Workforce/Talent

Accelerate Mississippi is the state’s workforce development office, coordinating training, credentialing, and talent pipeline programs across industry, K-12, community colleges, and universities. Accelerate MS aligns workforce investment with the needs of aerospace, defense, and technology employers—ensuring the state’s talent supply keeps pace with industry growth and high-wage job creation.

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The Aerospace and Defense Alliance of Mississippi (ADAM) is Mississippi’s industry alliance for aerospace and defense companies, giving the sector a stronger collective platform for advocacy, visibility, and business development. ADAM represents Mississippi’s industry on policy, hosts the annual Mississippi Aerospace and Defense Symposium, and joins GCBC and Hancock County Port & Harbor in carrying Mississippi’s story to the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs. ADAM’s growth from 12 members in 2021 to more than 60 today reflects the strength of Mississippi’s industry voice—built in partnership with MSET, which used a DoW-funded ecosystem study to transform its former membership structure into ADAM and create durable industry infrastructure for the state.

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The Mississippi Defense Initiative (MDI) at USM’s Trent Lott National Center positions the university and the state to better serve defense-related missions, partnerships, and workforce needs across the region. MDI builds the bridge between university capability and real-world industry and government demand—particularly around defense policy, supply chain resilience, and workforce priorities critical to Mississippi’s defense base.

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Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College (MGCCC) serves Hancock, Harrison, Jackson, Stone, and George counties with technical, workforce, and community education programs spanning manufacturing, precision machining, avionics, and emerging technology trades. MGCCC’s training programs are tightly aligned with the talent needs of aerospace, defense, and technology employers near Stennis and across the broader Gulf Coast industrial base.

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The Mississippi Manufacturers Association Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MMA MEP) is the state’s NIST MEP affiliate, delivering hands-on technical assistance, continuous improvement, cybersecurity, and supply chain support to manufacturers across Mississippi. MMA MEP strengthens the competitiveness of Mississippi’s aerospace and defense suppliers—helping them meet DoW requirements like CMMC, improve operations, and win more federal contracts.

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Mississippi State University (MSU) is an R1 land-grant research university and MRC member with nationally recognized strengths in engineering, high-performance computing, autonomous systems, and advanced materials—all directly relevant to aerospace and defense. MSU’s research strengths feed Mississippi industry through commercialization, workforce development, and direct industry partnerships, connecting university capacity to the state’s growing aerospace and defense markets.

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