Governor Tate Reeves joined officials with Steel Dynamics to break ground on the “biggest economic development project” in state history, beginning construction on a $2.5 billion Aluminum Dynamics facility in Lowndes County.
Steel Dynamics’ new state-of-the-art, low-carbon recycled aluminum flat-rolled mill is expected to create 1,000 new jobs in the Golden Triangle with an average salary of $93,000. The company has also stated that it will pay for the college education of each of the employee’s children.
“That business unit includes all the different functions, whether it’s engineering, sales, IT, accounting. All those things would be at the site of the facility… as well as production jobs,” said Rick Poinsatte, Vice President of Business Development at Steel Dynamics. “There are entry-level jobs as well. We have the opportunity for someone to take that job and continue to build their skills.”
The project will nearly double the previous largest corporate capital investment in state history, as the Mississippi legislature approved an up-front investment totaling $246,798,000 last year.
In early November, Reeves called legislators into a special session to pass three bills that would create a special fund called the Triple Crown Project Fund for the expansion of Steel Dynamics’ campus in Columbus.
“More and more people are wanting to do business here and more and more people are wanting to invest their capital here and hire Mississippians,” Reeves said. “And because of that, every day we are delivering more and more economic opportunity for our people. Opportunity that will help lead to more meaningful careers and create more generational wealth.”
Once Reeves signed the legislation two weeks later, a total of $54 million was immediately made available to the company. The other tranches of funding will be given after the plant’s completion and once hiring goals are met.
At this time, the construction of the facility is anticipated to be complete by 2025.
