Harrison County: A Prime Location on the Mississippi Gulf Coast

Harrison County, Mississippi, is a prime location for business and industry. Centrally located on the Gulf of Mexico — between New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama — the county is in the midst of exciting progress and development. It’s home to the “Port of the Future,” a state-of-the-art cargo facility and a new industrial park, and is undergoing an extensive economic development study with its northern neighbor.
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 its location.

A Strategic 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 and NASA’s John C. Stennis Space Center in Hancock County — home of Lockheed Martin, Pratt & Whitney, and Rolls-Royce. To the east are Northrop Grumman’s Unmanned Systems Center in Jackson County and EADS in Mobile. 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 trade and logistics 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 goal is for the port to become the largest shipping facility in the Gulf of Mexico. 
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, 20,000 square feet of sorting and distribution space, and 6,000 square feet of office space. Both the airport and the port are within the Mississippi Coast Foreign-Trade Zone #92.

Located in close proximity to these great amenities is HCDC’s newest industrial park. The 632-acre park is in the northern part of Harrison County, 12 miles from Interstate 10 and adjacent to U.S. Highway 49, which runs directly into the port. The park offers sites ranging from 30 to 320 acres.

Partners in Progress
Located north of Harrison County is Stone County. 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. They recently collaborated on an extensive study of the two counties that will establish a long-term road map for a broad range of development opportunities.
HCDC invites you to join other businesses that are already taking advantage of Harrison County’s location and amenities — DuPont, Northrop Grumman, Seemann Composites, Trinity Yachts, and others.

Find out more about Harrison County and the Mississippi Gulf Coast.