Mississippi Rising(cover) Request Information
|
 b y R E N E E H A I N E S Mississippi's inviting business climate, coupled with low operating costs and ample labor, translate into a profitable location opportunity for expanding firms. It came as no surprise to Mississippi when a state once considered by many to be no more than just another Southern farm state upstart at courting outside business became the nation's leader in business start-ups. The commerce and industry the state sought and still is winning have redefined the state's economy and created the momentum driving new business growth.
Mississippi's rising fortunes are proving as strong and sure as the flow of the nation's most famous river which shares its name. Mississippi's easy access to the country's Midwest industrial heartland and the rapidly growing Southeast has attracted record investments in warehousing and distribution of goods. The land-rich state's strong record of manufacturing growth shows no sign of slowing in a place where prime industrial space with surprisingly low price tags is still plentiful.
When it comes to Mississippi's No. 1 status in new business start-ups and in jobs created by those start-ups, "a lot of it was spin-off industries to serve the growth of manufacturing, warehousing and distribution," James B. Heidel, executive director of the Mississippi Dept. of Economic and Community Development, says about the recent comparison of 1997-1998 business start-up growth rates among states.
Meanwhile, the historically rural state's economy is being redefined by names as familiar as Nissan, Mazda, Rocketdyne, Ingalls Shipbuilding, Chevron, DuPont, Heinz and MCI WorldCom that now are contributing to Mississippi's newer industry hub status for automotive parts and distribution, telecommunications, space rockets and new-era Navy ships, plastics and top-of-the-line consumer goods.
Manufacturing remains a key to the state's diverse mix of economic generators, and Mississippi for the past decade has been implementing a series of innovative tax and investment incentive policies designed to help grow existing industry as well as attract newcomers.
Business in Mississippi long has capitalized on the state's inherent geographic access to major U.S. markets and a transportation system with global connections. With the Mississippi River as the state's western border, two deep-water Gulf Coast ports to the south and the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway traversing northeastern Mississippi, the state's waterways are boosting industrial waterfront development along each route.
Many of the new warehousing and distribution centers coming to Mississippi are locating along north-south Interstate 55 or east-west Interstate 10, which traverse the state and a country that also happens to be the world's richest marketplace. A US$3 billion highway improvement project is under way statewide. Every one of the state's major airports is undergoing expansion to accommodate the growth in air cargo shipments.
Mississippi's cross-continental rail reach also has been boosted with its new North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) hub status stemming from this year's merger of the Canadian National and Illinois Central which, together with a new marketing alliance with the Kansas City Southern, already is easing the movement of goods through Canada, the United States and Mexico.
Casino gaming has been an economic driver and glittery corporate calling card for Mississippi since its introduction in 1992. Mississippi's casino gross gaming revenues reached the $2 billion mark in 1998, but the industry is just part of the driving force behind the state's rapidly growing tourism industry. The state in 1998 counted 56 million visitors who also came to see Mississippi's historic cities, four national parks, 28 state parks and 26 miles (42 km.) of beaches.
Mississippi is also home to a growing mix of business incubators and technology training centers, with the newest additions the Advanced Education Center in heavily industrialized Tupelo, the Delta Center for Manufacturing Technology in Indianola and the Quitman County Business Development Center incubator in Lambert. SS
©1999 Conway Data, Inc. All rights reserved. SiteNet data is from many sources and is not warranted to be accurate or current.
|
"The people, technology and training are all still coming together to allow Mississippi to play a large role in future economic development. Mississippi really is on the cutting edge now of a lot of new development," says Mississippi Power Co. spokesman Kurt Brautigam.
Among the major new projects announced this year in Mississippi are BMW of North America in Tate County, Specialty Minerals in Lincoln County, Southern Family Foods LLC in Lee County, Meritex Logistics in De Soto County and Amtech in Hancock County. Major expansion announcements this year came from Chevron Products Co. in Jackson County, Oreck Manufacturing Co. in Harrison County and Alliant Techsystems in Tishomingo County.