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George County site boosted by Mississippi Export Railroad spur.

Article Excerpt
LUCEDALE -- Historically, the lion's share of economic development occurring along the Mississippi Gulf Coast has been in Harrison and Jackson counties. But those counties have a limited amount of new industrial park space available, and have seen recent new industrial park proposals face opposition from nearby homeowners.

But step over the Jackson County line into southern George County, and one finds literally thousands of acres of industrial space available.

George County now has what it is touting as a "megasite"--a 1200-acre park that doesn't have difficult wetlands development hurdles that can slow projects in Harrison, Jackson and Hancock counties.

There is no official "megasite" standard in Mississippi, but Columbus-Lowndes County recently had a megasite certified by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). While TVA doesn't extend into South Mississippi, Sue Wright, executive director of the Greater George County Economic Development Foundation, believes its industrial park has everything that is needed to attract a major new development.

"The State of Mississippi doesn't have any quantifiable criteria for certifying a megasite;" Wright said. "But we have followed the TVA certified megasite program with great interest and benchmark our location to that criteria. We have been working for almost three years now to prepare a major site that would make George County competitive. We are achieving that with one of our sites....

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