Top 25 U.S. business projects: based on new jobs.(bizsites monitor)

CANTON, Miss.--Nissan Motor Co. has opened the first phase of its $1.4 billion plant in Canton. The 3.5 million-square-foot complex is Nissan's first new assembly plant in 20 years. The plant will employ 5,300 workers and make 400,000 vehicles a year when it reaches peak production capacity in 2004.

GULFPORT, Miss.--Northrop Grumman Ship Systems is converting a plant on the Mississippi Gulf Coast into the country's first large-scale advanced composite manufacturing facility for U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships. Company officials say the $64 million project could create