Tom Gresham has been appointed to Gov. Tate Reeves’ Restart Mississippi Executive Team.
Restart Mississippi is a group made up of private sector business leaders throughout the state representing multiple regions, including the Delta.
Gresham told The E-T in a statement this weekend that the team has already had its first meeting, as many governors across the country are seeking paths to reopening their economies after the COVID-19 outbreak caused a virtual shutdown of “non-essential” businesses earlier this month.
Many of those businesses shuttered after Reeves’ shelter-in-place executive order went into effect in early April.
“I am truly humbled to have been appointed by Governor Reeves to the Restart Mississippi Executive Team,” Gresham said. “Our first meeting was held this past Thursday. Our task is to work to develop plans to help restart Mississippi’s economy from the COVID-19 pandemic. We will recommend ideas for a 90-120-day plan, as well as concentrate on the next one to two years followed by an economic vision for the next five to 10 years.”
Reeves cited a 9,000 percent increase in unemployment claims in the state over the past few weeks when he commissioned Restart Mississippi. He appointed Joe Sanderson of Sanderson Farms to be chairman of Restart Mississippi.
"We need Mississippians helping Mississippians. I have asked a trusted group of our state's top business minds to do just that. Under the 'Restart Mississippi' umbrella, they are going to develop a series of recommendations and goals for our new economy. They will study the impact of COVID-19 on our workforce and small businesses. And they will help us recover—day by day," Reeves said in a statement last week.
Gresham said the Executive Team and the Impact Committees are trying to make sure that all of Mississippi’s regions and economic engines are represented in the short-term and long-term plans.
“Mississippi has a diverse economy, and we need to make sure that no sector of the economy and region of the state is overlooked as we make plans to reopen and grow our economy,” Gresham said. “Every Mississippian has been impacted by this pandemic, and we must make sure that Restart Mississippi helps every citizen of this great state.”
Gresham is a long-time Indianola businessman, who currently serves as president one of the state’s largest convenience store chains, Double Quick, although the company’s ownership is set to change hands at some point this month.
Aside from Double Quick, he is the current commissioner of the Mississippi Gaming Commission, president of Delta Council, co-chairman of Indianola Promise Community and is a member of Mississippi Economic Council’s Board of Directors. Gresham is the past chairman of the Mississippi Economic Council, past president of the Society of Independent Gas Marketers of America (SIGMA), past board member of Northwest Mississippi Community Foundation, past board member of Mississippi State Board of Community Colleges, past board member of Mississippi Center for Education Innovation, past president of the Mississippi Association of Convenience Stores, past president of the Indianola Educational Foundation, Inc., past president of Indianola Rotary Club and past president of Mid-Delta Arts Association, according to his Restart Mississippi biography.
Photo Courtesy of Restart Mississippi
