Randy Bergman, von Drehle CEO, made an interesting comment at the company’s groundbreaking Monday on an expansion expected to add between 125 and 150 jobs here.

“When we purchased this, a lot of people said, ‘We will believe it when we see it…’ ”

Bergman went on to say, “Look out there and you can see it.”

The skepticism of Natchez citizens is easy to understand. Our community suffered through the devastating loss of thousands of manufacturing jobs over the past two decades.

Natchez Water Works alone has lost more than 450 customers since 1994.

Some would-be manufacturers, such as Rentech and Kior, have come to our community promising jobs and tax revenues, only to have those plans never come to fruition. For those working to “sell” Natchez to manufacturers, such as Natchez Inc. Executive Director Chandler Russ, those setbacks are most painful.

However, von Drehle and others, such as Great River Industries, are proving Natchez is a viable site for manufacturing. Our community’s location on the Mississippi River always gives us a leg up on others.

The turnaround of our city’s manufacturing base will happen, but it will take lots of time and effort.

We, like many other communities, may never again survive on a handful of large manufacturers, such as International Paper or Armstrong Tire and Rubber Co. We have learned many lessons since those companies departed, and potentially, we could emerge economically stronger.

Now is time to give credit where it is due and congratulate those at von Drehle on its success and its deep commitment to our community.

Natchez is happy to have you here.  We look forward to growing along with you and supporting your Natchez operation.