Ferriday &8212; When the going got rough in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the residents of Ferriday got charitable.

&8220;We&8217;re blessed to have people here who opened up their homes and their arms to the evacuees, and I thank them,&8221; Mayor Gene Allen said.

And while the town was tested, both Allen and Alderman Jerome Harris look forward to watching it grow &8212; and mature &8212; in the new year.

Mayor Gene Allen is hopeful new business will be coming, and citizens hope he&8217;s right.

With the prospect of losing Wal-Mart very real, the hope is that someone &8212; be it Vernis Stanaland, Lustre Hair Care or another unknown prospect &8212; will find Ferriday an attractive place to do business.

The point person when it comes to industrial recruitment is the mayor, and Harris hopes that his fellow board members &8212; all of whom started in the spring &8212; can share with Allen to give him more time to do that job.

&8220;I&8217;m looking for communication between the board and the mayor to get better,&8221; Harris said.

&8220;My main thing is to free the mayor to give him a chance to do the work that needs to be done to get business in town.&8221;