Scott Waller delivers keynote speech
Scott Waller, president and CEO of the Mississippi Economic Council, was the invited keynote speaker for the Byhalia Area Chamber of Commerce annual awards luncheon.
Invited by chamber executive director Laura Taylor to present the keynote address, Waller reviewed the roles MEC plays in the development and growth of Mississippi’s economy and how it plays a pivotal role in growing the workforce.
“The support you give to local chambers is vital to growing the community you serve,” Waller told chamber members. “I appreciate partnerships with local chambers.”
Waller said he has worked with chamber director Laura Taylor before.
“The chamber is a business designed to support it’s members,” he said. “The leadership you have is so important at the state and local level that we at MEC depend on.”
This is MEC’s 75th year, since 1949. MEC has a voice at the state level advocating for vitally important work moving forward, working with local teams in growing the state’s economy.
“Mississippi is a great place to live and work,” Waller said.
He is from Shubuta, Clarke County, with a census in 2010 of 441.
The 2022 Vision Plan is to secure Mississippi’s future vision for economic growth, with emphasis on education and workforce development, Waller said.
That entails how to attract and retain young people in Mississippi.
“We’ve got some great young professionals and we need more of them,” he said.
To that end, growing the workforce and creating a business climate that provides workers access to health care is important.
Waller recognized the Project Poppy as the largest economic development project in the state, but that quickly changed as even larger developments took the lead.
Waller said MEC looks at regulatory issues, regulatory overreach and at creating a favorable tax environment for business.
“There is a strong belief that about 80 percent think the state is heading in the right direction,” Waller said. “We just feel like things are happening in the business community’s perspective.”
The state’s infrastructure is being built with a $200 million recurring revenue going to cities and counties all over Mississippi. Over $500 million has been put in the emergency road and bridge fund specifically over the last few years, to be an engine for the economy.
The Mississippi Legislature put $1.2 billion in new money for the Mississippi Department of Transportation from federal legislation that will have a major impact on infrastructure.
“The road and bridge system is our greatest asset, but we must maintain now,” he said. “Workforce and education are one and the same. We must focus in getting people into the right career pathways and get trained.”
Workforce development has seen tremendous impacts from Career Readiness ACT WorkKeys that tests for skill sets. The WorkKeys tells the person where their career interest lie and how prepared they are to learn specific job skills. Both the WorkKeys and the ACT are desirable. And the number taking the assessments have increased from 500 pre-COVID to over 28,000 who took the ACT WorkKeys in school year 2022, Waller said.
ACT WorkKeys certify individuals for National Career Readiness.
The Career Coach program also goes into schools and works with students. The program helps students establish a pathway for jobs in Mississippi.
Third Grade Reading scores have moved from the bottom in the nation to 23rd and Math has moved from 50th to 29th in the nation.
“They are going to create a workforce that you will not believe,” Waller said. “High schools and postsecondary education will see the benefits long-term in the state.”
AIM (Aligning for Mississippi) provides consultation services to organizations to help meet strategic goals and measure organizational alignment and benchmark success.
“In K-12, it focuses on making students successful for the future,” Waller said By 2031, 63 percent of jobs in Mississippi will require some type of post secondary certification, he said.
Waller said the department of education focuses on academics, but there has to be some balance.
Mississippi’s high school population is shrinking.
This year’s eighth grade class is smaller than last years graduating class, Waller said.
Mississippi must help students prepare to move into the right career path.
“The number one issue for recent graduates is a good job out there,” he said. “Cost of living is a part of it. The future work force will have an 18 percent decline in students in university by 2030.”
MEC is not a state agency, it is a private non-profit 501 c3 organization and takes no state or federal monies to operate. It is solely funded through businesses that support it.
“We think we are in a position to do what we had to do create a strong workforce for the state, a stronger, more solid place to work,” Miller said.
The Mississippi Economic Council is the state Chamber of Commerce, said Taylor.
“Over the years, I have attended many MEC events in North MS and Jackson giving me an opportunity to meet Scott and the entire MEC staff,” Taylor said. “While attending the US Chamber IOM classes, Scott was an alumni of the program and served in several volunteer roles with the program and organization sharing his knowledge and experience with students from all over the US. MEC’s programs on workforce development, economic development and Scott’s work within the IOM programs led to a great working relationship providing guidance on many aspects of what we do as a chamber on a local level.”
The Institute for Organizational Management (IOM) is the professional development program of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. It is the premier non-profit professional development program for associations and Chamber professionals, fostering individual growth through interactive learning and networking opportunities.