Economic Growth

BPF consistently aims at encouraging Mississippi's State Government to perform their vital, core responsibilities. BPF is focused on ways to ensure the state government provides these responsibilities in an effective and cost efficient manner in our cities, where new economic ideas are born.

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A Jackson AI Data Center – Threat or Opportunity?

by Ashby Foote Published June 11, 2026 Ranting about Data Centers is all the rage these days. Word got out recently of a developer exploring Jackson in hopes of building a new AI (artificial intelligence) data center. Who knew it would unleash a hornet’s nest of protests and gnashing of teeth? Opponents drove from 3 hours away to a City Council meeting just to share for 3 minutes their dire warnings of great troubles with data centers.  That proves it is an important topic worthy of calm and rational discussion.

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Brain Drain or Brain Gain? Why Mississippi’s Young Leaders Are Staying

Brain Drain or Brain Gain? Why Mississippi’s Young Leaders Are Staying

What if Mississippi isn’t a place you have to leave to succeed? In this episode of Bigger Pie Forum, a new generation of leaders shares why they chose to return home—and how they’re thinking about jobs, innovation, affordability, and long-term impact.

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Off the Grid Puts Someone on the Hook

Off the Grid Puts Someone on the Hook

Mississippi has now seen the data center problem from three vantage points. From one end, Amazon cut a sweetheart deal — SB 2001 — that handed it access to Entergy’s grid while keeping the contracts secret from the ratepayers who will subsidize it.

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The Fight to Bring More Home Health Options to Mississippi

The Fight to Bring More Home Health Options to Mississippi

What happens when a 45-year-old law blocks innovation in health care? In this reunion episode of the Bigger Pie Forum podcast, host sits down again with physical therapist Butch Slaughter and attorney Aaron Rice to revisit a legal battle years in the making.

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PODCAST: 2000 Residents, One Street, and a Chance to Save Jackson

Downtown Jackson is at a tipping point. Liz Brister, head of Downtown Jackson Partners, and her husband Bill—a retired finance professor—sit down with Wyatt Emmerich to talk population decline, property redevelopment, safety perceptions, and why one vibrant street could change everything.

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AI – The Next Big Thing for the Big Machine!

AI – The Next Big Thing for the Big Machine!

Hold my ampere and read this! The next three years are going to be electrifying! Why? Turn on the financial news today and all you hear is AI (artificial intelligence) this and AI that. AI must be the next BIG THING! Some think it will be the BIGGEST THING ever. It’s the elephant in the room that nobody can stop talking about. Watt could go wrong?

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BPF Book Review: ‘The Illusion of Innovation’ by Elliot Parker

BPF Book Review: ‘The Illusion of Innovation’ by Elliot Parker

Innovation and innovators are critical to a dynamic and resilient economy. They are the methods, madness and masterminds behind Joseph Schumpeter’s famous descriptive, ‘creative destruction’. So, author Elliot Parker’s new book, ‘Illusion of Innovation’ should be taken as a serious warning to economists, investors and politicians about the prospects for America’s prosperity in the years ahead. The book serves as a critical and important assessment of the state of innovation in America today.

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