Dr. Mary S. Graham, president of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, has been named to Gov. Phil Bryant’s GoCoast 2020 advisory board. She will serve as a workforce adviser on the board, which includes more than 100 business and community leaders and elected officials from the Gulf Coast.
The group will help with the allocation of funds that Mississippi will receive as part of the RESTORE Act. RESTORE ensures that 80 percent of some penalties assessed as a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (expected to be between $5 billion and $21 billion) will be directed to the five Gulf states affected by the spill.
GoCoast includes members in economic development, small business, infrastructure, eco-restoration, seafood, tourism and workforces areas. The group is tasked with charting a 2020 vision for the Gulf Coast and with making important recommendations to the governor for initiatives and projects related to these seven areas.
“I am incredibly pleased to serve with this group, all of whom already play vitally important leadership roles along the Coast and in the state,” Graham says. “I believe that this team has a unique opportunity to shape the future of South Mississippi, making our Coast an even more wonderful place to live, work and play.”
Through a report, to be produced in January 2012, the group will rely on input from the public to help in the process of integrating existing plans and resources into the effort but will also strive to create an ambitious and comprehensive picture of the future Gulf Coast.