Technical Assistance Report - Harrison County, MS

This 2015 Economic Development Assessment Team Report outlines findings for a technical assistance project for Harrison County, MS and the City of Long Beach, MS. The International Economic Development Council (IEDC), with funding from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) provided assistance with  reviewing the Harrison County Development Commission (HCDC) vision, marketing plans and evaluating targeted industries. The project also examined a structure for lead generation and developing a metrics report to account for progress made by the economic development organization. After completing a background report, IEDC visited Harrison County with a team of four economic developers for a three-day site visit in August 2015. The IEDC team met with stakeholders of the county’s major industries, as well as public and private sector officials.  The IEDC team also visited with the Mayor of Long Beach.  At the end of the site visit, initial recommendations and feedback was presented to stakeholders. After the site visit, this final report was developed with contributions from the IEDC Team and feedback from the site visit and presentation. Recommendations in the final report are focused on the scope and initial issues presented, along with a goal to build a resilient economy for the County and City of Long Beach. The recommendations are centered around the following:
  • New Business Attraction:  Industry Targets
  • HCDC’s Business Retention & Expansion Program
  • Generation of Leads and Gathering Feedback
  • Website Improvements
  • Marketing Video
  • Organizational Metrics and Measuring Success
  • HCDC’s Future Financing & Form of Organization
  • Additional Recommendations for the City of Long Beach
The IEDC Technical Assistance Team included: Ardyn Thriffiley, CEcD, MBA, EGc (MR)  |  President, Ardyn M. Thriffiley & Associates, New Orleans, L.A. Benjamin Teague, EDFP | Executive Director, Economic Development Coalition for Asheville-Buncombe County, Asheville, N.C. Lynn A. Knight, CEcD | Vice -President, Knowledge, Management and Development, IEDC Sarah Garcia, AICP | Economic Development Advisor, IEDC

Click here to download the final report

Acknowledgements

This technical assistance project was funded through a grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA), Atlanta Regional Office. The grant is focused on long-term economic recovery of communities in the EDA Atlanta office region. The statements, findings, conclusions, recommendations, and other data in this report are solely those of IEDC and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA).

IEDC would like to acknowledge Southwest Airlines, a community partner, for flying team members to the site visit. IEDC would also like to acknowledge Economic Modeling Specialists International (EMSI) for donating software that was used in this report.