: Check Cashers and More

BRAKEMAN: Beall’s Body Shop, Bozeman Chevron, Burger King, City of Hazlehurst, Copiah County Courier, Huntington Lumber Co., and Skinners Chevrolet, Buick, Pontiac, GMC.

The goals of the Rockin’ Railroad Festival are to bring the Hazlehurst and Copiah County community together for an annual day of family fun and entertainment, to promote the beautiful downtown of Hazlehurst and to foster more awareness of our burgeoning musical heritage tourism industry. Hazlehurst is the birthplace of blues great Robert Johnson and also of playwright Beth Henley.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Scot Slay Date: July 15, 2009 Phone: (601) 944-4175 Email: sslay@ecd.org
ECD Receives $20 Million New Markets Tax Credit Award
Enterprise Corporation of the Delta one of 32 to receive Recovery Act Award
Jackson, MS - Enterprise Corporation of the Delta (ECD) has been awarded $20 million in New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) authority from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund. ECD is one of 32 Community Development Entities nationwide to receive an award with resources made possible through the Recovery Act. The NMTC Program injects private-sector capital investment into communities to create jobs, stimulate economic growth and jumpstart the lending necessary for financial stability.
“Many communities have been left with a shortfall of financial support and are unable to pursue desperately needed projects, leaving residents to fall even further behind,” said Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. “The New Markets Tax Credit program helps break that cycle by providing an incentive to invest in communities to break ground on new projects, create jobs, and offer much needed services.”
ECD previously received NMTC awards in 2003 and 2006. To date, the company has used this program to make 208 businesses loans in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee.
The new allocation will enable ECD to build on this track record and make additional financing available in economically distressed communities across the Mid South.
“It is vital that small businesses and entrepreneurs have access to the financing needed to sustain and stabilize their companies during this economic crisis,” said Bill Bynum, ECD’s chief executive officer. “This New Markets Tax Credit Program is an important tool in making sure that distressed people and communities are not left behind in the recovery.”
According to the U.S. Treasury Department, nearly $12 billion in private-sector capital has been invested through the NMTC Program into urban and rural communities nationwide. Data reported through 2007 shows that $9 billion of NMTC capital has been invested into approximately 2,000 businesses and real estate developments. These investments have helped develop or rehabilitate more than 68 million square feet of real estate, create 210,000 construction jobs, and create or maintain 45,000 full-time equivalent jobs at businesses in low-income communities.

Not so fast, PSC tells utility
Mississippi Power wants early rate hike for Kemper plant
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS • JULY 18, 2009

Louie Miller, executive director of the Mississippi chapter of the Sierra Club

Utility regulators have declined to deviate from the established schedule for considering Mississippi Power Co.’s application for a planned $2.2 billion power plant in Kemper County, according to an order released Friday.

Mississippi Power in June specifically asked the Public Service Commission to determine by Dec. 31 if it could bill pre-construction costs to its customers. The PSC, in an order made public Friday, declined and said it would consider pre-construction costs as part of the overall application review.

The PSC has already laid out a timetable for making a final decision on the plant by May 1, 2010. Earlier this year, Mississippi Power requested the ruling to come by the end of August. The PSC declined, citing the complexity of the plant, its financing and its need.

The three-member commission said it would separate the issues during the hearing process - first addressing the need for the power plant, which is the main part of the application, and then the possible rate increase.

Mississippi Power spokeswoman Cindy Duvall said Friday that the company “appreciated the commission’s taking the time to listen to us bring some issues to their attention.”

“There are many complicated issues related to this project, many facets that must be looked at. We believe the schedule of hearings will gives us a forum to show the need for the plant,” Duvall said.

A schedule set by the PSC says the commission will issue a decision on the need for the project on Oct. 9. Several hearings will be held between now and February before the final decision is issued May 1.

Louie Miller, executive director of the Mississippi chapter of the Sierra Club, said in a statement Friday that he was pleased with the PSC’s decision.

“The Sierra Club strongly feels that this PSC investigation into this proposal will reveal that it involves risky, unproven technology,” Miller said.

“Obviously, there are numerous options to be considered before the state of Mississippi goes down the path of saddling rate payers for decades to come with billions of dollars of debt.”

The plant would be an integrated gasification combined cycle facility that converts locally mined lignite, or “brown coal,” into a gas to generate lower-emission electricity.

