Edwards seen as choice to head Hancock County port commission
f the vote goes as expected, Gov. Phil Bryant adviser Ashley Edwards, 33, will land a job as executive director of the Hancock County Port & Harbor Commission.
Edwards’ experience with ports consists of advising Gov. Phil Bryant on a makeover for the beleaguered state port project in Gulfport, where former Gov. Haley Barbour directed $570 million in post-Katrina grant money for economic development. Five years in, a lot of red dirt has been piled in the Mississippi Sound, but permanent, full-time jobs are still over the horizon.
At Bryant’s direction, based on advice from Edwards and others, the port scaled down plans so the project could be finished in 2016 instead of 2017, and more of that fresh turf would be available to reel in a new tenant or two.
Sun Herald
9/21/13
Magnolia Tribune
