Enough. Enough with the excuses. Enough with the silos. Enough with defending the status quo and pretending that steady, extraordinarily incremental progress in Coastal Mississippi is good enough for a region with our assets, our location, and our history.
The complacency we see around this gathering storm is shocking to watch. We need regional leadership now!
I spent an hour on my radio show with Bill Cork, the executive director of the Mississippi Development Authority – a man who has been in the trenches here on just about every major coastal project for the last decade. He didn’t sugarcoat. He came on my show to deliver a message that every leader on the Coast needs to hear loud and clear: We are squandering a once-in-a-generation opportunity. As Cork laid out in his pointed December 2025 letter regarding the use of remaining BP oil spill settlement funds, the Coast has lost out on major economic wins because of our fragmented strategy – or lack thereof.
For 20 years, we’ve been in recovery mode from Hurricane Katrina, the worst natural disaster in American history. We rebuilt casinos, Chevron, Ingalls, schools, and neighborhoods. We did it better than anyone thought possible. It was a historic effort that took leadership at all levels. But while we were focused on that monumental recovery, the world moved on. Artificial intelligence exploded. Onshoring surged. Advanced manufacturing and robotics redefined competitiveness. Other regions didn’t wait. They organized. They spoke with one voice. And they won big.
Feedback from the front lines
I’ve heard a ton of feedback since I started writing and talking about this. There have been so many conversations with businessowners, elected officials, economic developers, and everyday citizens I’ve lost count. Phone calls, texts, emails, chance meetings, and more radio shows with a variety of leaders on the subject. Most of it is supportive. Most people get it, and they’re ready for regional unity and transformational thinking. For instance, one local businessowner told me after Cork’s letter dropped that he’s been frustrated that delayed infrastructure has kept his expansion plans on hold, costing jobs that could have supported dozens of families right here at home.
But yes, a few defended the status quo. Some said the current system works just fine. They like the control they have and think incremental gains are fine, and they argue we don’t need regional cooperation. Some simply don’t want competition for a host of reasons. Self-preservation is a powerful force. But it troubles me greatly when I talk to some leaders in key roles who aren’t up to speed on the threats we face. When quizzed about what I’ve written on the subject, they are uninformed. There’s nothing worse than an uninformed advocate. Some of these people are in really important roles here on the Coast. One literally wrote Cork off as “Bill just being Bill.” Incredible. They’re dead wrong to push back. They may mean well, but their silos and small thinking don’t have the best interests of our region firmly in mind.
But I’m thrilled to say the vast majority of the people I talk to get it. They are as frustrated as I am about the lack of progress. They see, as I do, a few powerful people pushing an agenda that makes this far more complicated than it needs to be.
Huntsville blueprint: What unified leadership looks like
I know firsthand what is possible from my experience in Huntsville, Ala. From 2009-12, I oversaw the newspapers and media operations there. I watched that region lay the groundwork with unified leadership, tying together Redstone Arsenal, Cummings Research Park, NASA, the University of Alabama at Huntsville, Boeing, Lockheed, and others.
Everyone in Huntsville is singing from the same hymnal.
What they’ve done is breathtaking. Huntsville’s metro population has surged 30% since 2010 – from 417,000 to 542,000 – with Huntsville itself now the largest city in the entire state. It jumped from 180,000 to 249,000 in that same timespan, surpassing Birmingham for the top population spot.
In part, the reason is landing big economic opportunities. They’ve landed Mazda-Toyota, Blue Origin’s rocket factory, FBI expansions, U.S. Space Command headquarters, and more to make for billions in private investment. They are the South’s undisputed aerospace, defense, and tech capital.
Now bring it back to us here in Coastal Mississippi. Look at us, honestly. Pre-Katrina, our three coastal counties had 364,000 people. Katrina devastated us. By 2010, we fought back to 371,000. Today, we’re at about 407,000. That’s resilience, but over 25 years, we’ve added fewer than 43,000 people. Less than half a percent of average annual growth. It took us until 2017 to get back to pre-Katrina job levels. We were recovering from the hole we were in, while others were building mountains.
