The construction of the Nissan plant near Canton is beginning toshow its economic impact on other parts of the state.Unfortunately, Southwest Mississippi as of yet has not been abenefactor.

Already seven new supplier plants have been announced, and withthe announcement this past week of six more industrial plants, weare still sitting on the sidelines. Hopefully that will change inthe future, but from what we understand, no one has even comelooking!

It appears that the I-20 corridor running between Vicksburg andMeridian is the hot spot of locations outside the Canton area.Vicksburg has now landed its second supplier, and Forest has justlanded a 150,000 sq. ft. plant to make body panels. The rest of thesuppliers are on I-55 North around Canton.

So what is wrong with the southern I-55 corridor running throughSouthwest Mississippi? In real estate parlance, the old saying thatthe three most important considerations in buying property are”location, location, and location” comes to mind.

The I-20 corridor handles both eastern seaboard and the westernplains, and I-55 north picks up everything else. The southern I-55corridor that runs through here picks up only New Orleans and thelower southern half of the country via I-10. In a nutshell, roughly80% of the goods and services needed by suppliers to Nissan can besupplied via I-55 north of Jackson and I-20 east and west. Theremaining 20% can be accessed by I-55 south.

Does that mean Southwest Mississippi is out of the running forsome of the supplier plants? No! It means we must work smarter andharder – something we have been doing for years, as evident in ourlocal success in attracting industry.

Here in Lincoln County we have flat run out of industrial parkspace. That lack of space is a negative for this area but doesn’tstop us from landing a supplier should one come knocking. It justmakes selling job a bit harder. Industrial Development Foundation(IDF) officials, through the Vision Council, are working on fivepossible 500-acre sites — two on Highway 84, two near I-55 and onenear the airport.

The I-55 sites include land at the Lincoln and Copiah Countyline exit leading to Wesson. The other I-55 site is 16th sectionland west of Brookhaven, a few miles west of Brookway Boulevard.The two Highway 84 sites include an area near the Jackson-LibertyRoad west of Brookhaven and a site east of Brookhaven at theintersection of Highway 583 to Ruth.

Whichever site is chosen, the financing of the project is ahurdle that will have to be overcome. A portion of the newindustrial park will be financed by private funds raised by theVision Council. The remaining funds, hopefully, will come from theCity and County.

In Forest and Vicksburg, officials are jubilant over the mostrecent announcements. New jobs are being created in thesecommunities and economic stability is being assured. Hopefully, thenext announcement will allow us here in southwest Mississippi to dothe celebrating.

Write to Bill Jacobs at P.O. Box 551, Brookhaven, Miss.39602.