Call Center Company in Jackson, MS

Ross Reily

Doug Eltzroth and his wife came to the Jackson area more than 20 years ago to work for Belhaven University.

On their first interview, they asked for a tour of Downtown Jackson. The people giving the interview declined, saying, according to Eltzroth, that downtown was not somewhere they wanted to be.

"I have just always thought Downtown Jackson had a lot of potential," Eltzroth said.

Now, he has the opportunity to put his money where is mouth is as Eltzroth is opening his Just Vanilla Coffee Bar on the first floor of the Regions Building as soon as the new owner takes over in just a couple of weeks.

Developer Kumar Bhavanasi won an auction for Regions Plaza on March 18 and is expected to close the deal this month.

With the purchase of the Regions Building, along with the announcement a few of weeks ago that he has bought both the Pinnacle building and the Deposit Guaranty Building in Downtown Jackson, Bhavanasi owns what may be virtually all of the most important block of the business district of Downtown Jackson.

Bhavanasi helping businesses move in

Since Bhavanasi won the auction, he reached out to Eltzroth about his business, which he operates in Fondren.

"You know sometimes, you talk to a developer and you feel like they are a blow hard, if you know what I mean," Eltzroth said. "But despite (Bhavanasi) being from New Jersey, you get the feeling that he is genuine and wants to be a part of redeveloping downtown. He seems like his heart is in the right place."

The Regions lobby, except for a Subway Restaurant, which is still open, and a Chick-Fil-A, which closed a few months back, has been virtually empty for several years.

Eltzroth said he expects that to change very soon.

"I think the lobby area will begin to fill up very soon," he said. "I know we will be the first one to get in, in the next couple of weeks, but I know there are some others that are in the process of moving in after us."

He said Bhavanasi was easy to deal with and was helpful in negotiations.

"(Bhavanasi) is basically giving us a lease for free for two years and is helping with the buildout of the space," Eltzroth said. "I am pretty sure the deal is the same for the other people that are wanting to move in."

Christina Berry, owner of Sippsi Teas, said the same thing as Bhavanasi lured Sippsi Good Tea and Urban Foxes Small Batch Baking to join his downtown movement at The Pinnacle.

"I do believe that cities and downtowns only start to die when people stop believing and investing in them. That is why I want to be a part of downtown and what (Bhavanasi) is trying to do. A downtown area is the perfect place to test my concept," Berry previously told the Clarion Ledger.

What are the hours?

Eltzroth said Just Vanilla Coffee Bar will make all of the specialty coffees on site but will bring pastries and other items to The Regions building from its Fondren location on a daily basis.

He also said Just Vanilla Coffee Bar will be open Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. until 2 p.m. with the option of staying open later if the business flow warrants it.

Ross Reily is a writer for the Clarion Ledger, part of the USA TODAY Network. He can be reached at [email protected] or 601-573-2952. You can follow him on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter @GreenOkra1.

Mississippi Clarion Ledger

More details have been released regarding the trials of Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens and Jackson City Councilman Aaron Banks.

On Friday, April 11, Judge Daniel P. Jordan signed off on an order that officially sets the trial for July 13, 2026, at 9:00 a.m.

Additionally, Jordan’s order states “the parties shall meet and confer no later than June 26, 2025, concerning any outstanding discovery issues.”

Two “status and discovery conferences” will also be held before the trial. The first at 9 a.m. Oct. 1, 2025, and the second at 9 a.m. April 1, 2026.

The defense previously argued for a change to the case's original trial date, which was Jan. 6, 2025, citing the need for additional time to review "hundreds of hours of recordings and thousands of pages of other evidence."

Lastly, Jordan’s order states that if a defendant chooses to plead guilty they must do so by May 29, 2026.

In November, Lumumba, Owens and Banks pleaded not guilty to a combined total of 17 federal charges after being federally indicted. The indictment accuses the three leaders of soliciting and accepting bribes from undercover FBI agents posing as real estate developers seeking to build a convention center hotel in downtown Jackson.

According to court records, Lumumba is accused of accepting $50,000, disguised as five $10,000 checks in "campaign contributions" during an April trip to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Lumumba allegedly accepted the checks in exchange for directing a city employee to move up a deadline to benefit the undercover agents' development company.