We have our crown jewels: U.S. centrally located deepwater ports in Gulfport and Pascagoula connecting directly to rail and interstates, gaming and tourism powerhouses, Stennis Space Center (with its 125,000-acre acoustic buffer zone and own airport – that was an example of thinking big!), Ingalls Shipbuilding, key airports like Gulfport-Biloxi International and Trent Lott International, and vital military bases like Keesler Air Force Base and the Naval Construction Battalion Center. We take these jewels for granted, acting as if they will always be here, and act like a collection of fiefdoms instead of one powerful region.
‘Hunger Games’ reality: Why fragmentation is costing us
Cork called our current Gulf Coast Restoration Fund process exactly what it is: a “Hunger Games-style competition.” Communities spend a full year writing grants, lobbying the advisory board, legislators, and state leaders, only to get partial funding – or nothing. Projects drag on for half a decade because no one will commit to fully funding priorities.
As an example, Ignition Park in Hancock County is an $11 million project and took four to five separate funding rounds. The Aviation and Aerospace Workforce Academy at the Pearl River Community College campus, a state-of-the-art facility aimed at providing workforce training, took seven years to cobble the money together. We could have had these producing jobs and talent years ago.
On my show, Cork echoed exactly what I’ve been writing and talking about: We have to stop playing small with the remaining BP money and start thinking bigger – transformational projects that deliver high-ROI, family-sustaining jobs. We need to pick the priorities as a region and fully fund them.
Gov. Tate Reeves has been crystal clear that he will spend 100% of the remaining BP money on the Coast – but only on projects that deliver measurable, family-sustaining jobs. His message is this: He doesn’t want scattered small ball anymore, and the political favors approach isn’t working.
We need unified, transformational wins. And if we don’t step up with a unified plan? Legislators from the rest of the state will rightly ask why the Coast gets hundreds of millions in special funds while their counties can’t fix basic infrastructure. We are one session away from losing patience in Jackson and losing money with it.
Path forward
This shouldn’t be so complicated. It could be really easy for Coastal Mississippi to unite, plan, and act.
Create a real regional economic development alliance – statutory if necessary – with all three counties, ports, airports, military bases, universities, and private-sector representation at the table. Produce a five-year master plan that picks priorities and fully funds them. Pool the money under the Mississippi Development Authority for fast execution. Speak with one voice to companies that don’t care about county lines or internal squabbles. And once we have that alliance and a plan, launch a national and international marketing campaign highlighting our ports, connectivity, workforce, and lifestyle.
We’ve done it before. When Katrina hit, we set aside turf and delivered the gold standard of disaster recovery. We can do it again. But this time the storm is just as challenging: global competition that won’t wait for us to get organized.
Coastal Mississippi, we are better than fragmented mediocrity. We have the assets, the money available to us, the talent, and the proven ability to unite when it counts. Most of you are ready. The path is clear.
As we enter the New Year, my heartfelt wish for 2026 is that this is the moment we finally choose boldness over status quo, the year that our leaders seize the opportunity, help us unite as one region, and build a thriving future where jobs flourish, families stay, and Coastal Mississippi becomes the economic powerhouse we all know it can be.
So, to every supervisor, mayor, port and airport board, economic development agency, legislator, and business leader: Step up. Convene the room. Lock the door if you have to. Don’t come out until you have a plan Gov. Reeves can champion, and the rest of the world can’t ignore. For everyone else, share this column with your networks and call your representatives today. Join the conversation on my show. Let’s track this progress together. Lead or get out of the way. The clock is ticking. The opportunity is now. Let’s stop playing small. Let’s go win.
No more “Hunger Games” for our funds. Together, we can demand regional power. Our kids deserve better, so let’s end the fragmentation and create a thriving Coast built to last and win!
The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the views of SuperTalk Mississippi Media.