Mississippi
Biloxi: Wind Pool legislation passed in Mississippi lowering insurance rates for both residential and commercial users. Commercial users will see rate reductions of 126% from Post-Katrina peaks, helping to re-spur smaller business recovery in heavily damaged areas. Residential rates are about 90% higher than Pre-Katrina but are gradually expected to come down over the next 4 years. (Biloxi, Sun Herald, April 13, 2007)
Biloxi: March of 2007 was another record breaker for the Biloxi area casinos. The coast casinos made $118.4 Million during March, making for the best March in coastal casino history. Currently 9 Casinos are open in the Biloxi area with the Hard Rock, being the tenth when it opens in July. March marks 8 straight record breaking months for the Biloxi area casinos. April 18th, 2007
Biloxi airport expansion continues. The current 43,800 seats per month is expected to climb to 58,000 by October after most of the expansion work has been completed. The terminal expansion is scheduled for completion in July, adding another 75,000 square feet to the terminal. A new food court will also be developed with eateries expected to open in September.April 19, 2007
Gulfport: The State College Board voted unanimously to place another University of Southern Mississippi campus on land located in the Gulfport area. The campus will be located on property near County Farm and Landon Roads in Northern Harrison County. The site contains about 1,700 acres and was chosen for its tremendous expandability options.April 19th, 2007
Pass Christian: The Pass Christian Yacht Club broke ground Saturday, April 21, and is expected to be complete by year end. Pass Christian is known as the birthplace of yachting in the South and is home to the second oldest Yacht club in the United States. The new 10,500 square foot facility will offer a dining area, decks, lounge, offices and other spaces. April 20, 2007
Additional noteworthy for the Biloxi-Gulfport area: In February the Biloxi-Gulfport area posted a 14.5% gain in jobs added over February 2006, this gain equates to 13,500 jobs.
Governor Haley Barbour recently stated that Mississippi's economy is "good and getting better," but that South Mississippi especially the coastal areas have become an expensive place to live. He says that wages will need to correspondingly increase due to the competition for workers in the area. He also said that statewide employment is just below record levels with wages being about 15% higher than when he first took office. (Sun Herald, May 4, 2007)
The new Mississippi Business report states that Mississippi has seen its strongest economic growth since the early 1990s, with much of the boom stemming from Hurricane Katrina recovery. In the past year Mississippi's economy grew 2.7%. 45% of the new jobs created in Mississippi during the year spanning February 2006 to February 2007 were in Harrison County, home to Biloxi. (Sun Herald, May 5, 2007)
The Stennis Space Center in Hancock County will be the site for testing the new J-2X Engines. These engine systems will be implemented in returning the U.S. to the moon as well as eventually Mars. The site, originally known for Apollo-era testing, will see decades of new use. The spin-off in jobs and benefits for the Hancock county area is likely to be quite significant. (Sun Herald, May 9, 2007)
Jimmy Buffet and Harrah's announced the development of Margaritaville Casino Resort in Biloxi. The $700 Million project will be built on Casino Row. Margaritaville will feature nearly 800 hotel rooms, 100,000 square feet of gaming space, 66,000 square feet of convention space, 250,000 square feet of shops, entertainment and restaurants. (Sun Herald, May 15, 2007)
Biloxi casinos had another record setting month during April. Gross gaming revenue was 42% higher than April 2006 and 10% higher over Pre-Katrina April 2005. That makes for the largest April revenues in history, also marking 7 out of the last 8 months for record setting high revenues. (Sun Herald, May 18, 2007)
Biloxi: Landlords may obtain forgivable loans for supplying affordable rental housing. The Small Rental Assistance program is designed to help landlords provide more affordable housing stock. The forgivable loans are up to $30,000 per unit for 1 to 4 unit buildings. More than half of the units must be rented to tenants who make 80% or less of the area median income, at rental rates deemed affordable by state and federal officials (for example, a 2 bedroom apartment in Hancock and Harrison counties would rent for $640/month). Qualifying areas include Hancock, Harrison, Jackson, or Pearl River Counties. (Sun Herald, May 19, 2007)
Biloxi: Unemployment rates across the six coastal Mississippi counties were down from last month, as well as last year. The largest one month drop was in Hancock County to 5.8%. Hancock County also posted the largest drop over one year, going from 13.1% to 5.8%. (Sun Herald, May 24, 2007)
Biloxi: Vacation-goers are beginning to replace FEMA employees as the biggest users of condotels along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. As more and more vacationers realize that the Mississippi Gulf Coast is recovering and cleaned up from Hurricane Katrina occupancy rates have been steadily rising. A local vacation rental company representative said that short term rentals have tripled in the past two months. (Sun Herald, May 25, 2007)
Biloxi: Year-to-date commercial and residential construction contracts are up 46% over last year for the Gulfport-Biloxi area. For the month of April residential contracts are up 21% from the same month last year. Commercial contracts for April are down significantly over the same month last year, but year-to-date commercial totals are almost double that of last year. (Sun Herald, May 25, 2007)
Biloxi: Replant South Mississippi has announced they plan to replant 300,000 trees in 3 years. These native tree species will be planted to replace trees lost by Hurricane Katrina. Instead of using small saplings they will be planting larger trees and use a growing technique called root production method that allows the trees to grow at 3 times the rate of normal trees. Their goal is to restore the canopy and beauty the trees provided.
Biloxi: The Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport has added a new carrier today. Allegant Air will be providing non-stop flights from Las Vegas and Orlando to Gulfport-Biloxi. With the addition of Allegant, Gulfport-Biloxi now has six airlines including AirTran, American Airlines, Continental, Delta, and Northwest. The Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport expansion project is scheduled for completion in September and they are already planning for their next expansion. (Sun Herald, June 1, 2007)
Biloxi: The Mississippi Coast Coliseum and Convention Center, known as the Queen of the Coast, is undergoing major renovations and an expansion. The Coliseum has already gotten new seats, outside facades, new 150 mph wind resistant windows, new dressing rooms, panic doors and a state of the art kitchen capable of feeding 4000. The convention center will begin it's expansion in the beginning of July and will double it's size, helping the Gulf Coast to expand it's convention business. (Sun Herald, June 1, 2007)
Kristine Kittelson
