MSU-Meridian hosts area visitors from the Atlanta Fed
Contact: Marianne Todd
MERIDIAN, Miss.—Mississippi State University-Meridian hosted members of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta late last month, paving the way to an economic roundtable event that included area business leaders.
Better known as the Atlanta Fed, the visitors included President and CEO Raphael Bostic, First Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Cheryl Venable and other Atlanta Fed members. They visited the Queen City to learn about the region’s local economic drivers and challenges.
Associate Vice Provost for Health Sciences and Interim Head of Campus David Buys led a tour of MSU-Meridian’s downtown Riley Campus. The guests were guided through the campus’ historic buildings and into the classrooms and labs that comprise the Master of Physician Assistant Studies and Master of Science in Nursing programs.
The tour ended with a visit to the newly opened Interprofessional Simulation Program, which features state-of-the-art control rooms, including six clinical exam rooms, six medical surgical rooms, computer learning stations, a proctor area for facilitator observation and five prebriefing and debriefing rooms with recording and reviewing capabilities.
The health programs occupy three floors of the Rosenbaum Building, a 7,715-square-foot facility that progressed quickly over the past year from an empty space into a renovated, hands-on instructional simulation lab.
“I cannot think of a more appropriate place to familiarize the Atlanta Fed team with Meridian prior to an economic roundtable discussion,” Buys said. “The MSU Riley Center’s storied history is one of rebirth and renaissance, not only to these historic buildings themselves but as a driver to the economic redevelopment of downtown Meridian.”
Bostic said the Meridian trip marks the second time he’s traveled to Mississippi this year to learn about its regional economy, culture and communities.
“I’m extremely appreciative of these trips, as each serves as a reminder of the work that has been done and needs to be done, as well as the role the Fed plays in doing that work,” Bostic said.