The Extra Mile Podcast
Accelerate Mississippi Executive Director Ryan Miller

(Announcer) Coming up on this episode of The Extra Mile…

(Ryan Miller) And they want Accelerate to be the entity that sets the vision and strategy in, in concert with communication and collaboration with our leadership that then we can develop a plan with partners like the Department of Employment Security, DHS, Rehab Services.

(Announcer) Hurricane season is here and MDOT wants to help you get out of harm's way. Visit GoMDOT.com/hurricanes to download free resources. Find your nearest hurricane evacuation route by downloading MDOT's Hurricane Evacuation Guide, which maps out more than 20 different hurricane evacuation routes. Need help packing your “go bag”?

MDOT'S hurricane emergency checklist offers a full list of items to include. Don't wait for a storm to threaten. Prepare today.

[Music and Intro]

(Paul Katool) Welcome into another edition of the extra mile podcast presented by the Mississippi Department of Transportation. I'm MDOT Deputy Director of Public Affairs, Paul Katool. And as always, I'm joined by my cohost, Will Craft. He is the Director of Public Affairs here at the agency. And for the second episode in a row, we are at the MDOT studios.

Very excited to have an office and agency head here. We have Mr. Ryan Miller, who serves as the director of the Office of Workforce Development, which is also known as Accelerate Mississippi. And he began his tenure as director in April of 2021. So, a little over two years. Very new agency, very new office.

Ryan, thank you so much for coming in and speaking with us. Why don't you kick us off and kind of tell us about yourself and kind of what led you to Accelerate Mississippi.

(Ryan) Yeah, thanks Paul. And uh, well thank you for the invitation. It's a joy to get to visit with y'all today and talk a little bit about Accelerate and what the office was created to do, what it is doing, and what we hope it will do in the future.

As you mentioned, I started in this role April of 2021, so the office has been in existence in operation a little over... I mean, we're approaching two and a half years now. Uh, and, you know, for those that don't know, our office was created to serve as, as really a point of coordination for all strategy that had to do with workforce in the state of Mississippi and also, uh, in a way to try to, with that strategy, align the resources that we have in the state to focus those resources in a way, uh, that might Uh, that might grow opportunity for Mississippians.

So, uh, uh, more pathways that lead Mississippians to careers with a higher earning trajectory and then also helping industry find the people that they need, uh, with the skills that they need. So, in a nutshell, that's what the office was created to do. And, uh, uh, you know, I, I came into this role, uh, with a lot of, uh, energy and a lot of, uh, you know, hope and desire to see improvement, continuous improvement in that Kaizen model.

Uh, you're never done getting things better, you're never done improving, um, and, and so far we've, we've put together a pretty good team and some great partnerships to get that, uh, that continuous improvement philosophy off the ground for the state of Mississippi.

(Paul) Why don't you kind of back up, tell us, you know, where you came from, uh, you know, what you've done in the past and what kind of led you to this role?

(Ryan) Yeah, well, absolutely. My, my previous role I served, uh, at the Center for Manufacturing Excellence at the University of Mississippi. So, the Haley Barbour Center, uh, was created in 2008 and I was one of the first, uh, employees of the center. Dr. Jim Vaughn, the original director, uh, he was tasked with creating the program.

Uh, he and, and Bill Gottshall who, uh, what, used to work with the center as well, hired me to come on board to help put kind of meat on the bones of this, this innovative academic program. And the reason I bring that up is the CME was really designed to try to help college students from multiple disciplines on campus, engineering, business, accountancy and other disciplines, uh, find their path to a job and meaningful career out in industry, specifically in manufacturing.

And so, for nearly 13 years, I helped create uh, that program, I helped, uh, had some insight into some of the academics and some of the curriculum that, that they have deployed, um, that we've had a, it's an unbelievable team of, of academicians and professionals who, who, who really, uh, led the charge there. I, I was very fortunate and humbled to, to be able to sit at the table with them as that came into, it came to fruition, but at the end of the day, our job was to try to help young people find a future for themselves in a, in a career path, and so that, uh, that, You know, I think lent itself really, uh, well to taking on this responsibility at the, at the, at the common denominator, the core of what I did then, and what I feel I've been called to do now is to try to help people find a path, a path that's going to lead them to higher income for their household.

A path that's going to lead young people to see Mississippi as a destination for their career and for their livelihood. A path that in many ways can help families see generational wealth that maybe have never experienced that before. And paths that ultimately will help our industry that we have now.

Uh, find people that they need to continue to be successful as, uh, as, uh, whether it's manufacturing or energy or transportation. Those industry partners find the people that they need that they can continue to grow in their success and as a byproduct, maybe attract new industry and new business to the state.

So, my time at the CME was really focused on trying to help students find those paths. And for nearly a decade, I think that gave me some experience, some insight, and certainly a passion point. That lent itself to me stepping into this role with, uh, with Accelerate Mississippi.

