Vernon R. “Randy” Kelley III has focused his vision and talents on assisting the people of Northeast Mississippi in expanding their horizons and improving their quality of life for four decades. As a young man, Kelley left his home in Missouri to chase the dream of playing football at the University of Mississippi. While his time on the gridiron never flourished, his academic training resulted in a Bachelor of Arts degree in Banking and Finance and masters of urban and regional planning.
In 1976, he joined the Three Rivers Planning and Development District, assuming the role as executive director, overseeing a small budget serving eight counties. His vision has created numerous services and generated almost incomprehensible results. Today, Three Rivers operates 10 different corporations that range in size from three counties to statewide, with a combined budget in excess of $193 million. Kelley initiated the formation of the PUL Alliance, a unique three-county (Pontotoc, Union, Lee) effort to attract a major industry—a Toyota automotive assembly plant to be exact.
Kelley received the National Association of Development Organizations award for outstanding executive director of a multi-county planning and development organization in 1985, and later served as president of this national organization. He received the Appalachian Regional Commission Federal Co-Chairman award in 1988, was named one of North America’s top 50 economic developers in 2015 and received the U.S. Small Business Administration Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017.
Kelley lives in Tupelo with his wife, Bonnie. He is the father of two daughters and has one granddaughter.