Another marathon meeting behind them, the economic development board has moved a step closer to selecting a new director.

Board members of the Natchez-Adams Economic and Community Development Authority met for more than six hours on Tuesday, continuing interviews with two finalists, said chairman Woody Allen.

&uot;We were down to three people, and one withdrew,&uot; Allen said. &uot;The interviews we had today with the other two were excellent.&uot;

The two candidates had plenty of time to ask questions of their own, Allen said. &uot;And we were able to ask more questions, not the same old generic interview questions.&uot;

All board members took part in the process. &uot;Now it’s just deciding what way we want to go.&uot;

The board will meet again today at 2 p.m. but has no set agenda other than continuing discussions about the candidates.

There is no time limit on the decision, Allen said. &uot;We’re all ready to make a decision but we’ve agreed that we don’t want to be in a hurry. We’re committed to take our time and make the best decision we can.&uot;

Board members divided lists of names to make phone calls Tuesday night, he said. &uot;We’ll make some contacts with some of the references and see what we get.&uot;

The board met July 21 with the five candidates selected from a nationwide search by consultant John Lovorn of the Pace Group in Tupelo.

All five candidates were excellent, Allen said after that day of interviews. However, the board narrowed the search to three at that time.

Lovorn, who has conducted about 150 successful searches for economic development directors in other cities, guarantees his work, Allen said. &uot;We have a one-year guarantee. He will come back and do the entire search again for free if the director we select doesn’t work out before the end of the first year.&uot;