One of the cool things about working in the media is we often get an inside look at how things work. Whether it is government bodies, events, a new business opening up, or just an old building that is being remodeled, a press pass often lets you see what is going on behind the scenes. Being a part of a group like Leadership Vicksburg affords you some of those same opportunities and, let me tell you, Vicksburg has some cool stuff to check out.

During our October session Wednesday, Vicksburg-Warren Partnership CEO Pablo Diaz gave us a tour of the Thad Cochran Mississippi Center for Innovation and Technology (MCITy). If you aren’t familiar, MCITy sits just off Washington Street on the hill above the Vicksburg Convention Center. With its walls of windows, it’s an impressive building from the outside, but the renovated three floors inside are even more awe-inspiring. 

And while I could write for a long time about just the building itself, and its more than 3,000 panes of glass that were individually cleaned and re-puttied, its third-floor spaces specifically designed for innovation and its original roof, it’s what MCITy houses that is truly a sight to behold. 

Pablo explained to us how ERDCWERX, well, works. A branch of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Research and Development (ERDC) arm, ERDCWERX is there for innovation. And the story of just how that came about – which we’ll have to revisit when time and space allows – is fascinating. The fact that representatives from our state’s research-driven universities also have a presence in MCITy with the goal of keeping some of that innovation, and the dollars it represents, inside Mississippi is also a really cool undertaking happening every day in downtown Vicksburg. 

Even our local Hinds Community College has space in MCITy and is, honestly, one of the coolest features of the building. From 3D printing to full-on virtual reality labs, there’s a ton of cool stuff our students are getting the chance to learn and practice at that location. As Pablo told us during the tour, those technologies are the future and young people wanting to get in on the ground floor can do so by working in the labs on the literal ground floor of MCITy.

All of these impressive opportunities housed at MCITy’s location are without even mentioning that the Vicksburg-Warren County Chamber of Commerce and other area organizations also call it home. Hearing Pablo explain how the building was the “jewel in the crown” of the partnership’s first five-year plan that began back in 2017 makes it all even more impressive. That wasn’t that long ago. 

Now, with a second five-year plan in place, the partnership – which is comprised of the Economic Development Foundation, the Vicksburg-Warren County Chamber of Commerce and the Warren County Port Commission – is focusing on it’s new crown jewel – the south port project. Using MCITy as a standard for what they can accomplish, that port project should excite us all even more than it already has. 

So, if you get the chance, swing by MCITy, run up to the second floor and visit with Kim or Chris at the chamber. If you join, you get some cool perks inside the building. But trust me, just a visit to say hello is well worth the time.

Blake Bell is the general manager and executive editor of The Vicksburg Post. He can be reached at blake.bell@vicksburgpost.com.