WATER MOVES US: Growing our economy through waterOctober 22-24, 2018 | Golden Nugget Biloxi

NETWORK

LEARN

Join us at Mississippi Water Resources Association as we build lasting relationships with professional colleagues and industry leadersduring breaks and social events.

Here’s your chance to become better informed on the latest water resourcesand transportation issues facing the state and beyond. This year’s conference,“WATER MOVES US: Growing our economy through water,” is designed to help you maximize profits, people and potential. You’ll have plenty of time to learn andto network. We look forward to welcoming you to one of the most rewarding andfriendly conferences in the industry.

2018 MWRA Conference AgendaGolden Nugget, Biloxi, MS

Monday, October 22, 2018

1:00 Registration, Exhibitor Setup

1:30 – 3:30 IRPT Lower Mississippi River Basin meeting Ship Island A

3:30 – 4:00 Afternoon Break

4:00 – 5:30 MWRA Board of Directors Meeting Ship Island A

5:30 – 7:00 Welcome Reception at the Golden Nugget Biloxi Ship Island B

7:00 Dinner on your own

Tuesday, October 23, 2018

7:30 Breakfast Ship Island B

8:00 Introductions and Welcome: Tommy Hart, MWRA President

8:30 – 10:00 WATER MANAGEMENT SYMPOSIUM Section I Ship Island A Sponsored by: Mid-South Machinery UPDATE ON DAM SAFETY Moderator: Don Christy, Ph.D, Executive Director, Yazoo Mississippi Delta Joint Water Management District

Brad Arcement, P.E., Levee Safety Center, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Vicksburg, MS Dusty Myers, Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality

8:30 – 10:00 PORT SYMPOSIUM Section I Ship Island C Sponsored by: Greenville Port Commission, Lowndes County Port Authority, Natchez Port Authority, and Mississippi Department of Transportation MISSISSIPPI PORT UPDATES: DEVELOMENTS AND CHALLENGES

Moderator: Robby Burt, Mississippi Department of Transportation Representatives from Mississippi Ports Key Guests have been invited2

Tuesday, October 23, 2018 continued 10:00 Mid-Morning Break

10:30 – 12:00 WATER MANAGEMENT SYMPOSIUM Section II Ship Island A Sponsored by: Mid-South Machinery and Neel-Shaffer WATER AND ENERGY: GROWING ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Moderator: David Kennard, Executive Director, Tombigbee River Valley Water Management District

Dr. Sumesh Arora, Director, Energy and Natural Resources Division, Mississippi Development Authority

Yuanyuan (Yvonne) Zhang, Ph.D., Research Professor, Center for Logistics, Trade, and Transportation, University of Southern Mississippi 10:30 – 12:00 PORT SYMPOSIUM Section II Ship Island C Sponsored by: Greenville Port Commission, Lowndes County Port Authority, Natchez Port Authority, Mississippi Department of Transportation and Rosedale-Bolivar County Port Commission CREATING CONNECTIONS: WORKING WITH THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS

Moderator: Robert Maxwell, Port Director, Rosedale-Bolivar County Port Commission

Justin Murphree, Mobile District Corps of Engineers

Brandon Davis, Planning Liaison and Environmental Compliance Chief, Vicksburg, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

12:00 – 2:00 Lunch with Keynote Speaker: William N. Scaggs, Executive Director of North Mississippi Industrial Development Association Ship Island B

Introduction: Tommy Hart, MWRA President

2:15 Load Bus for Port of Gulfport Tour in front of Golden Nugget (round trip 1 hr 45 min)

6:00 – 9:00 Cocktails and Dinner Maritime Museum

Wednesday, October 24, 2018

8:30 – 10:30 MWRA Membership Breakfast and Annual Membership Meeting Ship Island B

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SPEAKERS AND PRESENTERS

Brad Arcement is a licensed professional engineer in the state of MS. He has a BS and MS degrees in Civil Engineering from Louisiana Tech University and the University of Texas at Austin, respectively. He has 20 years of experience as a geotechnical engineer. He has worked for the US Army Corps of Engineers since 2009. He serves as the Levee Safety Branch Chief of the Mississippi Valley Division Levee Safety Production Center in Vicksburg, where he works on a wide range of regional and national levee and dam safety projects.

Dr. Sumesh Arora is the director of the Energy & Natural Resources Division of the Mississippi Development Authority. Since assuming this position, Sumesh has reorganized this office to focus on four areas: energy efficiency programs, energy education and workforce development, energy projects and policy development, and energy data and security. Previously, Sumesh served as VP of Innovate Mississippi, director of the Strategic Biomass Solutions, and the Energy-Economy-Environment (E3) program manager for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership of Mississippi. Sumesh received his Ph.D in international development from the University of Southern Mississippi where he also teaches as an adjunct faculty in the College of Business.

Robby Burt is Ports and Waterways Director at the Mississippi Department of Transportation. He attended Mississippi State University and received a B.S. Degree in Civil Engineering in December 1995. He began working with MDOT in 1996 as an Engineer-in-Training. He became a Registered Professional Engineer in January of 2001. Mr. Burt is a member of AASHTO’s Standing Committee’s on Water and serves as past chairman of the Center for Logistics Trade and Transportation Studies’ Industry Advisory Council at the University of Southern Mississippi.

Dr. Don Christy is the Executive Director of the Yazoo Mississippi Delta Joint Water Management District. Governed by a 28-member board of commissioners, YMD is charged with implementing programs addressing water supply, water quality and water utilization in a 17-county region in the Mississippi Delta. A Mississippi native, Don holds a B. S. degree in Chemistry from the University of Southern Mississippi and a M.S. degree in Conservation Ecology and Sustainable Development and Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of Georgia. Over the past 30 years, Don has served in several capacities in the environmental and water resources policy fields with the State of Mississippi and the State of Georgia.

