Jackson Free Press

The Association of South Jackson Neighborhoods is calling on Jackson and Hinds County residents to make this week "Shop Sears Week." Through Monday, the association is encouraging people to buy from Sears to encourage the retailer to stay in Metrocenter Mall.

After Sears Holdings Corp. announced it would close more than 100 Sears and Kmart stores around the country, including the one in Metrocenter, city officials launched an online petition to "Save Our Sears." Genny Seeley, president of the Association of South Jackson Neighborhoods, said she also wanted to do something to try to keep Sears in Jackson.

"I just thought, why not?" she said. "... I don't know that we can change their minds, but at least we can show them we appreciate them being here."

Seeley said while city officials are planning to move some offices into Metrocenter and revitalize the area around it, the bottom line is that Sears needs to see people spending money in the store.

"If 5,000 people show up at Sears, maybe it would attract attention," she said.

Small Business Profile

More than 96 percent of all employers in Mississippi were small businesses in 2009, and they employed almost half of the state's private-sector work force, a recent report found.

The report, released by the Office of Advocacy at the U.S. Small Business Administration, also found that self-employment in the state declined overall from 2000 to 2010, but minority self-employment declined less during the same time period. Most of Mississippi's small businesses are very small, the report said, and 80 percent of all businesses in the state did not have any employees as of 2009.

The administration publishes reports on small businesses in each state, territory and Washington, D.C., annually, using the latest available data. In 2010, while Mississippi's real gross state product decreased 0.4 percent, the United States' real GDP decreased 1.3 percent.

For more data from small-business profiles about Mississippi and other states, visit sba.gov/advocacy/848

Grants for Local Businesses

The city recently awarded grants ranging from just under $4,000 to $8,500 to four local businesses to help them purchase new equipment and technology.

The Small Business Development Grant Program is a matching-grant program funded through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The latest businesses to receive grants through the program are Alpha Healthcare and Hospice, Celebrity Cuts, Customized Accounting Consultants and Swellmix.

For information or to apply for a grant, call 601-960-1100.

Two Companies to Locate in Mississippi

The Mississippi Development Authority says two companies plan to locate some of their facilities in Mississippi. Kimberly-Clark plans to locate a distribution facility in Southaven, and Foley Products plans to open a facility in Prentiss.

Kimberly-Clark, which manufactures Kleenex, Huggies, Pull-Ups and other brand-name products, expects to employ more than 100 workers at the Southaven facility, and Foley Products, a Georgia-based concrete products manufacturer, plans to hire 40 people.