Amazon breaks ground on site here
Ground was broken on a new $10 billion Amazon Web Services center in the Madison County MegaSite on Monday.
The first wave of Data Centers could be operational as early as the second or third quarter of 2025, Madison County Economic Development Authority Executive Director Joey Deason said.
“The future looks extremely bright for Madison County and we are excited about our future with our newest corporate citizen, AWS,” Deason said.
According to Deason, construction work on the MegaSite began months ago and hiring is currently underway.
“The first crucial role members of the Mississippi AWS Team have been hired and most will be moving to Madison County within the next two months,” Deason said.
Three Fiber Fusion Splicing courses were held this week in the area this week including two in Madison County.
Dignitaries at the groundbreaking held at the spec building at the MegaSite on the morning of Monday, May 20, included Gov. Tate Reeves, Sen. Roger Wicker, Rep. Michael Guest, Rep. Bennie Thompson, Rep. Cindy Hyde-Smith, The Madison County Board of Supervisors as well as Canton Mayor Dr. William truly and Ridgeland Mayor Gene F. McGee as well as others.
“This is a monumental occasion,” Deason said at the ceremony.
The investment by AWS is the single largest capital investment in Mississippi history and four times the size of the previous largest economic development project. The project was announced in January.
Gov. Reeves commended the legislature for quickly working to pass legislation to accommodate the investment which claims to bring as many as 1,000 jobs to Madison County across two facilities.
One is under construction at the MegaSite and the other will be built off of the Highland Colony Parkway across from the new Southern Beverage facility in Ridgeland.
Reeves said it took “many, many hands, many many hours of hard work” to bring this project to light.
The Governor told members of the press after the ceremony that the data center is an example of the future of the job market not only locally but globally.
“You have heard me say this a lot. We want to focus on training Mississippians not for the jobs of the last 50 years but for the jobs of the next fifty years,” He said.
He said the AWS data center was a ”prime example” of the jobs that are going to be available globally.
“These are very high-paying jobs that require specific skills,” Reeves said.
He said Amazon is a company that invests globally but chose Mississippi and specifically Madison County in part for the friendly business environment and prospects in education and workforce development.
As work continues at the MegaSite, Deason said the Ridgeland location is moving along as well.
“Construction on the new (Entergy) substation is underway with Clearing and Grubbing completed,” Deason said. “We expect pad construction for the first wave of Data Centers to begin within the next four weeks.”
Mayor McGee said Tuesday evening that he was “excited” to see the center move forward and noted it was of “unbelievable quality.” He said he hoped to see construction begin next year.
“We should see buildings going up in the air in 2025,” McGee said. “Once they get moving they move in a hurry.”