Louis Jacobs, co-chief executive officer of Delaware North, talked about family, history, and community spirit while participating in Mid-South Community College’s dedication of the $2.2 million Jeremy Jacobs Hospitality Center on June 2.Speaking to a large crowd gathered in MSCC’s newest facility, Jacobs started his presentation with regrets from his father, whose name will appear on and in the building.
“My dad wears a lot of hats, and one of those hats is through his ownership of the Boston Bruins and chairmanship of the NHL Board of Governors,” Jacobs explained. “He had meetings in New York that he really couldn’t get out of, but I know he very much regrets not being able to be here.
“He would have liked to have been here in person to see all of this. I’m sure we’ll bring him by next trip to have a look at the plaque and the building. On behalf of my dad, and really the entire Jacobs Family, I want to say ‘thank you’ to Mid-South. This means a great deal to us.”
Jacobs pointed out that Southland Park Gaming and Racing and Crittenden County are special to the family.
“My grandfather had a keen interest in Southland in its early days,” he said. “My dad came down here to West Memphis (in 1967) and started to pursue the acquisition.
My grandfather passed away in 1968, and my dad closed on the transaction in 1968. “So Southland has the unique history of being the last deal that my father worked with his father on and the first deal my father closed on as the new CEO of the company.Southland has always had a special place, and West Memphis as a community has always had a special place for the company and my family. I understand we don’t reside in West Memphis, but we very much feel a part of the community as partners.”
Jacobs said the company’s ongoing investments in the college, which total $2.5 million, are being made for good reasons.
“It’s more than philanthropy; it’s just good business,” he explained. “It makes sense for us…because
this is where our workforce is coming from. We’re looking for people who want not jobs but careers,
and this is very much a starting point for those people, not just at Southland but throughout our organization.
“We’re going on 50 years’ involvement in this community, and that’s what is so exciting about what is happening over here. The number of employees at Southland from 2008 was 365 people, and today we employ 800, so we have a constant need for trained, quality personnel.”
Jacobs said the company and family are “delighted” to play a role in bringing hospitality management training and entrepreneurship opportunities to the region.
Dr. Fenter, MSCC president, said Delaware North, Southland, and the Jacobs family have played an almost indescribable role in the college’s transformation.
“It would be impossible to overstate their role in the evolution of this institution,” Dr. Fenter said. “I just can’t imagine where we would be today if not for Southland and the Jacobs Family. They will probably never fully understand how many lives their investments have helped change in our region or how many lives it will continue to affect.”
The Jeremy Jacobs Hospitality Management Center features classrooms, a thermal bottling laboratory, bakery and food service preparation rooms, a computer laboratory, receiving/multipurpose area, and freezer and dry storage areas. Some of the facility and equipment will be dedicated for use by Delta Cuisine: A Southern Kitchen Incubator.
“It’s not the largest facility of its kind in Arkansas, but I promise you per square inch it’s as technologically intense and as well-equipped as any in the state or any in close proximity to our institution,” Dr. Fenter said.
“The program that will be created in these facilities is certainly going to change lives and put people to work, which is the business that we’re in. You add to that the Delta Cuisine component of what’s going to occur here, and you’re just multiplying the lives and the positive impact.”
Funding and support for the Center came from a variety of sources, including Southland Park Gaming and Racing, The Assisi Foundation, the Delta Regional Authority, the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, State Sen. Keith Ingram and State Reps. Dr. Deborah Ferguson and Milton Nicks, the City of West Memphis, the Arkansas Community Foundation, The Delta Cuisine Board of Directors, Fidelity National Bank, and MSCC.
“I can’t recall anything that the college has ever done that’s had more moving pieces or more partners,” Dr. Fenter said. “The moving pieces, at times, proved a little challenging, but the partners have always been great. The partners obviously brought a great deal of…synergy to the entire conversation about what this space and this facility could produce as an outcome for our community.
“You will see students begin on a journey that obviously can lead them to great employment in our community, great employment with world-class companies like Southland and Delaware North, and certainly tremendous opportunities to go any place in the country, primarily because of our articulation relationship with the University of Memphis and the Kemmons Wilson people.
“We’ve been working on this a long time, and it has taken a village. I think this is a great example of taking a couple of good ideas and putting them together to make one great idea.”
To find out more about education, training, and entrepreneurship opportunities available at MSCC, visit the campus at 2000 West Broadway in West Memphis, call (870) 733-6728, email admissions@midsouthcc.edu, or access the college’s website at www.midsouthcc.edu.
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