Mississippi showed the world what’s possible when Amazon came calling.
When Amazon came calling on Mississippi several years ago, the global “Everything Store” did more than deliver a few packages to the Magnolia State.
The Jeff Bezos-owned conglomerate bestowed the largest capital investments in state history on multiple locations in Mississippi — and speed to market served as the trump card that made it all possible.
From giant Amazon fulfillment centers to massive Amazon Web Services (AWS) data center campuses, these projects are not just changing the future of logistics and hyperscaling in Mississippi; they are changing how economic development is done.
No one knows this better than the economic development leaders in Madison County and Warren County, Mississippi — two places that saw the lion’s share of these investments.
An AWS data center under construction.
When we reached out to the leaders who made these deals happen at the local level, they explained how the ability to deliver speed to market became the ultimate deal-closer for a state that prides itself on turning its small size into a large competitive advantage.
What started out in 2017 as a dream turned into reality in ensuing years. From the moment the first spade of dirt was turned until today, Amazon has cumulatively announced investments — in logistics facilities and data centers and related plants — that now total more than $25 billion statewide.
Amazon announced all of this in a press release on April 9: “Two years ago, Amazon broke ground on its first data center campus in Madison County — the largest capital investment in Mississippi’s history at the time,” the Seattle-based company said. “That milestone was followed by a $3 billion planned investment in Warren County. Today, we’re proud to share that our total statewide planned investment has reached $25 billion, with plans to create 2,000 high-skilled jobs across all our Mississippi data center operations, further solidifying the state’s position as a leader in technology and innovation.”
“Our opportunity to get the AWS campus in Warren County had a lot to do with our having ready sites. The state will do whatever it takes to prepare sites for industrial projects like this. The emphasis from day one was on speed to market.”
— Pablo Diaz, President & CEO, Vicksburg Warren Economic Development Partnership
Amazon’s planned expansion includes an additional $11 billion investment in Madison County and a $1 billion investment in Hinds County, where the global retailer and shipper will transform a former Delphi manufacturing plant into a cutting-edge data center.
Emphasis From Day One: Speed to Market
Gov. Tate Reeves elaborated on this progress, noting that Amazon’s plans include investing an additional $12 billion in central Mississippi. The latest announcement includes a planned $11 billion expansion of the company’s existing data center operations in Madison County, a project that will create 700 new jobs. The announcement also includes a planned $1 billion project in Clinton adding 100 jobs.
The Madison County expansion builds on Amazon’s 2024 announcement of plans to invest at least $10 billion and create 1,000 direct jobs to establish data center campuses in the county. The Clinton project, which retrofits the former Delphi Corporation plant, is Amazon’s first location in the city.
Last November, Amazon announced a planned $3 billion project in Vicksburg that is creating at least 200 high-paying, full-time positions and further expanding the company’s presence in central Mississippi.
Pablo Diaz, president and CEO of the Vicksburg Warren Economic Development Partnership, has not just seen this progress firsthand; he has directly played a role in shaping it. “Our opportunity to get the AWS campus in Warren County had a lot to do with our having ready sites,” he says. “The state will do whatever it takes to prepare sites for industrial projects like this. The emphasis from day one was on speed to market.”
“We are now up to 1,700 jobs. AWS
under-promised and over-delivered.”
– Joey Deason, Executive Director, Madison County Economic Development Authority
He adds that when AWS began looking for sites, “we worked with the Mississippi Development Authority and Entergy on this project. AWS selected Madison County first, but they kept looking. We worked with them for five years. Even though it took a while, I give credit to our preemptive effort to launch the megasite on the Mississippi River.”
While AWS ultimately did not select that 1,100-acre megasite in Warren County, the company did elect to locate a data center campus right next to it. Upon completion, this project will be just 55 miles away from the other nearest AWS site in Madison County.
When I asked Diaz what sealed the deal for AWS in Vicksburg, he said it came down to the area’s robust infrastructure of water, sewer, electric power and interstate highways. “This site has all of those elements,” he notes. “We have excess capacity in all of those areas. An advanced power station is being built here by Entergy; and we have a number of transmission lines serving the area. On top of that, a nuclear power plant is located just 20 miles south of this site.”
Diaz said it became obvious from day one that AWS “was looking for power and speed to market. As a state, we are able to deliver both. Starting at the top with Gov. Reeves and MDA Director Bill Cork, we have a very good team. We can work together and be fast, nimble and very effective in a short period of time. This was on display when AWS made their very first decision in Madison County.”
The Data Centers of Madison County
Speaking of Madison, Joey Deason, executive director of the Madison County Economic Development Authority, says that he worked hand-in-hand with MDA and other state agencies to successfully land the first hyperscale data center in state history.
“The whole rest of the world found out that we are here and available and open for business,” says Deason. “It began with permitting. In a lot of communities, you have to have all of the architectural drawings complete. We require that you identify the parcel, the spot you plan to build on it, the four corners of your building, and provide a 3D rendering of the project. Then you can start building your pad.”
Madison County will then grant a second permit for going vertical once the project is ready to commence that stage. “Then we have a third permit for electrical and mechanical,” Deason says. “We are creative. We think outside the box. Let me give you an example.”
When AWS, Entergy and the Madison County EDA were meeting to discuss the project, “I told them that we could build their pad. That was on a Thursday afternoon,” says Deason. “On Monday, I had a contractor on site building a pad.”
Using funds from an MDA Site Development Grant, Deason was able to access money from a road grant to construct a road on the AWS site in Madison County. “That opened the door for us to build three more substation pads and nine building pads using the same method,” says Deason. “Before AWS actually went out and hired the contractor to build the building, we had provided them with the pad.”
Gov. Tate Reeves was on hand to celebrate the latest data center investment announcement by AWS in Mississippi.
Photo courtesy of MDA
He adds that “all of that was for phase one. We just announced Project Atlas 2.0 — another $11 billion in Madison County on top of the $10 billion that AWS did in phase one. We are now up to 1,700 jobs. AWS under-promised and over-delivered.”
And that’s not all the county is getting. Under an agreement between AWS and the City of Ridgeland, AWS is investing about $37 million to improve the city’s water and sewer systems. Another $26.4 million will come from AWS property taxes once the new data centers are up and running. It will also pay for a new fire station, meaning homes and businesses in the area could qualify for lower insurance premiums.
To date, Amazon has
committed to invest
$25 billion
in data centers and
related infrastructure in
Mississippi.
Source: MDA
The first five data centers at the West County Line site are scheduled to be operational in 2028. Another five AWS data centers in the county went online last year.
“These all hit the tax rolls this year,” says Deason. “Money will start rolling into our communities next year. Anytime you fly in and out of Jackson, you see it. There are 12 buildings being constructed. Each one is a separate data center of 225,000 to 250,000 square feet each. Power to each is on site and is being built. A 500-kV transmission line runs through both campuses in Madison County now.”
All of that is in addition to the 3-million-sq.-ft. fulfillment center that Amazon built in Madison County earlier this decade. “Now we all get same-day deliveries,” Deason says. “That wasn’t happening here before that.”
A lot changed in a short period of time in Mississippi. The ability to deliver speed to market made it happen.
