Mississippi’s startup ecosystem has reached a new level of maturity in recent years, and few places demonstrate that more clearly than the Mississippi Polymer Institute (MPI) at the University of Southern Mississippi’s Innovation and Commercialization Park in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. As a major partner of Innovate Mississippi, MPI plays a distinctive role in supporting founders who are building physical products, offering both deep technical expertise and clear manufacturing pathways from idea to commercialization. That combination is helping entrepreneurs move faster, reduce risk, and build companies that can scale.
As USM’s industrial outreach arm, MPI serves not only the Pine Belt region but also companies worldwide. “We have a host of materials specialists and capabilities,” said Caitlyne Shirley, business development manager at MPI. “We help companies of all sizes with their product development, testing, compounding, and forming needs.” Their specialty in materials science—particularly polymers—translates into hands-on support for startups developing everything from coatings and novel polymers to sustainable, clean-energy materials.
MPI operates out of a 60,000-square-foot facility (The Accelerator) within the Innovation and Commercialization Park, where companies can hire MPI for projects, lease lab space for R&D, and conduct pilot-scale production. At a larger scale, growing, technically specialized companies can establish long-term operations across the 300 acres of developable land in the Park through purchase or long-term ground leases.
“Within MPI, we have the unique capability to make materials, form products, test them to ISO standards and tailored protocols, and assess operations,” said Monica Tisack, executive director of MPI. “We also have a workforce trainer that routinely develops specialized post-hire technical training, and now, enabled by our partnership with Innovate Mississippi, we have a dedicated Entrepreneur Programs Manager, which expands our offerings to entrepreneurs.”
MPI welcomes a wide range of founders, from first-timers with a “garage idea” to established companies solving complex manufacturing challenges. “We have had people walk through our door with only an idea, and they haven’t actually taken the next step,” Tisack said. “We help those people navigate the entrepreneur process from the beginning, help create prototypes and products for pre-launch, and at the other end of the maturity spectrum, we help established companies and startups with persistent product problems that need to be resolved, but the company doesn’t have the expertise or time to dedicate to solving the problem.”
One standout example is Chromis Technologies, a polymer manufacturing company from New Jersey that initially engaged MPI for testing and development support. “Through that initial transactional project, the relationship grew to the extent that they moved their R&D and manufacturing operations to The Accelerator and have been hiring USM’s polymer science and engineering graduates,” Shirley said. Today, the company continues to expand its footprint and revenue at the facility, contributing to Mississippi’s advanced manufacturing base and retaining talent in the state.
Equally important is MPI’s role in strengthening the entrepreneurial community itself. Through monthly CONNECT events, Lunch and Learns, Challenges, and the annual MPI Pitch Event, MPI brings together founders, service providers, and investors to share knowledge and solve problems collectively. “Entrepreneurs often encounter the same hurdles and are more than willing to share their solutions as well as what didn’t work and why,” said Robbie McDonald, MPI’s entrepreneurship program manager. “That collaborative effort is what we’ve been trying to inspire.”
That spirit of connection extends statewide, with MPI actively partnering across Mississippi to ensure founders can access the full range of expertise they need to grow and succeed. Follow MPI on LinkedIn for more on their events, pitch competitions and success stories.
Watch the full Partner Spotlight on YouTube: https://youtu.be/XMmZ8Pnlckk
Follow MPI on LinkedIn for more on their events, pitch competitions, and success stories, or contact the team at www.thepolymerinstitute.com.
