A strong sense of professionalism, building new partnerships, and unparalleled
economic growth, have marked Yazoo City's Jimmy Heidel's tenure as executive
director of allied economic growth have marked Yazoo City native Jimmy
Heidel's tenure as executive director of the Mississippi Department of
Economic and Community Development (MDECD).
Head of the state's economic and community development efforts since his appointment by Gov. Kirk Fordice in 1992, Heidel took a few moments recently to reflect on the incredible progress made by Mississippi. "Mississippi is in the most sustained period of economic growth in our 182-year history as a state," said Heidel. "Our pro-business strategy, aggressive marketing and advertising efforts, partnerships at the state and local level, and a plethora of competitive incentives have all played a major role in our progress."
Mississippi has attracted private capital investment of more than $20.4 billion since 1992 and new and expanding facilities have announced more than 194,000 new jobs. The state has won awards for its advertising campaigns touting economic development, tourism and its first-in-the-nation Certified Retirement Community program.
Earlier this year, Dun and Bradstreet reported that Mississippi recorded the highest growth rate of new business start-ups in the country in 1998, and the highest growth rate in new jobs created by the start-ups. And, Newsweek magazine found that Mississippi's 17.6 percent increase in disposable personal income per capita was also the highest in the country.
All of the signs point to Heidel as the economic development professional who has made the programs work. And, as our interview with him suggests, he was well-qualified for the assignment.
Heidel grew up in Yazoo City and won a scholarship to play football at Ole Miss, where he starred as a defensive back and quarterback. After earning his bachelor's degree in business and All-America accolades on the football field, he was drafted into the National Football League by the New York Jets and the St. Louis Cardinals. He signed with the Cardinals and was later taken in an expansion draft by the New Orleans Saints, where he was an original team member and starting strong safety. Later, he moved to the Jets and eventually decided "there was an easier way to make a living than playing professional football."
During off-seasons, with the encouragement of his wife Joanna, whom he describes as his life-long partner and confidante, Heidel earned a master's degree in city planning from The University of Mississippi.
In 1969, Heidel joined the staff of the South Delta Planning and Development District in Greenville and developed a strong interest in economic development. He stayed there about five years before becoming the first county administrator in Mississippi, working for Bolivar County in Cleveland for about nine years where he was instrumental in developing the Port of Rosedale and local industrial sites. In 1983, he moved to Vicksburg, where he headed a consolidation of the local chamber of commerce, economic foundation and Warren County Port Commission.
"They wanted one director to head up all of these activities, so it was a good challenge for me," said Heidel. In 1984, a local contractor named Kirk Fordice became the volunteer chairman of the organization, and various corporate ventures took shape, including development of the Ceres Industrial Center on I-20.
Fordice was elected to his first term as Mississippi's governor in 1991, and hired Heidel to head the Department of Economic and Community Development in a state whose economic fortunes were less than pristine.
"We came into a situation where there was a $75 million deficit in state government, workers comp was almost bankrupt with only one company writing coverage, and the unemployment rate was relatively high-over 10 percent across the state," said Heidel. Organizationally, other challenges were also present. MDECD was actually a conglomeration of eight state agencies which were combined in the mid-1980s into a single department with some 400 employees and, ultimately, a budget of more than $150 million.
When Heidel got to state government, he also found that money to market Mississippi's tourism and economic development was virtually non-existent, only $500,000 for both. "Our international division had $29 in travel money," he recalls. "I knew a lot of things were wrong in the department, and if we were to have any chance of success, we had to build new partnerships."
That process took over a year, but by 1993, the Legislature began to provide major new funding for marketing and advertising both economic development and tourism. And, about that time, Heidel's strategy of targeting certain business and industry groups began to take hold. "We named the industrial segments that we wanted to go after-metal fabrication, food and food processing, warehouse and distribution, plastics and chemicals, telecommunications, electronics, furniture, and wood products," he said. This sort of targeted marketing had not been done previously in Mississippi.
Heidel also realized that not enough attention was being paid to existing industry in Mississippi, which could be the source of substantial growth through expansion of facilities already here. He put a specialist in existing industry in each of MDECD's field offices, even expanded the number of offices to seven. "Working with existing industries to expand has proven to be part of our overall success," he said. "When I came in, we basically could finance manufacturing. We didn't have the same programs for new manufacturing companies as we did for the ones already here. We went to the Legislature and made everything available to existing industries that we could do for a new one."
Heidel also found that Mississippi was not doing enough in helping finance the food and food processing industry; catfish, poultry, swine, even emus; all of which have grown. A similar situation existed with warehousing and distribution and telecommunications, where new attention has helped lead to an explosion of these businesses in Mississippi.
