NATCHEZ &045;&045; Summer jobs mean summer spending money for college students and a boost for some local retailers.

&uot;The Natchez youth that return home for the summer normally try to get summer jobs,&uot; Chamber President Laura Godfrey said. &uot;Most of them when they get paid spend that money right here in Natchez to entertain themselves.&uot;

Godfrey said the community benefits from students who come home for the summer and eat out, go shopping and buy gas. &uot;It all has a huge trickle down effect for us, it’s a great effect,&uot; she said.

Keith Dunlap, a manager at Bowie’s Tavern, said he does see an increase in business due to students. &uot;Weekends seem to be the time they gather, and summer weekends seem to be picking up,&uot; he said.

Businesses also benefit from college interns who move to town for the summer, Godfrey said.

Katie Peebles, a student at the University of Alabama originally from Hartselle, Ala., is working at Monmouth. &uot;I go out with friends a lot,&uot; she said. &uot;To Andrew’s or Bowie’s, and I’ve shopped at Darby’s.&uot;

Andrew’s bar owner Priester Byrne said he definitely anticipates students who come home over the summer. &uot;The summertime is the worst part of the year for the bars, and any time they come home it helps,&uot; Byrne said.

Mimi Miller, director of preservation for the Historic Natchez Foundation, brings in 10 to 20 graduate students each year to help process old circuit clerk records. Students typically come from California State University and stay four weeks.

&uot;The restaurants and bars used to call and see when they were coming,&uot; Miller said. &uot;They rent places downtown, so the renters make money &045;&045; and the downtown businesses, because they don’t have vehicles.&uot;

Godfrey said students add to the workforce and help businesses that may lose regular workers to vacation time, and not all the students spend the money they make. &uot;I don’t spend a whole lot of money,&uot; said Stephanie McIntosh of Natchez, an Ole Miss student working as a server at Pearl Street Pasta. &uot;I’m trying to save.&uot;