THE VICTORY THAT JUST KEEPS GIVING

It seems that we have a “game of the decade” every other weekend. So many important victories are won, but the thrill and benefits of the accomplishment last a very short time. This is as true in the business world as it in the athletic arena. However, this Metro Community and entire state should never forget the biggest economic development victory we ever won on November 10, 2001. You all remember that date as the day Nissan North America announced that they had chosen Canton, Mississippi, as the site for their new automotive assembly plant.

We can all recite the numbers that include a 1.4 billion dollar facility, which employs nearly 4,400 Nissan employees and an additional 1,500 contract workers on their Madison County campus. The Clarion-Ledger Sunday edition noted the automaker plans to reach its goal of annual production of 400,000 vehicles this year. Even more exciting for Mississippians was CEO Carlos Ghosn indicating that expansion of the Canton facility is a distinct possibility in the future.

This is fantastic news; however, it definitely is not the entire story. The automotive industry, more than most other industry cluster, requires its support industry to locate close to the assembly plant for “just in time” production. Our tri-county area has already reaped the benefits of this process with twenty-nine suppliers operating new facilities to support Nissan. There are eleven more suppliers that have located in the state outside of the MetroJackson area. These forty new support industries do not include the existing firms that have been awarded new business from Nissan. Most importantly this supplier base is just the beginning of many more tier suppliers that should eventually locate in our state.

The MetroJackson Economic Development Alliance, facilitated by the Greater Jackson Chamber Partnership , currently has 17 active prospects, of which seven are automotive related. Our most recent inquiry came this past Thursday and it was an automotive distribution and logistics firm. They acknowledged the Southern automotive corridor as the reason they desire to be in our area. This corridor concept includes major automotive plants located from South Carolina and Georgia through Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana now into Texas. Nissan put us in this equation. Other neighboring states have helped define the South as the new automotive frontier. We are poised and focused on capitalizing on the growth of this industry sector in the South. MEDA has an aggressive plan to work with the Mississippi Development Authority and other economic allies to make the most of this opportunity.

Nissan was a victory achieved by a coalition of all Mississippians. Your local economic development professionals plan to make sure that victory keeps on giving, and giving and giving.