SelectHinds - Competitive Advantage
When considering a place to live, work and play, Hinds County has it all!
Strategically located in the center of the southeast United States and within 500 miles of approximately 39 percent of the nation's population and 35 percent of the total personal income, Hinds County is the perfect place for your business. Jackson, the state capital and central city of the Metropolitan area, is the intersection for Interstates 55 and 20, offering excellent transportation infrastructure.
Hinds County is also home to 8 institutions of higher education, major medical facilities, and unique shopping and dining venues.
Get to know us. Learn more throughout this website, call the Hinds County Economic Development Authority at 601-353-6056, or better yet, come visit us!
An Industry Overview
In 2005, when SeverCorr announced its plans to locate in Mississippi, it was the largest industrial project announced in the United States. With its new location in Mississippi, SeverCorr joined almost 300 other steel and metal fabrication companies, including Nucor Steel.
Mississippi offers these companies access to outstanding water transportation, reliable electricity and a supportive business climate that includes an expedited environmental permitting process.
Available Sites - We're Ready For You
We understand that today's metal fabrication and machining companies often need to move quickly to begin production. That means that having a certified industrial site ready for a new facility can reduce planning and construction time, which means significant financials savings to your company. In fact,the Nissan project, which was one of the largest greenfield projects in the world, was completed on time and under budget with help and support from the state of Mississippi.
Mississippi's Department of Environmental Quality also offers manufacturers a one-stop permitting process for all environmental permits and regulations.
A Strategic Location - One of the Fastest Growing Regions in the U.S.
Mississippi is in the heart of one of the fastest growing regions in the nation, which gives companies easy access to much of their market. A location in Hinds County also provides easy access to many other major metropolitan areas. In fact, the state is within a day's drive of more than 50 percent of the U.S. business population, including areas like Atlanta, Birmingham, Dallas, Houston, Little Rock, Memphis, Mobile, Nashville, New Orleans and St. Louis. In addition, our location provides easy access to plastics and petrochemical supplies in Texas and Louisiana.
Highways and Interstates
The state's highway system ranks among the four best in the country and the best in the southern United States.
Two major thoroughfares intersect in Hinds County: Interstate 20 (running east and west from Texas to South Carolina) and Interstate 55 (running north and south from Illinois through Louisiana). A third artery, Interstate 220, connects Interstate 20 west of Jackson and Interstate 55 north of Jackson.
United States Highways 49, 51, and 80 also intersect in Jackson and connect Hinds County with the Gulf of Mexico and the contiguous states of Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Tennessee.
State highways and the scenic Natchez Trace Parkway wind through the metropolitan area and connect with numerous county roads to complete this excellent roadway system. More than 100 intrastate and interstate trucking firms are located in the Greater Jackson area, giving your organization the means to transport freight overnight to destinations within 500 miles.
Seaports and Waterways
The nearest inland waterway system to Hinds County is located at the Port of Vicksburg on the Mississippi River, 45 miles west of Jackson. The port is a United States Customs port of entry and a designated Foreign Trade Zone. The port consists of a slack water channel 9,500 feet in length and 300 feet wide with 12 feet minimum depth. Vicksburg Harbor is connected to the Mississippi River by a 4,800-foot long channel maintained at 150 feet wide and 12 feet deep.
Facilities at the port include a 15-ton bridge crane and a T-dock equipped with a 125-ton crane; 129,000 square feet of insured and sprinklered space and open concrete slab storage; and a rail and road loop, allowing direct loading and unloading from barge to truck to rail.
One of the most outstanding features of the port is the LASH program. This program enables a barge to be sealed for international travel in Vicksburg and transferred directly to New Orleans, where the barge is then loaded with products still sealed. Ten barge lines service the Port of Vicksburg year-round without seasonal limitations.
The port is accessible from US Highway 61, which intersects with Interstate 20 six miles away. The site is also within a Commercial Trucking Zone and is served by 21 truck lines.
