Governor Reeves visits Stone County to announce new Enviva plant

WIGGINS, Miss. (WLOX) - Governor Tate Reeves visited the Stone County Courthouse Tuesday to announce a new Enviva plant coming to the area.

“This is a big, big deal for South Mississippi,” Reeves said. “We’re so excited that we’re seeing this. Our economy’s on fire.”

Enviva is the world’s largest producer of industrial wood pellets. They are used as a renewable energy source for heat and electricity around the world.

The company is investing about $250 million into the new facility that will located directly off Highway 49 in Bond. It will be the third manufacturing facility in the state.

Enviva already produces about 6.2 million metric tons of pellets in Mississippi each year, but they expect to produce about 13 million metric tons over the next five years with the new plant.

Officials are promising about 100 new local jobs with wages projected to be about 70 percent higher than the county average.

“We are a company of plants and ports and pellets, but none of that happens without people,” President and CEO John Keppler said. “And the people of Stone County, all the work we’ve done here, some of the most remarkable workforce in the entire nation, and we’re really excited about being able to bring, not just jobs, but careers and long-term development.”

Enviva’s other plants are located in Amory and Lucedale. The company has invested $600 million in Mississippi and supports more than 850 direct and indirect jobs across the state.

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