Pearl River County’s Board of Supervisors heard a presentation from representatives of Mississippi Prison Industries in an effort to entice the county to utilize the company’s services.

Government Affairs liaison John Morgan Hughes and Sales Representative Amanda Hanks outlined the various products made at Mississippi Prison Industries, which also provides the inmates who make those products with workforce training that can help them transition into a productive life upon their release.

Some of the training includes woodworking, welding, printing, and the plan is to add medical coding in the future.

Hanks said that Pearl River Community College has purchased inner spring mattresses, and County Administrator Adrain Lumpkin said the county has purchased park benches from Mississippi Prison Industries.

A print shop offered at the company can also provide clients with printing services, such as business cards, letter head and notebooks.

Hanks said the company recently adjusted pricing for services and products to make their offerings more competitive. She also shared a success story of one inmate who learned how to weld while serving his time. Upon his release, he was offered a job at a regional ship building company.

No motion was made on the matter.

In other business, Les Dungan with Dungan Engineering asked the Board to approve a bid from Huey Stockstill LLC to conduct overlay work on three state aid roads, including Burnt Bridge, Springhill and Oak Hill.

The Board approved a motion to accept Huey Stockstill’s bid of $553,000.

Road Department Manager Charlie Schielder said striping is needed on several roads and a new culvert will be installed on Long Lake Drive in the North Hill Subdivision. The culvert was damaged during a recent rain event, causing some of the road to be washed out. The road appears to received a lot of traffic, on the order of 2,600 cars in a 24 hour period.

Striping is needed on Lumpkin Road, Pine Grove Road, Beach Road and Walkiah Road now where paving has taken place.