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Mississippi’s workforce development agency is seeking more state money to add staff as it launches and expands job training programs. The request comes as the state prepares for thousands of jobs to open in the next decade.
AccelerateMS is requesting a $7.1 million operating budget for fiscal year 2028, which begins July 1. That is about $2.5 million more than its current appropriation, according to information that agency officials recently presented to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee. The increase would go toward hiring staff to help manage new programs, including UPSKILL (Upgrading Priority Skills for Key Industry Learning and Labor), which launched this summer, and the new Workforce Pell Grant program, said Courtney Taylor, executive director of AccelerateMS.
The State Workforce Investment Board estimated in 2025 that Mississippi will face a shortage of 19,000 workers in priority fields such as manufacturing, construction and healthcare through 2035. Taylor said closing the gap will require the state to train more workers and students and to connect them to high-demand jobs.
“The investment is crucial for our state and to meet the economy where it’s going,” Taylor said.
AccelerateMS currently has 28 employees, Taylor said, and wants to hire an additional eight.
One of those positions is a full-time Workforce Pell manager, Taylor said. The Workforce Pell Grant program launched in July will allow eligible students to use federal Pell Grants for certain short-term job training programs.
The expansion of the Pell Grant program, which traditionally helped low-income students pay for college, will allow students to pay for workforce programs lasting as little as eight to 15 weeks.
Having a dedicated employee to review applications from the state’s universities, community and technical colleges seeking approval for eligible programs to qualify for Workforce Pell would help, she said. For now, an employee who oversees other federal initiatives, including the opioid-settlement workforce training program, reviews Workforce Pell applications.
In September, Mississippi secured $8.5 million in federal funding to help launch Workforce Pell across all 15 community colleges.
Northwest Mississippi Community College will lead the effort, but AccelerateMS will help to coordinate and set up the program statewide, Taylor said.
Workforce Pell requires a lot of management, including tracking data required by the federal government for students’ graduation rates, job placement and wage outcomes, said Iris Palmer, director of community college initiatives at New America, a national public policy think tank.
The requirements for Workforce Pell “are very complicated,” and the process of getting these types of programs set up at colleges can be difficult, she said.
Lawmakers will consider AccelerateMS’s request during their three-month session that begins in January, as they finalize the state budget for the next fiscal year.
State Sen. Briggs Hopson III, R-Vicksburg, answers questions from fellow senators during a special session at the Mississippi Capitol in Jackson, Miss., Wednesday, May 28, 2025. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today
Senate Appropriations Chairman Briggs Hopson, a Republican from Vicksburg, said it is too early to know whether AccelerateMS will receive its full request. Lawmakers are reviewing agencies’ budget requests and the state’s major spending needs, including Medicaid, he said. Hopson said lawmakers will consider how much money the state has available and determine where it can be spent when developing the final budget.
