“We are grateful for our partnership with the Edison Chouest team and are excited for the continued success of Gulf Ship and its skilled workers in Harrison County,” Reeves, who is now seeking reelection, said in an MDA announcement on Sept. 17, 2020.
Carroll did not answer the question, but said in a statement Monday: “This is just a distraction from his campaign from real issues like the Governor’s action to put $700 million into hospitals.”by requiring hospitals to pay higher taxes to draw down significantly more federal money. The plan requires federal approval, and Reeves announced it weeks before the Nov. 7 election.
“I think this is just another example in the long record of his pay-to-play schemes, whether it be with the industry, whether it be with appointments to boards and commissions,” Presley said. “You know, the most dangerous place to be in Mississippi is between Tate Reeves and a campaign check.” In December 2018, MDA voided its agreement to provide $36 million in grants and incentives to Topship because the company failed to provide its own investment or fulfill its promise to create 1,000 jobs to develop property on Gulfport’s Industrial Seaway.