Start a New Business in Mississippi

The Mississippi Development Authority offers a variety of services to help businesses succeed, including The Entrepreneur Center and a host of business incubators focused on providing young firms with funding and resources.

• The Entrepreneur Center: The Entrepreneur Center helps startups by providing finance and accounting recommendations, marketing help, retail and general business assistance and other learning opportunities. the Entrepreneur Center has experience with businesses of all sizes and stages – from small scale startups to seasoned businesses looking to expand.

• Business Launchpoint: Business Launchpoint provides a step-by-step path for startups in the early stages of their business development plan.

• Business Incubators: Mississippi business incubators nurture young firms, providing guidance, management advice, access to financing, and strategic exposure to local business communities.

501 Northwest Street
Jackson, Mississippi 39201
Phone: 601-359-3448

Mississippi Development Authority Entrepreneurship and Innovation website

The Mississippi SBA is supported by a main district office in Jackson and an additional location in Gulfport. They provide services including funding programs, counseling, federal contracting, certifications, and disaster recovery. They can also connect you to partner organizations, lenders, and other community groups that help small businesses succeed.

The Jackson office serves Adams, Alcorn, Amite, Attala, Benton, Bolivar, Calhoun, Carroll, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Claiborne, Clarke, Clay, Coahoma, Copiah, Covington, De Soto, Franklin, Grenada, Holmes, Humphreys, Issaquena, Itawamba, Jasper, Jefferson, Jefferson Davis, Kemper, Lafayette, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Leake, Lee, Lefiore, Lincoln, Lowndes, Madison, Marion, Marshall, Monroe, Montgomery, Neshoba, Newton, Noxubee, Oktinneha, Panola, Pike, Pontotoc, Prentiss, Quitman, Rankin, Scott, Sharkey, Simpson, Smith, Sunflower, Tallahatchie, Tate, Tippah, Tishomingo, Tunica, Union, Walthall, Warren, Washington, Webster, Wilkinson, Winston, Yalobusha, and Yazoo counties.

The Gulfport office serves Jones, Wayne, Lamar, Forest, Perry, Greene, Pearl River, Stone, George, Hancock, Harrison, and Jackson counties.

Main district office:
210 East Capitol Street
Suite 900
Jackson, Mississippi 39201
Phone: 601-965-4378

Mississippi Small Business Administration SBA website

Additional location:
2510 14th Street
Suite 103
Gulfport, Mississippi 39501

Phone: 228-863-4449

SCORE Mississippi is dedicated to helping small businesses get off the ground and provides free and confidential one-on-one business counseling by phone, email, and in person.

Whether you need help evaluating a new business idea or plan, stimulating business growth, or developing long-term stability, SCORE Mississippi can help.

Volunteers are successful real-world business professionals who help existing and startup businesses succeed. They are experts with experience in areas such as accounting, finance, human resources, consulting, import/export, law, operations, production, retail, wholesale, manufacturing, sales, marketing, management, business plan preparation, strategic planning, and many other business disciplines.

P.O. Box 12085
Jackson, Mississippi 39236
Phone: 601-589-0949

SCORE Mississippi website

MSBDC’s mission is to foster Mississippi’s entrepreneurial ecosystem; providing businesses expertise and resources that drive success.

The Mississippi SBDC serves all 82 counties in the state of Mississippi.

Services include:

• Confidential Business Counseling: Whether you need assistance with business planning, financial analysis, marketing strategies, or any other aspect of entrepreneurship, these confidential one-on-one counseling sessions are a valuable resource to help you navigate the complexities of the business world with confidence and success.

• Business Plan Development: Take advantage of comprehensive business plan development services designed to empower entrepreneurs and business owners.

• Training: The Mississippi Small Business Development Center offers pivotal training and consulting to entrepreneurs and small business owners through workshops, courses, and personalized consulting.

• Disaster Relief: Has your business been impacted by a natural disaster? Do you need help with business resiliency? MSBDC is here.

• RISE - Resources for International Success and Expansion: In today’s globally connected marketplace, taking your business beyond borders is the key to continuous growth and success. RISE Center services help you navigate exponential business growth.

122 Jeanette Phillips Drive
University, Mississippi 38677
Phone: 1-800-725-7232

Mississippi Small Business Development Center website

Uniting Mississippi professional women in the workplace, Lighthouse’s mission is to support business and community relationships and provide leadership skills and networking opportunities to women across the Gulf Coast.

Lighthouse Business & Professional Women website

Innovate Mississippi accelerates startups and drives entrepreneurship throughout the state.

• Startups: The organization works directly with pre-revenue and post-revenue startups to develop your business strategies, find funding, and grow your business.

• Investors: One spot for all investor resources in Mississippi to help you secure early-stage funding.

