Business
A Strong and Prosperous Community

Jackson offers a hospitable business climate, with a veritable bounty of positive factors, including a trained workforce, dedicated community leaders, and a superb quality of life. In 2000, Mississippi lawmakers gathered for two special sessions, called by governor Ronnie Musgrove, and created the Advantage Mississippi Program. The program revamped the state’s economic development plan, improving infrastructure, and upgrading incentive packages for new and existing industries.

Lawmakers’ speedy response resulted in Nissan Motor Company’s announcement of plans to build a new $930 million automotive plant in Madison County. The plant, with a 250,000-vehicles-a-year capacity, will produce a full-size pickup truck, a full-size sport utility vehicle, and the next generation Nissan mini van. Production of the first vehicle began in the spring of 2003. Initially, 3,300 people were hired, however; they are expected to employ over 4,000 people bringing Nissan to the 5th highest employer in the metro Jackson area.

The area is also home to internationally known Gail Pittman Pottery, located in Ridgeland; and Gray-Daniels Auto Family, which is one of the South’s largest automobile dealerships, selling 10 different automobile lines.
With solid leadership in place-in public and private sectors-and a solid foundation on which to build, the future looks bright for accelerated business growth in Metro Jackson.

Business Sector Profiles

Agribusiness

Sales of agriculture commodities, such as cattle, cotton, grains, livestock, poultry, and timber, contribute approximately $180 million a year to the Hinds, Madison, and Rankin tri-county area. Livestock is the major agricultural commodity, accounting for nearly $95 million in sales annually, primarily from poultry in Rankin County and cattle in Hinds County. Approximately 128,000 of the 240,000 total cropland acres in the tri-county area are harvested annually. The hub of agriculture-related lending in Mississippi, Metro Jackson is the headquarters for several federal, state, and private lending sources.

Construction

Renovations, expansion, and new construction have kept jackhammers buzzing and dust swirling on Metro Jackson’s roadways, as well as in the area’s neighborhoods, industrial parks, and commercial sites.

Distribution and Trade

Transportation companies-such as Richland-based KLLM Transport Services, a publicly traded company with a fleet of approximately 4,220 tractors, refrigerated trailers, and dry van trailers-have flourished in the metro area. Distribution companies, such as Levi Strauss in Gluckstadt, have planted solid roots here as well.

Financial Services

Sixteen banks serve the tri-county area, with six of them headquartered in the area: Consumer National Bank, First American Bank, First Commercial Bank, and Trustmark National Bank in Jackson; Madison County Bank in Madison; and Merchant and Planters Bank in Raymond. Most of the nation’s largest investment companies are represented in the metro area.

Government

Between municipal, county, state, and federal entities, nearly 40,000 residents work in government-related jobs in Metro Jackson. Mississippi’s 122 representatives and 53 senators gather at the state capitol in January for annual legislative sessions.

Health Care

Metro Jackson’s reputation for excellence in health care has attracted top-quality, talented medical personnel, whose many accomplishments have propelled the area to a prominent place on the health care map. While the University of Mississippi Medical Center is the region’s centerpiece of health care, the area also offers many other hospitals and health care facilities-all of which provide Jacksonians with the best available medical attention.

Manufacturing/High Technology

Nearly 500 manufacturers-producing fabricated metals, electrical and electronic equipment, food products, apparel, wood products, furniture, and transportation equipment, as well as rubber and plastic products-are represented in Metro Jackson. The area’s high-technology manufacturers produce automotive wiring harness components and related automotive equipment, portable electric tools, welded steel tubing, and aircraft parts, as well as refurbishment for new and used pagers, litho-laminated corrugated packaging, and cosmetics.

Retail

Metrocenter Mall and Northpark Mall, the state’s largest retail centers, are located in Metro Jackson, and growth in the construction of smaller retail centers continues at a rapid pace. A new outside mall, Dogwood Festival Market, opened in Flowood in April 2001. The mall houses more than 33 retail stores, including Belk, Linens ‘n Things, Borders, Old Navy, and more.

Telecommunications

Considered a telecommunications cluster similar to California’s Silicon Valley and North Carolina’s Research Triangle, Jackson is attracting established companies, as well as nurturing startup businesses. Organizations like the Mississippi Technology Alliance and the Communication Information Technology Organization of Mississippi (CIT.ms) are working towards economic development in the Metro Jackson area and the state of Mississippi via science, technology, and education.

Travel and Tourism

World-class exhibits brought to Jackson by the Mississippi Commission for International Cultural Exchange (MCICE), in tandem with many local attractions, have attracted record numbers of visitors to Metro Jackson. In 2006, MCICE will present, The Glory of Baroque Dresden Exhibition.