The Natchez economy was dealt another blow this week with news that Titan Tire of Natchez is laying off employees and could be in line for a major reduction in production responsibilities.

Comments – or more to the point, vague and evasive non-comments – by Titan officials earlier this week only fueled concerns and increased the tension in an already-tense community.

With more than 700 employees at International Paper’s Natchez mill waiting in limbo as their plant goes on the selling block, news of additional workforce changes is concerning.

More important, though, it’s cause for action.

In the case of Natchez and Adams County, that &uot;action&uot; means economic development – an oft-used term that means, in short, creating jobs and opportunities to work and grow in our community.

A bill pending before the Mississippi Legislature would restructure the floundering Economic Development Authority and, presumably, remove a major obstacle to that agency’s effectiveness.

We hope so, and we once again urge our local delegation to push this bill through the Legislature – quickly.

After that, we urge our local EDA members, elected officials and business and community leaders to get serious about economic development – about creating real, stable and good jobs in our community; about creating a community that attracts the companies with those jobs; about creating a community vision and working toward it.

It is no longer an option; it’s a necessity.