Phased project could grow into $100 million investment; 300+ new jobs
After several years idle and empty, the old Jack Post building on East Jefferson Street could bring as much as $100 million in investment and 300 jobs to the area if all phases of the tenant’s plan fall into place.
Sustainable Energey Technologies, Inc. (SETI) began moving in equipment for the first phase of the venture Tuesday morning. The Attala County Board of Supervisors, with participation from the Kosicusko-Attala Partnership, has been in negotiations with the company for several months, leading to an upcoming lease of the 367,000-square-foot building 
on 68 acres of county land for $12,000 per month.
When it became necessary to move equipment in ahead of the original schedule, a short-term lease at $5,000 per month is allowing for storage of preliminary equipment until they can get the first phase online in mid-August.
The company is responsible for all maintenance and improvements of the property, with a new solar roof expected early in the 12-24-month development plan.
In the first phase, the company intends to get a thermal pyrolytic converter up and running, the parts for which were moved in Tuesday. That equipment should be installed and running by mid-August, according to Don Coleman, an Attala County businessman who will serve as vice president and manager of the operation. Paul Cheeks, a native of Hattiesburg, will serve as executive vice president and manage the facility with Coleman.
The two will oversee building renovations and the installation of the thermal pyrolitic converter along with Karen Bertram, founder and president of Integrated Energy, who holds patents on what developers indicate is a more environmentally-friendly means for disposing of waste — in this case old tires.
The process will result in several byproducts, the first of which is power that can be used to run the facility and/or put back into the electrical grid if excess is produced.
The old TPS site in McAdams, employing about 30 general laborers and equipment operators, will be converted to process tires into rubber shred, which will then be trucked to the Kosciusko plant for processing. According to Coleman they have been going through the environmental approval process for that facility.
“Additionally, the unit produces carbon black which can be sold to industrial manufacturers for use in a multitude of consumer and industrial products,” according to the release.
That carbon black will be used to produce graphine, which the company said can be used to improve electrical storage capability in the form of “dry graphene hybrid super capacitors” — batteries they believe “could disrupt energy markets by significantly increasing storage efficiency for everything from grid storage to golf cart batteries used for propulsion.”
Eventually, the company will bring in several additional affiliated businesses as sub-tenants.
The sub tenant companies will include one that produces an efficient and low-cost pre-fab building system for home and business owners; a solar panel manufacturer; and a solar installation construction company that services rural farms, residential, and commercial applications both nationwide and in Puerto Rico.
"Together, these companies will positively impact the Kosciusko and Attala County economy by bringing a diverse set of industries and boosting job creation," said SETI CEO Fred Solomon, in a news release. "We look forward to a long and fruitful relationship with the people of Kosciusko and Attala County in the years ahead.”
