Beyond just providing electricity to its customers, Entergy works hard to help attract new businesses to its four-state service territory.  And for the fourth consecutive year, the corporation has been recognized as one of the Top 10 utilities in North America for its work to support economic development in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. The recognition comes in this month’s issue of Site Selection magazine.

When choosing winners, the magazine considers economic development project activity; survey input from corporate end users and site consultants; website tools and data; innovative programs and incentives for business, including energy efficiency and renewable energy programs, and the utility’s own job-creating infrastructure and facility investment trends.
“From the very beginning, this company has been a strong advocate for building the economy of Mississippi,” said John Turner, director of economic development for Entergy Mississippi, Inc. “Today, we have a staff of professionals committed full-time to helping prepare the communities we serve for success in attracting, recruiting and retaining business in our state.”

Entergy was specifically cited for the $3.1 billion in new capital investments and more than 7,800 jobs that Entergy’s utility companies helped to create in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas in 2010.  

The other winners, in alphabetical order, are: Alabama Power, Ameren, Duke Energy, FirstEnergy, Georgia Power, Hoosier Energy, Hydro-Québec, Progress Energy and Tennessee Valley Authority.

“The most powerful utility economic development teams are backed by corporations that don’t just move power around — they wield it,” says Adam Bruns, managing editor of Site Selection. “They do that through innovative programs for business, collaboration with community partners and their own investment in generation, transmission and other assets. Even the bubbling cauldron of cost and regulatory challenges hasn’t tempered these leaders’ optimism in the economic development of their territories.”

Site Selection magazine, published by Conway Data Inc., delivers expansion planning information to 44,000 executives of fast-growing firms. Conway Data is an international publishing and association management company headquartered in Atlanta.

Entergy Mississippi, Inc. provides electricity to more than 435,000 customers in 45 counties. It is a subsidiary of Entergy Corporation. Entergy Corporation is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations. Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, and it is the second-largest nuclear generator in the United States. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.7 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.

Entergy Mississippi’s online address is entergy-mississippi.com.