Governor to unveil ‘Project Silver’ Monday

Published 8:25 pm Friday, September 18, 2020

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NATCHEZ — “Project Silver” may be the “worst-kept secret” in Natchez, according to local economic development officials.

However, they are still keeping tight-lipped about the project that Gov. Tate Reeves is coming to town to announce on Monday.

The unnamed company that will be bringing an eventual 200 jobs to downtown Natchez will be named in an 11 a.m. ceremony Monday at the Natchez Convention Center.

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“The actual company information and details about the actual project itself since the governor is announcing it at the 11 o’clock hour (Monday), we are really not at any liberty to give out any of that information,” said Chandler Russ, executive director of Natchez Inc., which is the economic development authority.

Russ did say the company will hire a minimum of 200 employees by the end of 2022 and will be located in the old Regions building in downtown Natchez.

“They are opening immediately and will begin hiring immediately, “Russ said. “They will have temporary accommodations until the renovation is complete.”

Also to accommodate Project Silver the old A&P grocery story building will be demolished and renovated for parking, Russ said.

“You will see them go in waves of (hiring) probably in batches of 20 and then keep continuing to add 20 over that period of time,” Russ said of the company’s hiring plans.

Russ would not reveal any information about the nature of the business other than to say it is in the field of “data and information processing.”

“It is a great project that we are very excited about, and we are excited to have the governor come in and announce it at 11 o’clock on Monday,” Russ said.

All will be revealed at Reeves’ Project Silver announcement event at 11 a.m. Monday in the Natchez Convention Center. Attendance will be limited to 100 people to allow for social distancing.

The event will be streamed on Natchez Inc.’s Facebook page, Russ said.