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Robert Maxwell has been the Port Director for the Rosedale-Bolivar County Port Commission since July 2010. He has had previous experience in the oil & gas industry in the exploration and production of natural gas, and has also had entrepreneurial exploits resulting in two U.S. patents and the opportunity to work with people and businesses across the country and internationally. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Marketing from Delta State University in Cleveland, MS. Robert is a member of numerous industry and civic organizations and is the current Chairman of MWRA, while also serving on the Board of Directors of Inland Rivers, Ports and Terminals (IRPT) as 2nd Vice-President, Vice-President for the MS Ports Council.

David Kennard became the Executive Director of the Tombigbee River Valley Water Management District in March of 2018. As Executive Director, David works for a 31-member Board of Directors and Boards of Supervisors from the 12 member counties. Prior to taking this position David worked full-time for the 186th Air Refueling Wing, Mississippi Air National Guard in Meridian where over the course of 39 years of military service he held the positions of Base Civil Engineer, Mission Support Group Commander, Air Operations Group Commander and the Wing Vice Commander. David holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Mississippi State University.

Tommy Hart is the Port Director of the Greenville Port Commission. He holds a degree in Business Administration, and served for 37 years as the Executive Director of the Greenville Area Industrial Foundation. Since taking over the position in 2008, investment in port expansion and renovation has totaled over twenty million dollars, doubling its volume. Rated by tonnage shipped, the Port of Greenville is the eleventh largest inland river port in the nation. Tommy has also located in the county some of the country’s most notable corporations, including Lay-Z-Boy, Schwinn Bicycle, Fruit of The Loom, Boeing Aircraft, Uncle Ben Foods, Cargill, Textron, and many others.

Brandon Davis is the Planning Liaison/ Environmental Compliance Section Chief for the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Regional Planning Environment Division South (RPEDS) in Vicksburg. Hired originally as an Economist, Brandon’s early projects included Flood Risk Management and Ecosystem Restoration feasibility studies in the Mississippi and Arkansas Delta, water supply studies in Arkansas, and serving as a subject matter expert for agriculture crop damage estimation. Brandon holds a Bachelor’s and Masters of Science in Agriculture Economics from MS State University. His Masters work analyzed the economics of renewable energy production from agriculture biomass and other sources of farm waste.

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Dr. Yuanyuan (Yvonne) Zhang is a Research Professor at the Center for Logistics, Trade and Transportation. She has extensive research experience in various areas of transportation engineering, planning, and management. She received her Ph.D degree in Transportation Planning and Management from Tongji University in 2012 and subsequently worked in University of California, Berkeley, as a Post-Doctoral Researcher. In 2016, she joined University of Southern Mississippi and lives in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Her current research interests include: transportation related economic development, freight network analysis, machine learning, and safety.

William (Skip) Scaggs is Executive Director of the North Mississippi Industrial Development Association, a regional economic development organization covering 30 counties in Northeast Mississippi. Over the past 20 years he has worked with MDA, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration, and the East Mississippi Business Development Corporation (EMBDC). Skip has a degree in American Studies from Stetson University and also has completed graduate work and professional development courses from JSU, the Gavin School of International Management at Thunderbird, Economic Development Institute at the University of Oklahoma and the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Dusty Myers is the Chief of the Mississippi Dam Safety Program located within the State’s Department of Environmental Quality. The program is responsible for the regulation of roughly 6,800 earthen embankment dams of which just over 400 are high or significant hazard, and regulates the design, construction, and operation of these dams as well as responding to any incidents and failures which occur. He is very active in the Association of State Dam Safety Officials as a regional representative on the Board of Directors, Co-Chair of the Dam Failures and Incidents Committee, and Chair of the Membership and Dues Task Force. Dusty has a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering from Mississippi State University and a Master’s Degree in Environmental Engineering from Jackson State University.

Justin Murphree is Operations Project Manager on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway. Before becoming the Operations Project Manager, Justin served as Site Manager at the Bay Springs Site Office on the north end of the Tenn-Tom Waterway. While the Site Manager, he managed the navigation, natural resources, and recreation business lines from Amory, MS to the end of the project at Pickwick Lake. During his career, he has also served as a Project Engineer at Columbus Air Force Base, administered the contracts for the construction of various projects on Columbus AFB. Justin holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Mississippi State University. He is also a licensed Professional Engineer.

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Join us for breakfast in the Mississippi State Capitol

THURSDAY, JANUARY 10, 20188:30 AM – 11:00 AM

FIRST FLOOR ROTUNDA(this will be in conjunction with the

Mississippi Ports Council Day at the Capitol)

Water Day At the Capitol

Tommy Hart, Port Director

Phield Parish, President

Charlie Bevil, Vice President

Joe Wiley David Stokes,Secretary

Skeet Sanders

Heath Douglas,Attorney

Greenville Port Commission...Leading the Delta in Multi ModalTransportation

2701 Harbor Front RdGreenville, MS662-335-2683

The Port of Greenville is dedicatedto facilitating economicdevelopment in the MississippiDelta through logistics facilities andservice, industrial and commercialdevelopment, and the developmentof a national and internationalintermodal transportation system.

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Thank you to our Sponsors!

LUNCHEON SPONSOR

PLATINUM SPONSOR

GOLD SPONSOR

EXHIBITOR

Mid South Machinery

Natchez Port Authority

Town Creek Master Water Management District

SILVER SPONSOR