Butler Snow attorney Tray Hairston recently served as master of ceremonies for Mississippi Today’s 10th Anniversary Celebration and its All In on Mississippi Summit, held Oct. 7-8 at the Two Mississippi Museums in Jackson, Mississippi. The two-day gathering marked a decade for Mississippi Today and focused on civic dialogue, community impact and the future of Mississippi. The 10 Year Celebration was keynoted by John Grisham where the best-selling author noted that journalism plays a critical role in Mississippi and the nation. The celebration also featured a fire-side chat with Laurene Powell Jobs, founder and president of the Emerson Collective and Darren Walker, president and CEO of Anonymous Content.
The All In on Mississippi Summit, Mississippi Today’s flagship event, focused on innovative solutions, economic opportunity and community impact. The summit brought together leaders from government, business, education, workforce development, philanthropy and journalism for conversations about the state’s future. Programming addressed topics including Mississippi industry and artificial intelligence, workforce and apprenticeship programs, literacy and Mississippi’s role on the national stage.
Click here to watch Hairston’s remarks.
Tray Hairston
Tray Hairston is a member of the firm’s Public Finance, Tax Incentives & Credit Markets group and concentrates his practice on public finance and economic development matters. He has served as bond counsel for various cities and counties and as incentive counsel to developers and companies working on transactions totaling more than $3 billion.
Before joining Butler Snow, Hairston served as counsel and economic development policy advisor to Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant. He was also a member of the Business Development Division at the Mississippi Development Authority, where he provided project management assistance to companies and consultants looking to locate new businesses in Mississippi. Hairston regularly publishes scholarly legal articles. One of his seminal papers is titled “The Future of Economic Development, 35 Miss. C.L. Rev. 370 (2017)”. The Bond Buyer also recognized Hairston as a Rising Star. The publication’s Rising Stars program honors 28 municipal finance professionals under 40 nationwide whose leadership, collaborative spirit, and innovative work with issuers have positively impacted their communities.
Hairston is a Certified Economic Developer (CEcD) through the International Economic Development Council. In his role as a CEcD, Hairston provides economic development consulting advice to communities and site selection consulting to companies throughout the U.S. Hairston has been recognized by Chambers USA, America’s Leading Lawyers for Business (Public Finance), BL Rankings, The Best Lawyers in America® for Economic Development Law in both 2025 and 2026, Thomson Reuters Mid-South Super Lawyers® for Government Finance (2016-2021), Mississippi College School of Law as Young Lawyer of the Year (2013) and Mississippi Business Journal as one of its Top 40 under 40 (2012-2013). Hairston was also named to Southern Business & Development’s Under 50 Economic Developers to Watch. In addition, he participated in the Harvard University Kennedy School’s Effective Leadership Across Sectors Program, a leadership training program designed and led by Harvard faculty consisting of an advanced education opportunity offered exclusively to Delta Leadership Institute (“DLI”) alumni, who are members of the Delta Leadership Network – a post-DLI community of nearly 700 community leaders representing public, private and nonprofit sectors from across the Delta Regional Authority’s eight-state region.
Hairston is a member of the National Association of Bond Lawyers where he was recognized nationally, the International Economic Development Council, the Southern Economic Development Council and the Mississippi Bar Association. He is also a member of the board of directors of the International Economic Development Council and the digital news platform Deep South Today. In addition, Hairston is a member of the Tougaloo College Board of Trustees. He received his undergraduate degree from Tougaloo College, his MBA from Belhaven University, and his Juris Doctor from the Mississippi College School of Law.
