In 2000, Nissan chose to locate a major new manufacturing plant in Canton, Mississippi. Prior to the opening of the Nissan facility in 2003, there were no automotive assembly facilities in Mississippi. In less than four years, over one million cars had been built at the Canton site, many of which were four model types that hadn’t been built anywhere else before.
In February 2007, Toyota Motor Corporation announced it would build its eighth North American manufacturing facility near Tupelo, Mississippi. The facility will manufacture the Toyota Prius, the world’s most popular gasoline/electric hybrid vehicle, and will produce over 7,000 direct and indirect jobs within five years of the plant’s opening. Later in 2007, PACCAR, a global leader in the design and manufacture of premium light-, medium- and heavy-duty trucks, announced it would build its engine manufacturing and assembly plant in Lowndes County, Mississippi. Toyota’s and PACCAR’s decisions to locate manufacturing facilities in Mississippi have made the state even more attractive to automotive suppliers, and almost 200 suppliers now call Mississippi home.
These companies all have taken advantage of Mississippi’s strong, supportive business climate, where the workforce is skilled, plentiful and largely non-unionized, and approximately 15 percent of the workforce is employed in manufacturing, the fifth highest per capita in the nation. The State provides numerous workforce training programs, often through partnerships between businesses and the state’s community colleges, and tailors these programs toward the specific needs of businesses. Mississippi State University in Starkville is home to the Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems (CAVS), established in 2001 to further the state’s interaction with the automotive industry, and the State of Mississippi, University of Mississippi and Toyota have recently joined together to establish the Center for Manufacturing Excellence. The center will be located at the University of Mississippi in Oxford and, through collaboration with the state’s manufacturers, it will offer degrees in engineering with an emphasis on manufacturing, along with other industry-relevant cross-disciplinary studies.
In addition, Mississippi provides companies with economic incentive programs for job creation, investment, retraining of employees, and research and development activities. Construction and energy costs in Mississippi are below national averages, and business taxes are well below the national average. For 2008, CNBC ranked Mississippi 10th in the nation for cost of living and 17th for cost of doing business, factoring in the state’s business taxes, utility costs, wages and workers’ compensation insurance rates. Mississippi’s Department of Environmental Quality offers manufacturers a one-stop permitting process for all environmental permits and regulations, and the State enacted tort reform legislation in 2004 to ensure fairness in the courtroom for Mississippi businesses. And Mississippi’s strong business climate continues to yield substantial benefits, with record employment levels in 2008 and a 26 percent increase in per capita income the last four years.
Mississippi’s location and transportation network provide substantial benefits to the automotive industry. Mississippi is located in the heart of the Southern Automotive Corridor and is within a day’s drive of more than 50 percent of the U.S. business population. The state’s highway system ranks among the four best in the country and the best in the southern United States. Four interstate highways and 17 rail systems with more than 2,800 miles of track serve the state, and Mississippi’s 15 ports include two deepwater ports on the Gulf Coast that provide access to worldwide commerce.
In February 2007, Toyota Motor Corporation announced it would build its eighth North American manufacturing facility near Tupelo, Mississippi. The facility will manufacture the Toyota Prius, the world’s most popular gasoline/electric hybrid vehicle, and will produce over 7,000 direct and indirect jobs within five years of the plant’s opening. Later in 2007, PACCAR, a global leader in the design and manufacture of premium light-, medium- and heavy-duty trucks, announced it would build its engine manufacturing and assembly plant in Lowndes County, Mississippi. Toyota’s and PACCAR’s decisions to locate manufacturing facilities in Mississippi have made the state even more attractive to automotive suppliers, and almost 200 suppliers now call Mississippi home.
These companies all have taken advantage of Mississippi’s strong, supportive business climate, where the workforce is skilled, plentiful and largely non-unionized, and approximately 15 percent of the workforce is employed in manufacturing, the fifth highest per capita in the nation. The State provides numerous workforce training programs, often through partnerships between businesses and the state’s community colleges, and tailors these programs toward the specific needs of businesses. Mississippi State University in Starkville is home to the Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems (CAVS), established in 2001 to further the state’s interaction with the automotive industry, and the State of Mississippi, University of Mississippi and Toyota have recently joined together to establish the Center for Manufacturing Excellence. The center will be located at the University of Mississippi in Oxford and, through collaboration with the state’s manufacturers, it will offer degrees in engineering with an emphasis on manufacturing, along with other industry-relevant cross-disciplinary studies.
In addition, Mississippi provides companies with economic incentive programs for job creation, investment, retraining of employees, and research and development activities. Construction and energy costs in Mississippi are below national averages, and business taxes are well below the national average. For 2008, CNBC ranked Mississippi 10th in the nation for cost of living and 17th for cost of doing business, factoring in the state’s business taxes, utility costs, wages and workers’ compensation insurance rates. Mississippi’s Department of Environmental Quality offers manufacturers a one-stop permitting process for all environmental permits and regulations, and the State enacted tort reform legislation in 2004 to ensure fairness in the courtroom for Mississippi businesses. And Mississippi’s strong business climate continues to yield substantial benefits, with record employment levels in 2008 and a 26 percent increase in per capita income the last four years.
Mississippi’s location and transportation network provide substantial benefits to the automotive industry. Mississippi is located in the heart of the Southern Automotive Corridor and is within a day’s drive of more than 50 percent of the U.S. business population. The state’s highway system ranks among the four best in the country and the best in the southern United States. Four interstate highways and 17 rail systems with more than 2,800 miles of track serve the state, and Mississippi’s 15 ports include two deepwater ports on the Gulf Coast that provide access to worldwide commerce.
