Natchez will welcome about 60 visitors this weekend for a National League of Cities committee meeting. The Community and Economic Development Steering Committee, a 30-member panel which meets at least four times a year, will convene in Natchez for policy meetings.

Members of the group will begin arriving today. While here, they will also have the chance to visit area restaurants and historic houses and tour the city’s current projects.

&uot;This is an opportunity for this committee to see how a small community can host this kind of a meeting,&uot; said Mayor Larry L. &uot;Butch&uot; Brown, a member of the committee.

Brown invited the committee to come to Natchez last year. They usually meet in larger cities, he said.

From an opening reception at the mayor’s house to a dinner at the Natchez Visitor Reception Center, the group’s three-day visit will also include meetings at the Radisson Natchez Eola Hotel.

One session will focus on federal disaster relief, particularly for small businesses and for public buildings.

Brown said Martha Braddock of the Federal Emergency Management Agency will speak to the group about that agency’s efforts to help communities.

Brown said both FEMA&160;and the Small Business Administration were helpful after the 1998 &uot;straight-line winds&uot; which ripped through downtown Natchez. &uot;SBA sent someone who set up shop in city council chambers and gave out quick loans and disaster assistance,&uot; he said.

Other sessions during the meeting will focus on e-commerce as it relates to economic development and the impact of global trade agreements on local economic development programs.