After the War, Ocean Springs began to develop several small, environmentally friendly industries. In 1947, the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory was founded. It is governed by The Board of Trustees of Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning. Marine scientists associated with the facility conduct their investigations on subjects primarily in the north and central Gulf of Mexico. The ER. Moore Company of Chicago was located on Government Street in May 1950. It employed approximately seventy-five women to manufacture gym suits and caps and gowns. The plant operates today as American Identity Swingster making jackets.
Ferson Optics Company, now a major manufacturer of precision optical instruments, opened an operation here above the Lovelace Drugstore in 1951. The Government Street plant was dedicated in July 1953. Bausch and Lomb acquired the company in 1968.