U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke has announced a $2 million Economic Development Administration grant to the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College District of Perkinston.

The school will use the money to help build a Hospitality and Resort Management Center, which is expected to create 636 jobs.

Locke, in a news release, said the center also boost the tourism sector in a regional economy severely impacted by natural disasters.

The EDA is an agency within the U.S. Commerce Department and supports the economic development needs of distressed communities throughout the United States.