Banks, who is not seeking re-election, is accused of soliciting $50,000 and accepting $10,000 in bribes from the undercover agents in exchange for his vote as a council member. The indictment also alleges Banks requested a personal security detail, a driver and employment for a family member with the District Attorney's Office.

He also allegedly threatened to withhold city employees' salaries if they did not comply with his demands to move a deadline for the downtown hotel project, according to the indictment.

Owens, who is cited and quoted most in the indictment, is accused of soliciting and accepting at least $115,000 in "cash and promises of future financial benefits" from the undercover agents. In exchange, he allegedly facilitated more than $80,000 in bribe payments.

Two other individuals involved in the scandal, former councilwoman Angelique Lee and Sherik Marve' Smith, a local insurance specialist and associate of Owens, have had their sentencing dates continued indefinitely. Both Lee and Smith pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery.

The newest hotel project in the Jackson area has broken ground.

The Desai Hotel Group of Ridgeland is building the 14th hotel in its portfolio near I-20 in Brandon.

The $16 million Home 2 Suites hotel is a 99-key, extended-stay property offering a range of guest accommodations and amenities.

"You know, we've been trying to build a hotel out there for 10 years now," said Sunny Desai, CEO of Desai Hotel Group. "We finally got it approved last year and we just broke ground."

Desai said the city amended the Tax Increment Financing plan to help with some of the infrastructure costs.

"The city was really helpful to do some of the things they did," Desaid said. "So, we are really excited to get that one started."

Some of the other hotels in the area that are owned by the Desai Hotel Group include the hotel portion of the King Edward Hotel in Downtown Jackson, which is a Hilton Garden Inn Property. They also own a Hampton Inn in Canton, a Holiday Inn Express on High Street in Jackson as well as other properties in Mississippi and Louisiana.

The newest Brandon Home 2 Suites will include studio and one-bedroom suites with flexible living space, fully equipped kitchenettes, a workstation and a sleeper sofa for additional guest accommodations.

Other amenities will be a swimming pool, fitness center, a 24/7 Home2 Market for snacks and essentials and outdoor seating areas with fire pits and grills.

Desai said he expects the new hotel to be open sometime in 2026.

Ross Reily is a writer for the Clarion Ledger, part of the USA TODAY Network. He can be reached at [email protected] or 601-573-2952. You can follow him on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter @GreenOkra1.

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NEWS

Store joins growing list of Belhaven closures

Mississippi Clarion Ledger

(This story was updated to correct an inaccuracy.)

The Grocery Depot on Fortification Street is closing. The building, remaining the same on the outside, has shifted a handful of times in the past century, originally Jitney Jungle 14, then McDade's Market, then Corner Market and, finally, Grocery Depot.

As of March 7, the Grocery Depot Belhaven location was still operational with some empty shelves.

An exact closing date has yet to be determined, but Roberts Company Chief Operating Officer Joel Edwards told the Clarion Ledger Monday afternoon the company will not lay off any workers. All employees will transfer to one of the other three locations in Jackson.

Roberts Company owns the Grocery Depot on Robinson Road and the two Corner Market locations on Duling Avenue in Fondren and on East Northside Drive.

The history

While Grocery Depot has only been open for a short time, the building is a historic Jackson institution.

According to the historical marker that greets shoppers outside the front doors, the Jitney Jungle grocery store chain began in 1919 by the McCarty and Holman families of Jackson.

The building, which stands out with its pointed arch entryway, was built in the early 20th century and became the 14th Jitney Jungle in 1933.

The original "No. 14" lettering remains above the store's entrances.

In 1941, architect Emmett Hull expanded the building, creating a shopping center called the "English Village" complete with a drug store, beauty parlor and a dress shop.

Eudora Welty frequented Jitney Jungle 14. Her house, which now serves as a museum, sits a few blocks away on Pinehurst Street. A mural of the author still exists on the side of the building.

In the early 2000s, Greg and Kathy McDade purchased the building and added the store to the growing list of McDade's Market locations in Jackson.

The store remained McDade's Market until the couple's retirement in 2018 when the locations were absorbed by Roberts Company. In early 2020, the building reopened as Corner Market. Shortly after, the building switched to a Grocery Depot, still under Roberts Company.

