East Mississippi Business Development Corporation recruits for the Leadership Lauderdale program.

The East Mississippi Business Development Corporation every year holds business leadership program called Leadership Lauderdale. The program provides participants an opportunity to enhance their civic knowledge and network.

The program has helped participants better understand how our community works, build relationships with the area’s current and future leaders and become inspired to serve our community.

Today, the E-M-B-D-C is ramping up their recruiting period to work with a whole new batch of business professionals.

“This program is an opportunity for people in our community to be able to go through it, we do several different things, we go through the seven habits of highly effective people by Steven Cubby and then we also look at our community, and we break that down into building blocks. We talk about our military; we talk about our hospitals, we talk about education, our workforce, our existing industries and so we take the opportunity to really give people an insight into everything that Meridian and Lauderdale County has to offer.”

Casey Holaday says Leadership Lauderdale program has been in existence for many years now.

“Around 20 years is how long Leadership Lauderdale has been in existence.”

Holladay says that the program is open to professionals of many types of businesses.

“We have a variety of people who participate in Leadership Lauderdale every year, they range from their early 20’s all the way to their 60’s so there’s not any one particular person we’re looking for. We’re looking for people who want to be leaders in the community and people who want to try their best to make where they live even better, so we have all walks of life that come through and participate.”

Holladay also says that you do not have to live in the county to participate.

“Every year it varies, but last year’s class it was probably 50, 50, with 50 % of people who had grown up in Meridian and the other 50% had been transplants here, but the great thing about it is that regardless if they grew up here and they lived here their whole life, or they just have lived here for a few years, every person walks away saying wow, I never knew this."