"We were new people at the state level looking for new ideas," he said.
Heidel is particularly pleased with the success of the Hometown Mississippi Retirement Program under which a maximum of 20 cities are certified as retirement communities. The first of its type in the country, communities must meet stringent standards in order to qualify and offer such amenities for retirees as a high quality of life, low crime rate, and educational and cultural opportunities.
Every retiree family is the equivalent of 3.7 factory jobs, MDECD research found. So far, the program has attracted more than 1,500 retiree families to Mississippi, relocating from England, Germany, and even from elsewhere in the U.S.
In tourism, there has been remarkable growth. In 1992, about 4 million visits were recorded to Mississippi; last year, more than 56 million visitors came to Mississippi, making tourism and recreation a $5.1 billion business. The "Blues Alley" promotional campaign helped attract more visitors to the Delta. Today, about 88,000 Mississippians are employed directly and indirectly in taking care of visitors who come for the beaches, golf courses, parks, antebellum homes, and Mississippi's newest industry, gaming and leisure recreation.
Per capita income growth in Mississippi over the last seven years has out-performed the national average and per capita income in a dozen Mississippi counties has more than doubled during Heidel's tenure. "Per capita income is still low, but the only way to get ahead is to out-perform the national average," said Heidel, "and that's what we've been doing."
Heidel said the community development aspect of the department has been instrumental in economic growth. At the present time, some 35 existing industries are seeking Community Development Block Grants for infrastructure improvements that will help them expand in Mississippi. CDBG's are frequently the source of funding for such improvements, which help create new jobs and opportunity.
"We've worked on all these areas at the same time, and that's one reason we've been so successful," he said.
Heidel recalls one early success involving the old Vlasic Pickles plant, which was sitting vacant in Greenville in the heart of his treasured Mississippi Delta. He detected some interest from Fruit of the Loom in taking over the old manufacturing facility and embarked on a mission that would define his tenure: he put the project on a fast track, helping solve regulatory problems quickly, expediting the process. In about 30 days, "we had completed everything necessary to bring the plant to Greenville, and we proved that we could get things done in a hurry."
In 1996, Mississippi was able to show it could successfully compete on the world stage by attracting New Jersey-based Wellman Inc., the largest single industrial relocation project in the country that year, to Hancock County. Wellman is one of the world's largest producers of a polymer ingredient in plastic soft drink bottles, fabric and other items. Working with corporate real estate consultants who often do much of the technical work related to industrial expansions, Heidel was able to get Mississippi noticed, even though Wellman already had a substantial presence in South Carolina.
Today, Wellman Inc. is in the second phase of a $1.2 billion plant, and Tom Duff, the company's president and CEO, is one of Mississippi's most articulate advocates.
"When you have corporate officials like Tom Duff starting to sell your state, you've made it," said Heidel. "South Carolina has such a tremendous history in attracting major industrial concerns, and this was a case where little old Mississippi beat them," he said. "It tickled me to death, so I'll always remember that project."
But among the successes lie some failures, too. Mississippi missed out on a major Boeing plant because the state didn't have the necessary tools in place to attract a project with such a major economic impact.
Still, overall, Mississippi has made great strides in the decade of the 1990s. And the innovation which defines Heidel's MDECD tenure is continuing. A new marketing plan, for example, will take Mississippi to the leading edge of attracting trained labor. After a test case this summer, Heidel says he's moving ahead with a plan to hold job fairs with Mississippi companies in U.S. cities where large-scale layoffs have been announced, particularly in highly-skilled technical areas.
He's also working with companies such as Viking Range in Greenwood to recruit some of the skilled workers they will need for the future.
"It has been a goal of mine to try to do things which help the people of Mississippi," he said. "That's why Joanna and I decided after I finished playing professional football that we would stay in Mississippi and try to make a difference. And, I feel really blessed that I came at a time when the opportunity was here.
"The biggest thrill I get out of all this is when someone walks up to me and says "thank you" because their son or daughter now have a job opportunity in the state and won't have to leave to make a living," said Heidel.
Jimmy and Joanna Heidel are the parents of two children. Their son, Jay, earned a double masters at the University of Virginia after receiving his bachelor's degree from The University of Mississippi. He is an architect in Chicago. Their daughter, Finney, who was married earlier this year, lives with her husband in Baton Rouge, where she teaches severely handicapped children. "My wife has been my biggest supporter," said Heidel. "She has given a great deal of understanding, time, and effort to make Mississippi a better place to live."
"Mississippi is so close right now to making the major economic impact it should have always had, to being highly recognized across the nation and the world. It's a great place to do business," said Heidel.