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“It’s good to be in Simpson County & Magee,” stated Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann. Hoseman visited the Lions Club of Magee on Monday, September 11th. Secretary Hosemann was the guest of Lions Club member Alfred Pace.
I was not at the Monday meeting but spoke with Mr. Hosemann on the phone today. He explained his excitement over the revamped website www.yallbusiness.sos.ms.gov. The online site has been recognized nationally for the information made available to the public and businesses at no cost. Yallvote.sos.ms.gov was launched several weeks ago to encourage people to register to vote and information on voting.
According to Leah Smith, Assistant Secretary of State of Communications, the following was discussed at the meeting.
Y’all Business (www.yallbusiness.sos.ms.gov):
o We want government to get out of the way of economic development.
o Y’all Business was created to give small to medium sized businesses or potential investors the same information large companies have when making a financial or investment decision.
§ It has thousands and thousands of data points: vehicle traffic counts, businesses, agricultural data, broadband access, and details consumer reports (down to how many people drink bottled water in a particular area).
o We recently relaunched the website with even more data, and created a mobile interface so it is easily accessible on a cell phone.
o The relaunch was spurred by a survey of 78,000 domestic businesses, with more than 600 responding.
§ These businesses overwhelmingly said the three most important things to their business were: an educated workforce, financial resources, and community support.
o Y’all Business has received more than 130,000 hits since its initial launch two years ago. Almost 14,000 reports have been downloaded from the website (for free).
· Mississippi River Commission
o Artificial flooding is causing problems on 3,500 acres of 16th Section land in the Delta/River counties including increased siltation, deterioration of wildlife habitats, and tree mortality.
o Secretary Hosemann is the State Land Commissioner, and oversees management of 16th Section land, which helps our schools, so this has been of importance to him.
o He recently testified at the Mississippi River Commission asking the Commission to support changing federal law to allow hydrological studies and scientific data to dictate the diversion of water at the Old River Control Structure (right now, the water diversion is set at 70 percent down the Mississippi River and 30 percent down the Atchafalaya River.
o He has also asked our congressional delegation to support this change.
· Y’all Vote (www.yallvote.sos.ms.gov):
o We recently unveiled our new “Am I registered to vote?” tool on the Y’all Vote website.
o This tool helps voters quickly determine whether they are registered online rather than having to do down to the Clerk’s Office or call the Clerk.
o It’s National Voter Registration Month this month, and there is a lull in statewide elections, so this is a great time for citizens to register to vote and make sure their voter registration information is correct.
Check out the yallbusiness website. An excellent site with a wealth of information! Thank you to Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann for the work he has done in getting information available on line.
Home page picture is Lions Club President Brian Barnard, Secretary Hosemann, & fellow Lions member Tommy Meador.
Pictures courtesy of Leah Smith /Secretary of State Office
