IUKA - The expansion under way at Alliant Techsystems is on track, and with it comes economic optimism, a county official says.

Right now the company is recruiting eight industrial engineers for its Tri-State Commerce Park opeations, said Tishomingo County Board of Supervisors President James McDowell.

"There are exciting things going on in this Northeast Mississippi region," McDowell said in an interview with the Daily Journal, "and hopefully everything is on the rebound from what's been happening over the past two years."

ATK's expansion was announced early last year and is expected to bring 600 new jobs to the county over the next several years. The growth stems from a contract to build composite structures for commercial aircraft which the company will execute at its Iuka plant.

Another new industry - Gamp&G Steel - is also off to a good start, McDowell said, having delivered one of its first products manufactured in the county to the Corps of Engineers.

"The 25 to 30 new jobs that are in place with them, along with 25 or 30 jobs with Meridian Furniture, are helping to pick things up here," he said.

Other prospective employers are taking a close look at Tishomingo County, including the south end of the county.

"We're overcoming the lack of a four-lane there and industries are looking at privately held buildings," McDowell said.

Contact Lena Mitchell at (662) 287-9822 or lena.mitchell@djournal.com.