NEMS Economic Forecast Conference To Be Held January 24

            The annual Northeast Mississippi Economic Forecast Conference will be held Thursday, January 24, 2008 at 9:00 a.m. at the BancorpSouth Conference Center. The featured speakers for this year’s event are: Mr. Tom DeFrank, Washington Bureau Chief, New York Daily News; Governor Martha Lane Collins, Chair/CEO, Kentucky World Trade Center; Mr. Phil Hardwick, Coordinator of Capacity Development, John C. Stennis Institute of Government at Mississippi State University; and Mr. Jack Reed, Jr., Chairman of the CDF Board of Directors.

Tom DeFrank will be on hand to speak about the political climate as the 2008 Presidential election draws near. One of Washington's most respected President-watchers, Tom DeFrank is a veteran political journalist and author.  As Washington bureau chief of the New York Daily News, he directs coverage of the nation's capital for the country's fourth-largest metropolitan daily newspaper. DeFrank was Newsweek's senior White House correspondent for a quarter century and also served as deputy chief of the magazine's Washington bureau for twelve years.  Assigned to the White House beat since 1970, DeFrank has covered seven Presidents: Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, and Bush. He is second only to Helen Thomas in terms of longevity on the White House beat and still spends most of his time reporting on the White House. He has had 22 interviews with President George W. Bush, whom he has covered since 1987.

In 2006 DeFrank won the Gerald R. Ford Prize for distinguished reporting on the Presidency. DeFrank is the co-author of Bare Knuckles and Back Rooms, the 1996 best-selling memoir of controversial Republican political consultant Ed Rollins.  He also co-authored The Politics of Diplomacy, the memoirs of former Secretary of State James A. Baker III, and Quest for the Presidency 1992, Newsweek's critically-acclaimed, behind-the-scenes look at the Clinton-Bush election, published in 1994.  His latest book, Write It When I'm Gone: Remarkable Off-the-Record Conversations with Gerald R. Ford (Oct. 2007), is based on 16 years of private interviews DeFrank had with the former president and agreed not to publish until after Ford’s death.

A native of Arlington, Texas, DeFrank is a 1967 high honors graduate of Texas A&M University, where he edited the campus newspaper, and has a master's degree from the University of Minnesota.

Governor Martha Layne Collins will speak about the impact of Toyota on the state of Kentucky during her tenure. Collins grew up in Shelby County, Kentucky, graduated from the University of Kentucky, and was a schoolteacher and worked in a number of political campaigns, leading her into public office. She was Lieutenant Governor from 1979 to 1983 and was elected the first female Governor of the Commonwealth in 1983 and served until 1987, accomplishing successful endeavors in education reform and economic development.

After her term as Governor, Collins served in higher education in the roles of executive in residence, fellow, and she was also the President of St. Catharine’s College for six years. Since 1998, Governor Collins has served as Executive Scholar in Residence at Georgetown College, Georgetown, Kentucky. 

Collins is the Honorary Consul-General of Japan for Kentucky and through this and other endeavors has continued her relationship with Japan since bringing Toyota to Kentucky. She has served on the Board of Directors for prestigious companies, most recently including Eastman Kodak Company Incorporated, New York.  She serves as an Advisory Board Member for several organizations, including Women Leading Kentucky and has served at BB&T.  She remains active in the education sector by serving on various committees and task force boards. She was most recently named the Chair and CEO of the Kentucky World Trade Center.

Governor Collins is married to Dr. Bill L. Collins and enjoys the company of their five grandchildren.

Phil Hardwick will address the conference on the economy on a state level. Hardwick is coordinator of Capacity Development at the John C. Stennis Institute of Government at Mississippi State University. He also serves as President of The Hardwick Company, LLC, which provides strategic planning, goal-setting, web-design, branding, and related services to corporate and nonprofit clients. Prior to joining the Stennis Institute in August 2003, Hardwick served as Vice President of Community and Economic Development at Mississippi Valley Gas Company.

Hardwick is the immediate Past-President of the Mississippi Main Street Association and a Past-President of the Mississippi Economic Development Council and the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum. He is 2006-2008 President of the Mississippi Association of Partners in Education. He received his undergraduate degree from Belhaven College and his MBA from Millsaps College. He is also a graduate of  the Senior Executives in State & Local Government executive program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. During his military service he was Security Team Leader for Army One, the Presidential helicopter.

Jack Reed, Jr., CDF Chairman and President of the R.W. Reed Company, Inc., will speak on the state of economic affairs on a local level.

Mr. B.B. Hosch, Community Bank President, Renasant Bank, will serve as Chairman of this year’s conference. Other sponsors of the event include BNA Bank, BancorpSouth, Community Bank, Community Development Foundation, Journal Publishing Company, M&F Bank, Regions Bank, Renasant Bank, and Trustmark Bank.

For more information or for complimentary tickets for the conference, please contact CDF at 662.842.4521.