Spraggins appointed DMR exec

Joe Spraggins, the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources’ (DMR) chief operations officer since 2013, has been appointed executive director by Gov. Phil Bryant. Spraggins served 34 years in the military and attained the rank of brigadier general. He retired from the Air Force in 2006. Prior to joining DMR, he served as commander of the Combat Readiness Training Center in Gulfport; and chief of staff of the Joint Force Headquarters of the Tennessee National Guard. Jamie Miller, who had served as executive director of the DMR since 2013, has joined Mississippi Development Agency as deputy director for governmental affairs and chief innovation officer. He previously served as chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Steven Palazzo, and as policy adviser to former Gov. Haley Barbour’s Office of Recovery and Renewal after Hurricane Katrina. Miller graduated from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College and has a bachelor’s degree in environmental biology with a minor in chemistry from the University of Southern Mississippi. (Source: Jackson Clarion-Ledger 01/23/18)