2004

WEEK OF, T (10 I~

Bar~our, Riley to headline leadership summit from staff reports

Summit From page A1

Gov.-elect Haley Barbour and Uabama Gov. Bob Riley will head– inc the 2nd Annual Leadership iummit next month sponsored by the ~ommission on the Future of East viississippi and West Alabama. The event is set for 8:30 a.m. Feb. i at the University of West Alabama. 3oth governors are expected to talk 1bout development opportunities, .ncluding the proposed bi-state indus– trial park initiated last year. "With their commitment, we expect our second summit to rival last year's," said Phil Sutphin, chairman of the commission and president of East Central Community College in Mississippi. "We had a full-capacity crowd at MSU-\1eridian last year," Sutphin said, referring to the fin;t leadership summit. Beside-.. Barbour and Riley, ut– phin said t.;.S. Rep. Artur Dao;i-.., R– Ala., is expected to attend. in addi– tion, Sutphin said, U.S. Rep. Chip Pickering, R-Miss. - whose district includes East Mississippi - may attend if scheduling conflicts can be resolved. This summit's theme is "Closing the Gaps." This event "'ill include the release of data showing the East Mississippi– West Alabama region's performance toward achieving the Cycle of Pros– perity Benchmark..; for Accountability and Deci~ion-Making unveiled at last year's summit. "One . four major goals has been to develop key indicators to show how our ng10n performs," Sutphin said. TI1e benchmark initiative results from cooperative efforts between the commission and the Regional Academy for Educational Leadership, --

Riley

Barbour

The Phil Hardin Foundation and The Mont– gomery Institute. A group of several leaders including Henry John-.on, :.tate ::.upe.rin– tendent of Educa– tion, and P~te Walley. director of the state Bureau for Long Range Economic

Sutphin

Planning worked with The Montgomery Insti– tute to develop the benchmarks. The 41-member Commission on the Future includes the heads of eight area institutions of higher learning, and a representative of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. Also on the commission are two representatives each from Clarke, Jasper, Kemper, Lauderdale, Leake,~ Neshoba, Newton, Noxubee, Scott and Winston counties in Mississippi and Choctaw, Greene, Hale, Marengo, Perry and Sumter coun– ties in Alabama. .. See Summit Page A2 ,

HAGINIAN ------– OBA DEMOCRAT ------ ON RECORD ---------- )JAN STAR __.V: oc;_______ ON-LEDGER --------