New York startup’s move to Mississippi pays off. Two of the state’s largest banks to merge: Mississippi Marketplace

Earlier this week, Mississippi entrepreneurs and investors gathered in Jackson for the annual startup conference put on by Innovate Mississippi. There are two pitch competitions as part of the event, one for early stage startups and another for later stage companies. 

The later stage competition featured 10 Mississippi companies pitching their goods and services to a panel of investors. The winner, receiving $15,000 plus attention from investors, was LOA Carbon, which recently relocated from New York to Mississippi. 

“We thought we were likely to land in either Texas or Alabama, and we didn’t really even pay attention to Mississippi,” said Ryan Shearman, the company’s CEO. But the research and development at the state’s universities, the manufacturing capacity, labor market and programs such as Innovate ultimately pushed them to choose Mississippi.

SpaceXSI Updates

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company with an ever-changing name, SpaceXSI, formerly SpaceXAI, formerly xAI, said that it expects to invest $45 billion in Mississippi, double its original announcement.

According to Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality records, SpaceXSI began construction in Southaven before it received proper permits. It now faces fines of up to $6 million.

But in a separate matter, a federal judge in an NAACP lawsuit against the company found that MDEQ misinterpreted federal clean air statutes around the company’s temporary natural gas turbines it is currently using to power its data centers.

This week, the MDEQ permit board rejected an appeal of its decision to approve an air permit for SpaceXSI’s permanent power plant. Among the permanent turbines are eight converted jet engines. It appears to be the first power plant using converted engines that has come before the permit board. 

Other news:

• The Mississippi Council on Economic Education held its annual forum to celebrate personal finance and economic education in the state.
• A mechanical and electrical fabrication contractor is investing $4.25 million to expand its operations in Greene County.
• The city of Madison approved a tax increment financing plan for a $60-million mixed use development, called the Gallery. It approved up to $11.74 million in borrowing to help pay for public infrastructure for the development. Property taxes are higher in a TIF district with the excess money going to repay the bonds, as well as sales tax revenue from within the development. Madison County may also join.
• Trustmark announced Thursday that it will merge with Hancock Whitney in a deal estimated to be valued at $3.2 billion. Together the two Mississippi headquartered banks will create a $58-billion in assets bank across six Southeastern states and an $8.9-billion market cap that the companies said would be the “premier Gulf South bank.” The deal is estimated to close in the first quarter of 2027.