At this point we are well into 2013, and all of us at the Natchez-Adams County Chamber of Commerce hope that this new year will be a time of economic and spiritual growth, renewed prosperity and a great quality of life for the citizens of the Miss-Lou.

To help ensure that we get things headed in the right direction, we have scheduled our first legislative breakfast for 2013 on Monday morning at the Natchez Eola Hotel.

We are all aware that we face an enormous number of challenges and opportunities in the months ahead. It is crucial that we stand up and take part in creating the type of environment that we all want in southwest Mississippi.

One of the best ways to make our voices heard is to take advantage of the opportunities that our legislative breakfast will offer.

We are so fortunate that all of our legislators — Sens. Kelvin Butler and Melanie Sojourner, as well as Reps. Angela Cockerham, Robert Johnson and Sam Mims — will be with us Monday to let us know what they see coming during the legislative session and to listen to our concerns and answer our questions.

These men and women are our voice in Jackson as critical decisions will be made in the next few months that will affect each and every one of us. Each of these elected officials is sufficiently committed to you to make the time to personalize the dialogue, look us in the eye as they work through difficult points of discussion, and to strengthen the bonds that we all share as we work to help southwest Mississippi and its people reach their full potential.

Earlier this week, The Natchez Democrat published an article detailing some of the important work that will be done during this session, and our legislators all spoke to the issues.

Our program will give us a chance to let them know how we, as their constituents, feel about the views they expressed.

So please join us on Monday morning for breakfast at 7:30, which will be $10 at the door.

The program beginning at 8 a.m. will have you on your way by 9.

Those of you who have participated in these programs before know that they are full of great information, our legislators are straight-up and to-the-point and we all leave with the feeling that we have taken part in the process which will shape our future.

Stephanie Hutchins is on the Natchez-Adams County Chamber Legislative Committee.