In a regional year in review - in a nutshell - begins with a January start on a controversial footing when Rep. Trey Lamar (R-Senatobia) proposed a bill in the Mississippi House of Representatives that would create a new court system within Jackson's Capitol Complex Improvement District.
HB 1020 would take authority over cases, in that part of the city, from local elected officials. SB 2889 was a matching bill. Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba says the two bills, aimed at curbing the independence of Jackson, "reminds me of apartheid."
* Naval Air Station Meridian, Miss., and community leaders gathered Jan. 30, to celebrate the base's 60th founding anniversary. Capt. Timothy Brent Moore noted how proud he was of the partnerships between the base and the community. NASM's milestones achieved are a testament to those relationships, he said.
* Keeping with that Navy theme, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday visited a pair of Gulf Coast shipbuilding operations Jan. 26.
At Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Miss., Gilday toured the future Navy ships Richard M. McCool Jr. (LPD 29) and Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125). Gilday last visited Ingalls last March the christening of Jack H. Lucas, the Navy’s first Flight III destroyer.
CNO also visited Austal USA's complex in Mobile, Ala.
* On the controversial academic agenda, Jackson State University's faculty senate voted Jan. 27 to uphold a "no confidence" resolution regarding President Thomas Hudson and various leaders of the administration.
The day before that vote, President Hudson was selected among the 2023 Top CEO by the Mississippi Business Journal.
Strike Two: Jackson State was ranked among the 2023 Best Online Bachelor’s Programs by U.S. News & World Report. Hudson was dismissed.
YEAR OF THE TORNADO
On Jan. 25, at least four tornadoes touched down in Louisiana as storms swept the state, including a 90-mph EF-1 twister that damaged three mobile homes in Ventress, sending three people to a local hospital.
On March 24, an EF-4 tornado all but flattened the town of Rolling Fork in the South Delta of Mississippi killing 21 people.
Later in the month, President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden were in Mississippi to visit and talk with residents of the tornado-damaged Rolling Fork community.
CARBON CAPTURE & LSU
In January, LSU announced it had become the first university in the U.S. to offer a formal concentration in carbon capture, utilization and storage - a technology lauded by state and industry leaders despite controversy on the public's eye - through its petroleum engineering department.
Carbon capture and sequestration is a process in which carbon output from a plant is captured, compressed and sent via pipeline deep underground to be stored, rather than emitted into the air. The technology has grown in popularity since Congress approved $3.5B to support carbon capture and sequestration projects in efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Louisiana has become a hotbed for these projects.
* Enviva is one step closer to having a wood pellet plant here in Stone County, Miss., after the Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to approve an MOU, a fee-in-lieu tax agreement and enter into a Development Infrastructure Program grant agreement with the Mississippi Development Authority.
It was happening as 350 Stone County residents signed a petition to have more accountability to ensure Enviva follows emission regulations.
The board said that was the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality's job.
Stone County is giving Enviva financial incentives to build, including a 10-year fee-in-lieu agreement - instead of paying taxes, Enviva will pay a fee. After the deal expires, the company will start paying regular taxes.
Enviva hopes to begin construction and open the plant in 2024.
Enviva's website calls itself the "world’s largest producer of sustainable wood pellets, a renewable alternative to coal. Wood-based bioenergy is part of an all-in renewables strategy to reduce carbon emissions and limit dependence on fossil fuels."
* On March 30, the University of Southern Mississippi celebrated its 113th anniversary. It was all part of USM’s annual Founders’ Day.
* The U.S. Interior Department has sent $353M to Ala., La., Miss. and Texas under the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act (GOMESA) for wells drilled in federal waters off those states.
Louisiana got $156M in revenue from offshore O&G production in the Gulf of Mexico for FY 2022. Most of the money is scheduled for hurricane risk reduction projects. Each state’s share is determined by which wells are within 75 miles of their coastlines. Alabama is to receive $49.7M. Mississippi is to receive $51.8M.