Mississippi Power wants to use a law - called the Baseload Act of 2008 - that would allow them to raise customers’ rates to finance the plant. Raising rates up front is the only way to get the money, and the bill was needed to avoid a much higher rate increase later, they said.

Opponents of the Baseload Act said consumers might be stuck with higher bills even if a power company decides not to go forward with expansions.

Mississippi Power officials have said when the law was approved that it wasn’t likely the company would move forward with rate increases and then scrap the high-tech plant, because it would lose substantial investments in the venture.

The PSC said while denying the rate request Mississippi Power wanted now, it wanted to hear more about how the 2008 law affected cost recovery requests. The PSC set a Feb. 22, 2010, deadline for additional information to be filed on that issue.

Mississippi Power is part of the Southern Co., which includes Alabama Power, Georgia Power and Gulf Power. It has about 184,000 customers in the 23 counties of southeast Mississippi.

July 17, 2009

Contact:
Louie Miller 601-624-3503

The Mississippi Sierra Club Applauds The Mississippi Public Service Commission Action Protecting The Ratepayer Against Ms. Power’s Dirty Coal Plant Proposal

The Mississippi Public Service Commission (MPSC) once again ruled that Ms. Power Company (MPCO) proposed Kemper County IGCC Lignite Coal plant will not get a “blank check” from the ratepayers as demanded by the MPCO attorneys. MPCO was vying heavily for the ratepayers to “pick up the tab” for $60 plus million dollars in “preplanning costs’ the company has incurred to date on the proposed project which has not even received approval by the MPSC. (see attached documents)

“This amounts to little more than shifting the entire risk of this $2.5 BILLION dollar boondoggle from the Fortune 500 corporation and its stockholders to the ratepayers”. “We welcome and applaud the action of the MPSC commissioners”; stated Louie Miller; State Director of the Sierra Club in Mississippi. “The MPSC has once again proven that there is a new sheriff in town and it is not business as usual. The Commissioners take very seriously their role in protecting the public’s pocketbook while providing reliable and affordable electricity.”

The Sierra Club strongly feels that this MPSC investigation into this proposal will reveal that it involves risky, unproven technology. Specifically, their ongoing analysis will reveal that Integrated Gas Combined Cycle (IGCC) will without doubt be shown to be the most expensive and dirty way to generate electric power for Mississippians. Research comparisons in other states have found that on a per megawatt basis, IGCC is not even in the ballpark of being cost effective when compared to other available technologies.

“Why else would MPCO want the ratepayers to serve as their ATM machine for this project?” ,noted Miller. Obviously there are numerous options to be considered before the State of Mississippi goes down the path of saddling rate payers for decades to come with billions of dollars of debt.

The only conceivable reason for such a costly proposal is to enrich MPCO and its stockholders at the Mississippi rate payers expense. Unlike other businesses, MPCO and Entergy/MS are guaranteed a 12% rate of return on every dollar they spend; therefore the more the companies spend, the more money they make.

Currently’ there is almost 3 times the peak demand of power for the entire state of Mississippi in clean natural gas; already built and sitting idle. Why? The MPSC stated as part of its order that these sources of power and other energy options along with energy efficiency are on the table and should be given serious consideration despite the objections of MPCO. These are important steps to move Mississippi toward a clean, affordable energy future; rather than repeating the mistakes of the past.

The Hottest Festival in Town!

Sponsors and Musicians Schedule Released
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 7, 2009
CONTACT: Virgi Lindsay, Executive Director, 601-352-8850

Set among twinkling lights along historic Carlisle Street, five stages will feature local musicians during the end-of-summer celebration, Bright Lights Belhaven Nights, 5:30-9:30 p.m., Saturday, August 15th.
The street festival schedule is as follows:

Basil’s Songwriter’s Stage: David Womack – 6:00-7:00; Virgil Brawley – 7:15-8:15; Noah Thompson – 8:30-9:30

Baptist Health Systems Main Stage: Hardline Monks – 6:00-7:00; Passenger Jones – 7:15-8:15; The Weeks – 8:30-9:30

Trustmark Nataional Bank Jazz Stage: Swing de Paris – 5:30-7:00; Howard Jones Jazz with London Branch and Sherrill Holly – 7:00-9:00

Fenian’s Celtic Stage: St. Brigid’s – 6:00-7:00; Spirits of the House – 7:15-8:15; Jackson Irish Dancers – 8:30-9:30

