Officials from the Mississippi Development Authority, along with Gov. Tate Reeves, recently announced the investment of more than $2.7 million in two major ongoing projects in Forrest and Lamar counties, including approximately $2.34 million to the I-59 Supply Chain Park and $360,000 to the Eagle One Forrest-Lamar Mega Site.
The funds for the supply chain park will be used to construct a secondary access road into the park, while the monies for the mega site will go toward identifying conceptual treatment and disposal technologies to increase wastewater capacity at that site. Both sites are projects of the Area Development Partnership in Hattiesburg, along with county entities.
The I-59 Supply Chain Park, which is a partnership between Forrest and Jones counties, is located adjacent to the Hattiesburg-Laurel Regional Airport off Interstate 59. The site houses businesses such as a FedEx distribution facility, Ashley Furniture, NoTrax and Flowers Bakery.
“The supply chain park has really come a long way in development over the last several years; it landed FedEx a couple of years ago with a 200,000-square-foot facility that employs a couple hundred people,” said Todd Jackson, executive vice president of economic development and chamber of commerce at the ADP. “Today, there is only one dedicated entrance – one way in and one way out – and large distribution companies that are sending hundreds of trucks a day in and out of facilities like that, they need multiple paths to enter and exit.
“So the intent of the ($2.34 million) is to add a secondary access road.”
The Eagle One Forrest-Lamar Mega Site, which is the result of a partnership between Forrest and Lamar Counties, is located between Interstate 59 and U.S. 11 in an unincorporated area of those two counties. The 2,222-acre site is designed to attract new, large-scale clients to the area.
The 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.
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’re thrilled to receive the $360,000 from the governor and the Mississippi Development Authority to assist with sewer capacity analysis on the mega site,” Jackson said. “The mega site does have good sewer capacity (currently).
“But in order to support future generations with very large industrial sewer capacities, we need to do some studies to determine what is the best way – both environmentally and from a cost standpoint – to invest our money to address the sewer capacity situation.”
The more than $2.7 million in grant money from the MDA for the aforementioned two projects is part of approximately $16.85 million in site development grant funds from the association that is being distributed to further develop industrial sites throughout Mississippi. The monies come from the MDA’s Site Development Grant Select Site funding program, which was created in 2021 to increase the number of highly competitive industrial sites available to meet the needs of prospective companies.
“Last year we brought in a record amount of new economic development, and these grants will help to continue Mississippi’s momentum,” Reeves said in a statement. “These long-term investments are designed to create ideal opportunities where companies will find shovel-ready sites on which to build, grow and expand.
“This is key to our strategy of bringing more higher-paying jobs to local communities.”
Jackson said the projects would not be possible without the support of the local elected officials in Forrest, Lamar and Jones counties.
“The Eagle One Mega Site is a partnership between Forrest County and Lamar County, and without their partnerships this would not (have happened), so I’m very thankful to them for their support,” he said. “Also, the I-59 Supply Chain Park, that is a partnership between Forrest County and Jones County, so that’s a really good partnership there as well – we wouldn’t have FedEx there today if it wasn’t for their partnership.”