(Paul) Excellent.

(Will) And, you know, from what I, personal opinion here, you sound very passionate and knowledgeable about what you're doing.

And, you know, that gives me great, you know, great hope for the workforce development stuff that's going on out there.

(Ryan) Well, don't hold that bar too high because, I mean, the truth is... Uh, you know, when I came into the role in April, uh, I, I was the office for about four months and that's a terrifying thing for the State of Mississippi to think that they had me, but since that time, well, we now have a team of about 20 people strong, some of whom that are, are stationed around the state of Mississippi, um, that are Accelerate teammates who are very knowledgeable, very passionate and have an incredible wealth of experience in helping those pathways.

And so, you know, the, the, wherever I was probably holding things back because of my lack of experience, I have now a team of people that I work with daily who are probably even more passionate than I am. So the future is bright, not because of anything that I do, but the people I get to work with.

(Will) Love that.

Well, as you talk about, as you talk passionately about Accelerate Workforce Development, what are some big things you have you guys have going on right now? Maybe major plans, focuses that y'all are working on?

(Ryan) Sure. So, the first thing that I'll mention, and it actually just happened a couple of weeks ago, we have now had our second annual Mississippi Horizons Workforce Symposium.

So, you know, I had this desire to create an event that would be the annual event, uh, by which all of our partners, which I can, I can talk about here, uh, in a second, all of our partners would come to a single point, uh, to discuss, uh, what they see on the horizon as being either opportunity or an obstacle to getting Mississippians into those pathways that I alluded to earlier. So, this would be an event that every year would be essentially a gut check, a status check to say how are we doing as a state partnering together, focusing our resources, focusing our strategy. Are we moving the needle?

Are we not? If we are, how do we double down on those programs? If we aren't, how do we, how do we change? How do we change course and maybe redesign that strategy? That symposium this year brought nearly 600 people, uh, to, to, to Flowood where we, we had it there at the Sheraton. And this was comprised of Uh, K through 12 educators, uh, community college, workforce leaders, and, and innovative thinkers.

Uh, we had, uh, every research institution in the state of Mississippi there represented. So, Southern Miss, Jackson State, Mississippi State, and Ole Miss. Um, we had, uh, philanthropists and community leaders. We had, uh, some of our leadership, the governor, the lieutenant governor, some of our representatives and senators joined us in attendance.

But most importantly, we had industry there. And this is where we had companies like Nissan and Toyota, but even smaller industry partners that were willing to come and share two, three, and even in some cases, four days of their time to sit around a table and say, Again, here are the challenges we see for workforce.

Here are the strategies we've seen accelerate, deploy, that we like, or that we don't think are working. Um, so that, that symposium was a, was a huge win for us. In the, in the sense that it, it allowed us to have a much broader, more holistic, but also more strategic conversation with the people with whom we need to have that conversation.

Um, and I think you, you know, ask me what's on the horizon. That's, that's kind of a big deal. What's kind of emerged from that is Accelerate has taken on, uh, a responsibility of developing a much more unified workforce plan for the State of Mississippi. Um, I’ve heard the Lieutenant Governor, certainly heard the Governor, and the Speaker of the House, all three say it’s their expectation for our office to be that single lens through which we focus our ideation, as well as the resources that we have, respectively, as different state entities and agencies and organizations.

And they want Accelerate to be the entity that sets the vision and strategy in, in concert with communication and collaboration with our leadership. Then we can develop a plan with partners like the Department of Employment Security, DHS, Rehab Services, you name any agency or state entity that has workforce as a part of their DNA, the Community College Board, that we would collaborate in developing a unified, streamlined, state plan that will speak to every level, uh, of, of workforce strategy that the state has to have in order to be successful.

And so, uh, we unveiled quite a bit of that at our symposium this year. Um, it was met with some, uh, great enthusiasm. It was, it was met with some pushback, which again is a helpful and healthy thing if we have partners at the table hearing their, their concern or their frustration or their, uh, maybe just some, uh, you know, criticism that can be, uh, constructive in nature.

Um, we're, we're fast in that development of that plan and, and very excited about, uh, being able to deploy that. I think you're probably going to find out that in the February timeframe, we'll have something that's a little bit more spit shined, um, that will speak to the role that everyone plays and how we're to focus our resources together.

(Will) That's awesome.

(Paul) Well, I for one am thoroughly impressed. Of course, Will and I work in an agency that's been around for decades and decades and decades. And you're building something from the ground up. So... Super impressive. But I understand in that short time period, you've had a lot of successes, too. Do you kind of want to talk and document those?