• Ecosystem: Collaborations with partners around the state help strengthen the innovation ecosystem that is Mississippi through a Regional Accelerator Program and the Mississippi Coding Academies.

• Events: Regularly scheduled events include Startup Weekends, Discovery Luncheons, Mississippi New Venture Challenge, Conference on Technology Innovation, and others.

121 North State Street
Suite 500
Jackson, Mississippi 39201
Phone: 601-960-3610

Innovate Mississippi website

Women’s Business Enterprise Council - WBEC South - serves Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and the Florida Panhandle.

WBEC South is a regional partner of the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), the largest certifier of women-owned businesses in the U.S. and a leading advocate for women business owners and entrepreneurs.

Certification: WBEC South facilitates the nationally recognized and most relied upon certification program, WBENC Certification.

Opportunities: Connecting women-owned businesses with major corporations to facilitate business opportunities.

Resources: To address the challenges women face in building and growing a business including educational workshops and tools to strengthen supplier diversity partnerships.

Engagement: WBEC South fosters engagement through regional events, robust recognition, and awards programs.

401 Saint Joseph Street
Suite 2A
New Orleans, Louisiana 70130
Phone: 504-830-0149

Women’s Business Enterprise Council WBEC South website

The U.S. Small Business Administration helps small businesses get the funding they need. Funding resources include:

• Loans: Start or expand your business with loans guaranteed by the SBA.

• Investment capital: Find an investor for your business. Investors make both debt and equity investments.

• Disaster assistance: Get help after a disaster with low-interest disaster loans.

• Surety bonds: Protect your work and your client with an SBA-guaranteed surety bond.

• Grants: Look for government grants that help businesses do scientific research and development.

U.S. Small Business Administration Funding Resources website

Small, minority- and women-owned businesses have several options when it comes to in-state loans and programs that provide technical assistance, training, access to opportunities, and other resources that support their economic viability.

Examples of loan programs include:

• Capital Access Contract Loan Program

• Small Business Loan Guaranty Program (SBLGP)

• Small Business and Existing Forestry Industry Loan Program

• Minority Surety Bond Guaranty Program

• Minority Business Micro Loan Program

• Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) Loan Program

P. O. Box 849
Jackson, Mississippi 39205
Phone: 601-359-3449

Mississippi Development Authority Minority and Small Business Loans and Grants website

MSU's Center for Entrepreneurship and Outreach helps students, faculty, and community members start and grow successful companies.

VentureCatalyst is a comprehensive, co-curricular program for students interested in starting a successful, investor-backed company. The program includes a proven checklist, up to $7,500 in funding, dedicated mentorship, and tactical training workshops.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) I-Corps Site program provides training to learn the fundamentals of building business models, along with travel funds, and access to follow-on grants from the NSF in excess of $1M. The NSF’s Innovation Corps (I-Corps) program helps researchers assess the market opportunity for cutting-edge technology.

The MSU Idea Shop is about bringing concepts to reality with the Turner A. Wingo Maker Studio and the MSU Retail Product Accelerator. The Maker Studio contains wood, polymer, and metal prototyping equipment, as well as an electronics workbench and design suite. The Retail Product Accelerator helps entrepreneurs test market products in a fully-working retail.

Mississippi State University College of Business
101 McCool Hall
40 Old Main
Mississippi State, Mississippi 39762
Phone: 662-325-3521

Mississippi State University College of Business Center for Entrepreneurship and Outreach website

The purpose of the Ole Miss Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship is to provide students with the knowledge, skills, and experience necessary to become successful entrepreneurs who create innovative companies that provide valuable services, products, and employment.

You’ll be able to:

• Identify opportunities

• Problem solve in new and innovative ways

• Create and develop programs to support customer service

• Build new projects inside or outside a traditional corporate setting

• Have the right tools to prepare for the rigors of corporate America

School of Business Administration
253 Holman
University, Mississippi 38677
Phone: 662-915-5820

University of Mississippi School of Business Administration Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship website

The Mississippi Business Journal is a statewide weekly business newspaper, located in Jackson, Mississippi. Each issue contains news and coverage relating to the Mississippi business community along with regular opinion and freelance columns.

132 Riverview Drive
Suite E
Flowood, Mississippi 39232
Phone: 601-364-1000

Mississippi Business Journal website

The Delta Business Journal has a readership of corporate owners, managers, small businesses, and farmers located in the Mississippi Delta. The editorial scope encompasses local business news and trends, agri-business news, profiles of upwardly mobile innovators and the businesses they run, legal and financial advice, as well as editorials and guest commentaries on topics that are relevant to the Delta business community. The Delta Business Journal also devotes extensive coverage to the industries of construction, healthcare, banking and finance.

P.O. Box 117
Cleveland, Mississippi 38732
Phone: 662-843-2700

Delta Business Journal website