After years of planning, developing, and building, an official grand opening and ribbon-cutting was held Thursday for the Thad
Cochran MCITy building on Washington Street.

With a mission of advancing the high-tech environment and accelerating technology centered economic development in Mississippi, MCITy is the crown jewel of a partnership between research and development, tech transfer and collaboration, building the workforce of tomorrow and entrepreneurship, officials said.

“On behalf of the Vicksburg-Warren Economic Development Foundation and the economic partnership led by Pablo Diaz, I want to thank you and welcome you to this very special day,” MCITy Director Dr. Jeffery Holland told the crowd at Thursday’s event.

Holland said many people played a role in the creation of MCITy, which is named after the late Sen. Cochran, including Mississippi Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, who served as Thursday’s keynote speaker.

“It was on February 21, of 2020, that Sen. Hyde- Smith stood downstairs and christened the spot and we talked about the potential for what might be,” Holland said. “And today you can see that that dream did, in fact, come true.”

Holland said while the finished MCITy product is aesthetically pleasing, the ultimate goal of the building lies with a much deeper purpose.

“It is here for the purpose of providing an opportunity for economic development for this state and its people,” he said.

Holland said MCITy is already home to a number of groups, including Alcorn State University, ERDCWERX, Hinds Community College, the Mississippi State University E-Center, Broadway Ventures, the Vicksburg-Warren Partnership, The Mississippi Research Consortium – made up of Mississippi State, the University of Mississippi, Jackson State, and the University of
Southern Mississippi, the City of Vicksburg, Delta Regional Authority, and 2R3 Properties, LLC.

“This center, with its partners, represents an opportunity to make dreams a reality,” Holland said.