In the wake of Hurricane Katrina’s impact on the Mississippi Gulf Coast in 2005, the Port of Gulfport was faced with overcoming one of the largest natural disasters in the nation’s history. In December 2007, the Mississippi Development Authority (MDA) requested funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to provide financial assistance to support the restoration of the region as well as for the restoration and expansion of the Port of Gulfport. These investments would lay the groundwork for decades of economic growth in the region.
State and local leaders committed to a multi-year vision of a more competitive Port of Gulfport that would be double in size and optimized for efficiency, with an inland port complex to add capacity, a deeper channel to open up new markets and opportunities, and a possible future expansion based of the Port based on market demand. The most notable example of this long-term effort is the $570 million Port of Gulfport Restoration Project. The multi-faceted project is proceeding on several fronts and the Port’s business development efforts are making significant strides toward the goal of position the Port of Gulfport as important economic catalyst for the surrounding community and the region.
