“Natural resources” – including timber, energy and agribusiness – tops the list of opportunities for future economic growth in the Brookhaven area, according to a recent informal survey of local business and professional leaders conducted by the Mississippi Economic Council.

The poll was part of the Mississippi Economic Council’s Blueprint Mississippi Pathway to Progress Tour that traveled to 19 cities in Mississippi over the last four months and stopped in Brookhaven in January for a luncheon with local businesspersons and professionals. Complete results for the MEC polling were released last week in a press release and have been posted online at the MEC website.

“Leaders in Brookhaven are in line with other leaders throughout Mississippi in their ranking of important economic development issues,” said MEC President Blake Wilson in a press release announcing the poll results.

“What we found particularly encouraging in Brookhaven was the great optimism about the direction the state is moving, and we look forward to continued partnerships from this area of the state,” Wilson said.

Blueprint Mississippi, released in January 2012, is MEC’s long-term strategic action plan for the state. It includes nine goals and 33 recommendations. Attendees of the Brookhaven meeting were polled on which Blueprint Mississippi goals should be considered top priorities. An electronic response process allowed participants to give instant feedback on the issues facing the area and state.

The poll included 10 questions with multiple-choice answers.

In response to the question “Where do you see the greatest opportunity for economic growth in your region,” 43 percent of the local group selected “natural resources – timber, energy, agribusiness,” followed by “advanced manufacturing” with 29.07 percent. “Healthcare” came in third, with 13.95 percent, followed by “retail and service,” with 9.3 percent.

The other two options – “tourism” and “startup tech companies and online business” – both received 2.33 percent of the responses.

An overwhelming majority of local participants – 92.86 percent – answered “very important” to the question, “In order to meet Mississippi’s workforce needs, how important is the career and technical curriculum in high school today?”

“Somewhat important” followed with 5.95 percent, followed by “not important at all,” with 1.19 percent. None of the local participants selected “not so important.”

More than 81 percent of local poll participants felt transportation infrastructure is “very important” to the state’s economic development.

Meanwhile, 35.11 percent felt the state’s roads are currently “average,” 28.72 percent felt they are only “fair,” 21.28 percent described them as “good” and 14.89 percent rated them as “poor.” No local participants rated Mississippi roads as “excellent.”

Nearly 2,000 business and community leaders attended the MEC Blueprint Mississippi Pathway to Progress Tour meetings across the state during the tour’s 19 stops.

The tour started in Columbus on Nov. 19, 2013, and concluded in Laurel on March 4, 2014. The tour was made possible by a sponsorship from Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi.

For more information and complete poll results, please visit www.mec.ms and select the link, “Click Here for Full Blueprint Mississippi Pathway to Progress Tour Results.”