The project is the cloud computing giant's second data center buildout in the state, following AWS’ 2024 commitment to spend at least $10 billion on hyperscale data centers in Madison County.
During an announcement event in downtown Vicksburg, Gov. Tate Reeves said the project reflects growing confidence in Mississippi’s ability to support large-scale technology operations.
“Our state has the talent, our state has the infrastructure and our people have the work ethic to be a major hub in American technological innovation,” Reeves said.
The Warren County campus is expected to create at least 200 full-time jobs and support about 300 additional positions in the region, according to Amazon and state officials. Construction is slated to begin in 2026.
Following the announcement, Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, a native of Vicksburg, credited Mississippi’s tax and incentive structure for landing the project, pointing to the state’s M-FLEX program and years of investments to create industrial sites with utilities in place. He said lawmakers plan to keep putting around $20 million a year into site development, including a new port on a large tract near Vicksburg.
“They could be anywhere literally in the world. They’re in like 100 countries,” Hosemann said. “So for them to come to Vicksburg and Warren County means that they’re happy with Madison County.”
AWS' project in Warren County will also receive the Mississippi Major Economic Impact Authority incentives that were initially passed for the Madison County AWS campuses. Those benefits include long-term corporate income tax exemptions, sales tax rebates on construction and equipment and state-backed infrastructure financing. Many of the incentives can extend for up to 30 years if AWS keeps meeting investment and job thresholds.
Education officials say AWS’ commitments to invest in Vicksburg Warren School District workforce programs will create new opportunities for students.
School board trustee Brian Pratt said Hinds Community College’s Vicksburg campus and the district’s River City Early College high school are positioned to offer technical certifications in cybersecurity and IT, pipelines he said can help give young people reasons to stay in the region.
“Now our students have the opportunity to live here, make a very good wage at a very meaningful career within their community and not have to leave Vicksburg or leave the state,” Pratt said.
A portion of Amazon’s payments in lieu of property taxes would also flow to the VWSD. Pratt said it’s needed, as the district still feels the revenue loss from Entergy shuttering their Baxter Wilson power plant several years ago.
To meet the enormous electrical demand of the AWS campus and other power-intensive industrial projects, Entergy is building a new $1.2 billion natural-gas power station on the site of the decommissioned Baxter Wilson plant.
Retired banking executive and local business owner Mark Buys said the magnitude of construction alone will change the area’s trajectory, as thousands of workers will be needed for the AWS and Entergy projects. Buys, a Vicksburg native who has worked in local development for four decades, said the scale of the AWS project is unprecedented.
“I’ve seen the peaks and the valleys of our local community, and this is, by far, the mountaintop,” Buys said.
The arrival of a global cloud computing provider is being cast as a new chapter for Vicksburg as officials look to reverse population decline and broaden an economy long dominated by tourism, casinos and river commerce.
Mayor Willis Thompson said the campus will strengthen the tax base, expand city services and help fund improvements to water, sewer and public safety. . He noted that beyond ad valorem taxes, the five-to-seven-year buildout will boost demand for hotel rooms, apartments, and housing developments that have sat idle.
Buys believes the arrival of a global cloud provider will attract additional suppliers and technology companies looking to tap into the region’s potential to become a durable tech corridor,
Vicksburg sits on the Interstate-20 long-haul fiber corridor, a multi-state backbone route that carries several major carriers’ lines across the Mississippi River. Buys says that strong connectivity combined with convenient physical transportation routes and local energy providers make the area an ideal site for digital infrastructure.
“We were a great place to be, and for whatever reason, it just hasn't materialized, but Amazon saw the benefit of all those things being here,” Buys said.
