- Joey Deason brought a resolute energy to Madison County Economic Development Authority that has led to record-breaking investments and job creation.
When Joey Deason left the Golden Triangle LINK as COO in September 2017, LINK CEO Joe Max Higgins, known as a “rock star to economic developers,” had schooled him well in economic development recruitment.
“Joey did a great job when he was here,” said Higgins. “I knew he would do well.”
Of course, Deason had already earned his stripes, beginning at GM/Delphi in 1989 as global financial accounting manager, a role he continued for 17 years. He spent four years at the Mississippi Development Authority as CFO and was an executive with Schulz Xtruded Products in Memphis.
But when Deason, an accounting graduate from Mississippi State University, joined Madison County Economic Development Authority (MCEDA) as executive director in October 2017, he brought a resolute energy to the role that has led to record-breaking investments and job creation.
Under Deason’s leadership, MCEDA has 29 project wins that represent $17.6 billion in investments and 6,201 jobs created in Madison County, most importantly with average annual wages of $52,221.18. MCEDA has received $21.9 million in grants and added an estimated $115 million annually in new county revenue.
“Having good support and team is critical in these projects,” said Deason. “Madison County is lucky to have great leadership at the Board of Supervisors, who support economic development in the county. Also, the leadership in the municipalities of Madison County have worked with our office on zoning, permitting, site plans, and more to help create jobs and investments within the communities.”
In the last decade, Madison County (population 108,248) has experienced 14.6 percent growth. The population of the regional draw (45-minute drive time) is 592,294 for the Madison County Mega Site, where Amazon Web Services (AWS) is building one of its two data center campuses. Within the last two years at the Mega Site, Clark Beverage Group (Project Joy) has completed a new 400,000-square-foot beverage distribution facility and Amazon has opened a new 700,000-square-foot fulfillment center.
“Another important role is the legal, engineering, environmental, and utility teams within the county,” said Deason. ”We’ve worked with Chad Wages and the team of Wages Civil, Walt Dinkelacker and the team with Headwaters, Skip Jernigan and the team at Jernigan Copeland, Chris Pace, and the team at Jones Walker, as well as Entergy Mississippi’s economic development team. (They) played a critical role in securing the AWS project.”
AWS, a project that took at least five years to come to fruition, represents the single largest investment in Mississippi history, with $10 billion in investments to build two data center campuses, the other in Ridgeland. The investment represents 1,000 high-paying jobs.
“The construction phases have begun for both campuses,” said Deason. “The first phase will be completed in 2025, and the last phase is expected to be completed in 2027.”
Deason pointed out that “our local infrastructure teams have also been instrumental partners throughout all MCEDA’s projects.”
MCEDA collaborates with a slim team of four staffers, including Deason.
“MCEDA actually reduced staff to a staff of four during the timeframe (of the AWS project),” Deason said.
Other project wins for MCEDA since 2017 include:
- ABC Warehouse (City of Canton)
- Clark Beverage Group (325 jobs, Madison County)
- Nissan EV expansion (Madison County, across from the Mega Site)
- Amazon.com (3,000 jobs, Madison County, at the Mega Site)
- Entergy Mississippi (81 jobs, City of Flora)
- Tony’s Tamales (City of Flora)
- Southern Beverage (200 jobs, City of Ridgeland)
- UPS Distribution Facility (161 jobs, City of Ridgeland)
- Fastenal (62 jobs, City of Gluckstadt)
Lynne Jeter