(Ryan) Sure, sure. So again, any success that we have as an organization is directly linked to the partnerships that we have. I don't think you'll hear anybody at the accelerate office. Um, if you do, please tell me. I mean, our philosophy in the office is we are a team member. We are. And in some ways, I do believe that we're created to be a leader in some of these conversations and discussions, but we've absolutely view ourselves as teammates with other state organizations. Um, and I think that, um, you know, we're, we're never gonna stand up and, uh, thump our chest and say that we're uh, we're doing this on our own. Many of the successes, all of the successes, quite frankly, that we've had even in these first two and a half years have largely been as a result of collaborating and working with others.

A good example would be with the Community College Board. We have responsibility as an office over something that's called a WET Fund, the Workforce Enhancement Training Fund. This is a fund that's generated by the Unemployment Insurance Tax through the State of Mississippi and it usually, depending on how much money is paid into that mechanism, yields about 20 million dollars a year, of which we, in collaboration with our community college partners, will identify industry sectors of great need. That would be defined as those industry sectors that have a need for a human capital, more people. And those industry sectors that have a higher potential of earning for Mississippians.

So, whereas one industry sector may have a huge need for people, it may not be a targeted industry sector because the pay, the median household income that might be derived from it is not where we would think it needs to be. So, we're focusing on those industry sectors where we know there's a need and there's great earning potential.

And through these WET Fund programs with our community colleges, we're able to deploy millions of dollars in diesel technicians, uh, diesel technician training, uh, the energy sector, logistics and supply chain, advanced manufacturing, healthcare. Over the first two and a half years, we have multiple, multiple examples of being able to deploy WET Funds in a much more strategic, much more streamlined fashion that I think is going to have a greater return on investment for the State of Mississippi.

And, and we're already seeing a, a huge expansion in capacity in some of these programs. Uh, we're putting some effort in with our partnerships to ensure that we're getting more interest in those sectors as well, that, that more students are, as they say, butts in seats. We're getting more people, uh, to take advantage of those programs.

But WET funds... And kind of the overhaul and being more strategic and streamlined has been a huge success in my, my estimation. Uh, and that we've had that responsibility. That's been one thing that I think has, uh, that, that has really been exciting to see. And I think the fruit of that is now coming to fruition.

So, uh, we, we'll, uh, we, we will see some of those returns probably now that we're two years into some of those programs. You'll start to see some of that impact in those industry sectors we've indicated.

(Will) That's awesome. And I, I don't wanna diminish or take away from, but both. Um, points you've just made right there.

Excellent. But, um, again, you guys are so passionate, you got a lot going on. Any other kind of plans before we totally move on from that? Or, you know, what's up ahead?

(Ryan) Sure.

(Will) Do you have anything else that you wanted to mention?

(Ryan) Yeah, no. So, absolutely. Um, you know, the, the, there are probably two other areas that I would say are of note that we've been working on pretty extensively and, and are excited to see, um, uh, some of the returns there, you know, the, the, the state was, uh, very kind, gracious, but also with, uh, great, uh, uh, hope and expectation, uh, gave us authority over a great deal of ARPA funds as well for the workforce, uh, component, um, and, and as I know other state organizations have had, uh, use of those funds for a variety of different reasons.

We have focused those in some of those industry sectors as well in much more of what we call a, a triage context. So, uh, one of the things that we often talk about in our office is we try to categorize what we do programmatically into three buckets. One is called Workforce Triage, one is called Horizon Thinking, and the other is Customizable Training.

Triage is simply how do we stop the bleeding of what we need right now in workforce. So that's where some of those WET Fund programs where we know there are industry partners that need X number of new diesel technicians right now. They needed them yesterday. How do we get more Mississippians quickly through training programs to get them out into those industry sectors the fastest and meet that demand?

So how do we stop the bleeding? Horizon Thinking is going to be another success. Uh, another program that comes from that, and that's our career coach program. Um, we're very, very excited that through some of the ARPA funds, uh, that were appropriated, uh, two sessions ago, uh, there was 8 million of ARPA funds made available to expand a career coach program that we had seen, uh, created in northeast Mississippi through the Create Foundation, uh, Tupelo area.

Uh, we'd seen it also rolled out in Jackson County. Uh, through some of our partners, uh, down on the Gulf Coast. But essentially, it's a, it's a program where we identify, uh, men and women who, uh, maybe they come from industry and, and, uh, have retired. Maybe they're former teachers or guidance counselors. Um, many of them are, are entrepreneurs, successful entrepreneurs, but they're wanting to give back to their communities in a way where they're helping to shepherd young students in the K through 12 space where many guidance counselors and teachers just don't have the time nor the resource.

They have the will and the desire and the passion, but in many cases, they don't have the time or the resource. So, we have been able to expand through that initial 8 million dollars, we were able to, uh, through our partners at the Planning Development Districts, identify roughly 100 career coaches to deploy around the state.

