MDEZA gets a new lease on life
The Delta economic development powerhouse will continue to contribute greatly to many ventures in the area

by JULIE WHITEHEAD
DBJ Contributing Writer

Recently the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development extended the designation of the Mid-Delta Empowerment Zone Alliance for another five years—but over $11.5 million in additional funding is still pending before Congress, leaving the Mid-Delta Empowerment Zone Alliance with only $6.5 million of its original $40 million appropriation to spend during that time.

John Greer, executive director of MDEZA since November 2002, said that the move to extend the empowerment zone designation was a joint application by MDEZA and the Mississippi Development Authority, which disburses the development money from Washington to MDEZA projects. “The money can’t go directly to us as a 501c3 nonprofit,” said Greer.

The zone covers parts of Leflore, Sunflower, Humphreys, Bolivar, Washington, and Holmes County, including seventeen municipalities: Beulah, Durant, Greenville, Gunnison, Indianola (Industrial Park), Isola, Itta Bena, Morgan City, Merigold, Metcalfe, Mound Bayou, Pace, Rosedale, Sunflower, West, and Winstonville.

The empowerment program, established in 1993 by the Clinton administration, was intended to target economic development grants and incentives to particularly economically depressed areas of the country. The extension allows the remaining funds to stay in Mississippi for further projects such as housing development, economic development, community development, and social development, Greer said.

Even if the additional appropriation is not approved by Congress, Greer said that MDEZA, working in conjunction with Mississippi’s congressional delegation, hopes to use their remaining funds to leverage additional grant money into the region through grant matching.

Such efforts have borne fruit in the past several years, as MDEZA provided $900,000 in funds for infrastructure benefiting the Dollar General distribution center in Indianola, resulting in 350 jobs for the area and employment for 150 more through their shipping activities to the 370 Dollar General stores in the southeast. MDEZA also worked to allocate surplus government computer equipment to schools in the empowerment zone to aid educational opportunity in the area, according to USDA reports. Other programs include a $1.5 million revolving loan fund to aid small businesses and a long-term working relationship with Mississippi Valley State University.

Using the remaining funds as matching money to pull in private as well as government investment rather than in directly funding projects could result in over $20 million per year in new spending over the next five years, Greer maintained. According to the USDA Rural Development website, the MDEZA has successfully leveraged their original funding into a total of over $209 million received over the life of the program from various entities, including state government, local and regional government, private sector funds, nonprofit funds, and contributions from nine federal agencies.

Other changes have come to the agency as well with the addition of new board members Stewart Townsend, president/CEO of Guaranty Bank and Trust Company and David O’Brien, chief financial officer of Delta Electric Power Association. “We have a truly diverse board now,” said Greer. “These type of men coming on board bring a lot of executive expertise and financial expertise.”

Greer hopes MDEZA can continue their work supporting economic development in the the area, pointing to their recent memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to implement a regional water and sewer program for areas within the zone to attract industry.

Such infrastructure improvements can lead to better industrial prospects for site developers, which can lead to more jobs, which means more tax dollars to pour into education and workforce development, according to Greer. “It’s just a huge domino effect in the area,” said Greer. DBJ