Port Bienville Industrial Park sites offers unique assets
May 31, 2014
Port Bienville Industrial Park sites offers unique assets The Hancock County Port and Harbor Commission is taking a new approach to marketing development sites at Port Bienville Industrial Park. Working in conjunction with existing industries and landowners, the Port has delineated 22 new development sites within the industrial park, ranging in size from five acres to nearly 500 acres.
Port and Harbor Executive Director Ashley Edwards said the Port undertook an effort to identify every available acre for development near Port Bienville. "We wanted to identify every site near the Port, no matter how big or small, that could potentially be developed for industrial use," Edwards said. "Now we're working on site improvement plans to get those sites developmentready and market them to industries. We want to show development targets that we have the sites, assets and infrastructure to become one of the premier industrial parks in our region." Edwards said Port Bienville Industrial Park features a wide range of sites with sufficient size and infrastructure to accommodate an array of industrial developments. Edwards said Port Bienville's proximity to transportation connections, such as Interstates 10, 12 and 59 and U.S. 90, makes the Port an ideal location for new development. As the economic development authority for Hancock County, the Hancock County Port and Harbor Commission owns and operates the 3,600acre industrial park, which sits near the mouth of the Pearl River and is home to 16 companies. The Hancock County Port and Harbor Commission also owns and operates Port Bienville Short Line Railroad, which features 15 miles of railroad track that connects to CSX's Class I railroad 4.5 miles from the Port. Five miles of canals on Port property connect to the Pearl River and Intracoastal Waterway, allowing barge traffic from across the Southeastern United States to access the Port and its industries. The park is isolated in the southwestern corner of Hancock County and is unlikely to be affected by encroachment of nearby communities due to the surrounding geography, making Port Bienville Industrial Park a superior site for industrial operations, as evidenced by the large cluster of industrial companies already located within the Port. "Port Bienville is very unique in South Mississippi given its vast size, infrastructure and availability of development sites," Edwards said. "I've heard Port Bienville referred to as 'Hancock County's best kept secret'. We're going to work very hard to make sure it isn't a secret any longer."