Howard Technology Park, located in Ellisville, officially achieved the first “Project Ready” status in Mississippi designated by the economic development department of Mississippi Power Co. “Project Ready” status certifies that the park is ready-to-go for industrial prospects, has infrastructure in place and has necessary connections for almost any type of business.

“One of the fastest growing trends in the site location business is the demand for ‘Project Ready’ industrial sites,” said Sandy Holifield, economic development director for the Economic Development Authority of Jones County (EDA). “These companies want sites ready-to-go and relatively risk free. Jones County has already passed the qualifying steps to meet this growing demand.”

Anthony Topazi, Mississippi Power Co. president/CEO, presented the “Project Ready” certification to Glenn Caves, EDA chairman.

Mississippi Power retained McCallum Sweeney Consulting (MSC) of Greenville, S.C., to provide site criteria, prepare a request for information and conduct site visits. Certification was provided by MSC.

“This means an independent, third party consultant – a nationally recognized consultant – has gone through all the due diligence like it would for any site to help an industrial prospect know whether this site is ready,” Topazi said.

“Basically, we have certified that Howard Technology Park is ready because of all the work and leadership Jones County has provided to get us to this point,” he said. “It tells anyone around the world looking to locate in Mississippi, this site is ready. This puts Jones County ahead of the curve. By virtue of being certified, it puts you ahead of hundreds of other sites that have not gone thorough all this work.”

Mitch Stennett, EDA president, said the certification is a big shot in the arm for the area.

“But it’s more about what it can become than what it is,” Stennett said. “This adds two very credible allies to help us market the park. Now we need to get that word out. We still have a long way to go because we’ve got to market this now. Potential clients will know that we’ve gone through all the due diligence and the background work that needs to be in place for them to potentially here. It gives us a leg up on other communities and other sites to be further along for somebody to come in and locate an industry here in our technology park.”

One of the next steps the EDA will take includes a coordinated marketing program under the “Project Ready” brand.