Funded entirely by the private sector, Momentum Mississippi was formed in 2004 by Governor Haley Barbour to address the state’s long term economic plans.

The beginnings of this plan are found in §57-63-3 of the Mississippi Code that suggests that:

“…the economic development of the state should be strategically, comprehensively and exhaustively planned…[and] the state should foster open communication between government and the private sectors of our economy and that the state should provide a policy, a vision and a framework to encourage an environment conducive to entrepreneurship and rapid development in the State of Mississippi.”

To get about this work, Momentum Mississippi’s Steering Committee comprised of private sector and education leaders from around the state adopted the highest priority recommendations of the bi-partisan Blueprint Mississippi Study of 2004. To facilitate the work, Special Issue Committees have been developed to generate ideas and policies to address the state’s economic and educational development needs. These include the Education; Existing Business Support; Technology Development and Transfer; Workforce Development and Training; Tourism and Film; Business Image and Climate; Economic Growth and Diversification; and International Trade.

The intended outcome of this work is to generally to positively impact and improve the long term outlook for our state as measured by Per Capita Income and Employment as proposed by Blueprint Mississippi.