Hall, driver of county development

Marshall County was ranked 20^th nationwide in top counties in industrial development in 2025 by Site Selection Magazine.

That position has been accomplished since 2015 largely through the Marshall County Industrial Development Authority’s board of directors and executive director Justin Hall, with the coordination from the Marshall County Board of Supervisors.

Hall, 44, began in 2004 working for engineering firm doing preliminary design work for the industrial park. His first job was to inspect the sewer project being laid on Dogwood Road.

Hall said the first two distribution warehouses to move into the Chickasaw Trail Industrial Park was Exel (now DHL Supply) and ASICS.

Hall said to date there are about 28 big and small businesses in the Trail with about 20 consisting of big manufacturing distributors and a number of smaller support businesses.

Hall worked under IDA executive director Bill Renick, Del Stover and under Bill Mobley.

Progress is also underway in Springs Industrial Park, and expansion has taken place at Parker Racor.

“We’ve got some great momentum there,” Hall said in connection with Springs Industrial Park. “I think it is going to be the next big opportunity for Marshall County.”

Hall was born and reared in Marshall County, its native son.

The son of Larry and the late Pam Hall, he has one sister, Amy.

Hall is the father of three, two girls, 13 and four, and a seven-year-old boy.

His wife Jamie, an attorney, now teaching, worked in private practice and for Ittawamba Community College.

Her grandfather was president of Hinds Community College in Raymond for many years.

Leadership is part of Hall’s intergenerational heritage.

Hall’s grandfather Joe Cooper, was a member of the Board of Supervisors in the 1970s and 1980s. His paternal grandfather is the late Bobby Hall, who did construction site work and worked railroad train derailments.

His dad, Larry Hall, also worked train derailments before taking the position of County administrator/road manager for about 30 years.

He attended Potts Camp School and graduated from Marshall Academy, graduated with a bachelor’s in political science from Ole Miss and worked for both his grandfathers in construction and row crop and cattle farming for several years while obtaining his bachelor’s.

Hall is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma’s Economic Development Institute.

IDA partners with Marshall County in getting developers to come to the industrial parks.

The work includes getting a site ready for development, to forming relationships with developers and landowners, and getting utilities in the parks. IDA helps bring infrastructure partners to the table.

“The IDA board had a vision, and set a plan in motion and things started coming together,” Hall said. “We were able to identify funding partners to start putting all the key ingredients together.

“Chickasaw Trails was set in motion in the early 2000s, with a long range plan. The board of directors started laying the infrastructure, the building blocks, and the pieces started falling into place. We began to gain some momentum.”

The momentum begun by Exel and ASICS was followed by the arrival of Volvo, then Rockwell announced.

“I’d say from 2017 on, significant investment in infrastructure was made,” Hall said. “It was followed by projects with Niagara, Amazon and Corelle and the expansion in the county like Parker Racor and others.

“At first we were mostly warehousing and distribution. Now we are advanced manufacturing with projects like the Amplify, the battery plant.”

The next hurdle as expansion in the parks took place was to get a trained workforce to fill the new jobs, Hall said.

“So, we established the Marshall County Workforce Center,” he said. “The main thing is to build a business base that supports the tax base and ultimately create high paying careers.

“We have jobs covering all skill sets so residents have endless opportunities to plug in to any type of job or career they want to attain. They can get trained and hired here in Marshall County and never have to leave home.

“Our ultimate goal is for our community and residents to have a place where our children and grandchildren can grow up, have good jobs and be successful. I think Marshall County has been a bright spot for the state in economic development over the last decade.

“Through partnerships and the business climate, we expect continued support from partners at the state and federal level, to help continue to improve workforce assets and maintain existing industry and future growth.

“We’re not slowing down. The future is bright,” Hall said.