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Aldermen approve
TAP Alliance
Published Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2009
By Jebb Johnston
Staff Writer
The Corinth Board of Aldermen on Tuesday became the first local government to give approval to the final version of the agreement for the TAP Alliance for economic development.
The agreement joins the counties of Alcorn, Tishomingo and Prentiss and the cities of Corinth, Iuka and Booneville in a partnership modeled after the PUL Alliance, which proved successful for Pontotoc, Union and Lee counties.
The final document has been reviewed by the Mississippi Development Authority.
“We feel like we’ve got a pretty solid document that gives us the organizational structure to move this three-county alliance forward,” said Alliance President Gary Chandler.
Each government is likely to be asked to contribute $5,000 for seed money for the first year. It is not anticipated that the alliance will employ an individual in the first year.
Chandler said TAP will utilize the resources of the Northeast Mississippi Planning and Development District, much as PUL did with the Three Rivers Planning and Development District.
While PUL pursued an industrial mega-site, Chandler said TAP is not coming out of the gate with plans for a specific site or project. Any project TAP pursues will need approval of all the governments involved. TAP will be governed by a board of directors consisting of two members from each county to be appointed by and from that county’s Board of Supervisors. The mayor from each of the county seats will also be on the board.
Chandler said the Corinth board’s approval is “a critical first step” for the new alliance.
