GULFPORT, MS (WLOX) -
Plans being made right now could determine what kind of jobs Mississippi will be able to offer our children and grandchildren.
Government and business leaders have formed Blueprint Mississippi which is an initiative to create goals and strategies to grow our economy for decades to come. The Mississippi Economic Council officials said, what they know so far is that improving education is near the top of the list.
Experts said early education programs lay the foundation for what Mississippi's work force will look like 20 years from now.
"We know from research that there is no doubt that if we will work will our children prior to the age of five that they will bring in more tax dollars for us. They will have better paying jobs," Cynthia Walker of South Mississippi Pre-K 4ward said.
With business leaders overwhelmingly telling Blueprint Mississippi to make education a priority, officials want to improve the quality of both public and private early education programs. They believe the solution may be in a pilot program called Mississippi Building Blocks which seeks to improve children's readiness by improving the quality of early childhood programs and teacher proficiency.
"It means that we end up having an employment base that is more qualified," said Blake Wilson of the Mississippi Economic Council. "We can attract better paying jobs. Otherwise we're going to export our kids. Keep exporting to another state and we can't let that happen. We've got to keep our kids here in Mississippi."
While it won't happen overnight, officials said success is possible.
"We all do business plans. We all do strategic plans and a lot of times we have the ability to put them on the shelf and not actually execute," said Ed Day, Mississippi Power President and Mississippi Economic Council Resource Management Chair. "I think it's going to be different this time. Number one I think there is a strengthened relationship between the public and private sector. And what that basically means is I think the businesses of the state with the elected officials around the state have realized that together we are very powerful."
Other goals include strengthening the economy, cultivating diversity and increasing available capital for businesses. Blueprint Mississippi is scheduled to make its final recommendations to the state legislature next month.
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