One of the biggest announcements of the 2025 economic development year in Mississippi could come in the first quarter.
The project, which could be valued at more than $1 billion, is expected to take place in Rankin County, where 2025 is expected to see major developments throughout the year.
“Obviously we can’t talk about the details, but we expect a big announcement this year,” Rankin First Associate Director Regina Todd told the Clarion Ledger. “I think that could happen as soon as the first quarter of the year.”
It follows last week’s announcement that Dallas-based Compass Datacenters, a multinational data center developer, is locating its next high-scale data center campus in Meridian at a reported cost of $10 billion. dollars.
Last year, it was announced that Amazon Web Services would occupy two Madison County locations for a landmark construction of high-scale development centers at a cost of $10 billion.
While Rankin County’s upcoming announcement won’t top $10 billion, it will mark another economic development milestone of more than $1 billion.
“You know one thing that attracted me to wanting to work in Rankin County, where I’m from, is that there is such a diverse industry base,” said Todd, who worked at the Mississippi Development Authority before moving to Rankin . First. “Every community in Rankin County is thriving. It’s not all in Brandon or Flowood. There’s different growth happening everywhere.”
In 2024, Rankin County saw significant growth and ended the year with the lowest unemployment rate in the state of Mississippi.
She continues to hang her hat on expanding the health care industry in the area, including at Mississippi Sports Medicine, Jackson Heart and others.
Historically 80% of new business in Rankin County comes from existing customers and ensuring that established companies and businesses have the ability to expand and grow.
“We have several industries and businesses that are continuing to expand in the county,” Todd said. “A lot of times those kinds of stories don’t get out there. Sometimes, they don’t even announce them because they don’t want the contestants to know what they’re doing.”
She cited the expansion taking place at Siemens in Richland for additional manufacturing space that will result in more than 100 new jobs in the next year.
Multicraft International in Pelahatchie is expanding and bringing 35 new jobs in the near future.
Also, the Mississippi National Guard recently completed a $24 million intermodal repair facility in Rankin County.
In the past 18 months, there has also been an expansion of the health care industry, including Mississippi Sports Medicine, Jackson Heart and others.
Exponential growth is expected along the East Metro Parkway, which runs from Lakeland Drive in Flowood to Interstate-20 in Pearl, which opens in December 2023.
Quick decisions
“So one thing we’ve worked on over the years is to continue to develop our industrial sites,” Todd said. “Time and costs are things these prospects are looking at. They want to know how quickly they can get off the ground. They want to know how quickly they can start building. We have to make sure all the infrastructure is in place.”
Right now, Todd said the county is laying out water and sewer at the rail sites for a possible rail project in the near future that could also lead to a storage project in the making.
She said the county has been able to acquire 200 acres of land for industrial projects, which would like to attract a distribution-type plant with a spec building to an industrial park in Rankin County.
“We are working, slowly but surely getting everything ready,” Todd said.
Ross Reilly is a writer for the Clarion Ledger, part of the USA TODAY Network. He can be reached at rreily@gannett.com or 601-573-2952. You can follow him on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter @GreenOkra1.
