By John Howell

Panola Partnership CEO Sonny Simmons provided an upbeat report on the county’s past year and current outlook, citing a net gain in manufacturing jobs in the face of a challenging economy.

“I can’t say that we have been totally immune, but we’ve been fortunate,” Simmons said Thursday night at the Partnership’s annual banquet in the Batesville Civic Center. “We’re doing all we can to protect our employees in Panola County.”

“Four industries are in the process of expansion right now,” the Partnership executive said. “We hope there will be 200 new jobs by fall, that’s our projection, Simmons added, over the previous year.

In addition, Toyoda Gosei representatives who had originally scheduled to open in Batesville this year as a Tier I supplier for the Toyota plant at Blue Springs have told Simmons the facility is now on track for late 2010 or early 2011, he said. “That would be another 125 jobs,” he added.

An ongoing Partnership project in cooperation with Panola County Industrial Development Authority, the City of Batesville and Panola County government is the construction of the new industrial park adjacent to the airport, Simmons continued.

The Partnership, city and county are cooperating on infrastructure placement “to have that as a first class industrial park for this part of the state,” he said. The existing W. M. Harmon Industrial Complex on the west side of Interstate 55 is “out of land,” with sufficient acreage for industrial location, Simmons added.

Panola County supervisors, Batesville Mayor Jerry Autrey and other local officials accompanied Simmons to Washington last fall and again this spring and met with Mississippi’s congressional delegation to secure infrastructure funding for industrial park development and for other projects. The Partnership plans to continue the semi-annual visits to the capital to cultivate the county’s relationship with its congressional delegation, Simmons said.

Quarterly luncheon meetings with Panola’s existing industry have provided forums for manufacturing officials to share information and learn about job training programs and other incentives that are available, Simmons said. The next meeting is scheduled for June.

The Partnership CEO highlighted other recent community developments including the opening of GE Aviation. “They’ve been a very good community partner since they’ve been here,” Simmons said.

The Panola Partnership web site, www.panolacounty.com, has become the cyberworld’s front door to the county, Simmons said. Members can establish links to their own web sites from the Partnership’s, Simmons said.

The addition of 100 new members this year has increased the Partnership by about a third, Simmons said.

Members have begun receiving a new monthly newsletter, Simmons continued. The third issue will arrive in May.

Now nearing completion of his fourth year as the Partnership’s CEO, “I hope to be here a while longer,” Simmons said.