Marshall County was center state at a special called legislative session in Jackson Thursday, January 18, where Governor Tate Reeves and Senate and House representatives met to announce a deal that will land an electric vehicle battery manufacturing group in the Chickasaw Trail Industrial Park. The investors represent a joint venture between Daimler Truck Holdings, PACCAR and Cummins Truck Holdings.
Reeves asked legislators for $350 million in state taxpayer dollars to support the project. The battery manufacturing project will create 2,000 new jobs in Marshall County and pay, on average, $66,000 a year to employees. The project is a capital investment of $1.9 billion. Reeves said half of the $350 million from the legislature will be spent on infrastructure that will surround the facility that is to be located on a 600-acre tract of county-owned property in the industrial park. The remainder, about $175 million, will go to the business itself.
Justin Hall, executive director of Marshall County Industrial Development Authority, said IDA has been working on getting a project of this magnitude for two or three years. “This is a monumental win for Marshall County and the State of Mississippi,” he said. “This project will help to better the lives of Marshall County residents for decades to come. Senator Neil Whaley, district 10, expressed his gratitude to members of the Legislature and Marshall County officials for a final closure on an agreement with corporate partners in bringing the electric vehicle battery manufacturing plant to Marshall County. “It is truly life changing to the constituents and to the county itself,” he said. “The state of Mississippi worked extensively along with the Marshall County Board of Supervisors and the IDA Board of Directors in this process to bring this project to the Chickasaw Trail Industrial Park.
Governor Tate Reeves said the battery manufacturing facility will be the second largest capital investment in Mississippi history. Marshall County won this project after competing with 150 other sites in the nation. Members of the Marshall County Board of Supervisors say this project has been on the drafting table at the Marshall County Industrial Development Authority for several years. District 3 supervisor Keith Taylor said the county owns the 600-acre tract in the industrial park for this project. There are an additional 700 or 800 acres adjacent to the site that will be purchased through the state, including 300 acres that will be used to run a rail spur to the site from the Norfolk Southern Railroad. The total so-called Megasite will cover about 1,400 acres, Taylor said.
Tennessee Valley Authority Board Member Bill Renick championed the project. “North Mississippi is prime for economic development, and I’m thrilled to see Cummins, Daimler Truck and PACCAR recognize that the “Hospitality State” is the best place to bring its 2,000 jobs and nearly $2 billion capital investment,” Renick said. TVA’s mission is to serve this area by providing affordable, reliable, safe, and clean electricity, and I’m proud that we will play a vital role in the largest payroll commitment of any major project and second-largest economic development project in our state’s history. We look forward to partnering with out local power company, Chickasaw Electric, on this great announcement.”