With his signature three years ago, Gov. Haley Barbour signed into law tort reform bills in Mississippi. Initially, it brought in more insurance carriers for auto, home, and health coverage. But now businesses are taking notice.

Jay Moon, president of the Mississippi Manufacturers Association, says it all started with Nissan.

"It's given a lot of security to businesses in the state. And now obviously, with the addition of Toyota, that has just added to the aura that we have in terms of a good place to do business," Moon said.

At the Mississippi Economic Council, Blake Wilson says more and more companies are looking at Mississippi because of tort reform, but also the skilled workforce.

"We were in that low wage, low skill, less costly ability to provide jobs, where now we are going after more highly skilled jobs because we have the workforce that can support it," said Wilson.

The comprehensive reform capped damages plaintiffs could receive in civil suits. Punitive damages are based on the defendants' net worth, and non-economic damages, or pain and suffering, is capped at $1 million, except in medical malpractice, which is capped at $500,000.

But by capping damages, are insurance companies less likely to settle claims?

"Even businesses when they have claims, not only injury claims, but when they have claims as you've seen in Katrina, there's no incentive to settle these case," said attorney Richard Schwartz. "So I think in some regards it's a negative."

But with the increased flow of business into the state, many say the positives far out weigh the negatives.