Mississippi Development Authority Director Bill Cork, the state’s head economic development officer, has resigned with little explanation.
Cork is leaving after a more than two year stint as MDA director. Gov. Tate Reeves appointed Cork in 2023 and he was confirmed by the state Senate in April of 2024.
Reeves called Cork’s resignation a “retirement,” and wished him “all the best in his future endeavors” in a statement.
“Serving Mississippi has been the honor of my career,” Cork said in a statement, although he declined further comment and for a couple of days he and the governor’s office did not respond to questions of whether he had resigned. “Nina and I arrived on the Gulf Coast more than a decade ago, and this state gave us far more than we could ever give back. I am grateful to Governor Reeves for his leadership, his trust and his friendship.”
Reeves announced that Paul Jerrod “P.J.” Waldrop, the current deputy director and chief operating officer of MDA, will lead the agency, as Reeves enters his final year-and-a-half in office. Reeves in his statement did not say whether he would be submitting Waldrop’s appointment to the state Senate for approval as director.
P.J. Waldrop Credit: Special to Mississippi TodayReeves during his two terms as governor has struggled to keep a permanent, Senate-approved MDA director in place. Former director Glenn McCullough Jr. resigned as Reeves took office. Reeves appointed John Rounsaville to the post, but he resigned after 15 months after he faced allegations of sexual harassment of female MDA employees. After a state investigation, it was recommended to Reeves that he fire Rounsaville.
Reeves announced that Rounsaville was “stepping down to pursue new opportunity,” and initially praised his work before news broke of the misconduct allegations.” Reeves’ appointed his former communications director, Laura Hipp Mayer, who led MDA as interim director for more than two years after Rounsaville resigned.
Waldrop joined MDA in 2021 as the director of the governor’s military affairs office. He spent more than a decade working for various U.S. senators, including the late Sen. Thad Cochran.
“The award-winning MDA team is in great hands with PJ Waldrop as executive director. I can’t wait to see the records they break next. It’s been an amazing run, and Mississippi’s best days are still ahead of her. Thank you, Mississippi,” Cork said in his statement.
Cork has overseen a time of historic investment in Mississippi, largely due to the artificial-intelligence data center boom across the South. The state has seen more than $65 billion in investments and the creation of nearly 23,000 jobs from major corporations such as Amazon, SpacexAI and Hitachi under Cork’s tenure as MDA director.
Before leading MDA, Cork served as the agency’s deputy director and chief economic developer. He was previously CEO of the Hancock County Port and Harbor Commission from 2016-2020 and had worked in Texas at the Texarkana Chamber of Commerce, TexAmericas and Sempra Energy. He is a Marine Corps veteran and received his masters in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
During Cork’s confirmation in the Mississippi Senate, questions arose about a report from the Mississippi Personnel Board, which had investigated claims that Cork had created a hostile work environment and complaints about sexual harassment and age discrimination. The report cleared Cork of any legal wrongdoing but said “Cork’s management style has created a toxic workplace.”
Cork told a Senate committee that he had not done anything wrong but that he was a tough and direct boss, which some employees interpreted as hostile. The Senate unanimously voted to appoint him.
“The invitation to lead this amazing group of professionals, as part of Gov. Tate Reeves’ leadership team, is truly humbling,” Cork said at the time of his appointment. “I look forward to serving the great state of Mississippi in this new role and building upon the amazing momentum we are achieving together.”
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