MDA Team
Gray Swoope
Executive Director
Mississippi Development Authority
gswoope@mississippi.org
In January 2007, Governor Haley Barbour appointed Gray Swoope as the Executive Director of the Mississippi Development Authority (MDA), the state’s leading economic development agency. He joined MDA in 2004 bringing over 20 years of economic development experience including work on the local, regional and state levels in both Mississippi and Arkansas. Gray has made MDA’s mission of “fostering a strong state economy and developing vibrant communities to improve our citizens’ lives,” his life’s work, and he drives the MDA team with the mantra of changing lives and changing minds in all that the agency does.
Gray oversees nearly 300 employees – all engaged in providing services to businesses, communities and leaders throughout Mississippi. The agency is houses divisions that specialize in various aspects of economic development for the state from traditional business recruitment and retention to developing tourism assets such as our cultural heritage.
As the head of Mississippi’s economic development agency, Gray has been instrumental in securing such recent projects as Toyota’s eighth North American automotive manufacturing plant along with five tier-one suppliers; SeverCorr’s steel mini mill, GE Aviation’s composite engine parts facility, PACCAR’s engine manufacturing plant, Automated Data Processing, Inc.’s Solutions Center and PSL-NA’s pipe manufacturing and coating facility. Since joining MDA, Gray has helped generate billions in new investment to the state, creating nearly 55,000 new jobs.
Gray also continues to advance the state’s Tourism Industry; Mississippi will welcome over 22 million business and leisure travelers, generating over six billion in visitor expenditures to the state this year.
Additionally, Gray has overseen Mississippi's recovery from the greatest natural disaster in U.S. history, Hurricane Katrina – awarding over one billion in Homeowner Assistance Program grants to help Mississippians devastated by the hurricane rebuild their homes and their lives.
Gray is a West Point, Mississippi native and a fourth-generation Mississippian. His work has allowed him to cover the state – working in South, Central and North Mississippi.
Prior to joining MDA, Gray served as president of the Area Development Partnership (ADP), a three-county economic development agency based in Hattiesburg.
He has served on the board of directors for the Southern Economic Development Council and as president of the Mississippi Economic Development Council. He currently serves on the Editorial Advisory Committee for The Leader, the official publication of CoreNet Global.
He received both his undergraduate and graduate degrees in business administration from Mississippi State University.
In February 2008, he was selected as the Mississippi State University Alumni Association Central Chapter “Alumni of the Year” for his contributions to overall economic development in Mississippi and his efforts to link development to research and development partnerships at the university.
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