Originally posted on www.WDAM.com
PINE BELT, Miss. (WDAM) – Forrest and Lamar counties are joining forces for the Eagle One Mega Site project near U.S. 11.
Pine Belt economic developers said they hope the site will one day be the future location for a large-scale manufacturer.
But first, the site has to be prepped.
“You cannot land large, industrial manufacturing-style projects if you don’t have solid real estate options for them to choose from,” said Area Development Partnership Vice President Todd Jackson.
Jackson said the state recently provided the project with a $9.9 million ”site development grant” through the Mississippi Development Authority.
“Then Forrest and Lamar counties came together to match that grant opportunity,” said Jackson. “We’re now spending just over $12 million to move a little bit over three million cubic yards of dirt as you can see from all the work taking place here.”
Jackson said an empty piece of land is more attractive to a company, because that allows it to get up and running sooner.
“We become attractive to them by decreasing their time to market,” said Jackson. “Speed to market is the new incentive in economic development.
“So, the faster that we can help these companies find a site, get to construction, complete their facility, get all the water and sewer utility infrastructure to it, and they can start operations and get their product to market … the faster they’re going to be able to actually provide a return.”
Jackson said the investment from supervisors from Forrest and Lamar counties was huge, marking an investment for jobs and economic development that could transform the Pine Belt for generations.
“What they want to do is make these investments today, so that in the future, there are a lot of job opportunities for citizens that are of a working age today, but also all of our children and kids that are in school that are coming out and going to look for incredible opportunities here at home,” said Jackson.
Jackson said crews will continue the prep work on the land throughout the remainder of 2025, and maybe into 2026.
Once that is completed, crews will start working on water and sewer infrastructure, as well as electrical utilities.
