Key Economic Factors 

Some of the key economic drivers and other growth information are: 

• Stennis Space Center increasing work force from 4,500 to 9,000 by 2010;
• Mississippi Development Authority predicts that the $600 M port expansion  will generate 5,400 maritime related jobs in 2015  based on $600M;
• US Navy has awarded Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, which employs over 10,000 people, a $1.4 BILLION contract for construction of a new warship;
• Keesler Air Force Base, which already has 11,200 employees and provides $1.2 billion in economic impact is one of the finalists for the nation’s headquarters in the fight against cyber terrorism which could bring up to 10,000 jobs;
• PSL-North America locating new pipe manufacturing facility in Hancock County will employ hundreds of employees;
• Booming casino industry is expecting to add 30,000 more jobs 2010 (see below);
• For every casino job it is expected that another 1.5 ancillary jobs will be created;
• Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, Inc. is recognized as a leading producer of the world’s most powerful jet engines;
• ITT Corporation Systems Division is a major supplier of sophisticated military defense systems and services;
• Lockheed Martin Space Systems operates a spacecraft propulsion and thermal system product center.  "By opening the doors of this world-class facility, the State of Mississippi, NASA and Lockheed Martin have ushered in a new era of high-tech jobs for the Gulf Coast in the 21st Century," said Lockheed Martin Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Vance Coffman;
• Halter Marine VT Halter Marine, Inc. is a full service shipbuilding company with modern Design, Engineering, Shipbuilding, Program Management, and Logistics Resources;
• Rolls Royce has an outdoor jet engine testing facility at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s John C. Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. This facility will be used to test development and prototype jet engines for performance, noise, validation of safety systems and other factors.  There are only three such testing facilities in the world;
• MS Gulf Coast corridor aerospace industry the Mississippi Gulf Coast is also part of the Gulf Coast I-10 Corridor, an urbanized region that spans 300 miles across four states, from the Baton Rouge MSA in Louisiana to the Fort Walton Beach MSA in Florida.  The I-10 Corridor, in fact, has become         increasingly innovative. It’s home to 150 federal and university research units involved in everything from artificial intelligence to stem cell research.  The region’s innovation infrastructure also includes science and technology parks, technology transfer offices, incubators and more.           
• Traffic at Gulfport Biloxi International Airport expected to grow by 25% in the next 3 months;
• Housing Predictor projects that Biloxi, MS, to be the 8^th highest appreciating market in the US for 2008;
• National Association of Realtors expects the price growth in the Gulfport-Biloxi Region to range from 9.2% to 16.2% in 2008. 
• BAE Systems said it expects a third of its annual profit to come from North America. Lucy Reilly Fitch, vice president of corporate development for BAE’s North American division, told Washington Technology that BAE is focusing on additional opportunities in the North American defense market, adding that it’s bigger than the next 14 markets combined.  Ten years ago sales for large defense companies was some $5 billion, but today it’s closer to $30 billion. “That is what is driving our growth,” she said.