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State receives Silver Shovel award for 2020’s economic development successes

In the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the state of Mississippi still managed to generate thousands of new jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in investments. In recognition, magazine has given the state a Silver Shovel award.

The magazine presents its annual Shovel Awards to state economic development agencies that create a significant number of jobs through innovative policies, infrastructure improvements and promotions that attract new employers and investments.

All 50 states were invited to submit their top 10 job creation and investment projects. In Mississippi, three of the 10 projects submitted are in Entergy Mississippi’s service area. In each instance, our economic development department played a key role in partnering with the Mississippi Development Authority and the local economic development group on the project.

The top 2020 project was Opening in August, the facility is creating 1,000 new, full-time jobs and has an investment value of $200 million. Entergy Mississippi’s will power the center.

The other two projects Entergy Mississippi assisted with were:

• in Natchez, Adams County – 200 jobs, $3 million investment
• in Hernando, DeSoto County – 79 jobs, $300 million investment

The remaining seven Mississippi projects that helped the state garner the accolade are:
• in Clay County – 500 jobs, $8.7 million investment
• in Marshall County – 300 jobs, $57.4 million investment
• in DeSoto County – 300 jobs, $14.5 million investment
• in Harrison County – 200 jobs, $6.7 million investment
• in Alcorn County – 130 jobs, $160 million investment
• in Hancock County – 38 jobs, $185 million investment
• in Alcorn County – 33 jobs, $140 million investment

While Entergy’s involvement differs from project to project, our economic development team works with prospects and communities in a variety of ways:

• If a company is looking to expand, we connect them to incentives and offer general business help. We ensure these companies receive all benefits Entergy has to offer, such as going over their yearly usage to identify cost-savings opportunities.
• Entergy offers an economic development rider that was expanded in 2020 to include distribution centers. The rider can provide a one cent per kwh discount on electricity use for up to five years. Minimum requirements must be met to qualify.
• When working to locate industries, we work with the local economic development organization, the Mississippi Development Authority and other relative economic development organizations. This might include helping a county get sites certified in an industrial park or marketing existing buildings or sites to consultants and industries.
• We also offer to communities for improvements to sites or for marketing an area to prospects, and we offer or connect community leaders to training opportunities in economic development.

When choosing its annual winners, the magazine considers a combination of weighted factors. These include the number of new jobs to be created in relation to the state’s population, the combined dollar amount of the investments, the number of new facilities and the diversity of industry represented. Awards are given in five population categories, ranging from more than 12 million to fewer than 3 million. The latter category is the one in which Mississippi competes.

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