GULFPORT, Miss., Oct. 5, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- With thousands of Gulf South families and businesses immersed in an unprecedented period of rebuilding and renewal, Hancock Bank will host a special "Together We Rebuild" symposium spotlighting three issues critical to the region's successful recovery from Hurricane Katrina: municipal money, affordable housing, and the outlook for a new Gulf Coast economy.
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Slated for Tuesday, October 10, 2006, from 7:45 a.m. -- noon in the Mississippi Coast Coliseum arena, the 40th annual Hancock Bank Gulf Coast Economic Symposium will offer guests first-hand information on current and future initiatives supporting community revitalization throughout South Mississippi. Featured speakers are Mississippi State Treasurer Tate Reeves ("Money Matters: The Finances of Recovery"), Mississippi Power Company president and chair of the Gulf Coast Business Council Anthony Topazi ("A Roadmap for Solving the Coast's Housing Crisis"), and economics expert Loren Scott ("Constructive Economics: Building A New Gulf Coast").
According to Hancock Bank President and Chief Executive Officer George A. Schloegel, post-storm availability of facilities necessitated postponing Hancock's traditional February symposium. However, this year marks the symposium's 40th anniversary, and Hancock executives decided that providing Coastians current, relevant economic information was essential to a renaissance of commerce and opportunity in the area.
"Hancock Bank was founded in 1899 to help communities grow and prosper; and the Hancock Bank symposium was established 40 years ago to help folks make well-informed financial and business decisions. Now, as we rebuild the Coast, access to good information is even more essential to ensure viable recovery strategies," said Schloegel. "Our speakers are recognized authorities in their fields, know the area and its people, and are working daily to strengthen our Gulf Coast economy."
With the Coliseum convention center under construction, this year's Hancock Bank symposium will take place in the Coliseum arena. Guests can park on the west side of the Coliseum and enter the symposium through the northwest arena entrance.
Advance reservations are necessary to attend the symposium. A limited number of seats are still available through the Hancock Bank corporate marketing department (phone 228-563-7954, fax 228-563-7973, or e-mail symposium@hancockbank.com).
The Speakers
Tate Reeves was elected Mississippi's 52nd Treasurer on November 4, 2003. Currently, he is America's youngest state treasurer, Mississippi's youngest statewide elected official, and the first Republican treasurer in Mississippi history. The Rankin County native graduated from Florence High School and holds a bachelor's degree in economics as a Millsaps College honors graduate. A past point guard for Millsaps basketball, he remains an active alumnus and serves on the college's General Louis Wilson Fund investment policy board. The former bank investment strategy committee member and assistant vice president holds Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation and is a member of both the CFA Society of Mississippi and the CFA Institute, an organization leading the investment industry in setting the highest standards of ethics and professional excellence. In 1996 he received the Mississippi Society of Financial Analysts Award.
After serving one term as president of the Southern Region of the National Association of State Treasurers (NAST), Reeves was elected senior vice-president of NAST and will become the organization's national president in 2007. He currently serves as chairman of the Investment Committee and is a member of the board of directors of the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) of Mississippi. Reeves also serves as chairman of the board of directors of College Savings Plans of Mississippi and the Health Care Trust Fund. Currently the state chairman for United Way, he remains committed to many Mississippi civic and charitable organizations, including the Mississippi Society of Disabilities, UMC Children's Cancer Clinic, Middle Mississippi Girl Scout Council, Boys & Girls Clubs of Mississippi, Stewpot Ministries, the Exchange Club Parent Child Center, and the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra
Mississippi Power Company President and CEO Anthony J. Topazi -- a Birmingham, AL, native -- became Mississippi Power's 10th chief executive leader in January 2004. Previously an executive vice president at Southern Company Generation and Energy Marketing, he began his Alabama Power career as a cooperative education student engineer and rose to numerous executive positions in the company's Birmingham and Western divisions. As chair of the Tuscaloosa County, AL, Industrial Development Authority, he assumed a primary role in recruiting to Alabama the first Mercedes Benz automotive assembly plant outside Germany.
Topazi chairs the Infrastructure Committee of the Governor's Commission on Recovery, Rebuilding, and Renewal; Momentum Mississippi -- a public-private economic development partnership designed to boost the state's economic future; and the Gulf Coast Business Council. He previously served on the Blueprint Mississippi steering committee and co-chaired the economic development work team. Topazi currently serves on the Mississippi Economic Council board of directors, as vice chair of the Mississippi Partnership for Economic Development, and as chair-elect of the Mississippi Gulf Coast Chamber of Commerce. He also serves on the boards of directors for Hancock Bank, MAST, Inc., and Gulf Coast Community Foundation and on the Nature Conservancy of Mississippi board of trustees. He is a member of the United Way of America deTouqueville Society.
Topazi earned a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering at Auburn University and completed Harvard University's advanced management program. He holds memberships in the Edison Electric Institute, Southeastern Electric Exchange, and Auburn's Engineering Council.
Presenting 50 to 70 speeches annually on the state of the economy, Dr. Loren C. Scott is the president of Loren C. Scott & Associates, Inc., a 23-year-old economic consulting firm with large national clients such as BellSouth, Entergy, ExxonMobil, Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association, the Governor's Military Advisory Board, the Louisiana Chemical Association, Cleco Power, the Louisiana Judicial Compensation Commission, and the Coushatta Indian Tribe. He is one of only 32 members of the National Business Economic Issues Council (NBEIC), a group of experts in areas of international trade, Washington economic policies, retail trade, trucking, and steel and chemical industries who meet quarterly to discuss issues of state, national, and international impact. Scott is also an energy specialist on the NBEIC.
His career in academia started at Louisiana State University in 1969, where, during a 33-year tenure, he advanced from assistant professor to the prestigious Freeport McMoran Endowed Chair of Economics and as the Director of the Division of Economic Development and Forecasting. He was the chairman of the LSU Economics Department from 1983-1996. During that time, the department's ranking rose from 101st to 38th among the 3,000 economics departments in the United States. Presently a professor emeritus at LSU, he has received seven LSU awards for outstanding classroom teaching. His CD collection of humorous stories -- "Laughter: The 'Economical' Way to Feel Great" -- is available through his website, www.lorencscottassociates.com.
About Hancock Bank
Hancock Holding Company (Nasdaq:HBHC) -- the parent company of Hancock Bank of Florida, Hancock Bank (Mississippi), and Hancock Bank of Louisiana -- has assets of $6.26 billion. Hancock Bank stands among the strongest, safest financial institutions in the United States and is the only financial services company headquartered in the Gulf South to rate among the top 20 percent of America's top performing banks. Additional corporate information or on-line banking and bill pay services is available at www.hancockbank.com.
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