Site selectors doing high-level analysis of suitable locations may soon find there are more than meet the eye. Once they discover the many areas that have benefitted from Mississippi’s Site Development Grant Program, many more will become contenders for capital investment.
“Mississippi Development Authority first did a small pilot program of the Site Development Grant Program in 2013 and 2014,” says Sara Watson, MDA’s director of business incentives. “Based on interest in that pilot program and its success, MDA pitched the idea of a more permanent program with dedicated funding to the Legislature. In 2017, the Legislature created the Site Development Grant Program and first provided state bonding authority for it, and we’ve been grateful our legislators have continued to provide funding for the program since then.”
Since 2017, notes Watson, the state has committed more than $125 million in site development funding to support site development projects in communities around the state. In 2024, Mississippi committed nearly $30 million in site development grant funding across the program’s three branches – Ready Sites, Premier Sites and Select Sites. Grant recipients must secure local matching funds.
Coca-Cola UNITED opened a sales, warehouse and distribution center in McComb in April on a 12-acre site that benefitted from a Site Development Grant administered by Mississippi Development Authority.
Photo courtesy of Coca-Cola Bottling Company UNITED
Cooperative Energy, a consortium of 11 member-owned electric distribution cooperatives, is one source of matching funds. Its Cooperative Competes grant allows economic development organizations, or a recognized authority, to apply for grant funds to offset industrial property development costs. In May, Scott County was awarded a $50,000 Cooperative Competes grant for environmental studies of a 578-acre site along Interstate 20.
Ready, Premier, Select
Ready Sites, which saw $150,000 in funding, is designed for properties that have a minimum of 20 highly developable acres that are site-work ready within six months or can have utilities on site within 12 months, according to MDA. Gateway Industrial Park in McComb was awarded a Ready Site grant to support improvements in 2018. In early 2025, Coca-Cola Bottling Company UNITED celebrated the grand opening of its new, $15 million sales, warehouse and distribution facility at the industrial park on 12 acres near Interstate 55.
Premier Sites was granted $2 million earmarked for properties with a minimum of 100 acres that have distinguishing site location attributes, such as being in high-demand locations and offering intermodal and/or port access. Select Sites was awarded the lion’s share – more than $27 million. Created in 2021, the Select Sites program was designed to increase the number of highly competitive industrial sites available to meet the needs of prospective companies. Publicly owned industrial sites in Mississippi are invited to apply for Select Sites funding.
The red squares represent the locations of Mississippi Select Sites that have received funding from the MDA’s Site Development Program.
The Madison County Megasite in Canton received a Premier Site grant in 2019 and a Select Site grant in 2023, says Watson. In 2024, Amazon Web Services announced it was making a $10 billion investment in a hyperscale data center complex at the site. In 2019, MDA awarded a Ready Site grant to help update environmental due diligence at the I-59 South Industrial Site in Jones County. MDA then awarded a Select Site grant in 2022 and a Premier Site grant in 2023 to support physical site improvements at the park, which is now home to Cold-Link Logistics’ 200,000-square-foot freezer building near Hattiesburg.
“We’ve already seen communities that have benefited from the program be able to submit on more RFIs.”
— Sara Watson, Director of Business Incentives, Mississippi Development Authority
The Site Development Grant Program clearly is meeting its objectives.
Site Selectors Are Noticing
“We have seen both an increase in the quality and quantity of developed sites,” says Watson. “The program has encouraged investment by communities in industrial sites across the state. It has benefited sites in 47 of the state’s 82 counties to date and has been used to improve existing, established industrial parks and do due diligence and make initial improvements at new industrial sites, as well.
“In the program’s short life,” adds Watson, “we’ve already seen communities that have benefited from the program be able to submit on more RFIs, and we’ve seen site selection consultants take a closer look at and even short-list sites that previously did not make it far through the site-elimination process. In addition, communities that have improved their sites with grant funds have gotten more site visits from prospects, and some sites have already landed new businesses.”
Funds already committed are supporting more than $200 million in site development projects around the state, Watson points out, and the number of competitive sites that are ready to meet business’ needs has significantly increased in recent years. “We are excited about opening the program up for an additional funding round this summer and continuing to build on this program’s momentum.”
