Mississippi announced incentives for company days after executive gave campaign money to governor
Records show that Mississippi announced financial incentives for a shipbuilder in 2020 days after the president of the shipbuilder’s parent company donated $10,000 to the governor's campaign fund
JACKSON, Miss. — Mississippi announced financial incentives for a shipbuilder to expand in Gulfport in 2020, days after the president of the shipbuilder's parent company made a $10,000 campaign contribution to Republican Gov. Tate Reeves, records show.
Gulf Ship LLC, which received the state incentives, is a division of the Louisiana-based ship company, Edison Chouest Offshore.
The president of Edison Chouest Offshore, Gary Chouest, has given $66,000 to Reeves' campaigns since 2016, including $10,000 on Sept. 2, 2020, according to finance documents.
Fifteen days later, the state economic development agency under Reeves' supervision, the Mississippi Development Authority, announced Gulf Ship would receive state incentives to expand the site it opened in Gulfport in 2006. MDA said that with the expansion, the company would build tugboats.
“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.
A spokesperson for Edison Chouest Offshore, Lindsay Guidry, did not respond to voicemail messages left by The Associated Press last week and on Monday and Tuesday.
The AP asked Reeves campaign spokesperson Clifton Carroll whether there was any direct connection between Reeves accepting the $10,000 contribution from Chouest and the state's announcement of incentives for Gulf Ship.
Carroll did not answer the question, but said in a statement Monday:
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