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Citing some impressive statistics, Deason illustrated just how strong Madison County is. “There are 3112
counties in the United States. Of those, Madison County ranks #138 in people 18 to 55 being employed. The
next highest county in the state is Rankin County, at #1082. The labor force in Madison County is strong, with
over 68 percent of adults ages 18 to 55 who are working. The average income is $61,895, which is the highest
income in the state. Madison County also has the highest number of both high school and college graduates,
and 12 percent of high schoolers score a 30 or above on the ACT exam.
Deason says there are currently five projects in MCEDA’s book of business, which represents a $1.4 billion
investment in the county. “We have three projects through MCEDA,
one through Entergy and one through the Mississippi
Development Authority. What we have learned is that if you
work to help yourself, other people will work to help you.”
That point was illustrated by the new Madison County Mega Site entrance road, which was financed with
$450 million from the Delta Regional Authority, $250 million by the MDA, and $15 million by Entergy, who
is also building a $57 million substation at the Mega Site. “The substation will provide 80 megawatts of
electrical power, with the capacity to provide 300 megawatts with triple redundancy. If you don’t understand
what that means, it’s a lot of power! Entergy wouldn’t be investing that kind of money if they didn’t believe
in what we are doing here. It’s all because our team was able to purchase 350 acres which can support
a large data center and other large projects,” Deason continued.
Hometown MADISON • 19