Three sites within the Ceres Industrial Park are getting a marketing boost on a national and international scale thanks to now being qualified through Entergy’s Economic Development Qualified Site Program.

For more than a year, officials with the Vicksburg-Warren Economic Development Partnership have worked to achieve that certification, knowing it provides a competitive advantage when seeking new industrial partners for the park. 

In an announcement, Entergy said the Ceres Industrial Park now features three qualified parcels totaling 266 acres in the park located 10 miles east of Vicksburg on Interstate 20.

The Qualified Site Program certifies that professional engineers and other specialists have completed an in-depth analysis of the property. It also ensures results of the studies are available for review. Projects undertaken on these sites are overseen by a team that provides answers, solves problems, streamlines processes and removes the red tape that can complicate a business’s location or expansion.

“The Qualified Site Program helps businesses go from concept to operations quickly and efficiently, and with accurate cost estimates,” said Ed Gardner, Entergy Mississippi director of business and economic development. “It eliminates the unknown and mitigates much of the risk inherent with developing a site.”

Site development is costly for communities, so leveraging local resources with those from agencies like Entergy, the Delta Regional Authority and the Mississippi Development Authority is vital. 

“Entergy’s economic development team is a true and reliable partner for Mississippi communities. They have worked along with us to get our sites certified and are now investing along with us in developing marketing strategies to help us attract jobs to those sites,” said Pablo Diaz, president and CEO of the Vicksburg-Warren Economic Development Partnership. “We thank Entergy for being an active member of our economic development team from the beginning and for the important role they have played in the creation of hundreds of jobs in our community in recent years.”

Part of the monies used to get the three sites certified came from a grant announced in May 2019 from the Mississippi Development Authority.

Entergy Mississippi’s other qualified sites are in Adams, Bolivar, DeSoto, Hinds, Madison, Rankin, Tunica and Washington counties.

Entergy will now provide resources to promote the qualified sites. The company will market them to national and international brokerage firms and site consultants.

“We’re proud to add these sites to our growing list of certified sites,” Gardner said. “And we commend our economic development partners for the significant investment they put in to meet the requirements of our program.”

The Partnership also won a 2020 grant award from Entergy’s Excellerator Grants program. It will use the $10,000 grant to build an access road leading into a 174-acre site in the park. The Partnership won Excellerator grants in 2018 and 2019, as well.