A new workforce partnership, Amazon’s data centers: Mississippi Marketplace

By Katherine Lin | Originally published by Mississippi Today

Mississippi’s chamber of commerce is partnering with the state’s workforce development office to strengthen the state’s talent pool.

The Mississippi Business Alliance Foundation’s partnership with Accelerate Mississippi will support a new council that establishes state higher education goals and strategies. There will be a focus on certification and credentialing programs in addition to more traditional degrees.

“By leveraging data, employer input, and strategic partnerships, we can strengthen pathways that help more Mississippians develop the skills and competencies employers need,” Courtney Taylor, executive director of Accelerate Mississippi, said in a statement. 

The Mississippi Postsecondary Attainment Council replaces the Education Achievement Council, a move that Scott Waller, president of the foundation, says will help the state better meet its workforce needs.

“It creates a different approach in creating the strategy of how attainment aligns with our job needs in Mississippi.” Waller said. 

Key questions are whether the state is focusing on training and certifications that meet the needs of businesses and how to help students identify pathways that they want to pursue and are motivated to be successful in. 

“When we do this properly, it will make a difference. It will help us get to a point that we can start to see us have real outcomes. That means opportunities for Mississippians and every population across the state to be successful,” Waller said.

Amazon in Mississippi: growth at what cost?

In 2024, the state Legislature limited oversight of utility spending to support Amazon’s data centers. Entergy Mississippi, which supplies power to Amazon and is the state’s largest provider of electricity, has maintained that its agreements with Amazon will lead to long-term savings for ratepayers. 

New reporting from Mississippi Today’s environmental reporter, Alex Rozier, breaks down concerns from outside experts over the legislation and how it is almost impossible to independently verify the company’s claims.

Entergy has said that rates were expected to increase anyway but the data center investment will keep the hikes lower than previously forecasted. However, a recent report, commissioned by environmental groups, claims that residential rates have already increased by $10.60 a month because of data centers.

Haley Fisackerly, president and CEO of Entergy Mississippi, recently wrote that the company’s customers will see $2 billion worth of savings over the next 20 years. 

Last year, Fisackerly told Mississippi Today that before the Amazon deal, Entergy Mississippi wasn’t growing, costs were increasing and infrastructure needed to be replaced. He said that the revenue from data centers will enable the company to build new, more efficient power plants and make other improvements to the grid that will benefit all rate payers.

Also, on the Mississippi Amazon data center front:

• Amazon and the city of Clinton celebrated the start of construction of one of the company’s newest data centers.
• More details and a status update for all of the company’s projects in the state.

In other news: 

• In Lowndes County, a construction summer camp is giving girls an opportunity to gain new skills and explore different careers through hands-on learning.
• Residents of DeSoto County are suing Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company over the “persistent and disturbing noise” coming from its power plant. This comes just days before its parent company is expected to go public with a target valuation of $1.7 trillion.
• According to reporting from the Mississippi Business Journal, five projects have recently finished filming in the state. And a Mississippi-based film maker has ideas on opportunities for the state to grow the industry.
• Nissan is exploring partnerships with other automotive companies to build their vehicles in its Canton plant. Last year, the company delayed plans to construct electric vehicles at the site, citing slowing demand in the U.S.
• NPL Construction is investing $1.9 million to build a new fabrication plant in Greenwood. The Arizona-based energy infrastructure construction company said the 70,000 square foot facility will create 40 jobs.

This article was originally published by Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Source: Original Article