Pyron Group Newgrass Stage: The Rounders – 6:00-7:00; Sherman Lee Dillon – 7:15-8:15; The Dixie Nationals – 8:30-9:30

MS Army National Guard and MS Sports Medicine Children’s Area: Edwin McAllister – 5:15-6:00
Admission to the festival is $3 for those 13 and older and $1 for children age 12 and younger. Parking will be available at New Stage Theatre, along Belhaven streets and at the parking garage adjacent to Baptist Health Systems Medical Arts East at the corner of North and Carlisle Streets. TheFondren Trolley, sponsored by McDade’s Market, will be operating during the festival hours.
“We are pleased that we are still able to provide an event for the metro area and beyond where a family of four can attend with such a reasonable cost” said Virgi Lindsay, executive director of the Greater Belhaven Neighborhood Foundation (GBNF).
Businesses from Greater Belhaven and the Belhaven Market will be selling a variety of items including foods, arts and crafts. Beverages, including soft drinks, beer and bottled water will be on sale as well.
Sponsors for the festival are: Southeast Tourism Society, Greater Belhaven Neighborhood Foundation, Greater Belhaven Market, Southern Beverage, MS Army National Guard, MS Sports Medicine, Basil’s of Belhaven, Pyron Group, McDade’s Market, Trustmark National Bank, Baptist Health Systems, Jackson Arts Council, Pizza Shack, Emmy May Design and Constructions Management, Belhaven Improvement Association, Nix-Tann and Associates, Old House Depot, John Lewis Real Estate, Kat’s Wine Cellar, P&K Magazine, Henry LaRose Realtors, Greater Belhaven Security Association, Cabot Lodge, Community Bank and Fenian’s Pub.
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The Foundation, which is a non-profit group governed by a board of directors with representation from Belhaven and Belhaven Heights, works to improve and revitalize the area through long-range planning, economic restructuring, historic preservation, green space enhancement, and improvement of Fortification Street, the major east-west corridor between the two neighborhoods.

Editor’s note: Digital images available upon request.

Press/Media Contact:
Jana Bell, Sarabella’s Southern Sauces
janabell.ms@gmail.com
(601)842-8748
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Savory, succulent, sinful… Say hello to Sarabella’s Wicked Sweet Chutney.  Pineapple-based and infused with horseradish, Wicked Chutney is the perfect “five-minute appetizer” when drizzled over cream cheese and topped with toasted savory pecans.
Kosciusko, MS native and proclaimed Southern Belle, Sara DeKay Hays, came up with the idea for Sarabella’s Southern Sauces after years of serving up a version of her mother’s chutney recipe for family and friends.  Sara put her own spin on the recipe, got to work and Sarabella’s Wicked Sweet Chutney was born.
The perfect tailgating partner, Sarabella’s Wicked Sweet Chutney is delicious with your favorite cheese, summer sausage and ham biscuits.  It’s a hunter’s paradise when paired with venison, quail, dove, duck, lamb, elk and wild boar.  Or if you want to “go gourmet” and impress your guests, serve Wicked Chutney with beef and pork tenderloin, turkey, ham, roasted chicken, Cornish hens, salmon and catfish. The list goes on, just like the flavor.
Sarabella’s Wicked Sweet Chutney will be available for wholesale purchase at AmericasMart, Atlanta, GA, from July 8-15, 2009
Building 2 — Showroom 803B — 8th floor.
Sarabella’s Wicked Sweet Chutney….as tasty as it is tempting. Succumb to the temptation. www.sarabellas.com

