New economic horizons and beyond

July 31, 2014

The Summer season is in full swing in Hancock County and with it has come a flurry of new activity at our industrial sites. June has proven to be an especially active month for the Hancock County Port and Harbor Commission as our team has hosted a significant number of site visits for economic development prospects during the past month at Port Bienville and Stennis International Airport. This month we've also begun implementing our exciting new development targeting strategy, focusing on retaining and growing our existing industries, the lifeblood of our local economy. The strategy is simple, yet effective. We are working with our existing industrial tenants to understand their full supply chain, from input material suppliers to output material users. Those firms along both ends of the supply chain then become new economic development targets as we seek to create synergies and cost efficiencies by placing clusters of related firms in close geographic proximity to each other. Clustering complementary companies allows for a range of benefits for all firms, including integration of technologies, shared workforces, improved logistics and more efficient operations, among others. Our 22 development sites at Port Bienville make this strategy especially feasible as we have ample acreage available for our large industries, their suppliers and companies who offtake their output products. June's newsletter features one such company, Commercial Plastics Recycling Inc., which has carved out an important niche in Port Bienville with their innovative approach to recycling waste materials from Port Bienville's large polymers and resins manufacturers, including DAK Americas and SABIC Innovative Plastics. Commercial Plastics Recycling is a success story we hope to duplicate at Port Bienville as we continue to diversify our industrial base and implement innovative approaches to economic development. On behalf of the entire team at the Hancock County Port and Harbor Commission, we want to thank all of you for your continuing efforts to make Hancock County the premier place to do business in South Mississippi. We look forward to continuing to partner with you as we take Hancock County to new economic horizons and beyond.