Ribbon cut on “largest economic development project in city’s history”
By Randy Bell
Clinton Mayor WIll Purdie joins AWS officials Roger Wehner to cut the ribbon at the data center site in Clinton as members of the Board of Aldermen and the Hinds Co. Supervisors watch.
Under a tent in the parking lot of the old Delphi Packard Electric plant in the Clinton Industrial Park, City and Hinds County leaders joined their data center partners June 9 in speaking glowingly about the $1 billion Amazon Web Services facility that’s being built there, calling it transformational. Then, they walked out into the sunshine to cut a ribbon, an event serving as the local kickoff for a project AWS officially announced in Ridgeland exactly two months earlier.
Roger Wehner, Amazon’s vice president for economic development, told the crowd that the Clinton data center has been in the works for less than a year, and he thanked Mayor Will Purdie for helping to speed the process along.
“Your team and you, you were incredibly diligent, but you had the ability to move fast,” Wehner said. “That’s a rare combination that we see today, being a great advocate for your community, holding people to a high bar, but executing with speed and agility. We appreciate that more than you know.”
Wehner also expressed his thanks to the Hinds County Board of Supervisors for its work in accelerating some of the early work on the project.
“Creating speed to market is super important for us,” said Wehner. “It made the difference, candidly, between this project happening and not happening. We owe you a debt of gratitude for your efforts.”
The Amazon official said, once it’s up and running, the facility will bring well over one hundred permanent jobs to the Clinton area.
“These are skilled, technical careers in a growing industry, and our commitment is that the people of Hinds County and Clinton will fill them first,” said Wehner.
Purdie called it “a truly historic moment in the life of our city.” He pointed out that the data center is “by far the largest economic development project in our city’s history.”
The mayor said it’s also important because it breathes new life into a building which has sat vacant for years.
“This site once provided hundreds of jobs for our residents and residents of the surrounding area but today stands largely quiet. Now, we officially begin its new chapter.”
Clinton Mayor Will Purdie
Purdie said the impact of Amazon’s investment “will be felt for years to come through construction activity, permanent high-skill jobs, expanded tax revenues, stronger public services, support for our schools and long-term resources that improve quality of life for Clinton residents.”
Hinds County Supervisors President Robert Graham said the addition of the data center means that “Clinton will have the distinction of hosting two Fortune 500 companies—Continental Tire and Amazon Web Services.”
According to Graham, “Something special happens when Amazon comes to town. I believe one undeniable takeaway from the arrival of Amazon is that brighter days are ahead.”
Rob Sim is Project Executive for Alston Construction, which is building the data center.
“The economic impact of this project to the Clinton area will be substantial,” Sim said. “At peak construction, as many as 1,500 craft workers will be active on site; and the contribution of that workforce will extend well into the surrounding community, supporting local businesses, hospitality and commerce throughout the region. We are equally proud that nearly a third of our subcontractor partners are Mississippi-based businesses, ensuring that investment flows directly back into the state and local economies.”
Sim announced that his company intends to sponsor local initiatives in Clinton.
“We look forward to engaging with community leadership to identify areas where our support can be most effectively directed and where it will deliver the greatest long-term benefit to residents.”
He said work on the 730,000 square foot building began in earnest in mid-April.
“The vast majority of it has been abatement, getting rid of hazardous materials, some targeted demolition of interior structures, things like that, and really just prepping the site for large-scale construction,” Sim noted. He said the first phase of the project should be finished “about this time next year.”
