VICKSBURG, Miss. -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Vicksburg District has announced that it will postpone its inaugural Meet the District open house event, which was scheduled for March 26.
The event has been postponed due to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) concern and recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and USACE guidance to avoid large gatherings of people. As of 2 p.m. Central, 12 COVID-19 cases have been diagnosed in Mississippi, 22 in Arkansas and 114 in Louisiana. Parts of each of these states are within the district’s 68,000-square-mile jurisdiction.
“Based on guidance from the CDC and from USACE, the Vicksburg District has decided to postpone our open house event indefinitely,” said district commander Col. Robert Hilliard. “The health and safety of our team and our community remain our top priority, and we are committed to doing our part to reduce risk. We thank our event’s attendees for their understanding and look forward to hosting them at a later date.”
The event, for which a new date has not yet been determined, will provide large and small business representatives; university, community college and vocational school administrators; political and community leaders; and members of the public with the opportunity to learn about the district’s mission as well as its career and businesses opportunities. Attendees will be able to network with key district staff members and subject matter experts as well as potential partners in the public and private sectors.
District offices that will be represented at the event include Engineering and Construction, Programs and Project Management, Operations, Small Business, Contracting, Logistics, Resource Management and Accounting, Equal Employment Opportunity, Real Estate, Human Resources, Office of the Chief Information Office, Office of Counsel and Public Affairs.
The event is part of the USACE Mississippi Valley Division’s Business Opportunities Open House initiative, which aims to increase industrial and community awareness of USACE’s missions as well as opportunities and requirements to become involved in those missions. Each of the division’s six districts – St. Paul, Rock Island, St. Louis, Memphis, Vicksburg and New Orleans – were slated to host their respective inaugural open house events this year. Information about the status of each event is forthcoming.
The Vicksburg District is engineering solutions to the nation’s toughest challenges. The district encompasses a 68,000-square-mile area across portions of Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana that holds seven major river basins and incorporates approximately 460 miles of mainline Mississippi River levees. The district is engaged in hundreds of projects and employs approximately 1,100 personnel.