Mississippi: Not That Bad

Amile Wilson

A new report says Mississippi's reading scores are improving quicker than in other states with comparable economies.

by Elizabeth Waibel
Jan. 12, 2012

Despite its persistent reputation as first-in-everything-worst, Mississippi isn't nearly as hopeless as it thinks it is, a new report finds. Compared to other states with similar economies, Mississippi ranks high in entrepreneurial activity, personal-income growth and the least violent crime.

The "Blueprint Mississippi 2011" report, released last week, is the result of research by a collection of agencies and business leaders. The report is intended to be "a starting point for what will be an ongoing dialogue for improving the economic future of the state" and is full of recommendations for how Mississippi can improve its economic standing and quality of life.

Rather than comparing Mississippi to the nation as a whole, Blueprint Mississippi looked at the state in the context of its closest competitors, dubbed "the Blueprint states."

Mississippi ranks near the top of the Blueprint states in job growth in some industries, including contact centers, remote-data centers, auto assembly, and aerospace and aviation, it found. The state ranks near the bottom in terms of job loss in other industries, however, including metal fabrication and steel, defense and homeland security, and auto suppliers.

Blake Wilson is the president of the Mississippi Economic Council, which oversaw the Blueprint Mississippi report. A native of Delaware, Wilson said one of the things that struck him when he moved to Mississippi 14 years ago is that Mississippians tend to look down at their shoes and assume the state is at the bottom of the pack, even when that's not the case.

"We don't own the franchise on failure in Mississippi; we've got to stop selling it," Wilson said.

Compared to the other Blueprint states, Wilson said Mississippi is very competitive, especially in economic measures. While the state still has work to do in some of the social areas, such as a lack of educational attainment and high rates of poverty and teen pregnancy, Wilson said Mississippi's fourth-grade reading scores have improved at the second-highest rate in recent years compared to the other Blueprint states.

"There's some real momentum picking up here in Mississippi, and it really shows," he said. "You get that GDP number, you look at personal income, and we're very competitive compared to other Blueprint states."

The Blueprint report doesn't ignore problems, Wilson said, but instead focuses on how to make progress.

In addition to offering a snapshot of the state's economy, the Blueprint Mississippi report has suggestions for how to grow Mississippi's economy. In a survey, more than 1,500 business and community leaders across the state named educational achievement as the top priority among Blueprint Mississippi's goals.

Among the report's other recommendations are developing the state's infrastructure and promoting health care as an economic driver.

Read the full report at blueprintmississippi.com.

Comment at jfp.ms.

Blueprint States

Economic-development professionals see these 11 "Blueprint states" as Mississippi's 
closest competitors:

• Alabama
• Arkansas
• Florida
• Georgia
• Kentucky
• Louisiana
• North Carolina
• Oklahoma
• South Carolina
• Tennessee
• Texas

Where Mississippi Stands Among Blueprint States

• No. 5 in GDP percentage growth
• No. 3 in personal-income percentage growth
• No. 3 in fair tort rules
• No. 5 in overall performance of state highway systems
• No. 3 in entrepreneurial activity
• No. 6 in university research and development expenditures per capita
• No. 2 in percent change of 4th graders reading at or above the basic level
• No. 2 in least amount of violent crime per 100,000
• No. 4 in state tax climate
• No. 6 among states growing in competitiveness

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