Former Sikeston mayor reflects on first weeks at Delta Regional Authority

SIKESTON, Mo. -- People say to find a job that makes you smile.

And that's what Mike Marshall has been doing since May, when he was appointed as alternate co-chair of the Delta Regional Authority by President Barack Obama.

"It's the greatest job in the world," said Marshall, who lives in Sikeston. "I love it."

Marshall does a lot of traveling with his new job. "I go to a lot of projects being funded or proposed to be funded by the Delta Regional Authority," he said. Those include safe drinking water projects, levee board meetings, and an initiative to help a community college have a certified school to teach and license crop dusters.

But he enjoys the constant movement.

"I'm in the middle of important projects and I like making a difference," said Marshall.

Although he has an office at the DRA Headquarters where he goes twice a month, Marshall primarily works out of Sikeston, from the upstairs office at 105 E. Kathleen St.

"Sikeston is a very central location to the DRA region," he said. "I can take a lot of day trips."

Additionally, he travels to the nation's capitol three to four times a year.

The DRA is a partnership of 252 counties and parishes in the eight states of the Mississippi River Delta Region: Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee. It helps economically distressed communities take advantage of other federal and state programs focused on basic infrastructure development and transportation improvements, business development and job training services.

Although the DRA was not recognized as a federal agency until 2000, Marshall admitted he's followed the concept since the 1980s, when it was introduced by then-Arkansas governor Bill Clinton.

"I thought it made a lot of sense for our area," said Marshall.

As a commissioner with the Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority for 13 years, Marshall was involved in a cooperative effort with federal, state and private sectors to increase the import-export volume to over 1 million tons per year. There, he became familiar with the DRA, as he worked on several grant projects through the Authority.

His nine years serving in Sikeston City government -- including the position of mayor -- also led to Marshall's involvement with the DRA.

"As mayor, I started attending their meetings," said Marshall. "Doug Friend (city manager) and I were some of the few to attend from Missouri."

Prior to his nomination to the new position -- in which he is second in command for the DRA -- Marshall said he spoke with Lloyd Smith, who was chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson at the time.

"I told him I would be interested in the board, and he suggested I try to become a co-chair," recalled Marshall. Then, he got in touch with Emerson, Sen. Claire McCaskill, who nominated Marshall for the position, and other politicians to put his name in the hat for such an appointment.

"And it all just worked out," he said.

In addition to being Sikeston's mayor and involved in the port authority, Marshall has been a farm manager and worked for 30 years in the banking industry, including serving as president of First State Bank and Trust. All of those experiences, he said, have built him up to where he is today.

Others agree.

"I think this is a great opportunity for Mike personally and also for Southeast Missouri," said Dan Overbey, executive director of the Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority. "He's got a lot of experience and expertise that was helpful to us (when he served on our board) and now he can use that on the DRA."

Marshall's job includes stretching government dollars. "And I think he's in an excellent position to do that, because he has worked in the private sector and is also familiar with government," said Overbey. "His experience in the banking industry will help him evaluate different folks as they seek grant funds."

Marshall agreed.

"But this is on an even broader scope," he said. "I'm helping out people and rural communities, which is what I liked doing when I was mayor."

Marshall continued: "I like meeting all of the different people. Everybody is so nice, and everybody has different needs in a way, but all of these small towns have the same issues we have here in Sikeston -- creating jobs, and getting young people to come back."

The Authority's emphasis is on job creation and job retention, and federal law requires at last 75 percent of funds must be invested in distressed counties and parishes and pockets of poverty, with 50 percent of the funds earmarked for transportation and basic infrastructure improvements.

As Marshall's family was one of the first in Sikeston, he said he is quite passionate about its success and promoting the Delta region.

"I have a deep love for this area and want it to prosper " he said. "I think we have so much potential, especially with the Mississippi River."

There are a lot of hurdles, too, Marshall admitted.

"There's a lot of poverty in the Delta Region," he said. "The DRA was set up so we can try to cure this as best we can."

Connie Duke, economic development director of the Bootheel Regional Planning Commission in Dexter, got to see Marshall's passion for the area firsthand.

"We went on a site visit to some of the projects that are under construction, and it's evident that he had a real interest in this area," she said. "He asked a lot of questions and I think he learned a lot just from meeting and talking with the people."

The alternate co-chair being from the area has several advantages, Duke said. "It will be easier to work with him here than having to work with someone who has never seen the area and is not aware of what's going on here," she said.