FedEx Corporation, the Memphis-based transportation and e-commerce service that is the fourth-most valuable company in the world based on combined market capitalization, is set to join the I-59 Supply Chain Park with an upcoming 217,000-square-foot distribution facility that will create 200 new jobs in the area.
The announcement was made on Jan. 13 at the Hattiesburg-Laurel Regional Airport. The $20 million facility, which will be located adjacent to Interstate 59 at the airport, will be the largest facility located in the I-59 Supply Chain Park, joining Ashley Furniture, NoTrax and Flowers Bakery.
Together with Dixie Electric, Cooperative Energy has continuously supported the development of the I-59 Supply Chain Park. Cooperative Energy’s economic development team helped rename and rebrand the industrial park in April 2020 to better represent the competitive assets of the area. In 2019, the Hattiesburg-Laurel Regional Airport Authority applied for and received a Mississippi Development Authority (MDA) Site Development grant for grubbing, grassing, and erosion control of the property, and repaving the access road. Additional matching funds from both Forrest and Jones Counties supplemented the MDA grant, as well as a Cooperative Competes grant from Cooperative Energy and Dixie Electric. Together, these grants provided more than $500,000 of investment in proactive site development of the I-59 Supply Chain Park.
The recent announcement is a sign that the economic development efforts of Cooperative Energy, Dixie Electric, the Area Development Partnership, and the Jones County Economic Development Authority are beginning to pay off. Our economic development teams continue working to recruit new industry to the remaining parcels in the park, which will result in additional electric load, new job commitments, and capital investment in the Pine Belt region.
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About Cooperative Energy
Cooperative Energy generates and transmits electricity to 11 Member-owned electric distribution cooperatives. Known as the Power of 12, Cooperative Energy and its Member cooperatives work together to provide safe, reliable, and affordable power from the Mississippi Delta to the Coast. The 11 electric cooperatives own and maintain more than 57,000 miles of distribution lines and provide service to approximately 437,000 homes and businesses throughout 55 counties.