Shipbuilding
Ingalls Shipbuilding division delivered the first Flight III Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125), to the Navy on June 27. Delivery of DDG 125 represents the official transfer of the ship from the shipbuilder to the Navy.
* The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) hosted the Transatlantic Shipbuilding and Maritime Conference on June 28 at the University’s Gulf Park Campus in Long Beach that included 10 German shipbuilding and maritime industry suppliers.
* In August, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' (USACE) Vicksburg District recognized 150 years of service to the nation with a formal celebration at district headquarters.
COASTAL BIZ
A cooperative alliance grain agreement was signed Aug. 29 between officials of the Port of South Louisiana (Port SL) and the Ukraine Sea Port Authority.
RWE Offshore US Gulf LLC, a US subsidiary of the German energy conglomerate RWE, offered a high bid of $5.6M for the offshore rights to acreage in federal waters near Lake Charles, La., in the first-ever Gulf Coast wind lease auction on Aug. 29.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management also offered nearly 200,000 acres near Galveston, Texas, but no firms submitted bids for that area.
BOEM, which oversees offshore wind leasing, awarded roughly 102,000 acres about 44 miles from Lake Charles to RWE Offshore US Gulf. Later in 2023, RWE withdrew its proposals.
* Capchem Technology USA Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Shenzhen Capchem Technology Co., announced in November it is evaluating plans to invest $350M to build an integrated carbonate solvent and lithium-ion battery electrolyte manufacturing facility in Ascension Parish.
The project would create the largest facility of its kind in the United States and support the growth of domestic lithium-ion battery and electric vehicle supply chains.
RAIL SERVICE START
The return of passenger rail service along the Gulf Coast from New Orleans to Mobile, Ala., moved one step closer to reality on Sept. 21 when the Federal Railroad Commission authorized a $178M grant to improve the tracks and build a new platform at the Alabama site. The announcement means the service, which has been suspended since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, could resume as early as the first quarter of 2024.
* In November, a new “last mile” Amazon facility was announced it was coming to Oktibbeha County, near Starkville, Miss. The “last mile” status of the facility set to be located within the NorthStar Industrial Park means that it will be the final stop for packages before they hit the doorsteps of customers in the area.
* In December, the Port of New Orleans says (Port NOLA) it will receive $73.77M from the federal government to assist in building the Louisiana International Terminal (LIT) project, which is designed to provide an efficient gateway for the movement of cargo on the Mississippi River and the inland waterways of the nation.
O&G SALES LEASE
After months of legal wrangling, the latest Gulf of Mexico oil and gas auction happened Dec. 20 with 26 companies submitting $441.9M worth of bids to lease tens of millions of acres for offshore drilling.
Of that total, $382M represented successful bids, according to BOEM officials. More than 72M acres were made available. The auctions allow companies to lease space in offshore waters and explore for oil and gas.
The American Petroleum Institute, the nation's largest oil and gas lobbying group, said those bid total was the highest for an offshore auction in nearly a decade.
Offshore O&G auctions will be few and far between in the near future because the Biden administration’s next five-year plan for offshore leasing calls for three offshore auctions through 2029, all in the Gulf of Mexico. None will be held in 2024.
Looking ahead to 2024. there appears to be jitters among various size companies nationally, according to a recent Resume Builder survey, and based on responses from 900+ firms.
An overwhelming number of companies indicated layoffs are to be expected, but not all companies or industries are equally at risk.
While 42% of midsized and 39 percent of large companies indicated layoffs ahead, only 28% of small firm business leaders said the same.
Industry-wise, construction (66%) and software companies (65%) were far the most likely to predict layoffs.
Information, retail and finance and insurance will likely see some turmoil, with 44% of information and retail companies and 38% of finance companies indicating potential layoffs.
However, the Golden Triangle appears to have a "golden" opportunity for major economic news. Golden Triangle growth: A look at area's 2023 economic progress (wcbi.com)
Hang in there. Here's hoping 2024 brings more prosperity and good health throughout the region.
v/r Rod Duren, Editor
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