Phil Hardwick is Coordinator of Capacity Development at the John C. Stennis Institute of Government, Mississippi State University, where he works with communities on strategic planning and leadership development. Prior to joining the Stennis Institute in August of 2003 he was Vice President of Community and Economic Development at Mississippi Valley Gas Company. He is the 2007-2008 President of the Mississippi Association of Partners in Education, and is a Past President of the Mississippi Main Street Association, the Mississippi Economic Development Council and the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum. He received his undergraduate degree from Belhaven College and his MBA from Millsaps College. He is also a graduate of the Senior Executives in State & Local Government executive program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. During his military service he was Security Team Leader for Army One, the Presidential helicopter. In his spare time he is a prolific writer. His award-winning column on real estate and economic development appears bi-weekly in the Mississippi Business Journal, and in his spare time he writes mystery novels.
