Sometimes, the truth hurts. And sometimes, even when it isn’t true anymore, perception is still reality.

A colleague at the Mississippi Press Association conference this weekend was recounting his limited knowledge of Natchez over dinner one night.

It seems that at a meeting of his own local economic development leaders, some tensions started to rise and people were a bit on edge.

It finally got to the breaking point for one of the participants, and he shouted, &8220;Let’s quit squabbling here! We don’t want to be like Natchez.&8221;

Ouch.

Apparently we have quite a reputation in Mississippi, at least in economic development circles.

Is it still true? Let’s be honest: sometimes, yes. Sometimes people let egos get in the way of a good decision. Sometimes we let personalities interfere with our ability to move forward.

In the past several weeks, we’ve put a focus, as a newspaper, on economic development. We’ve tried to illustrate by the example of other communities some strategic steps we can take to help attract industry.

It’s not as if we have to reinvent the wheel. Economic development is one part common sense, one part initiative and one part pure luck. Our luck hasn’t been great lately, so odds are we’re due.

And what can we do to boost those odds?

Building an industrial park &045; or, if we want to use a 21st century term, a technology park &045; makes sense. Yes, we have available industrial land &045; but much of it is in a bad location and much of it simply isn’t quality land.

An industrial or technology park, located on the highway, landscaped with curb and gutter, is just one of the tools that we can use to attract industry. Some folks worry about the risk of the &8220;build it and they will come&8221; theory &045; but just ask the countless communities who did build one. &8220;They&8221; &045; new businesses with new jobs &045; did come. And they keep coming. Several communities have already built second and third industrial parks.

But those parks didn’t just build themselves. By pooling private resources into economic development, other communities have been able to fund their marketing and infrastructure projects &045; and some have even put money on the table to seal a deal with an industry.

But we aren’t going to get anywhere unless we’re all on the same page. We’ve got to put our development strengths under one umbrella.

Our initiative is there &045; it’s just that for so long we’ve had so many different initiatives at the same time. Putting our economic development strengths into one team would give us the show of unity we need to overcome that reputation for &8220;squabbling.&8221;

For the record, I don’t think the reputation my colleague learned about Natchez is entirely true. I don’t even think it’s half true anymore. I have seen so many people come to the table &045; often literally &045; to share their ideas. Just last week several community members met to talk about initiating that private incentive fund to aid economic development. I have no doubt our community can make that happen soon &045; and I have no doubt it will be an invaluable tool for economic development leaders.

As hard as we work together, we have to realize the reputation we may have in other areas of the state. We’ve got to work that much harder to overcome it.

It won’t be long before someone tells me, &8220;We want to be like Natchez.&8221;

Kerry Whipple

is editor of The Natchez Democrat. She can be reached at (601) 445-3541 or by e-mail at kerry.whipple@

natchezdemocrat.com.