Jackson Jambalaya

"I want me one of them 'lectric cars made in Miss'ippi...." Said nobody ever

That's an odd way of calculating return on investment. Most entities that invest money would calculate return on investment using cashflows out and cashflows in. Just because the people who got the money invested another $8 billion doesn't mean that the state had cash flows. ROI would be calculated on the money the state spent vs. the tax receipts attributable to the expenditures. If this is the way MDA calculates ROI, this is a very good reason they shouldn't be investing.

"Overall, we have all benefited from industry being recruited to our state by economic incentives. However, we must remain vigilant in ensuring public dollars are only spent on industry with a track record of success instead of risky startup technology.”

This is not leadership. This is a great way to keep Mississippi at the back of the pack.

Several of the failed investments were in traditional industry, and there were plenty of bets on cutting edge tech that turned out great. Great risk, great reward. Every single shot isn't going to hit the bulls eye, but with a 12:1 ROI, all I want to know is whether MDA can also handle my retirement account.

Real simple. If MDA had to put money into a project for it to work then It will fail. All business deals should be able to succeed without a public gift.

MDA doesn't have to put money in projects so the projects will work. MDA has to put money in projects so they will come to Mississippi.

$200 million fills a lot of potholes

MDA blew it, or the legislature blew it? Hard to think that MDA can write $200 million of checks with no legislative approval.

and don't forget the million dollars an MDA honcho's wife made off with from a sister agency. so call it $201 million

Unforunately, Stacy, "... industry with a track record of success ..." prefers to locate in "... states without a track record of dumbass leadership."

Uh, color me purple, but is this not OLD news? How many times are you going to drum up some old failed deals and say, "look at what a failure MDA is." How many of these projects have been under the current Guv leadership? Most of that expensive crap was from the Boss Hogg era and should not be looked at in the light that our illustrious BMW buying RVing Campaign Finance laws be damned Auditor is reporting. He better be careful, or this could look like he isn't very happy being totally overlooked in the search for Thad's replacement. As if the Gov would have appointed his butt after the FBI had been snooping around his "garage' pun intended for the folks in Jackson. what a hack!

@ 203 Great point. The MDA are just a bunch of car salesmen having fun with our money. I know one of em. He's the biggest Bull$h@tter ever. I would love to see real numbers on ROI vs what they have paid out over the years.

The 12:1 return on investment is a joke. They calculated it by dividing the 8 billion in capital investment by the 672 million giving to them by the taxpayers. The only way its a 12:1 return is if the state collects an additional 8 billion in tax revenue that they wouldn't have otherwise collected.

MDA and the Governor should use net jobs (new jobs minus jobs lost) when they're bragging on their great work, and they shouldn't be able to count the new jobs numbers until the people actually start work. Otherwise, it's just smoke and mirrors.

Great work on this piece, Kingfish. Notwithstanding the dunce's expertise (at 12:25) regarding cash flow, ROI and tax receipts, this is really nothing new. We hire these characters from Florida frequently and all they do is blow through the state's cash. Then they move on to Arizona or Utah and we pay through the nose to find another one who does the same damned thing.

How much of this happened while a paying congressional advertiser on this site was at MDA? Great economic development. #24countyfleecing

Great job Haley! By the way, how's Florida? This makes the beef plant look like peanuts!!!!!!!!!!!

"Inconsistency and incompleteness of data collected make a thorough analysis difficult"...so basically, all we know for sure is that 185.6 million is definitely gone. But don't worry, the incomplete and inconsistent records say the remaining 70% of "investments" are humming right along.

My favorite MDA agency --- the one that travels to France, Lebanon, Italy, Morocco, Israel, Japan, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Uzbekistan, India, Dubai.......the list goes on and on. International Trade Office is THE place to work. You don't have to EVER have signed the front of a check (now known as initiating a direct deposit to an employee) nor made payroll, nor generated business to keep other people employed, but you can definitely travel the globe on the Mississippi Tax Payer's dollar and explain business and how to develop it. Would be interesting to see their ROI for all those trips. Governor hops on the "trade train" sometimes too! Last time MDA came to our offices, it was a 25 year old young man, who came to explain how to do business in South America. Nuff said!!! Never seen anything but incompetence out of MDA. Why we hire people who have NEVER EVER built a business, and understand all the issues and complexities in building one, to manage and work in an agency that is all about business development is beyond me.

all of this train wreaks brought to you courtesy of your republican party legislature. the same party that says over and over that the government has no business running the economy.

Thank you Philbilly. Can we have another, please? And by “another,” I’m talking about a screw-over.

