Lowndes County has been named No. 17 among the top 20 counties in the nation for economic development per capita by Site Selection Magazine.
Site Selection is a national magazine recognized as a leading publication in corporate real estate, facility planning, location analysis and foreign direct investment. The annual ranking is based on total points awarded to counties for the number of projects between January 2024 and March 2025, capital investment and the number of jobs created.
Lowndes County was one of only two Mississippi counties to make the top 20, with Marshall County claiming the No. 20 spot.
Board of Supervisors President Trip Hairston said the honor reflects a longstanding commitment from local leaders and partners to prioritize economic development in the county.
“This is years and years and years worth of investment … that has come to fruition, and we’ve seen the benefits of that,” Hairston told The Dispatch on Tuesday.
Golden Triangle Development LINK Chief Operating Officer Meryl Fisackerly said the recognition is the result of hard work shared by county officials, economic development partners and the community.
“Lowndes County continues to deliver real results and this recognition confirms we are moving in the right direction,” Fisackerly wrote in a text to The Dispatch.
Hairston credited projects like the Aluminum Dynamics site, Terberg Taylor and continued development at the Infinity Megasite as major contributors to the county’s placement on the list.
“It’s not by happenstance,” he said. “It’s a well deserved honor, but it’s one that we’ve worked for and have invested in to receive.”
Hairston said the recognition underscores the county’s prioritization of economic development, all the way from landing major industries and creating jobs down to the behind-the-scenes decisions made each month in an effort to maintain growth.
“We’re not sitting there with our hands folded, waiting on industries to come to us,” he said. “We’re investing in the industrial park and the infrastructure to have marketable sites that are shovel ready.”
It doesn’t hurt that Lowndes County is situated on a major highway, within a nationwide rail system, along the Tennessee Tombigbee Waterway and within the Tennessee Valley Authority region, Hairston said. Combine those factors and the county’s willingness to invest in economic development, and you’ve got a recipe for success, he said.
“If you want, in my opinion, a textbook case study of how to grow a region’s economic development, you take Lowndes County, and there’s your textbook chapter,” he said. “… It’s not something that happens overnight, obviously, but it is something that we’ve seen over the years, and we really are proud to be a part of that. I’m glad to see some national recognition for it.”
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
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