Press Release
U.S. Economic Development Administration Invests More Than $300,000 to Support Resiliency in Mississippi
Contact: Public Affairs Department, (202) 482-4085
Tuesday, July 14, 2015
WASHINGTON – U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development Jay Williams today announced a $352,171 U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) grant to Three Rivers Planning & Development District, Inc., of Pontotoc, Mississippi, to support disaster recovery and resiliency efforts in Mississippi. According to the grantee, this project will enhance local government disaster resiliency and will significantly decrease the amount of downtime that occurs following a disaster event.
“Natural disasters can have long-term adverse impacts on a community’s economy that are felt long after other physical damage has been repaired,” said Assistant Secretary Williams. “EDA is proud to support the Three Rivers community in its efforts to better prepare for and respond to future catastrophic events and minimize the impact on Mississippi’s economy.”
In April 2014, an EF-3 tornado touched down in Tupelo, Mississippi and left an approximately 32-mile trail of destruction through Lee and Itawamba counties. The storm caused Lee and Itawamba counties to be declared as federal and state disaster areas, exacerbating issues of unemployment for the region. This investment will implement an advanced, state-of-the-art disaster recovery solution known as High Availability (HA). The HA disaster recovery solution will allow Three Rivers Planning and Development District to maintain a primary data center in Tupelo and a disaster recovery or "mirrored" computer system in a safe, secondary data center located 75 miles away. This configuration will allow for better coordination and response following a disaster. According to the grantee, several counties have committed to participate in the proposed project, including Lee, Itawamba, Newton, Sunflower, Monroe, Calhoun, Union, Pontotoc, Oktibbeha, Kemper and Panola Counties.
About the U.S. Economic Development Administration (www.eda.gov)
The mission of the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) is to lead the federal economic development agenda by promoting competitiveness and preparing the nation's regions for growth and success in the worldwide economy. An agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce, EDA makes investments in economically distressed communities in order to create jobs for U.S. workers, promote American innovation, and accelerate long-term sustainable economic growth.