House Concurrent Resolution 118

(As Adopted by House)

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING THAT THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES NOMINATE VERNON R. (RANDY) KELLEY, III, TO THE TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY BOARD OF DIRECTORS.

WHEREAS, for nearly four decades, Vernon R. (Randy) Kelley, III, has focused his vision and talents on assisting the people of Northeast Mississippi in expanding their horizons and improving their lot in life; and

WHEREAS, as a young man, Mr. Kelley left his home in Missouri to play football at the University of Mississippi, and while giving maximum effort on the field he found out quickly that his size, or lack of it, would not fit the mold of big time Southeastern Conference football; and

WHEREAS, realizing he was not destined for an NFL career, he utilized his degrees in both banking and finance and urban and regional planning and launched a career that has seen his intellectual gifts become a source of inspiration for a geographic region and its people whose potential had yet to be realized; and

WHEREAS, fresh out of college in 1972, Mr. Kelley joined the Tennessee Valley Regional Housing Authority serving as a regional planner for the 10-county authority, where his first experience included the construction of 1,100 low-income housing units; and

WHEREAS, he then moved to the Northeast Mississippi Planning and Development District as planning director, working with federal project applications with ARC, HUD, EDA, the Governor's Highway Safety Program, the Summer Youth Recreation Program and the Council on Aging; and

WHEREAS, in 1976, Mr. Kelley joined the Three Rivers Planning and Development District (TRPDD) and assumed the role as executive director, and under his extraordinary leadership, the TRPDD budget has grown from $105,000.00 in 1976 to an amount in excess of $186 million for the fiscal year 2009; and

WHEREAS, from his key role in the recruitment of a Toyota manufacturing plant for his district, to assisting in feeding 300,000 meals to the elderly, to overseeing the largest workforce development district in the State of Mississippi, to facilitating a college tuition program that provides every graduating high school senior in the district free college tuition at area community colleges, Mr. Kelley and his agency are positively impacting the lives of every person in the communities of the counties served by TRPDD; and

WHEREAS, for more than three decades, he has worked in conjunction with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) staff on projects including economic development, power, waste water and other common objectives that have allowed him to create an excellent working relationship with many TVA divisions; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Kelley's accolades speak for themselves: he has served as President of the National Association of Development Organizations, President of the Appalachian Regional Commission Local Development District Association, President of the Tennessee Valley Information Systems, President of the Mississippi Association of Planning and Development Districts, board member of the National Association of Development Organizations (NADO) for over 30 years, received the J. Roy Fogle Leadership Award as outstanding director of NADO, received the ARC Federal Co-Chair Award for outstanding leadership in economic development, been named the Mississippi Financial Advocate of the Year by the Small Business Administration, received the 2008 NADO President's Award, and received the CREATE Foundation Community Partner Award; and

WHEREAS, it is the policy of this Legislature to advocate for such an exceptional individual as Mr. Kelley, who has spent much of his life serving the citizens of his planning and development district located within the Tennessee Valley Authority region:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE SENATE CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby join together to request the President of the United States to nominate Vernon R. (Randy) Kelley, III, to the Tennessee Valley Authority Board of Directors based on his record of extraordinary success in leading the Three Rivers Planning and Development District in his tenure as executive director for over 33 years, his longstanding working relationship with the TVA and the great accolades bestowed upon him by numerous economic development organizations.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be furnished to the President of the United States, Mr. Kelley and to the members of the Capitol Press Corps.