Area Development Partnership | Greater Hattiesburg, MS | January - March 2020 THE NAVIGATOR JOE DIFFIE TO HEADLINE HUBFEST HUBFEST 2020 BAND LINEUP ANNOUNCED New Members August 30 - November 20, 2019 Beauty and Company iHeartMedia Phillips, Kiara SCORE Baha Hamed Mike Comfort Hattiesburg, MS 39401 Peter Stewart 215 Broadway Drive 6555 US Highway 98 West, Individuals 4507 Hwy 49, Suite B-2 Hattiesburg, MS 39401 Suite 8 Hattiesburg, MS 39401 (662) 624-6881 Hattiesburg, MS 39401 PJ’s Coffee of New Orleans (601) 951- 0628 (601) 296-9800 Brooke Stampley Non-Profit Organizations Bread Radio 6106 Hwy 98, Suite 10 Grace Kent Johnson Hattiesburg, MS 39402 Spartan Mosquito 140 Mayfair Road, Suite 960 Lance Ware State Farm (985) 630-7162 Taylor Dowdy Hattiesburg, MS 39402 Insurance Coffee & Tea Shops 5744 US Highway 11 (6 01) 90 9- 6114 Tyler Mckinney Purvis, MS 39475 Business & Management 10 Penderwick Park Planet Home Lending (601) 520-4401 Consultants Hattiesburg, MS 39402 Sara Knowles Manufacturing (601) 271-6596 5296 Old Highway 11 Carr Riggs & Ingram, LLC Insurance Suite 3, Office #19 St. Michael’s Coffee Leanne Cross Hattiesburg, MS 39402 Company 22 Millbranch Road, Suite Love Birds Bridal Boutique (601) 215-8373 Joe Molnar 400 Cheryl Fletcher Mortgage Loans & Bankers Hattiesburg, MS 39401 Hattiesburg, MS 39402 511 East Pine Street (601) 447- 0645 (601) 268-8890 Hattiesburg, MS 39401 Primerica - Tom Smith & Coffee & Tea Shops Accountants-Certified- (601) 450-3737 Associates Public Bridal & Tuxedo Tom Smith Steak ‘N Shake 9 Plaza Drive Miller Rials Eastside Soul Food McLaurin Family Learning Hattiesburg, MS 39402 6155 US Highway 98 West Restaurant Charlene Rodgers (601) 270 -6266 Hattiesburg, MS 39402 Vanessa Jones 110 Everett Street Financial & Financial Restaurants 522 Eastside Avenue Hattiesburg, MS 39401 Advisors Hattiesburg, MS 39401 (601) 602-6211 Surface to Air, LLC (601) 264-1764 Childcare SA Recycling William Gordon Restaurants Robert Rowland Hattiesburg, MS 39402 Midtown Merchants 619 East 6th Street (601) 297-7155 Genesis of Hattiesburg Association Hattiesburg, MS 39401 Photography/Studio Mack Grubbs Carly Hazlip (601) 544-6100 6507 US Highway 98 West P.O. Box 16283 Recycling Surplus Warehouse Hattiesburg, MS 39402 Hattiesburg, MS 39404 Joseph Santa Ana (601) 705- 0791 Organizations South New Summit School 5131 US Highway 42 Automobile Dealers & Mike Lott Hattiesburg, MS 39401 Repair Miller Insurance Solutions 1124 South 28th Avenue (601) 582-1069 Becky Miller Hattiesburg, MS 39401 Cabinets Hattiesburg 163 Turtle Creek Drive, Suite (601) 909-6605 Musculoskeletal Medicine 170 Schools-Secondary The Daily Grind Coffee Bailee Brantley Hattiesburg, MS 39402 Education House 1 Lincoln Parkway, Suite 101 (601) 602-4594 Courtney Morris Hattiesburg, MS 39402 Insurance Southern AgCredit 21 Lamar Property Drive (601) 336-2525 Bradley McDaniel Purvis, MS 39475 Healthcare NOOL Counseling Center 6580 US Highway 98 West (769) 456-7041 Ashlie West, LPC Hattiesburg, MS 39402 Coffee & Tea Shops Hub City Church 604 Adeline Street, Suite B (601) 579-7800 Justin Welford Hattiesburg, MS 39401 Banks & Banking Twelve-Five Cakery (601) 270-5280 (601) 606-0561 Associations Melissa Kelly-Hill Churches Counseling 5 Rivers Drive, Suite 20 Hattiesburg, MS 39401 (769) 390 -7461 Bakery PAGE 2 THE NAVIGATOR in this issue: 4 Recent Happenings 5 Letters from the Chair and President 6 Cover Story: HUBFEST 2020 Band Lineup 6 8 Chamber Chatter COVER STORY 10 Calendar of Events 11 Meet Our Staff 12 Legislative Forum 14 Forward Together 16 Leadership Pinebelt 17 Pine Belt Young Professionals 12 18 Ribbon Cuttings Legislative Forum 20 Renewed Members On the Cover: 14 Forward Together Joe Diffie to Headline HUBFEST 2020 16 One Convention Center Plaza | Hattiesburg, MS 39401 LEADERSHIP PINEBELT P: 601.296.7500 | F: 601.296.7505 | www.theADP.com PAGE 3 RECENT HAPPENINGS 2 1 3 1 4 5 6 8 1. Pinnacle Investors gather at the 2019 Partnership Foundation Annual Meeting at the Ogletree House. 2. The Leadership Pinebelt Class of 2019 graduates from the program at Southern Oaks House & Gardens. 3. Jones Companies hosts a Business After Hours in honor of their 70th Anniversary at Hotel Indigo’s Brass Hat. 4. GP Leaf River Cellulose and SPG sponsor October Accelerate in honor of National Manufacturing Day. 5. Pine Belt Young Professionals hear from three local non-profits about how to give back for the holidays. 