NATCHEZ &045;Ideas flowed at an economic development meeting in Natchez Friday. Perhaps Dr. John Gill, dean of the Alcorn State University School of Business summed up the theme best:

&uot;We’re all a part of a system, linked to each other,&uot; he said. &uot;That linkage gives you the power to make things better. That’s why you’re here today.&uot;

Educators, business leaders, economic development officials and many who attended because the topic intrigued them, gathered at the Natchez Convention Center for the Southwest Mississippi Educational Involvement Regional Forum.

The Natchez meeting was the first of nine in a series that will take place throughout the state, said Dr. Franklin Jackson, Alcorn State University Vice President for Institutional Advancement, Planning and Research.

Alcorn was a sponsor of the symposium, along with Copiah-Lincoln Community College and Southwest Mississippi Community College.

The forums around the state will gather public input about ways to improve the educational experience for Mississippians and ideas from business and civic leaders to address key economic development areas, Jackson said.

&uot;Although Mississippi faces challenges, every challenge can be overcome,&uot; Jackson said, emphasizing the importance of collaboration and synergism among many groups to make Mississippi competitive. He talked of achievements but also of sacrifices.

&uot;We want to prepare Mississippi as a state to be competitive,&uot; he said. &uot;The state is no greater than its weakest county.&uot;

The importance of education to economic development is not a new topic. Forum attendees, however, brought new focus to some old problems and emphasized a need to join forces, from pre-school educators to university professors and from local economic developers to regional and state.

Gill said Mississippi’s young people must be taught that they can compete, that they do not have to accept anything less than the best.

&uot;Education is our stumbling block. If we’re going to turn it into a starting block, we have to teach our children to work. We have a lot of catching up to do. We have the brainpower. We just have to educate them &045; every one of them.&uot;

The state’s official economist Dr. Phil Pepper said an exodus of Mississippians who left the state to seek better jobs elsewhere began many years ago. &uot;In the 1940s, about 400,000 left the state. In the 1960s, 250,000 left,&uot; he said. &uot;There were too few opportunities.&uot;

And now? Pepper said Mississippi still has a crisis in human capital. One reason is the inattention to provide opportunities for workers to get education and training that prepared them for the changing workplace.

&uot;We’ve got to change or fall more and more behind,&uot; he said. &uot;We must raise the human capital of Mississippi.&uot;

Michael Ferdinand, executive director of the Natchez Adams Economic Development Authority, told forum attendees about the Southwest Mississippi Partnership, of which he is president.

The 10-county region in Southwest Mississippi has joined together to increase economic development opportunities by having more sites and a larger workforce to offer businesses and industries, Ferdinand said.

Statistics gathered by the state show that Mississippi workers will drive 60 miles for a good job, he said.

William McHenry, assistant commissioner of academic affairs for the state Institutions of Higher Learning, said the Friday symposium was not simply a talking fest but, rather, an opportunity to energize key people to &uot;help Mississippians enjoy a better quality of life.&uot;

All education systems must be aligned, McHenry said. &uot;We have to put aside our turfs and work together for students.&uot;

McHenry said Mississippians can do something about children arriving unprepared for the first day of kindergarten, and students should be able to move seamlessly from community college to university.

&uot;The barrier is us. We have to decide we can do something about it,&uot; he said.

Reports from the symposium will be a kind of road map for the future of the state that began with the Mississippi Educational Involvement Program, which is dedicated to advancing educational, economic and social progress of Mississippi with an eye to improving the economy.