Former DBJ executive editor launches new Jackson-area business paper
Criss also sees release of his first book

By ROBERT McFARLAND
DBJ Contributing Writer

When Jack Criss left the Delta for his hometown of Jackson in February, it was for a new career in a new field. Now, eight months later, he is back doing what he's been doing for over the past 14 years: overseeing a business paper. In this case, he's embarked on publishing a new business paper for the Metro Jackson area called Metro Business Chronicle.

"Since I got out of the Metro publishing market in early 2000 there has been no newspaper geared solely to covering Metro businesses," he says. "There are statewide pubs based in Jackson, but nothing that exclusively reported on Metro Business News and profiling the leaders in the tri-county area. That is what Metro Business Chronicle will do, similar to what the Delta Business Journal does for the Delta."

Publishing books are also part of Criss’ plan.

"I am under contract with Quail Ridge Press of Brandon to complete my biography of the late Governor Kirk Fordice," says Criss. His first book, Ready, Aim, Right!, has just published, also by Quail Ridge Press.

Criss’ Metro Business Chronicle is a partnership with Jackson businessman and fellow entrepreneur, Wirt Yerger, III.

"Wirt agreed with me concerning the need for a fresh approach in the Metro business market,” says Criss. “Wirt provides assistance as an advisory board member to the Metro Business Chronicle as well as a business partner and fellow entrepreneurial cheerleader.

"The Jackson Metro area is terribly underserved when it comes to business profiles and news," Criss continues. "Plus,  local businesses here are hungry for affordable advertising and pro-business, positive editorial coverage; that is what Metro Business Chronicle will provide." Criss says the initial mailing for the Chronicle will be just under 8,000 in the tri-country area and Copiah County. "We hope to have that number up to 11,000 in just a few short months."

Criss says that the response so far has been overwhelming.

"I've always said that a good business paper acts like a mirror, reflecting the positive business news of a given community back to it to see,” says Criss. “That's what the Delta Business Journal does so well and what I intend for the the Metro Business Chronicle to do in Jackson. People are hungry for it here and they've expressed that to me through their enthusiasm."

As mentioned, Criss is also celebrating the culmination of 15 years of editorial writing and reviews with the recent publication of his collection, "Ready, Aim, Right!", which was published September 28. He will be touring the state throughout October---including the Delta---promoting the book through signings, television appearances and speaking engagements. The majority of the editorials chosen for the book, Criss says, were first published in the Delta Business Journal.

"I tell anyone who will listen that I matured professionally during my time in the Delta," Criss reflects. “It was an honor to work at the DBJ and live in the Delta for four years with the DBJ and I will never forgot the lasting friendships I made there and the many outstanding businesses I was able to write about and help promote. I met my wife, Natalie, there in the Delta; saw the birth of my baby girl in Greenville; helped Scott and Melissa Townsend launch Delta Magazine...the list goes on and on. The Mississippi Delta will always have a significant place in my heart."

It can be said of Criss that the Delta's loss is now Metro Jackson's gain. "If I can be half as successful with the Metro Business Chronicle as the staff is here with the Delta Business Journal, I'll be satisfied and so will my readers," Criss concludes.

For more information on the Metro Business Chronicle, go to www.metrochronicle.com. "Ready, Aim, Right!" can be purchased at any Delta bookstore or online at amazon.com. DBJ