MISSISSIPPI

COLUMBUS. . .

EADS North America will produce the UH-145 rotary wing aircraft, the company's offering for the U.S. Army's Light Utility Helicopter (LUH), at the 85,000-square-foot American Eurocopter state-of-the-art facility, which opened in 2004. The new venture will create as many as 250

HATTIESBURG. . .

Within the next two years, Bearing Point, Inc., a business consulting systems integrator, plans to open a new software development operation staffed by 300 software developers, programmers, and engineers to develop SAP and Oracle software solutions for federal government and commercial sector clients.

LOWNDES COUNTY. . .

SeverCorr, LLC, resulting from a joint venture between SteelCorr and Severstal Group, broke ground on a new 1.2-million-square-foot steel mill last October that is expected to be operational by the third quarter of 2007.

In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina pounded the coast of Mississippi with 145-mph winds, flooding streets and damaging homes as far as six miles inland, and blocking eastbound lanes on Interstate 10 between Gulfport and Biloxi with debris. Almost eight months later, the Mississippi Development Authority (MDA) reports that the driving rains didn't dampen the future plans of most of the state's prospective clients.

"The majority of the state is back to normal, other than the three counties along the coast, Hancock, Harrison and Jackson," says Scott Hamilton, director of communications for the MDA. He adds that Hurricane Katrina initiated a swirl of activity in the fabricated housing and construction components industries. "About 50,000 homes need to be rebuilt in the lower counties," he says, comparing this need to an average year, when approximately 1,500 homes are built. "In that area, there is huge demand driving the manufactured housing industry, and the incentive to speed up the construction of homes." To assist in the rebuilding process, last month the state commenced the Homeowners Assistance Grant, to provide funds of up to $150,000 to help homeowners kick-start rebuilding.

The steel and metal fabrication industry has seen some benefits for rural areas. Toshomingo County offers construction costs that are about 70 percent of the national average. Fifty percent of the area's residents commute to work outside of the county, providing a ready work force eager for employment closer to home. This region has access to the Tennessee River via the Yellow Creek Port and road access at State Highway 25 and U.S. Highway 72, as well as rail access at the Norfolk Southern and Kansas City Southern rail lines. "Access to the Tennessee-Tombigbee waterway is a key means for steel transportation," says Hamilton. Established steel and metal industry firms Monotech/PSP Industries, DynaSteel Corp., and FerrouSouth and their related suppliers draw metal and steel industry firms such as the Roll Form Group, owned by the Canadian Samuel Manu-Tech, Inc., which plans to open its first U.S. facility, a $22 million, 130,000-squarefoot steel fabrication plant in the first quarter of 2007. New Jersey-based Skyline Steel has invested $17.4 million in Iuka for a mill producing structural steel pipe. John Correnti, leader of the management team for Sever-Corr, says that the decision to locate his firm's mini-steel mill in Lowndes County was driven by the site's proximity to the growing number of automotive producers located in the southern United States, access to low-cost and reliable electric power from the TVA, and the business-friendly environment.

The John C. Stennis Space Center (SSC), located in Hancock County at the Mississippi-Louisiana border, has spurred the takeoffof an aerospacerelated venture, the NASA Shared Services Center, which will consolidate a variety of transactional and administrative activities, human resources, information technology, procurement, and financial management from other NASA sites. Stennis' cluster of aeronautics and space-related companies, such as Lockheed Martin and Boeing, partake of amenities like noise buffers that alleviate "worrying about encroachment, and noise issues with the neighbors," says Hamilton.

The Pascagoula area is experiencing growth in transportation industries, as Northrup Grumman's Moss Point facility at the Trent Lott International Airport gears up to produce portions of the Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in addition to the Fire Scout UAV. Rolls-Royce Naval Marine, Inc. in Pascagoula, fully integrated marine propeller manufacturer for the United States Navy as well as the commercial marine market, has expanded on its original plans for a modern foundry, complete machine shop, and repair and finishing departments. The company is also relocating its engine testing facility from England to the Stennis Space Center, marking the first time that the firm has done this work outside of the U.K.

In the 2005 legislative session, Momentum Mississippi "essentially realigned incentives to attract hightech companies such as research and development and aerospace," says Hamilton. "We can now treat our research and development companies on a more equal footing with other manufacturing-based enterprises." He explains that while manufacturers were able to pay one percent sales tax on equipment, R&D paid the full 7 percent tax. "Now, R&D can pay the same one percent. That will help the university's research community to roll out and commercialize university research."