Through the past legislative session, we were able to expand that, uh, we went from $8 million of ARPA funds to $12 million of state funds. That has allowed us to expand that to 147 career coaches around the state of Mississippi. And when you take into, into, uh, combination those coaches that were already in northeast Mississippi on the Gulf Coast, we now have 180 plus career coaches throughout the state.

80 percent of our school districts now have access to a coach who's there to help introduce students, their whole job, help introduce students to all of the opportunities and career paths that they might not have otherwise known about. That is a Horizon Thinking program because it's laying the foundation for opportunities that will come years down the road.

So, whether it's through Triage, like in our WET Fund partnerships in the community colleges, or our Horizon Thinking like career coaches. Those are programs we've been able to get off the ground and are hopeful to grow even in this next legislative session to make sure that 100 percent of all school districts have access to one should they want to.

(Paul) Hey, that's awesome. I know when you're that young, it's kind of hard to think ahead and know what you're it's kind of crazy. They they make you decide what you're going to do at that age.

(Ryan) Yes. And in fact, you know, I would always, I'd have college students that were juniors come into my office and say, I've changed my major yet again, and I'll be the first to admit I've majored in everything the University of Mississippi had to offer.

I didn't know, and I think so much of what the time we need to spend with young people is helping them. Yes, identify their strengths. Let's help them kind of enumerate all the abilities and strengths that they have. On the other column, identify their passion points. What do they, what do they like doing?

Then try to find, uh, any corresponding, uh, items between those two lists and see where it intersects on the job market. And, and oftentimes what happens is students start to eliminate more things than they do identify things. I'm 44. I'm still wondering what I'm going to be when I grow up. So much of what we have to do is help young people identify the things they know they don't want to do before they can zero in on the career paths they know they do want to do.

(Paul) Definitely. Definitely. All right. So, uh, every organization has their challenges. MDOT has challenges. Of course, others do. So, have you kind of identified some of those hurdles that's, that are, you have to overcome to kind of accomplish your goals at Accelerate Mississippi?

(Ryan) Yeah, I think, you know, and these, these are, these are only maybe two of a multitude, but this is, this is all because, you know, every time you peel back a layer of that onion, you find something else.

And, and, and look, I'll be the first to admit, when I came to the role, I brought a lot of naivete into it. I will never say I'm an expert in workforce because I'm not. I don't think there are experts in workforce development. They're just passionate people that want to try to help. And if you can get them all together around the same table, amazing things can happen.

But some of the challenges that I think we've experienced in peeling back those layers is just how complex an issue workforce really is. And I'll give you an example of that. One of the first meetings, uh, meetings that I had on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and I grew up in Long Beach, Mississippi. That's, that's my hometown, um, where I spent the formative years of my life.

Uh, not too far from there, I was meeting with some economic developers, and I said, what's the biggest challenge your community faces as it relates to workforce? Now, I was assuming it was going to be “Uh, we don't have the, uh, we don't have the, uh, the equipment that we need in our, our schools. Uh, we don't have the right curriculum. We don't have the right partnerships with industry.” Now, those things could be issues, but what they chose to educate me on was the lack of affordable housing. And I was thinking, well, that's not a workforce issue. I don't know what I can do about that. I'm sitting here today telling you I don't know that there's anything that our office can necessarily do about that.

But it did open my eyes to the fact that if you don't have affordable housing in your community, and yet you have industries who need people, you're forcing a population to have to travel greater distance, thereby reducing the likelihood that you're going to have the people that you need when you need them.

So, that's a domino factor. That's a, that's an issue of complexity that I hadn't really fully appreciated nor understood completely. People tell us all the time, a lack of reliable transportation. If you travel through the Mississippi Delta, there are a good number of people who would love to go take advantage of a job at Robinson Electric in Cleveland, Mississippi, but they don't have reliable, consistent transportation to get them from point A to point B, whether that be from their home to a place of training and education or actually to the place of business. That's a domino factor. So, hurdles. Obstacles or some of the challenges there is how complex and how many domino factors there are in workforce.

And again, I won't be here telling you that we're going to solve every one of those issues. I do think the, the, the, the entities that sit around that table, just like we had at the symposium, amongst those entities, there are resources there that can solve those issues. And it's, it's encouraging to see so many of our partners say, “hey, I've got resources that can address that. Let me help focus some funding to help with transportation or let me help focus some, uh, some, some initiatives that might help where the housing issue might be concerned.” Whatever the case may be, the complexity. The other is, um, and I said this, the Within the first few months of working in this position, you know, the challenge is not so much that the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing, it's that the left hand doesn't know there is a, uh, left hand doesn't know there is a right hand.

Um, I think that there are a lot of entities out there doing a lot of different things that, you know, um, in some cases may be successful, but the lack of coordination and the disconnect that has existed for so long is the other big challenge for us. So, it's complex, multiple layers, it's not just all education and equipment, it's some of these domino factors that we just didn't, we haven't really thought about in a concerted and strategic way.

