An industrial employer in DeSoto County could soon be moving just across the state line. ITT Goulds Pumps Southaven operations could relocate to Memphis after the Economic Development Growth Engine for Memphis and Shelby County (EDGE) approved a 10-year tax break for the pump maker on Wednesday, Oct. 21, according to the Daily Memphian.
The company announced a day later that it will invest $31 million in a new manufacturing and distribution center in Memphis, a project expected to create 57 jobs in Shelby County.
What ITT Goulds Pumps announced
ITT Goulds Pumps, a business of Stamford, Connecticut-based ITT Inc., makes heavy-duty industrial and centrifugal pumps. Its products serve energy, mining, power generation, chemical processing, pulp and paper, water and wastewater, and other industrial customers.
Investment: about $31 million
Jobs: 57 new positions in Shelby County
Site: an existing building of roughly 297,000 square feet at 5633 Mineral Wells Road in southeast Memphis, near the Tennessee–Mississippi state line
Incentive: a 10-year Fast Track payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) benefit approved by EDGE
Industry coverage of the announcement said the expansion builds on the company’s Southaven distribution operation, which ran out of room to grow.
“Our expansion in Memphis reflects the continued growth of ITT Goulds Pumps,” company president Hamdy Salem said in the announcement, which was coordinated with EDGE, the Greater Memphis Chamber, Memphis Light, Gas and Water, TVA and the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development.
What it means for ITT Goulds Pumps Southaven jobs
The Daily Memphian reported that the tax abatement could pull the company’s operations out of Southaven. Neither the company nor public officials have said whether the Southaven site will close entirely, be consolidated into the new Memphis plant, or keep some functions, and it is not yet clear how many DeSoto County workers could be affected or offered positions at the new site, which sits just a few miles from Southaven.
The possible move comes during a busy stretch for industrial development in Southaven, where fitness apparel brand ALO recently confirmed a fulfillment and distribution center expected to bring about 400 jobs, and SpaceXAI has continued to expand its footprint along Stateline Road.
Border competition for industry
DeSoto County and Memphis-Shelby County often compete for the same warehouse, logistics and manufacturing projects because they share the same interstate, rail and air cargo network. Tennessee officials pointed to the Mineral Wells Road site’s access to rail, interstates, the airport and the Mississippi River in announcing the project.
No construction or hiring timeline for the Memphis facility was included in the announcement. DeSoto County News will update this story if the company or local officials release details about the Southaven location.