9:27 it’s actually called the Mississippi World Trade Center. Check out the website. It’s full of feel good slogans. Not much else.

They visited our business also after begging for months to come. They brought 8 people. I had to lead the meeting because they had nothing to talk about.

7:24 -- Yup. 9:27 here. Same experiences also. I just mentioned the 25 year old...AND you would have thought I would have learned, but after months of calling us, a small group showed up in my office too. I supplied the coffee and donuts..........and conversation and overview and education into working in the places we work in, and on and on. I walked away feeling like they had no clue what we did, and I had lost an hour of my life. I think the core basis for them is to speak a foreign language and have dual citizenship somewhere. I guess those of us in Mississippi who traveled outside the U.S., in lots of different places, can't find our ass with both hands, because we don't speak with an accent and might be "home grown". Sadly there are a lot of Mississippians who really do understand business, and understand the international nuances of business, however, taking the time to educate MDA on how to do it, conflicts with what we all really do.......develop business, which can be a risky enterprise and takes a lot of time and energy. Too busy today, making sure payroll is met, and business is developed, but wonder where the genesis of this group originated. Neat job if you can get it!

12:25 pm is absolutely right!
Do remember that we, the taxpayers, are the involuntary investors. We have to get revenues back from our investment.
Another thing to scrutinize is the "jobs" created. If those jobs are temporary and don't generate more revenue than the cost , they are a loss, not a gain. If the jobs already existed, they do not generate revenue unless that job would have been lost if not for the project. If the jobs are not for Mississippians, but out of state contractors and their employees, only the revenues for living expenses they had while in MS can be counted.

But, the bottom line is that good investments do not need taxpayers to get off the ground. There will be plenty of interested private investors. MDA's role should be to help businesses find those private investors.

10:24 - has absolutely nothing to do with the Republican Party. Long before Republicans wound up in the majority, the same went on forever. It's a slush fund agency with a jet ready on the runway. The only body less productive is Madison County Economic Development Agency in west Canton in the new building.

This governor learned from the last that there's always a ticket to another country just waiting to be bought out at Wylie Evers. Obama and his wife, on a national level, perfected the art of continent hopping. Barbour and Bryant, at the state level have done the same. The only difference in the first and the latter is the latter weren't photographed in a bowing position.

I'm actually working on a great deal right now that will bring much-needed tourism to Rankin County. The Gold Coast gave me an idea. If we can recreate Farish Street, why not the Gold Coast? Rebuild all those old establishments that brought so much fun to Rankin County and made up its storied past. Now, that means we will have to remove part of the levees on the Rankin County side of the Pearl River but don't worry, the One Lake plan will fix that problem. The best part is the cost. A complete recreation means using cinder block buildings and old wood shacks. DBE? No problem. The Stamps hotel was a yuuuge part of the Gold Coast and a scene of integration in segregated Mississippi. In fact, De'Keither fell for, oops, I meant supported this idea. All the work on the Stamps section will be performed by minority companies. Josh Harkins' dad and I are forming a consulting company so we can direct the work. State Representative Ray Rogers and Irl Dean Rhodes are the historical consultants for the project so as to ensure this is an authentic reproduction of the Gold Coast. The project will bring 5,000 jobs to a part of Rankin County that could use them. The projected payroll will be $350 million. Of course we will need TIF's and all kinds of tax breaks. Since this such a great deal for Rankin County, the Supervisors and cities should waive all property taxes for 20 years. Obviously this will qualify for the sales tax rebate program at MDA.

We've even discussed the possibility of creating a riverboat water taxi service that could ferry people from the new Zoo to the Gold Coast and back. Imbibe a little at the Owl's Nest and then go play with Simba.

Total grants needed from MDA to the Win or Lose LLC? $75 million in non-recourse loans and grants. However, the state simply can't lose on this sure-fire deal.

I think the one thing missing in all of this is the real target here. Who just so happens to be running for Congress and had his owe so magical basketball shooting hands all over these projects? Because ultimately no elected official in this state gives a rip about blowing taxpayer dollars out the window.

But if the government doesnt give grants, how can the money be embezzled...

I have no idea who has 'magical basketball shooting hands'. Espy is too damned short to play basketball and Hyde-Smith had to pick cotton and hoe ten acres, McDaniel was at the import shop buying incense and Wicker was shining shoes at a Tupelo Hotel. So, why not tell us?

9:38. Dont be lazy. Visit the canditates websites. Watch a tv ad. You already eliminated 4.

They're referring to Whit Hughes.