And it's also, um, just getting entities to, um, uh, you know, be able to communicate more frequently and in a way that they understand the programs that they each have under their umbrella and how to focus those in a coordinated fashion. So those are always going to be challenges and obstacles. Um, we've made some great strides in overcoming those, um, but we're never done getting better.

(Paul) Very insightful.

(Will) You know, the, uh, the, the notion or the, the mention you had of, of the housing, you know, that is, gosh, I, I have no idea how we solve that or how it gets fixed, but, um, I've got, you know, lots, lots of folks out there and friends and family and, uh, others that, you know, around my age are, that's, that is one thing that, you know, is a problem.

Well, we'd like to move here, move there for, maybe for work or not, but oftentimes. Yeah. Well, look. We're stuck right where we are.

(Ryan) We are. And, and here's the other thing that I would say, not all of the things that we encounter are the job or responsibility of the government to fix. Okay, so I'm, I tend to be a limited government kind of guy.

But here's where I see opportunity - is a lot of industry partners are starting to recognize that they have resource, that they can deploy in a very creative and innovative fashion that can address some of these issues that run parallel to some of the things that the government is doing. So, these public private partnerships where you find company X deploying resources in a way that can maybe open some opportunity where the government really shouldn't be or can't, but doing it in tandem.

So again, one of the things I get most excited about that symposium from the first year to the second year is we saw an increase in industry participation, which means they're at the table talking about these challenges, being willing to offer up solutions. “Hey, we've got some funds. We've got some resources.”

We've got, in some cases, you have industries who are willing to bus people from great distances to get them to work on time and in a safe fashion. So, um, there's all sorts of examples where, um, I think that, uh, you're gonna see more success. born out of collaboration in a public private context where the government stays in the lane that it needs to and where private industry, uh, can, can certainly, uh, provide some resource and some benefit in a collaborative way without putting too much of the onus on them.

(Will) I love the model. That's for sure. Well, let's get a little more specific here. You know, one thing you did mention already talking about, you know, transportation, reliable transportation to and from. While we can't necessarily always assist in the vehicle, you know, be it public transit, sure, you know, we got you.

Um, you know, talking about highway and road construction in that arena, are you seeing, are you guys working on anything new right now? Are you seeing a lot of return to the workforce?

(Ryan) Yeah. So, I would say there's a couple areas in which we, I would say some of the programs, initiatives that we have had an impact probably in that, in that sphere.

The diesel technician program was one that I think has a direct connection. And again, we started that in collaboration through our WET Fund program. Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College was the first to step up to the plate and say we, we can expand our program, but we've had some great success in doing that with others as well, um, and, and doing it in a way where you've got more, uh, men and women in Mississippi who, who see the viability of careers in working on heavy machinery, uh, certainly working on, um, you know, 18 wheelers or, or, or on trucks, keeping those operational.

Um, I think every time I drive up and down the highway and I see heavy equipment moving dirt or trying to improve highways and byways, you know, there's an army of people that have to be there to make sure that those pieces of equipment stay operational and stay safe for the operator. So, I do think that that has been an initiative and an initiative that has some great promise for this industry sector.

We've also spent a great deal of time and energy and resource on improving and increasing capacity in CDL and logistics and supply chain. You know, you, you, it doesn't take much to look at a map of the state of Mississippi and understand the instrumentalities of interstate commerce that take place here, whether it be waterway, railway, highway, and even airway.

Quite frankly, you have some major arteries running through the state of Mississippi. And, and so trying to make sure that you have, uh, men and women who see the opportunity to engage in logistics and supply chain, you have major warehousing, major iconic companies moving to Mississippi, uh, and bringing some of the most sophisticated technology into just warehousing, um, and getting a product out and onto the highways and to the customers as quickly as possible.

That's going to have a direct impact Um, in, in, in, in your interstate, uh, and, and, um, road construction, road durability. We've talked actually to a handful of construction companies who are asking questions about, um, you know, what does new technology mean for even just how roads are constructed and the durability and longevity of, of the material that we use. So, I think there's some application there you're going to see grow over time above and beyond what we've already done through the diesel tech and some of the logistics supply chain programming that we've unveiled.

(Will) Absolutely. I kind of got two, uh, two piggyback questions off that, Paul, if I may.

(Paul) Yeah, yeah.

(Will) Before we get into the fun stuff. Um, one, and this, I just have no idea, forgive my ignorance. So, all the work that you're doing with the workforce, any play or any involvement with, like, company recruitment, getting folks, you know?

