Representatives of the City of Sardis, including Mayor Rusty Dye and development recruiter Amad Turk, are planning a trip to Vicksburg in the coming weeks to move the development at Sardis Lake forward.

In recent weeks, Southern Developers Realty, a group from Florida, has begun conducting their due diligence into the development which would include a hotel/conference center.

"There are some things the developer is asking for, that I can’t go into, that we are going to have to go to Vicksburg for approval," Dye said.

The need for the approval comes from the city’s lease of property from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Sardis Lake that presently houses the Sardis Lake Marina operated by Skipper and any future development.

"With the kind of money the developer is talking about ($110 million), we want to do all we can to make their plans a reality," Dye said.

The $110 million investment includes not only a hotel/conference center, but also an 18-hole golf course.

Once the golf course is completed, that would mean all three phases of the project are finished. Phase one was the 210 slip marina.

"This developer is basically committing to phases II and III of the project," Dye said.

As for when the trip to Vicksburg would take place, Dye would only say he hoped it was in the next few weeks.

"We want to get the ball rolling with this part of the development, and the quicker that happens, the better," he said. "Developments like this are not only good for the City of Sardis, but for Panola County and the surrounding areas."
 

"Help us get a lot of employers; I’d love to have 100 employers," said Joe Buckner, director of the Governor’s Job Fair Network. Buckner spoke to a planning committee meeting hosted last week at the Batesville Job Corps Center.

Employment officials hope to build on the success of last year’s job fair at the Batesville Civic Center.

"It was really good; a lot of our Grenada people got a chance to come," said Ida Givens, office manager of the WIN Job Center in Grenada.

A job fair gets people seeking work together with employers seeking workers.

"People can come in and talk with employers, learn about schools and funding for schools; they get experience in interviews and filling out applications," said Ashanti Hoskins of the Batesville WIN Job Center.

"We’ve got a chance of having the biggest job fair in the state," MDEC Business Developer Gary Mills said. "Our local people (employers) showed up; they did better than I’ve seen across the state," Mills continued.

"We’ve got Ole Miss and Northwest (Mississippi Community College) with training and five counties," Mills said. "Sonny (Panola Partnership CEO Sonny Simmons) is real, real good; they get the word out."

The March 28 planning session involved WIN Job Center personnel from Oxford, Hernando, Batesville and Grenada as well as South Delta Planning and Development District representative Anne Preus as well a representatives from the Batesville Job Corps Center.

"We’re looking for jobs for our young people; we’re also looking for young people for our center," BJCC Center Director Alexander Alston told the planning group as he welcomed meeting participants to the center.

For more information about the June 15 job fair in Batesville, contact the Batesville WIN Job Center at 563-7318 or the Governor’s Job Fair Network at 601-321-6154.