The Hattiesburg area’s next major industrial development just got a huge boost with $9.9 million in grant funding from the Mississippi Development Authority for the Eagle One Forrest-Lamar Mega Site, a 2,222-acre site designed to attract new, large-scale clients to the Hub City.
The funds will be used to clear the site and build an all-weather access road to the site, which is located between Interstate 59 and U.S. 11 in unincorporated Forrest and Lamar counties. The announcement of the grant was made March 2 by Gov. Tate Reeves.
“We are thrilled that Governor Reeves and the Mississippi Development Authority are providing (these funds) to further improve the competitiveness of the Eagle One Mega Site,” said Todd Jackson, executive vice president of economic development for the Area Development Partnership in Hattiesburg. “(The road) will allow us to better showcase the site for companies around the world.”
Officials expect the clearing and road work to be done within the next 12-18 months.
The Eagle One Mega Site, which is controlled by the ADP through long-term Option to Purchase Agreements, is intended for large industrial land users considering substantial facilities requiring major capital expenditures and significant employment levels. The two counties serve as governing entities for the site through a Regional Economic Development Alliance.
“Our economic development team at the ADP is always working with local companies – helping them expand – and with new companies from around the world, trying to find them a home here in Hattiesburg,” Jackson said. “So it’s kind of an ever-evolving thing, with not only just the Eagle One Mega Site, but with numerous of our industrial partners around the community, trying to recruit new employers to the area.”
The Eagle One Mega Site is strategically located 69 miles from Gulfport, 95 miles from Jackson, 99 miles from Mobile and 108 miles from New Orleans. Five Gulf of Mexico ports are located less than two hours away from the site, including the Port of Gulfport (68 miles), the Port of Bienville (95 miles), the Port of Pascagoula (97 miles), the Port of Mobile (99 miles) and the Port of New Orleans (109 miles).
Eagle One also is located within two hours of six airports, including five commercial airports. Those are Hattiesburg-Bobby L. Chain Municipal Airport (eight miles), Hattiesburg-Laurel Regional Airport (18 miles), Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport (65 miles), Mobile Regional Airport (88 miles), Jackson-Evers International Airport (98 miles) and Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (116 miles).
So far, five studies have been completed at the site: Phase 1 Environmental Study, geo-technical soil borings, wetlands delineation/jurisdictional determination, Phase 1 Cultural Resources Study and Threatened and Endangered Species Study.
When the site comes online, rail service will be provided by Norfolk Southern.
“We all knew that the Greater Hattiesburg area is an extremely diverse economy, built on the pillars of healthcare, education and military,” Jackson said. “We also feel that the community has a very promising opportunity to further grow in the industrial sector and recruit more high-paying jobs in the manufacturing sector.
“Hattiesburg is also a community that is large enough, diverse enough and with a good enough talent pool to support large-scale manufacturing developments. So we feel that the Eagle One Mega Site is a very strong contender with the large-scale industrial project sites across the Southeast.”
The $9.9 million allocated to Eagle One is part of more than $56.7 million invested by the state into site development projects throughout Mississippi. The funds are made available through the MDA and the Appalachian Regional Commission to assist local economic development entities in spurring economic growth.
Eagle One’s grant is part of the Site Development Grant – Select Sites funding, which was created in 2021 to increase the number of highly-competitive industrial sites in the state that are available and ready to meet prospective companies’ needs.
“To better position our state for further economic growth, we need to invest in our state’s roads and increase the number of project-ready sites across Mississippi,” Reeves said in a statement. “These investments will go an incredibly long way toward giving Mississippi the competitive advantage it needs to land more economic development projects and deliver more high-quality, high-paying jobs for Mississippians.”