(Ryan) Yeah, yeah, so that's a great, that's a great question. Uh, we are, we are not economic developers. Uh, but we, we recognize we are a tool used by economic developers and we should be. Um, really, one of the, the loudest voices, um, that came in, in support of the creation of our office came from the economic development community in large part because for years, really for decades, essentially, if you looked at some of our neighboring states, um, they will have a chief economic development agency like an MDA, like Mississippi Development Authority, but they also had an office solely dedicated to looking at the challenges of workforce and they've had that. So, whether you're looking at a State of Georgia had something, has something called Georgia Quick Start. Louisiana has something called LED Fast Start, which it's, is technically housed within their MDA, uh, the version of their MDA.

Uh, whether you're looking at Tennessee, South Carolina - Virginia has something called the Virginia Talent Accelerator. Each of these states has had this entity for quite some time, and we were a little bit late to the game, and economic developers were noticing that when they were going in and vying for projects with some of these states, that we were at a disadvantage in that we, we didn't have resource or energy being focused on developing strategies that might entice new, new industry to the state or even expanding industry into the state, right?

So, um, we, we are not economic developers, and yet we sit at the table often with economic developers as they are entertaining or, or educating or providing information to new industries. Um, we travel, uh, quite a bit, um, especially when we were asked to participate in these conversations and to develop strategies specific to that company that might, uh, put us over the top in, in, um, in, in competition with some of these other states. We're seeing, uh, that just in two and a half years’ time, um, that site selectors and, and those professionals around the world that, that typically engage in these and represent these big companies that are looking to locate a, a, a new facility in the states or in the southeast are taking note of Accelerate.

Um, they're starting to mention us in, in the same breath as talking about the Georgia Quick Starts and LED Fast Starts. And I think with our programming, uh, through the Triage and the Horizon Thinking, uh, buckets, Customizable Training is the third. That's where, that's where we start to really work with our economic developers to develop a specific plan to that company that would sit, that would be somewhat of a carrot, if you will, to, to land that company in Mississippi.

(Will) I love that. I mean, it all ties together, like you said, um, and that's great. My second part of that, or maybe a little bit different off of, but a personal question, if you will. You talked earlier, kind of, you know, look, you guys look at maybe where the... where the workforce need is, but you're also trying to match, you know, a good pay with that.

(Ryan) Yeah, yeah.

(Will) You got like a top five or a top ten, maybe, or maybe one that was surprised you?

(Ryan) Yeah, well, no, I would say one of the initial ones right out of the gates that we saw, there was a big need in the energy sector, specifically with utility line workers.

(Will) Okay.

(Ryan) And so, uh, one of the things that we saw when we first came into existence is that industry, uh, energy companies throughout the state - we're talking about a, uh, really a double-edged sword for themselves, kind of a double whammy, if you will, uh, not only were they not seeing new recruits, if you will, into the industry, they were also on the precipice of a major retirement of a, of an age group walking out the door, both with, uh, you know, with great experience, uh, and great ability.

And so, um, you know, we all take for granted when the lights go out and the lights come back on. And we don't think very much about the men and women who are literally first responders who are going out into the dark of night many times into unbelievably dangerous environments to try to reconnect us to the grid, to bring light back into our homes, to bring air back into our homes, to keep, uh, uh, you know, grandma and grandpa, uh, safer because they, they were able to reestablish the power to their, to their homes.

And so, we working with our community colleges and working with those industry, uh, those, those, uh, energy industry icons like Mississippi Power or Entergy, some of the cooperatives, we were able to grow capacity in those, uh, utility line worker program. I know Mississippi Delta Community College. Uh, we've seen it at, uh, Meridian Community College, East Miss, East Central Community College, they have a collaboration there. I think even Jones College, many of the community colleges in the state stepped up to the plate and created larger capacity and thereby increased enrollment in those.

I was shocked and surprised to see the earning potential. It is dangerous. It is hard work, but they get paid. They get paid very, very well. It's, I mean, it would not be out of question to have a utility line worker after several years of working on the job, you know, making $70,000, $80,000 a year, um, or higher in some cases, depending on when, when they're needed in the kind of environment they're in.

So that was a, that was a surprising one to me.

(Will) Yeah. That’s interesting.

(Ryan) Um, and, and certainly when you, if, if anyone who listens to this, which is probably gonna be two people, uh, when they see that my name's associated with it, it'll be my wife and my mother. But, but if anyone who's listened to this, if you ever have the opportunity to go to the Mississippi Delta Community College Utility Line Worker Rodeo.

That is fascinating. That is where they are literally putting a dozen, two dozen young men and women up and down the pole doing a variety of different rescue, uh, exercises, um, certainly testing their ability to reconnect, uh, and put them in, in, in scenarios that are just mind, mind numbingly, uh, crazy. Uh, it's fascinating to watch and it also gives you a great sense of relief knowing that there are There are people –

(Will) Yeah.

(Ryan) – that are willing to do that, and there are more and more people getting into the profession.

(Will) Yeah, the fact that there's heights involved just pretty much tells me that.

(Ryan) And I mean heights, okay? I'm not afraid of heights, but I'd be afraid of doing what those guys do.