6. Local, State, and Federal Elected Officials congregate at Holiday Reception at Blu Jazz Cafe. 7. Leadership guru, Carey Nieuwhof speaks to ADP membership at 2019 Annual Meeting, sponsored by USM. PAGE 4 letters from the chair I am thrilled to serve as the Chairman of the Area Development Partnership’s Board of Directors in 2020. The ADP is already kicking the new year off with great events and an array of programs. From our monthly Accelerate to Business After Hours, ribbon cuttings, and HUBFEST, the ADP is already packing out the calendar with networking opportunities, professional development events, and more! With your support, we know that 2020 will be another successful year. As we begin this new year, we are also laying the groundwork for our next fundraising campaign, “Forward Together”. It is vital to HOPPY COLE Greater Hattiesburg’s growth for our business community to invest in Chair Forward Together over the next five years for our region to remain a leader in economic development. The ADP is dedicated to the advancement of Greater Hattiesburg, and I am looking forward to helping lead that journey over the next year. from the president As we move into 2020, the ADP is excited to be launching “Forward Together,” our next five-year, private-sector fundraising effort. These private sector economic development funds are of paramount importance as we grow our regional economy. In 2010, we raised $2.3 million for Competitive Edge, in 2015, we eclipsed $3 million for Pinnacle, and now we’ll strive to move the needle even more with Forward Together. The additional funds raised will allow us to enhance our international economic development efforts, expand our growing community development portfolio, and recruit and Chad newell retain key talent here at the ADP. President I’m so proud of the City of Hattiesburg, Forrest County, and Lamar County for upping their annual contributions to the ADP’s program of work. Our public and private sector leaders are pulling in the same direction and making decisions together that will allow us to play in a new league. To continue being a leader in job creation in the Gulf South, we have to play smart and aggressive to compete effectively in the 21st century global economy. We can’t hesitate, but rather must move Forward Together! Stay tuned for all the details regarding Forward Together and in the interim, please take a moment to view our Pinnacle Closeout Report that chronicles the region’s robust economy over the last five years. I trust that you’ll enjoy catching up on all things ADP with this latest edition of The Navigator. Joe Diffie, a country music legend, will headline HUBFEST 2020! HUBFEST is Hattiesburg’s premier arts and music festival and will be held this year from 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. in beautiful, historic Downtown Hattiesburg. This edition of The Navigator also features our 2020 Legislative Forum lineup, JumpStart to Success, our awesome interactive career fair for 9th graders, and of course a call for Leadership Pinebelt Nominations. We are so excited about what 2020 will bring for our business community. Stay abreast of all things ADP by reading The Navigator, clicking on The Rundown each week, reviewing our website at www.theadp.com, and be sure to follow us on social media. The ADP is active across all social media platforms and I’m personally visible on Twitter and LinkedIn. We are so grateful for your membership and want to be creative and diligent in formulating programs and services that help you and your business thrive. I look forward to seeing and hearing from you in 2020! @ADP_ChadNewell @ChadNewell PAGE 5 HUBFEST 2020 Joe Diffie to Headline 2020 HUBFEST The beauty of country music is its ability to reflect the made sure I did something every day whether it was lives of its listeners, and few artists have big or little. I feel like that had something to do with celebrated life’s challenges and triumphs with more the success that I’ve managed to achieve. His first heartfelt eloquence than Joe Diffie. Whether singing break came when Holly Dunn recorded “There Goes about untarnished love in the enduring hit “John My Heart Again” and asked him to sing harmony. Deere Green,” the perennial appeal of “Pickup Man” By 1990, Diffie had signed with Epic Records and or the heartbreak of dreams unrealized in “Ships released his debut album A Thousand Winding Roads. That Don’t Come In,” Diffie’s songs have continually His very first single, “Home,” hit No. 1. He continued painted a portrait of real life with all its joy and angst. A to dominate the charts throughout the 90s with such native of Tulsa, OK, Diffie is a member of the Oklahoma hits as “New Way (To Light Up an Old Flame),” “If the Music Hall of Fame and has been a member of the Devil Danced (In Empty Pockets),” “Is It Cold in Here,” Grand Ole Opry for 25 years. He originally set his “Prop Me Up Beside the Jukebox (If I Die),” “So Help sights on a medical career, but his love for music Me Girl,” “Bigger than the Beatles,” and “Third Rock won out. He began performing in a gospel group, from the Sun.” Jason Aldean paid tribute to Diffie and then a bluegrass band before giving Nashville a try.