Southaven is “hot” right now!  I’m happy to announce that another major industrial development is locating in our great city!  Today, we broke ground with Spectra Laboratories, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fresenius Health Care, for an $81-million, 211,000 square-foot laboratory on Stateline Road just east of Swinnea Road.  This laboratory will bring 304 new jobs to our city within two years and includes plans to expand this to 600 jobs.  The average salary for these jobs is $61,000 annually. 

Fresenius Medical Care is a leading provider of dialysis products and services for individuals with chronic renal conditions.  Spectra provides renal-specific laboratory services, including high-volume testing through automation for dialysis patients.  The new Southaven lab will perform tests covering a range of specialties, including chemistry, hematology, immunochemistry, microbiology, serology, trace elements, therapeutic drugs/water, and dialysate.

Attracting a development of this magnitude can only happen with the cooperation of state, county, and city officials.  Governor Phil Bryant reached out his hand to do everything possible on behalf of our state, along with the Mississippi Development Authority’s assistance through the Advantage Jobs and Healthcare Industry Zone incentive programs.  Desoto County and the City of Southaven both provided partial property tax exemptions as well as City-infrastructure changes needed near the location.  Jim Flanagan, the Desoto County Economic Development Council Director played a key role in coordinating all of these efforts with Fresenius management to finalize the agreement.  I’m thankful for the efforts and cooperation from all of these people.

Our City has become attractive to the health care industry for a number of reasons which I believe will lead to continued industrial growth here.  The essentials are certainly a key geographic location, excellent transportation network, qualified work force, and quality healthcare facilities nearby, however, the quality of life that Southaven offers for the employees and their families seals the deal for us.

Construction is expected to be complete with business operations beginning in early 2021.