Jones Companies’ upcoming $40 million corporate headquarters in midtown Hattiesburg is one step closer to completion, as the company recently held a topping-out ceremony to install the final steel beam on the facility’s structural frame.
The event, which was held July 11 at The District at Midtown – the mixed-use development off Hardy Street across from the University of Southern Mississippi – kicked off with a beam-signing ceremony, during which everyone involved with the project had the opportunity to place their signature on said beam. Those participants included construction workers, project partners, architects, company employees and presidents, government leaders and officials from the Area Development Partnership in Hattiesburg.
“We are excited to be here and celebrate the last piece of the metal frame going into the Jones headquarters,” said Jonathan Jones, CEO of Jones Capital. “We have worked on the design phases of this building for about six years, so it’s very fulfilling for me and many of us who have been part of this project to finally see this building coming out of the ground.
“This building is going to give men and women graduating from the University of Southern Mississippi a place to work and thrive as adults in Hattiesburg. This building will also provide more office jobs to Mississippians in addition to the many manufacturing jobs that already exist in the state. I hope the Jones Headquarters helps elevate our community, makes Mississippi a better place to live and work, and stimulates other businesses to do what we are doing.”
Officials from Jones – a family office and private equity firm with an office in Columbia – expect the facility to be completed sometime in fall 2024. The new building will be home to several Jones portfolio companies, including Codaray Construction, FV Recycling, Jones Logistics, Jones Lumber, Jones Power, PortaBull Storage, Spot and Big Black River Holdings.
“Today is a special day – a day that many people here have been working towards for a long time,” Gov. Tate Reeves said during a September 2022 groundbreaking event at the site. “For over 70 years, (Jones) has been an incredible neighbor – a leader in a variety of industries, and their success is very, very well-known.
“Over the course of that time, through acquisitions and internal growth, this company really has become a powerhouse – not just in the industry in which they started, but in multiple industries across the state, across the state, and quite frankly across this nation. The investment today continues the long line of community development that Jones has brought to this area of our great state.”
The headquarters, which will be approximately 80,000 square feet, will offer jobs beginning in the $80,000-per-year range.
“For our city, (this) is a validation of more than a decade’s worth of work and visioning, and in the case of Jones … it’s the product of many meetings that have been a joy to watch,” Mayor Toby Barker said at the groundbreaking. “On this day, we see a small yet clear glimpse of what this city and (Jones) are capable of fostering when we come together and think big.
“With every passing day, the final product – the immense potential and unending promise of this project and of Hattiesburg – come closer. We as a community are lucky to be here and see it all unfold.”
Jones was formed more than 70 years ago as a family-owned sawmill in rural, southwest Mississippi. Today, the company employs more than 400 people in Mississippi and more than 800 employees total, with operations across the United States.
“We’ve been growing, thankfully, for a number of years,” Jones said. “I think we have about seven offices across the county, the Pine Belt here, in this area. So we were thinking, where can we build an office that has the greatest impact on the community and also has the greatest chance of attracting more talent and retaining talent.
“What it comes down to, for us to have success, is literally our people. Our biggest restraint to growth is, without a doubt, human capital, and so that was the biggest driver in us selecting midtown. We want to be right across the street from (the University of Southern Mississippi), and we’re hoping that we have a deeper bond there – we give a chance for more graduates of USM to have an in-state, in-town location to go and work to have a career in a classy office space.”
