Key Industries

Trent Lott International Airport

The area's heritage in aerospace and aviation dates back to the 1960s with the establishment of a NASA rocket test facility, and continues to this day with Jackson County's emerging leadership in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV). Jackson County, Mississippi is home to one of the only UAV plants in the world and the county's Trent Lott International Airport is currently approved for flight testing the Navy's Fire Scout UAV.

South Mississippi has leading-edge research practical experience with composites that go into aircraft plants that use composites to make fixed-wing and rotary unmanned air-crafts builds the next generation of warships that will launch robot aircraft the satellite makers whose high-flying craft and remote sensors are key to command and control as well as surveillance companies that build the engines that power spacecraft's engine testing facilities With a high quality of life and low cost of doing business, the Mississippi Gulf Coast has been a contender for some of the most high-profile projects in the aerospace industry.

Ingalls Shipbuilding

The French first started building ships here in the 1700s, but the old Gulf Coast industry is hardly recognizable today. Undergoing some major changes with the introduction of new shipbuilding materials and high-tech methods of production, it's both a heavy industry and one of the most technical.

South Mississippi is at the center of the largest shipbuilding region in the nation, and it is home to the biggest shipbuilder of them all - Ingalls Shipbuilding, a division of Huntington Ingalls. Jackson County, Mississippi is where most of the nation's surface warships are built, as well as crucial equipment for deep-water exploration. While it's generally known that South Mississippi is a major player in the shipbuilding industry, what may be less well known is that the Gulf Coast over the past 25 years has slowly grabbed a larger piece of the nation's shipbuilding pie. While the number of major shipyards on the East Coast and the West Coast have decreased, the number on the Gulf Coast has remained relatively high. What's more, there's a growing synergy in this region, with both the aerospace and advanced materials sectors growing.

Omega Protein

Omega Protein is the world's largest manufacturer of heart-healthy fish oils containing Omega-3 fatty acids for human consumption, as well as, specialty fish meals and fish oil used as value-added ingredients in aquaculture, swine and other livestock feeds. Omega Protein makes its products from menhaden, an Omega-3 rich fish that is not utilized for seafood, but which is abundantly available along the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Coasts.

As North America's leading manufacturer of marine protein and fish oil, the company accounts for over 70% of the menhaden caught in the United States and over 15% of the nation's total seafood landings. Omega Protein is one of the largest fishing companies in the United States in terms of tonnage, and one of the largest fish meal companies in the world. Omega Protein's fishing vessels and spotter planes are housed at the company's home ports and processing plants, one of which is in Moss Point, Mississippi.

Marine & Wildlife

Audubon's Mission is to conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds, other wildlife, and their habitats for the benefit of humanity and the earth's biological diversity. For more than a century, Audubon has built a legacy of conservation success by mobilizing the strength of its network of members, Chapters, Audubon Centers, state offices and dedicated professional staff to connect people with nature and the power to protect it.

A powerful combination of science, education and policy expertise combine in efforts ranging from protection and restoration of local habitats to the implementation of policies that safeguard birds, other wildlife and the resources that sustain us all-in the U.S. and Across the Americas