Sarabella’s Wicked Sweet Chutney is available for retail purchase at these 48 stores:
Mississippi – Jackson, MS (Metro)
Antique Shops of Jackson
Brock’s Gourmet Gifts — Maywood Mart
Everyday Gourmet — Pear Orchard Place
Foodies — Deville Plaza
Indianola Pecan House — Dogwood Festival
Indianola Pecan House — Northpark Mall
Leap Frog — Madison
Logan Farms — Maywood Mart
McDade’s Market — Maywood Mart
Merriment — Ridgeland
Paul Anthony’s Market — Highland Village
Persnickety — Madison
The Early Settler — Highland Village
The Inside Story — Madison
Other Locations in Mississippi
Sulm’s Gifts — Canton
A La Carte Alley — Cleveland
Waldron Street Market — Corinth
Stareka Gourmet — Greenville
The Mississippi Gift Company — Greenwood
Viking Specialty Shop — Greenwood
Gourmet & More — Hattiesburg
Indianola Pecan House — Hattiesburg
Indianola Pecan House — Indianola
Josephine’s Fine Gifts — Kosciusko
Quinn Pharmacy & Gifts — Laurel
Russell’s Fine Gifts — Lexington
Bullard’s Nursery & Gifts — Mathiston
Hearth & Home — Morton
Uptown Grocery — Natchez
Miss Punkin’s — Olive Branch
Mississippi Madness — Oxford
Oxford Floral — Oxford
Neshoba General Hospital Gift Shop — Philadelphia
The Red Door — Pontotoc
mak B & Co. — Starkville
The Levee Shack — Tunica
Indianola Pecan House — Tupelo
The Cinnamon Tree — Vicksburg
Special Treasures — Winona
Essco Shooz Too — Yazoo City
Southeastern U.S.
Simply Savory — Columbia, SC
The Gourmet Shop — Columbia, SC
Porter’s Gifts — Florence, SC
Hudson’s Market — Wild Dunes Resort, Isle of Palms, SC
Rabbit & Company — Hendersonville, NC
The Woman’s Exchange — Memphis, TN
Provisions Gourmet — Roanoke, VA
Southwestern U.S.
Tesuque Village Market — Santa Fe, NM
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Contacts: Pioneer Hi-Bred Terral Seed
Jerry Harrington Larry Mullen
515-334-6908 318-559-2840
jerryharrington@pioneer.com lmullen@terralseed.com

Pioneer Hi-Bred and Terral Seed Expand Choices for Southern Farmers
Through Research and Distribution Agreement
Pioneer genetics and Terral’s extensive Southern research testing to provide new seed options

DES MOINES, Iowa, and LAKE PROVIDENCE, La., July 9, 2009 — Pioneer Hi-Bred, a DuPont business, and Terral Seed today announced they have entered into a research and distribution agreement to bring additional corn and soybean products, targeted to the needs of farmers across the Southern United States. Under this agreement, Pioneer and Terral will distribute corn and soybean seed under the REV™ brand beginning in 2010.
“This agreement gives Terral Seed access to one of the world’s most diverse sources of corn and soybean genetics,” said Thomas Terral, president and CEO of Terral Seed. “We’re extremely excited about the potential this will bring to our product lineup and our customers’ productivity. REV brand products will build on Terral’s strong, existing lineup – expanding our offer to growers with a more diverse line of genetics with valuable traits.”
“We are truly thrilled about this business relationship with Terral Seed to broaden our marketing footprint using one of Pioneer’s core strengths, our world-class genetics,” said Frank Ross, vice president and regional director — North America. “Our two, highly-regarded enterprises will enhance growers’ choices and further fuel Pioneer’s research pipeline through a new revenue stream.”
Terral’s extensive research capability allows for exhaustive testing of potential REV brand products in a wide range of southern environments and selective marketing of those that give growers high-yielding, reliable performance.
As part of the PROaccesssm business strategy, Pioneer has developed customized business agreements with independent seed companies to address their specific needs. The seed, marketed and distributed by companies such as Terral’s, will be unique and not available from Pioneer sales representatives. In turn, Pioneer® brand products are only available from Pioneer sales representatives.
Terral Seed was founded in the 1940s and has a long history of developing seed products that help provide the most profit potential per acre. Based in Lake Providence, Louisiana, Terral develops Southern adapted corn, soybean, sorghum and wheat seed products. Terral operates one of the largest private breeding and development programs in the South, helping farmers make the most of every acre.
Pioneer Hi-Bred, a DuPont business, is the world’s leading source of customized solutions for farmers, livestock producers and grain and oilseed processors. With headquarters in Des Moines, Iowa, Pioneer provides access to advanced plant genetics in nearly 70 countries.
DuPont is a science-based products and services company. Founded in 1802, DuPont puts science to work by creating sustainable solutions essential to a better, safer, healthier life for people everywhere. Operating in more than 70 countries, DuPont offers a wide range of innovative products and services for markets including agriculture and food; building and construction; communications; and transportation.
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07/09/2009

® ™ Registered trademarks and service marks of Pioneer Hi-Bred.

Rev™ is a trademark of Pioneer Hi-Bred.