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Z 1258.001 F
MISSISSIPPI ECONOMIC COUNCIL RECORDS, ACCRETION

1964; 1971-1972

Biography/History:

The Mississippi Economic Council was organized in 1948 as the state Chamber of Commerce. Its formation was prompted by an event that had occurred during a legislative session earlier that year. During a hearing on a controversial labor-relations issue, only two business leaders had appeared before the legislative committee to deliver opinions on this issue. After the hearing, one of the businessmen, Edmund Taylor of Greenville, began a statewide effort to organize business professionals and chambers of commerce into a non-partisan lobbying group, as well as to form a coalition to make businesses more progressive.

More than three hundred people gathered at the Heidelberg Hotel in Jackson at the first organizational meeting of the council in December of 1948. Taylor stated that the purpose of the new council would be to build a network of commercial, industrial, and professional communities to improve the economic, cultural, and governmental life of the state and its citizens.

When chartered in 1949, the Mississippi Economic Council and its members identified several goals. Chief among them was a non-political focus on economic issues. Representation from every geographic region of the state was a second goal. Membership on the council was open to all Mississippians who had an interest in the improvement of the state. The decision-making process of the council was rooted in well-reasoned and researched deliberations. Finally, the council was financially supported by its members.

Key issues debated by the Mississippi Economic Council have been tax equity, governmental reform, and educational reform. Successes include the following:

The leadership of the Mississippi Economic Council has remained stable, with only three executive directors serving since its inception. The council’s second leader, Bob Pittman, held the post for thirty-two years. Upon Pittman’s retirement in 1998, Blake Wilson assumed this position. Wilson has differentiated the role of the non-governmental MEC from its governmental counterpart, the Mississippi Department of Economic and Community Development, whose mission is to recruit new businesses through sales and marketing. In contrast, the role of the MEC has been one of research and development in public policy and bringing together all of the local chambers of commerce in the state to help shape public policy.

Scope and Content:

This collection contains Mississippi Economic Council weekly legislative newsletters from 1964, 1971, and 1972. It also contains a Mississippi Legislature House Calendar for February 26, 1971. The newsletters were written by different MEC committee chairmen to keep their members informed about legislative actions affecting business and to encourage members to take corrective when necessary.

Series Identification:

  1. Weekly Legislative Newsletters. 1964; 1971-1972. 27 items.
  2. Mississippi Legislature House Calendar. 1971. 1 item.