Airports
Commerical Airports
The Jackson-Evers International Airport, located five miles east of Jackson, is a United Customs port of entry and a designated Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ 158). The airport is served by two parallel 8,500-foot runways and an all-weather Category III precision approach landing system, and it is attended 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Eight airlines provide 40 non-stop flights per day to 12 destinations. Aircraft fuel, repairs, and charters are available through a full-service, fixed-based operator. Located at the airport are air cargo carriers, freight forwarders, and a customs broker. Car rentals, restaurants, and ground handling are also on the premises.
Situated on 3,339 acres, the airport has more than 1,200 acres allocated for economic development opportunities. Recently completed at the airport was Phase 1 of the Mississippi Air Cargo Logistics Center, located on four-lane Highway 475 just three miles north of Interstate 20. This development combines a 40,000 square-foot multi-tenant warehouse with more than 500,000 square feet of dedicated apron and taxiway pavement. Ultimately, this project will provide 450,000 square feet of warehouse space and almost 3 million square feet of apron.
Rail
Canadian National (CN) maintains two main lines running north to Memphis, Tennessee; these lines converge in Jackson, where the railroad has a major terminal switching yard and office/shop facilities. The lines again diverge from Jackson to run south to New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and southeast to Mobile, Alabama, via Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
Greater Jackson is located at the center of the Kansas City Southern Railway Company's (KCSR) strategic Meridian Speedway line from Meridian, Mississippi to Shreveport, Louisiana. The Meridian Speedway is one of the fastest growing rail corridors in the United States, and in recent years, KCSR has invested more capital in its infrastructure in Mississippi than in any other state on its system.
One of KSCR's primary rail yards, High Oak Yard, is located in the Greater Jackson area, as is an 85-acre intermodal ramp with capacity for 300 cars and a 55-acre TransLoad Center for handling bulk plastics, food products, clay, forest products, and steel.
Freight Companies
Approximately 100 intrastate and interstate trucking firms are located in Hinds County, which means easy overnight freight transport to destinations such as Atlanta, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Memphis, New Orleans, and St. Louis, which are all within 500 miles.
Foreign Trade Zones
A Foreign Trade Zone is a port designated by the government for duty-free entry of any non-prohibited good. Goods can be imported without having to go through formal customs entry procedures or pay imported duties. Duties are imposed only when goods pass from the Foreign Trade Zone into the country.
Hinds County has access to Foreign Trade Zones through the Jackson-Evers International Airport.
FTZ Number: 158 Vicksburg/Jackson
Operator: Jackson Municipal Airport Authority
Address: P.O. Box 98109, Jackson, MS 39298-8109
Contact: Dirk Vanderleest (601) 939-5631 x200
Grantee: Vicksburg/Jackson Foreign-Trade Zone, Inc.
A Hinds County Labor Force - Committed to Your Success
A well-qualified and affordable workforce is an essential element to operating any successful business.
Hinds County and the surrounding commuting area is home to a labor force of nearly 315,000 workers. With a low state-wide three percent absenteeism rate and only a five percent turnover rate, this reliability and stability help ensure the success of food processing operations located in the state. In addition, at an average of $19.88 per hour labor costs in Hinds County are much lower than the national average.
A Well-Trained and Ready Workforce
Mississippi State University in Starkville is one of the nation's top research and development institutions.
The University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg is a national leader in the area of polymer science, with one of the top programs in the United States. The premier Polymer Research Institute also includes one of the most advanced rapid prototyping systems in the world.
A strong educational system, combined with a growing pool of workers ensures that your company will find a highly skilled workforce available to meet your needs.
A Right-to-Work State
The Hinds County labor force has a strong work ethic, which shows in the commitment they have to their jobs. As a right-to-work state, Mississippi has a low unionization rate. In fact, Hinds County's manufacturers experience a 0.0% unionization with no work stoppages in the last 5 years.
A Supportive Business Climate
Mississippi offers a strong, supportive business climate, where the cost of doing business is low and many other tools are available to help your company compete in today's economy. Locations within Mississippi can offer companies substantial savings compared with many other parts of the U.S.
Economic incentive programs provide income tax credits for job creation and retraining of employees. The Mississippi Advantage Jobs Incentive Program provides quarterly incentive payments based on a percentage of withholding to qualifying companies for up to 10 years, which provides an important cash benefit to new companies locating in the state. Cities and counties may also offer a property tax exemption for qualifying projects.