A recent article in Business Week magazine made some interesting, albeit very controversial, observations about the role of gender in the modern workplace. First let me admit that I didn't read all of the piece. I skimmed it looking for buzzwords, finding plenty. But the point of the article interested me, which was made explicit, and that is that women probably make
better executives than men. Hmmm. I'm skeptical.

While I was watching the post-Supreme Court decision analysis on December 12, I switched channels during the commercial break, a regular habit of mine.  As it happened, I turned to the History Channel, which was airing a program called "World War II in Color", using rare-for-the-period color film.  I continued watching until the program was over.

 In the turbulent world of farming, many farmers in the Delta have come and gone. Farming has become a brutal business, and this year farmers experienced another bad year which makes three off years in a row.  In coffee shops and other places around the Delta where farmers gather, much of the talk centers around what the future will hold for their industry.

Customers are swarming to KC's Restaurant like bees to honey‹only these bees are not an indigenous breed.
Since its feature on the CBS news program Sunday Morning on November 26th, the Cleveland restaurant has played host to a variety of new patrons from around the country.  New customers have been "flying in just to have dinner," reports KC's chef and part owner, Wally Joe.

Vision. It is something that enables great innovation.  In cotton and agriculture as a whole, Delta and Pine Land Company has, from its founding, been distinguished by vision and leadership.  Since the early 1900s, vision and the work needed to achieve that vision have enabled D&PL to contribute significantly to the lives and work of cotton farmers in the Delta and
throughout the Cotton Belt.

  On November 22, 2000 one of the Delta's and one of Mississippi's most admired businessmen, former Delta and Pine Land Company CEO, Roger Malkin, died at his home in Scott after a two year illness. He was 69. A native of Brooklyn, NY, the real estate business brought Malkin to the South in the early 70's to oversee an investment in Memphis.

With George W. Bush finally named as President-elect, we can look back and see what we have learned from this historic election. Among them, we have discovered we are much more a republic than a democracy. There has been much talk about "the will of the people," "one person, one vote" and "all votes count the same."

Viking Range Corporation, the originator of commercial-type cooking appliances for the home, has announced plans to enlarge its cooking products manufacturing plant in Greenwood.

Batesville native Ronnie Musgrove will wrap up his first year as governor of Mississippi this month. The Delta Business Journal caught up with him during the holidays to ask his thoughts on 2000.

Begun in August of 1998, the Quitman County Micro-Enterprise and Business Development Program, located in Marks, is an organization put into place to help existing businesses grow and new ventures start out right. Part of the Quitman County Development Organization, a non-profit group, the Micro-Enterprise Center is run by director Antoinette Green, a Quitman
County native.

  From Y2K to BBA, it has certainly been a year of change in health care.  In fact, the only constant factor for hospitals and healthcare providers has been that there are no constant factors.  Expansions, cutbacks, new technology, new physicians, more services, less reimbursement, new owners, less reimbursement, new just about everything, less reimbursement-this sums
up the year in review.

It is truly a classic "rags to riches" story. Tunica County, once referred to as "America's Ethiopia", a county which, as recently as 1992, had an unemployment rate of 26%, is now one of the fastest growing regions in the country.

 Ag lenders are optimistically cautious about crops in 2001, but say additional AMTA payments hold the key to profitability for Delta farmers. "Farmers did not have a good year in 2000, and 2001 will look much the same," says Stephen L. Rochelle, CEO of First South Production Credit Association in Ridgeland.

Delta farmers are facing the new year with plenty of worries: drought conditions, higher production costs, lower commodity prices, and uncertainty over government assistance.

Facing another dismal year for row crops, more Delta farmers are taking a closer look at crop insurance.
"The bill enacted earlier this year will make crop insurance more affordable for producers and provide them with additional government premium contributions for yield and price risk protection," says Senator Thad Cochran.