Thirty years after the dedication of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, officials cut another ribbon today dedicating a museum that provides education outreach and features the value of transportation within the historical inland passageway built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from 1972 to 1984.

"This particular project is one we're very proud of," said Mike Tagert, Mississippi Department of Transportation Northern District commissioner, who gave the keynote address during the ceremony. "With what you have accomplished here today with the museum, and using that as a mechanism and a model in order to communicate the value of the waterway and alternative modes of transportation, it means that our students who live along the waterway are going to have a great sense of pride and dignity knowing the asset that they live with."

Gov. Phil Bryant Friday morning briefed business leaders on a workforce development proposal that calls for pulling $25 million each of the next two years from the state's unemployment compensation reserve fund. The money would be used to step-up the state's efforts to train workers for advanced manufacturing jobs and to create a future generation of Mississippians with paychecks sufficient to afford "two cars and a boat," Bryant said.

In a morning address of members of the Mississippi Economic Council, the state's chamber of commerce, the governor said the unemployment compensation fund has built up the reserves as the jobless rate declined from 9.8 percent three years ago to today's 7.2 percent.

United Furniture Industries announced Monday it will start manufacturing operations in the former Lane Furniture facility in Verona. The project represents a $2.75 million corporate investment and will create 300 jobs, bringing the company's total employment in the state to approximately 2,000.

United Furniture has operations in Amory, Hatley, Nettleton, Okolona and Vardaman. The company's decision to purchase the Verona facility is due to an increase in demand and production.