(Paul) Well, there it is.

(Will) You're not going up there, that's for sure. Well, let's get into some of the fun questions. We want to give a shameless plug real quick to our anti-litter stuff we got going on. I'm sure you feel the same way that we do, right?

(Ryan) Look, I'm just going to get on a soapbox.

(Will) Get on it.

(Paul) Do it.

(Ryan) So, yesterday, and it's, it's probably because I have had too much caffeine. So, congratulations that you have me at the end of the day when I've gotten just caffeinated. Um, my son had soccer practice yesterday and that the field and complex shall remain nameless.

But I, I just made it a point. I was running around doing a little exercise. I can't tell you how much garbage I picked up just from people that people just threw off the side of the field after their game, after their practice, after their whatever. It, it was, it was really, uh, it was really disappointing.

Um, my hope is that, uh, we can do, in fact, I know we can do better. Mississippi is a beautiful state.

(Paul) Yes.

(Ryan) We must take care of it. We've been called to be resource responsible. That includes keeping trash off the highways and byways. And where it should be going. So, uh, you don't have to convince me. I get on a soapbox about that.

(Will) We're gonna just cut that clip, right there, right? That'll be our next ad.

(Ryan) There you go. Right there.

(Paul) Right. We strongly concur.

(Ryan) A picture of me just pointing a finger.

(Will) Yeah, exactly. And on that note, you guys check out the, our, our ad that we got running right now. Uh, GoMDOT, check out the website there with the anti-litter messaging. What's the actual URL, Paul, for?

(Paul) That would be GoMDOT.com/DontTrashMS.

(Will) There we go. I mess it up.

(Paul) Don't trash Mississippi.

(Ryan) Don't do it.

(Will) And let's get into the fun ones here.

(Paul) Do it.

(Will) Uh, and Paul, go ahead. Take off man.

(Paul) Alright, let's, let's, uh, I'm not gonna take your restaurant question.

(Will) Okay.

(Paul) That's a Will Craft question. We'll backtrack to that. But Ryan, I understand you are a musician yourself. I want to know your favorite band –

(Ryan) Oh, man.

(Paul) – slash musician. Go for it.

(Ryan) So, anytime you ask a, and look, we'll use the word musician loosely as it refers to me. I am, I am, I pretend to be a musician, but it's, it's a lot of fun. Anytime you ask me, you know ,your favorite musical group or, or act or whatever, nine times out of ten, you're going to get this quizzical look like, oh my gosh. I listened to so many different kinds of music.

I love music. It's been a part of my life ever since I can remember. If you're asking me who am I listening to the most right now, there's a guy by the name of Gregory Alan Isakov, who is a somewhat of a folk singer. So I play a lot of folk and kind of old school country. Um, he's out of Colorado. Gregory Alan Isakov, and he is, uh, it's very much a part of an acoustic, uh, sound. Uh, he and his band, they are phenomenal. But I also listen, uh, to a lot of the musicians and songwriters that my dad loves. So, of course, talking about Jimmy Buffett and his recent passing. My dad was a big Jimmy Buffett fan.

Hal Ketchum. Um, I listen to a lot of Jackson Browne. Um, and then a lot of the things that I typically gravitate toward, my wife is also a musician, and we both love Alison Krauss and Union Station –

(Will) Oh, yeah.

(Ryan) - which we've seen multiple times So that's probably those are my favorites as of right now that I'm listening a lot to.

(Will) I feel relaxed.

(Paul) Love it.

(Will) Your playlist makes - I feel like it’s relaxing music, you know?

(Ryan) Oh, yeah. Yeah.

(Paul) It's a good vibe.

(Will) What about a concert, a favorite concert maybe you've been to?

(Ryan) Oh. So, uh, yes, I got two.

(Will) Okay.

(Ryan) No, no, no. I got three. I'm breaking the mold. I don't care what the rules are. I'm going with three. You can, you can cut this out if you need to. So, uh, best memory of a concert. I went to see George Strait in 1988 at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Coliseum with my dad. Now my dad has, has been passed. He'll, it'll be eight years in April. And my dad was very much my hero. And so, anything my dad said was good, I thought it was good. And he was a big George Strait fan. And so, we went to that concert. Pam Tillis opened for him. Y'all are, you're too young to remember that.

(Will) Yeah, I actually don't know who that is.

(Ryan) No, it's okay. She had a song called “Maybe It Was Memphis”. You need to look it up.

(Will) Oh, yeah. Okay, I know the song.

(Ryan) So, I knew when Pam sang that song. Pam, if you ever watch this podcast on MDOT, I want you to know I knew you were singing that song for me. At the ripe old age of 10, I think I was. But, uh, love that concert. George Strait played an entire concert just unbelievably. My dad was heartbroken, though, because his favorite song was called “The Fireman”. My dad had been a fireman before he had joined the Coast Guard, and so that was just kind of his theme song.

