Jackson Free Press

AT&T Hiring More Than 250 In Mississippi

AT&T recently announced that it is looking to fill more than 250 job openings in Mississippi, including more than 225 new jobs. The majority of new jobs are in the company's network and call-center organizations.

Many of the new positions are available due to AT&T's Project Velocity IP, a three-year, multi-billion dollar investment plan to expand and enhance its national wireless and wired IP broadband networks. AT&T plans to increase the density of its wireless network by deploying more than 10,000 macro sites, more than 1,000 distributed antenna systems and more than 40,000 small cells.

The company will post the positions as they become available at the company's website.

Mississippi Main Street Communities Receive National Accreditation


The Mississippi Main Street Association recently released a list of cities that have been designated as accredited National Main Street Programs for meeting commercial-district revitalization performance standards set by the National Main Street Center.

The cities include:

Aberdeen, Amory, Baldwyn, Batesville, Bay St. Louis/Waveland, Belhaven, Biloxi, Booneville, Canton, Carthage, Cleveland, Clinton, Columbia, Columbus, Corinth, Greenville, Greenwood, Gulfport, Hattiesburg, Hernando, Holly Springs, Houston, Indianola, Kosciusko, Laurel, McComb, Meridian, Moss Point, Natchez, New Albany, Ocean Springs, Olive Branch, Pascagoula, Pass Christian, Philadelphia, Picayune, Pontotoc, Port Gibson, Ripley, Senatobia, Starkville, Tunica, Tupelo, Vicksburg, Water Valley, West Point and Woodville. 
"We congratulate this year's nationally accredited Main Street programs for meeting our established performance standards," Valecia Crisafulli, acting director of the National Main Street Center, said in a statement. "Accredited Main Street programs are meeting the challenges of the downtown in the economy head on, and are successfully using a focused, comprehensive revitalization strategy to keep their communities vibrant and sustainable."

The 10 performance standards include building comprehensive and sustainable revitalization efforts, developing a mission, fostering strong public-private partnerships, securing an operating budget, tracking economic progress and preserving historic buildings.

In 2012, Mississippi Main Street cities generated 228 net new businesses, 53 business expansions to existing businesses, 1,248 net new jobs, 111 facade rehabilitations and 160 upper-floor housing developments. More than 57,005 volunteer hours went into Mississippi main streets.

The Main Street Annual Awards Luncheon will recognize the accredited programs June 20 at the Old Capitol Inn in Jackson.

City Supports Proposed Development With Tax Incentive

The City of Jackson will provide a $6.5 million tax increment finance incentive for the District Land Development Company, LLC's proposed "District at Eastover" project. The high quality, mixed-use development will be located at the intersection of Interstate 55 and Eastover Drive, the former location of the Mississippi School for the Blind and Deaf.

The project will include more than 56,000 square feet of retail, 32,000 square feet of restaurants, 112,000 square feet of leasable office space, a 20,000 square foot theater, a 95-room hotel, a bank, more than 220,000 square feet of residential space, and surface and structured parking.

The investment for the project is approximately $80 million. It will create several hundred construction jobs with payrolls in excess of $30 million. At completion, the project will require approximately 112 full-time and part-time positions with an annual payroll of about $3.7 million.

'Identifying and Connecting with Your Influencers' Webinar

On Wednesday, June 5, the U.S. Small Business Administration and the W20 Group, a consortium of entrepreneurial digital-communications companies, will present "Identifying and Connecting with Your Influencers," the fourth in a free, five-topic social media webinar series running through the end of this month. Tomorrow's session will focus on helping small business owners learn how to engage with people who can influence their online reputation and gain value through social-media tools.

The free webinar is from 1 to 2 p.m., and includes subjects such as: understanding the importance of influencers, finding the right tools and methodologies to identify your influencers, learning some basic techniques for engaging your key influencers and focusing on growing your future influencers.

The last webinar in the series will be "Getting Started with Mobile and Location-based Marketing." Watch for the date and time.

The series is free, but space is limited. To register, visit the SBA's website.