By John Howell
Thursday’s speaker for the Panola Partnership’s Fall Forum comes with a background in private business, local government and service with the Tenneessee Valley Authority (TVA) that earned international respect for his views on formulating sound energy policy.

Glenn McCullough Jr. will speak at Thursday’s luncheon session, at the Panola Country Club.
McCullough began his career by substantially increasing his family’s steel products business from 1981 to 1993. He was elected Tupelo mayor in 1997 and served until his appointment to the TVA board in 1999 by President Bill Clinton.

President George W. Bush appointed McCullough chairman of the TVA board in 2001. His tenure as TVA chairman includes significant increases in power sales and a stellar system reliability record while reducing toxic emissions produced by TVA generation facilities.
McCullough is CEO of GLM Associates, LLC,  a corporate consulting firm and is also executive  of several energy companies.

Educators to open
Four local educators will open the Fall Forum, starting at 8 a.m. in the Batesville Civic Center.
South Panola Schools Superintendent Tim Wilder, North Panola Schools Superintendent Cedric Richardson, North Delta Schools Headmaster John Howell Jr. and Northwest Community College assistant Director of Workforce Development Doug Freeze comprise a panel to discuss current offerings in Panola schools and trends in continuing education.

At 10 a.m., also in the civic center, John Brandon from the Mississippi Development Authority’s Entrepreneur Center will join Kelly Cofer and Joseph Koon of The Retail Coach. The panelists will discuss how Batesville retailers can best utilize the results of an extensive economic survey conducted for the City of Batesville by the Retail Coach that reveals Batesville retailers are missing out on a potential $873 million in spending by area customers who make their purchases outside the city’s trade area.