Opinion: "One Coast" rebranding geared toward unity
The Mississippi Gulf Coast took a big stride toward becoming One Coast this week. The occasion was the One Coast Awards to the Top Community Leaders and the Top 10 Leaders Under 40. Those leaders, you see, were drawn from all corners of the Coast, from Bay St. Louis to Pascagoula.
“What an impressive group of leaders,” Kimberly Nastasi, chief executive director of the Mississippi Gulf Coast Chamber of Commerce, said of those chosen from 73 nominated for the awards, which were started in 2002 by the Sun Herald and named after former publisher Roland Weeks.
Rebranding the awards with the One Coast name furthers the idea that all of the communities that dot the stretch of coastline we call home share common interests, common goals.
It is the belief that someone could come to Biloxi to see a ballgame and wind up the next day at Second Saturday in Bay St. Louis. Or finish the weekend at the Pascagoula River Audubon Center. Or hop aboard the ferry to Ship Island.
You get the idea.
Much of the rebranding work falls to the Visit Mississippi Gulf Coast, the Coastwide convention and tourism bureau, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast Chamber of Commerce. Both have done an outstanding job keeping the words One Coast on a lot of folks’ lips. And everyone who lives on and enjoys the benefits of One Coast can help.
So we salute the 20 women and men honored Tuesday morning for their volunteerism and leadership.
We’re confident they can bring all the unique communities, all the distinctive personalities, all the eccentricities together in a Coast that knows no boundaries – and no bounds.
Sun Herald, Biloxi-Gulfport