Hall gives IDA update

With the new year comes more opportunities for growth in the industrial parks, said Justin Hall, executive director of the Marshall County Industrial Development Authority.

Three new warehouses are under construction at the Chickasaw Trail Industrial Park.

In the last seven years, capital investments in Marshall County are at $1.5 billion, Hall said. More than 5,000 new jobs have been created. New capital investments since 2021 have come to between $220 million to $250 million.

Large warehouses with about 100 employees each are being operated. Interest in supply-chain warehousing and manufacturing is strong.

District 1 supervisor Charles Terry, during a recent county board meeting, asked about potential development in and around Holly Springs.

“Why are we not getting anything in Holly Springs?” he asked. “What’s the possibility of getting anything in the city?”

Hall said IDA is focusing on development of Springs Industrial Park.

The old industrial park in Holly Springs continues to thrive, especially Racor on West Street that has hired 45 new engineering positions and added 140 new employees, Hall said.

“Their model is to locate in mid-sized communities,” Hall said. “They have room to grow at the Holly Springs campus. Locally, Racor has had multiple expansions since 2017.”

The location of Springs Industrial Park is ideal for new companies to build and trucks can enter and exit the park without having to go through the city. Industrial traffic has easy access to the interstates.

District 3 supervisor Keith Taylor asked if it would be possible to get a special taxing district like Barnes Crossing in Tupelo, so the county could reap some of the sales tax revenue that goes to the state.

“We asked for it at the legislature and they turned it down,” Taylor said.

“All taxes go to the state.” “Barnes Crossing is mostly retail,” said Ronnie Joe Bennett, District 5 supervisor. Taylor said IDA gets 4 percent of land sales in the Chickasaw Trail Industrial Park, but he would like to get revenue from sales taxes that will be collected by commercial businesses like stores that will come in at Barringer Road and Goodman Road. “The county is missing out on sales tax like the city (municipalities) get,” he said “I think we need to do it (get a special taxing district) while the iron’s hot.” He expects lots of places that will sell food will be coming in and around the large warehousing and manufacturing areas in Chickasaw Trail. “With industrial growth comes community growth,” Terry said. Hall said already established local businesses may be interested in a presence at the industrial park area.

“Also at Springs Industrial Park on the south end,” Terry said.

Taylor said Highway 311 would be a good place for community growth and small business development near the park.

Hall said growth is likely to take place from Highway 309 North over to Mt. Pleasant and north of the Coldwater River to the industrial park.

The board approved a resolution to request a taxing district in this legislative session.

Another motion was passed to send a resolution to the legislature for funding of the overhead railroad projects in Byhalia and Potts Camp, the Blackwater bridge project and the expansion of Red Banks Road.

Consultant Gary Anderson urged quick action on developing the resolutions because most bills in the legislative session are in place the first 10 days of the session.