Harrison County
on the Mississippi
Gulf Coast…
Moving Forward
Centrally located on the Mississippi Gulf Coast
between New Orleans and Mobile, Harrison County has great
amenities for your business and is moving forward at a rapid
pace with the “Port of the Future,” designed by CH2M Hill, a
newly planned industrial park, and an extensive two-county
economic development study.
Harrison County’s growth and progress is supported and
guided in part by the Harrison County Development Commission
(HCDC), the lead economic development agency for the county
and its five coastal cities — Pass Christian, Long Beach, Gulfport,
Biloxi, and D’Iberville. HCDC believes that one of the most
valuable amenities it offers new business and industry is location.
Harrison County is positioned at the center of an expanding
science and technology corridor along Interstate 10. To the west
are Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Louisiana, and
NASA’s John C. Stennis Space Center in Hancock County,
Mississippi — home of Lockheed Martin, Pratt & Whitney, and
Rolls-Royce. To the east are Northrop Grumman’s Unmanned
Systems Center in Jackson County, Mississippi, and EADS in
Mobile, Alabama. In addition, there are numerous federal and
university research/applied technology operations in South
Mississippi that focus on aerospace, geospatial technology,
advanced materials, and marine science.
The county also sits amid a growing north–south logistics and
trade corridor anchored in the south by the Mississippi State Port
at Gulfport, which is being transformed into the “Port of the
Future.” With designs by CH2M Hill and $570 million allocated
for the development of the initial plan, the port will one day be
the largest shipping facility in the Gulf of Mexico.
Just north of the port is the Gulfport–Biloxi International Airport,
which recently underwent over $180 million in renovations and
expansions. Included in the project is a 46,000-square-foot cargo
facility with 20,000 square feet of chiller and 20,000 square feet of
sorting and distribution space. Both the airport and the port are
within the Mississippi Coast Foreign Trade Zone #92.
To tie in with the port’s vision and plans for other parts of
Mississippi, HCDC is partnering with its northern neighbor,
Stone County, in an extensive study of the two counties that will
establish a long-term road map for a broad range of development
opportunities, possibly resulting in the Mississippi Logistics/
Industrial Center. HCDC and the Stone County Economic
Development Partnership (SCEDP) have continually worked
together as part of the Mississippi Gulf Coast Alliance for
Economic Development — a regional six-county partnership.
HCDC is also working to certify a new 627-acre industrial
complex in north Harrison County as a shovel ready park. The
park sits along U.S. Highway 49, which runs directly to the port.
On the Mississippi Gulf Coast, we’re moving forward and we
invite you to join us.
Visit HCDC’s website to find out more about all of the
amenities the Gulf Coast has to offer. Sign up for the MS Gulf
Coast Communicator, a monthly e-newsletter that will keep you
up to date on all the latest developments in Harrison County.
Larry S. Barnett
Executive Director
Harrison County Development Commission
12281 Intraplex Parkway
Gulfport, MS 39503
Phone: 228.896.5020
Fax: 228.896.6020
E-mail: hcdc@mscoast.org
www.mscoast.org
