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Message from Chairman Ned Peak March 2010
Initially restricted to massive rocket testing and development for NASA space program, Stennis now supports Rolls-Royce international commercial airplane engine testing and US Navy Special Operations boat training as well as long-time, major tenants: US Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command, NOAA’s National Data Buoy Center, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, Lockheed-Martin, US Geological Survey, and NASA’s Shared Services Center along with a host of contractors and suppliers. For over 2 decades, Partners for Stennis has sought to explain the unique national assets of Stennis Space Center at all levels and to develop community support for the Space Center workers and their families. Many who were initially reluctant to move to south Mississippi or southeast Louisiana to work have happily become permanent residents bringing their own unique styles to the friendly and appreciative region. As a 501 c (6) organization, Partners for Stennis has been able to enhance its role as the bridge between the community and the Space Center by formally pointing out the national economic value of bringing certain government activities to the region and the nationally deleterious impact of closing certain government activities during the formal Base Realignment and Closure rounds. Additionally, Partners was able to strongly support state and national funding for the regional Infinity Science Center (which is in final development now) as well as attracting federal and state funding for other needs. Under the leadership of Clay Wagner, Mississippi Power Company, last year Partners for Stennis updated and focused its strategic plan and, during 2009, part of Stennis was designated a Project Ready site, permitting rapid economic development of technology facilities. As a member of Partners for Stennis, you will be advised regularly of activities and technology developments of interest to the region and American citizens will be able to attend meetings on the site as well approximately quarterly to better understand the unique assets and key role of this national treasure. Ned Peak, PE Chairman Executive Director, Millennium Port Authority 538 Clayton Court Slidell, LA 70461 Fax 985-781-6107 cell 985-710-0464
About our Chairman Edward J. (Ned) Peak, P. E. Ned Peak is Executive Director of the Millennium Port Authority, which has planned improvements throughout Louisiana to bring international container cargo to the lower Mississippi River. For three years, he worked in concert with the Ports Association of Louisiana to establish a security layer around the five deepwater ports on the lower Mississippi River with federal Port Security Grant funds and helped acquire over $100 million to protect vital American commerce. Captain Peak was Commanding Officer of the 200 person U.S. Coast Guard Integrated Support Command in New Orleans, providing a broad range of industrial, shipyard, procurement, medical, and personnel support to Coast Guard men and women throughout the Gulf coast from Florida through Texas. During an earlier assignment in New Orleans, Captain Peak was in charge of 6000 annual Coast Guard Search and Rescue cases in the Gulf of Mexico and in the 26 states between the Rocky Mountains and the Appalachians. During his military career he supervised all airplane overhaul and development and flew Coast Guard helicopters and Falcon jets throughout the country. He was US Coast Guard Engineer of the Year in 1990. Peak is a graduate of the U. S. Coast Guard Academy where he studied nuclear engineering and graduated with honors. He has graduate degrees in aeronautics from University of West Florida and from Purdue University and holds a diploma from the Naval War College. He is active with the international engineering organizations and is Treasurer for Inland Rivers, Ports, and Terminals, Inc. He is a registered
Professional Engineer. |
Our Chairman |
Welcome
to the website for Partners for Stennis. This two-state
organization serves as a Communications Bridge between over 40
agencies and companies on Stennis Space Center and the
surrounding communities, primarily in Hancock and Pearl River
Counties in Mississippi, as well as St. Tammany Parish in
Louisiana. For one-half a century, today’s Stennis Space Center
has been a national technology development center uniquely
nestled in a down-home, all-American rural environment. Because
of the Cold War sacrifices of local residents and the strategic
vision of the early leaders, the Stennis region is now unique in
the nation for range of its technology development activities
and its ability to support environmentally responsible but VERY
NOISY operations.