He didn't play it. He said goodnight. He walked offstage. My dad was heartbroken. And then all of a sudden you heard, reee, ah, and red lights started shining. And he came out and that was his encore.

(Paul) Oh, nice.

(Ryan) My dad levitated out of his chair.

(Will) I'm sure.

(Ryan) And I'll never forget that concert as a kid enjoying it with my dad. That was a big deal. So that, that George Strait concert.

(Will) That's great.

(Ryan) Another would be Alison Krauss and Union Station, where my wife and I went on one of our first dates.

(Will) Oh, cool.

(Ryan) And I don't remember the set list because I was so enamored with her. I really wasn't paying attention to the music. I'm sure it was great, but I was more enthralled with the woman sitting next to me. Uh, that was in the Orpheum at, uh, in Memphis. And then the third, the most recent, I got to see Robert Earl Keen at the Ryman Auditorium, uh, this past year or I guess year and a half ago now for his final concert tour. I got, I won a contest that allowed me to go do a co-writing session with Robert Earl Keen and then get to go to his concert and hang out with him afterwards. So. Those three.

(Will) That's hard to beat. Yeah.

(Ryan) I mean, those are, those are good.

(Will) It's a good three way tie for first place right there.

(Ryan) Those are good. Those are good.

(Will) That's awesome.

(Paul) That might be one of our best answers ever.

(Will) Absolutely.

(Paul) That's good.

(Ryan) Way better than the workforce answers. I can tell you that.

(Paul) It was awesome.

(Will) And look, let's, let's not forget, um, you know, why we're here to talk about, I'm just kidding. Uh, but a good restaurant question here for you, man. We spent a lot of time riding around Mississippi, traveling the roads. Maybe a place around here that you like to eat and then maybe where's one you don't get to see very often.

(Ryan) Well, I have to admit that, uh, you know, I have yet to really experience Jackson cuisine as much as I'd like to.

I love food and it's hard to be in Mississippi without having an affinity towards good food. Um, for whatever reason, uh, you know, I love Bravo. Uh, but again, that's probably because it was one of the first places I had a date with my wife.

(Will) It’s a good spot.

(Paul) It is.

(Ryan) So, yeah, she, I'm starting to think about it now. She's really influencing a lot of things in this conversation.

(Paul) That's a good thing.

(Ryan) Which is good.

(Will) Wives will do that.

(Ryan) Yeah, they, they're good at that. I'll, the two that I'll give you, the other two that I would say far, you know, from, from here.

(Will) Yeah.

(Ryan) One is Pirate's Cove in Pass Christian, Mississippi.

(Will) Okay. There's a new answer for us.

(Ryan) uh, it is, it is. Um, it used to be, uh, right on the beach in Highway 90. And, and Katrina, uh, uh, erased them from the map, but they rebuilt, um, and I can't remember exactly, they may be on Menge Avenue and Pass Christian, maybe half a mile from the beach. Best po'boys I have ever had in my life. So if you want a good roast beef po'boy, shrimp po'boy, fried oyster, and you get an order of corn nuggets and a long neck Barq’s root beer in a glass bottle, life is good.

(Will) That is good.

(Ryan) So Pirate's Cove, Pass Christian, and then the other I gotta pay homage to, um, the place where, uh, I lived for, for most of my life there in Oxford, Mississippi, and say Ajax. Ajax is that go to that if I wanna take a good nap after a meal, that's where I'm gonna go because whatever you eat there will put, I mean, you just, you're so fat and happy after that meal at Ajax.

You just can't ask for anything.

(Will) I think that was also mentioned on a previous podcast.

(Ryan) Oh man, two votes.

(Will) Maybe Paul.

(Paul) Ajax is a, that's a, that's a repeat answer for sure. Go get the Big Easy, which I believe is chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and gravy and butter beans.

(Ryan) Yep.

(Paul) That will put you to sleep.

(Ryan) All of the food groups represented on one plate plus a little, a little something extra.

(Paul) No doubt. Love it. Well, Ryan, we have covered a lot of ground. You have me fired up for workforce development. The right man is in position over there. So, thank you for coming and joining us today.

(Ryan) It's my pleasure. I appreciate the opportunity.

(Paul) Yes, sir. So, we'll wrap things up. I want to say, if you have any comments, if you have any suggestions for the show, we haven't mentioned this before, hit us up on social media, @MississippiDOT is the handle. We want to hear from our audience for sure. We want to thank that audience. Thank you for tuning into The Extra Mile Podcast. You can watch and listen to episodes by visiting GoMDOT.com/theextramile. We would be remiss if we do not thank our editor, Drew Hall, who does a ton of things behind the scenes for us, makes this show go and remember to drive smart out there on Mississippi highways.