The Jackson County Economic Development Foundation (JCEDF) is a non-profit, public-private partnership focused on attracting investment in Jackson County and representing the business interests of its members, which include major military contractors that have provided military equipment to Israel, such as Ingalls Shipbuilding, Bollinger Shipyards, Rolls Royce Naval Marine, and Northrop Grumman. JCEDF’s vice chairman, Jerry St. Pé, was president of Ingalls Shipbuilding from 1985–2011 and a board member of the Aerospace Alliance (another public-private partnership formed by the governors of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi in order to establish an aerospace corridor among their states). Other board members include Kari Wilkinson, executive vice president of Huntington Ingalls, and Jimmy Heidelberg, Jackson County Port Authority commissioner.

Sources: Jackson County Economic Development Foundation, Advance Local, The Aerospace Alliance, Jackson County Economic Development Foundation