VIDEO: What Does It Take To Lure Business To The Magnolia State?

GOLDEN TRIANGLE, Miss. (WCBI) – Luring big business to Mississippi is vital to the state, and key to developing the state’s economy.

The question is “how do you get them here?”

Economic Development is what makes an area strong and profitable, and and major industries have a type of checklist of things they want before they move in.

Economic development wins with three things.

“We win with people, a workforce that’s advantageous. We have a process of teamwork. We work together. You have to have a product, and a product is infrastructure. You have to have industrial parks that are ready to go, ready to go for business and industry, available buildings,” says Mississippi Development Authority Executive Director, Glenn McCullough, Jr.

Buildings ready to host companies and roads to move products, are just two things economic developers need, but not everyone has that right now.

“We see infrastructure improving. Our public leaders are investing in infrastructure and that’s going to be a huge plus. You will see more and better careers as a result of having sites that are ready to go,” says McCullough.

If you hope to lure plants and jobs, you need to have people ready to fill them.

“Our community college system is a huge advantage. We’re working community colleges and our universities in a really, very, teamwork way to make sure that we have the best workforce training, that’s going to be a priority in the coming year,” says McCullough.

The bottom line, companies are looking for places to locate that will cost them the least to get up and running.

“If you have an area that has rail, good highway access, and a waterway along with the other infrastructure, you know, cheap electricity, gas, internet, all of these together make a site valuable to a company to look at,” says Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway Development Authority Administrator, Mitch Mays.

Having a waterway opens up Mississippi to the world.

“The waterway is doing what it was intended to do, which is generate interest in our area. Now we are underutilized, we still have room for business and industry, and we still have some really good parts with great access to the waterway, and that’s what we’re here to do is work with the local port authorities and economic developers to help them to develop their sites, and attract business and industry,” says Mays.