Multiple buildings unoccupied

Once the Grocery Depot closes its doors for good, it will join several other unoccupied buildings in the Belhaven Historic District, many of which closed within the past year.

The Grocery Depot is attached to the former Lou's Full Serve location, which occupied the space for 10 years. Lou's moved to Ridgeland last September. The Lou's Full Serve sign still hangs on the building, still empty nearly six months later.

Fenian's Irish Pub, a local watering hole across the street from Grocery Depot, also shut its doors weeks before Lou's. Fenian's had served as a beloved Belhaven dive bar for nearly three decades. The building also remains empty, awaiting new life.

However, other parts of Belhaven have flourished in recent years. The growing Belhaven Town Center sits one block away from Grocery Depot. The center is home to several thriving restaurants and businesses including Pulito Osterio, Elvie's, Wing Mouth, Poppy's Pies, Mayday Ice Cream, Rowan's and Fertile Ground to name a few.

Edwards said the Roberts team felt it was time to pull their energy and resources into the remaining Grocery Depot location and the two Corner Market locations.

"We hope that the community will give us a chance at one of our other three stores," Edwards said.

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LOCAL

Mississippi Clarion Ledger

An ordinance was introduced Tuesday that would increase the salaries of the mayor and the Jackson City Council.

The mayor’s current salary is about $120,000 a year, while council members, who work part-time, earn $25,000 annually. The council president, a role selected each year by the seven council members, receives an additional $2,000 a year, prorated based on how long they serve in that position.

Under the proposal, the mayor’s salary would increase to $170,000 a year — a roughly 42% raise. Council members would see a 40% increase to $35,000 a year. The additional $2,000 for the council president would remain. If approved, the new salaries would take effect after the June 3 general election.

Ward 7 Councilwoman and Council President Virgi Lindsay, who introduced the ordinance, is not seeking reelection and would not benefit from the raise. She said the increase is long overdue, noting the last raise for the mayor and council was in 2001.

Salaries 'ridiculously low'

"I think they are all ridiculously low and I think that also if we raise these salaries it will also encourage others, people with real qualifications to run for office," Lindsay said. "If we had gotten a raise every year over the last 24 years, this would only reflect a 1.5% increase per year for the council, far below the cost of living. And then if you look at this for the mayor, it would reflect a 1.74% increase per year, which is also far below the cost of living."

Ward 6 Councilman Aaron Banks, who is also not seeking reelection and would not benefit from the raise, voiced his support for the pay increase. He thanked Lindsay for having the "courage to put this on" the council’s agenda. Banks said the focus should not be on who currently holds the positions, but on the value of the roles themselves — regardless of whether people agree with the officeholders.

Banks also echoed Lindsay’s point that competitive pay is essential to attracting qualified candidates and retaining employees. He said other cities pay more than Jackson, which can lead to people leaving for better opportunities.

"If we want to attract people and we want people to do their best, then we want to alleviate that stress and the way you do that according to the scripture is 'a labor is worthy of it's hire,'" Banks said, adding that he supported the ordinance "wholeheartedly."

The one member of the council who voiced opposition was Ward 1 Councilman Ashby Foote. He pushed back on the idea that higher salaries would attract more candidates, pointing to the more than 50 people who have qualified to run for mayor and council seats this year.

"I was encouraged by that, that so many people wanted to get into the arena of politics," Foote said. "But with the challenges we face right now, I don't like the optics of having big pay raises at the same time that we're having so many difficulties getting things straightened out in the City of Jackson."

Ward 5 Councilman Vernon Hartley, who is running for reelection and would benefit from the raise if reelected, also supported the proposal.

“I know we have problems in the city," Hartley said. "I know we have challenges. I know folks look at us and say, 'Hey, why should we give you a pay raise? Look at our city?' But I would offer the retort as this: We cannot afford to have folks in compromising positions. We need the best and the brightest, especially now, to get this city out of the dark."

Hartley said the job of a council member often comes with personal financial sacrifice.

"I don't know about the other council folks, but I pay more money into this job than I get out of it," Hartley said. "That's the reality. And the reality is you're never off the clock. You can go to Wal-Mart and folks are tagging you, 'Well I got this pothole.' You can go to a gas station, you can go everyplace and so that's a full-time job. You're enveloped with this."

The council will vote on the ordinance at their next meeting on April 22.