Mississippi receives a Silver Shovel Award for its sixth consecutive year from Area Development magazine. The award is based on economic development effectiveness. Area Development is a leading economic development publication covering site selection and facility planning. The Shovel Awards are presented to state economic development agencies demonstrating significant economic development success based on the number of high-value-added jobs per capita, amount of investment, number of new facilities and industry diversity. All 50 states were invited to submit their Top-10 job creation and investment projects for 2015. Mississippi’s submissions included Raybern Foods’ new manufacturing facility in Tupelo, United Furniture’s expansion into Verona, Winston Plywood and Veneer’s new plant in Louisville, H.M. Richards’ expansion in Guntown, Koch Foods’ expansions in Morton and Forest, Sofidel’s new manufacturing operations in Hattiesburg, Biewer Lumber’s new saw mill in Newton, ABB’s new manufacturing operations in Senatobia, Steel Dynamics’ new paint facility in Columbus and AmerisourceBergen’s new distribution operations in Olive Branch. To view a complete list of the 2016 Shovel Award winners, visit areadevelopment.com/Gold-Shovel-Econdev-Awards
