Thankfully, 2009 is coming to an end. It hasn’t been the best of years for most of us. So what can we expect next year? (Published: December 2009)

The recent openings of Wal-Mart in Pass Christian and The Promenade in D’Iberville may have filled a void for bargain-hungry shoppers, but they also have created a financial challenge to small businesses in their wake. (Published: December 2009)

How often does your financial consultant keep up with current investment and tax news? Years ago, I worked with a financial consultant who never read newspapers. His premise was that all the news was bad, and it just kept him from achieving his goal, which was selling lots of mutual funds. (Published: December 2009)

George County is ready for economic development if it decides to happen, according to Kelly Wright, president of the board of supervisors. (Published: December 2009)

During the past two years, I have been preaching the concepts of green infrastructure to anyone captive enough to listen. Most of the time, these discussions have been aimed at county and municipal officials for the purposes of stormwater treatment. (Published: December 2009)

South Mississippi business leaders are painting contrasting pictures of the year 2010, ranging from “a year of great concern” for Go Zone contractors and a “low” in state port shipping fees, to a “high” in Jackson County from capital investments in petrochemicals and a continuing backlog by shipbuilders. (Published: December 2009)

Memorial Hospital at Gulfport and Keesler Medical Center in Biloxi have formed a partnership offering several medical subspecialties to Mississippi Gulf Coast residents for the first time. (Published: December 2009)

Chad Newell has been named president of The Area Development Partnership, effective Dec. 28. Newell succeeds Dr. Angeline Godwin, who had served as ADP president since Nov. 12, 2004. (Published: December 2009)

Last month, I had the privilege of participating in the Hancock Bank Gulf Coast Economic Symposium. There was a common concern among those attending the symposium that I felt should be addressed in this column: How will the real-estate markets impact our economic recovery? Given the mixed signals that we are receiving about the health of real estate markets, it’s no wonder that people are concerned and confused. (Published: December 2009)

The recession may be over, according to some economists, but that is not necessarily good news for job hunters. The job market will likely remain slow along the Gulf Coast into 2010 or beyond. (Published: December 2009)

Prospects of finding a job, or changing to a different job, are dismal for the next year or even two according to most experts, but there are exceptions. Some career fields are red hot with more workers needed. (Published: December 2009)

The Gulf Coast Business Technology Center in Biloxi has shed its name and adopted what its executive director Stephen Whitt calls “a clearer definition of the center’s purpose.” It is now the Innovation Center. (Published: December 2009)