New leadership selections were announced Tuesday by the Mississippi Economic Council (MEC) in a series of press releases:

• The Council’s subsidiary the M.B. Swayze Foundation has elected as chair Anthony Wilson, chairman, president and CEO of Mississippi Power. Bill Lampton, president of Ergon’s Asphalt Groups and chairman of the board of Ergon Asphalt & Emusions, Inc. will serve as vice chair for the foundation.

The M.B. Swayze Foundation conducts independent public policy research on issues such as taxation, economic development, economic competitiveness, education and governmental accountability, the MEC said. The foundation also operates two key MEC programs — Leadership Mississippi and the Student-Teacher Achievement Recognition (STAR) program.

• The Public Education Forum of Mississippi, another MEC subsidiary, elected Jim McIngvale, director, Government & Community Affairs of Ingalls Shipbuilding, as chair. The forum’s new vice chair is Sean Suggs, vice president of Manufacturing for Toyota Mississippi.

Founded in 1989, the Forum is committed to being the leading independent force for public education in the state, the MEC press release stated. Mississippi Scholars and Mississippi Scholars Tech Master programs are managed by the Public Education Forum and began in 2003. The Forum is a nonprofit, nonpartisan education policy research group created by a broad cross-section of business, education and political leaders in the state.

• The Council’s Leadership Mississippi Program has elected as chair Patrice (Michelle) Hardy Whittle of Atmos Energy while MINACT, Inc.’s Maj. Gen. Augustus Leon Collins has been selected as the 2017 vice chair.  Whittle is a 2015 Leadership Mississippi graduate. Collins is a 2012 Leadership Mississippi graduate.

Leadership Mississippi is the second oldest statewide leadership program in the nation, the MEC noted. Since its inception in 1974, Leadership Mississippi has graduated more than 1,100 alumni active in Mississippi business and politics. Leadership Mississippi is endowed through a generous contribution by the late J.C. and Annie Redd.

Close window X

Republish this article

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Unless otherwise noted, you can republish most of Mississippi Today’s stories for free under a Creative Commons license. For digital publications:

• Look for the "Republish This Story" button underneath each story. To republish online, simply click the button, copy the html code and paste into your Content Management System (CMS).
• Editorial cartoons and photo essays are not included under the Creative Commons license and therefore do not have the "Republish This Story" button option. To learn more about our cartoon syndication services, click here.
• You can’t edit our stories, except to reflect relative changes in time, location and editorial style.
• You can’t sell or syndicate our stories.
• Any web site our stories appear on must include a contact for your organization.
• If you share our stories on social media, please tag us in your posts using @MSTODAYnews on Facebook and @MSTODAYnews on Twitter.

For print publications:

• You have to credit Mississippi Today. We prefer “Author Name, Mississippi Today” in the byline. If you’re not able to add the byline, please include a line at the top of the story that reads: “This story was originally published by Mississippi Today” and include our website, mississippitoday.org.
• You can’t edit our stories, except to reflect relative changes in time, location and editorial style.
• You cannot republish our editorial cartoons, photographs, illustrations or graphics without specific permission (contact our managing editor Kayleigh Skinner for more information). To learn more about our cartoon syndication services, click here.
• Our stories may appear on pages with ads, but not ads specifically sold against our stories.
• You can’t sell or syndicate our stories.
• You can only publish select stories individually — not as a collection.
• Any web site our stories appear on must include a contact for your organization.
• If you share our stories on social media, please tag us in your posts using @MSTODAYnews on Facebook and @MSTODAYnews on Twitter.

If you have any other questions, contact Audience Development Director Lauchlin Fields.

New leadership set for key MEC teams

by Mississippi Today, Mississippi Today
December 20, 2016

<h1>New leadership set for key MEC teams</h1> <p class="byline">by Mississippi Today, Mississippi Today <br />December 20, 2016</p> <p>New leadership selections were announced Tuesday by the Mississippi Economic Council (MEC) in a series of press releases:</p> <p>• The Council’s subsidiary the M.B. Swayze Foundation has elected as chair Anthony Wilson, chairman, president and CEO of Mississippi Power. Bill Lampton, president of Ergon’s Asphalt Groups and chairman of the board of Ergon Asphalt &amp; Emusions, Inc. will serve as vice chair for the foundation.</p> <p>The M.B. Swayze Foundation conducts independent public policy research on issues such as taxation, economic development, economic competitiveness, education and governmental accountability, the MEC said. The foundation also operates two key MEC programs —&nbsp;Leadership Mississippi and the Student-Teacher Achievement Recognition (STAR) program.</p> <p>• The Public Education Forum of Mississippi, another MEC subsidiary, elected Jim McIngvale, director, Government &amp; Community Affairs of Ingalls Shipbuilding, as chair. The forum’s new vice chair is Sean Suggs, vice president of Manufacturing for Toyota Mississippi.</p> <p>Founded in 1989, the Forum is committed to being the leading independent force for public education in the state, the MEC press release stated. Mississippi Scholars and Mississippi Scholars Tech Master programs are managed by the Public Education Forum and began in 2003.&nbsp;The Forum is a nonprofit, nonpartisan education policy research group created by a broad cross-section of business, education and political leaders in the state.</p> <p>• The Council’s Leadership Mississippi Program has elected as chair Patrice (Michelle) Hardy Whittle of Atmos Energy while MINACT, Inc.’s Maj. Gen. Augustus Leon Collins has been selected as the 2017 vice chair.&nbsp; Whittle is a 2015 Leadership Mississippi graduate. Collins is a 2012 Leadership Mississippi graduate.</p> <p>Leadership Mississippi is the second oldest statewide leadership program in the nation, the MEC noted. Since its inception in 1974, Leadership Mississippi has graduated more than 1,100 alumni active in Mississippi business and politics.&nbsp;Leadership Mississippi is endowed through a generous contribution by the late J.C. and Annie Redd.</p> <p>This <a target="_blank" href="https://mississippitoday.org/2016/12/20/new-leadership-for-key-mec-teams/">article</a> first appeared on <a target="_blank" href="https://mississippitoday.org">Mississippi Today</a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.<img src="https://i0.wp.com/mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/MT_square-thumb.jpg?fit=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1" style="width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;"><img id="republication-tracker-tool-source" src="https://mississippitoday.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=39236" style="width:1px;height:1px;"></p> Copy to Clipboard

1