Economic Development

Project Ready Certification Overview

One of the fastest growing trends in the site location business is the demand for “Project Ready” industrial and technology park sites. Companies want sites that are ready-to-go or at least have a definitive plan in place to minimize risk and expedite development schedules. The South Lamar Industrial Park and The Garden have been certified as Project Ready.

Mississippi Power retained McCallum Sweeny Consulting (MSC), one of the nation’s leading site selection firms to certify two parks in Greater Hattiesburg as Project Ready. The process entails having detailed criteria such as zoning, site mapping, infrastructure analyses and costs, environmental and archeological reports, etc. These items have all been completed for The Garden and the South Lamar Industrial Park, and can be made available upon request. Below is a summary of each Project Ready park with various maps of the parks and suggested target industries that would work well in the parks.

South Lamar Industrial Park

The South Lamar Industrial Park (SLIP) is a 265 acre site just over a mile from Interstate 59 in Lamar County. This park has a large 165 acre contiguous parcel, which is a former pecan orchard with relatively flat topography. The site is zoned heavy industrial and is owned by Lamar County, which is also one of the fastest growing counties in Mississippi with a population growth rate in excess of 4.2% per year.  With its close proximity to I-59 just 89 miles northeast of New Orleans, the park is well position to serve as a distribution hub for Mississippi and Louisiana.  The park's western boundary is a Norfold Southern (NS) Mainline, which provides quick access to the Port of New Orleans.

Maps (PDFs)

Transportation Map
Topographical Map
Wetlands Map

Target Industry Recommendations from McCallum Sweeney for SLIP

The Garden

The Garden is a 500-acre Innovation and Commercialization park located in the City of Hattiesburg and Forrest County and is owned by the University of Southern Mississippi (USM). The site was previously used as a golf course and is located near the intersection of Highway 49 and Interstate 59. The Garden has utilities throughout the park and is served by Classic Drive, a four-lane boulevard traverrsing the park. The Garden is home to The Accelerator, which is USM’s high-tech 60,000 sq.ft. incubator. Current tenants in The Accelerator are Radiance Technologies, Crosslink, Cytec Engineered Materials, Messerschmidt Safety Consultants, Mississippi Polymer Institute, National Formulations Science Lab, Bracco Diagnostics, KDL Solutions, Noetic Technologies and SciGenesis.  View The Garden Brochure to learn more about the park.

Maps (PDFs)

Transportation Map
Topographical Map
Wetlands Map

Target Industry Recommendations from McCallum Sweeney for The Garden