HI has received more than $50M in assistance
By Jason Niblett, newseditor@laurelleadercall.com

September 07, 2008 12:59 pm

— What began as a slow Jones County Monday morning on Aug. 25 quickly turned into an national event. Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement shut down Howard Industries’ Pendorff transformer plant and the company’s headquarters in Ellisville for a day, interrogating employees and scrutinizing files. When the dust settled, 595 employees were accused of being in the country illegally. It turned out to be the largest illegal immigrant round-up in United States history.

Howard Industries has publicly responded to local and national media once since the raid started. A written statement from the company claims owners and management had no wrongdoing in the hiring of the illegal immigrants. The statement also claimed the company uses every legal background check on prospective employees.

Attorney General Jim Hood announced Friday that his office is investigating to see if Howard Industries violated any state laws. And, if the outcome through the legal system finds criminal offenses, the question of city, county, and state incentives arises. Much of Howard Industries’ recent growth has come through local tax exemptions and state-backed financial incentives.

As local officials were finalizing plans for the Howard Technology Park in Ellisville in 2002, Howard Industries was also awaiting the outcome of a special session of the Mississippi Legislature. Lawmakers were scheduled to debate a $31.5 million incentive package. As reported by the Laurel Leader-Call July 28, 2002, “Last week was a busy and anxious one for local leaders as the Howard family met with (then) Gov. Ronnie Musgrove to complete the deal for the incentive package. The Howards will be investing $80 million in an expansion project for Howard Computers and a new power transformer plant.â€