Maybe Natchez is just on the wrong end of the state.

The governor himself will tell you his biggest worry about Mississippi is the southwest corner. It is obviously a bad spot to be; correct?

Columbus is cooking. Jackson is jiving. Oxford is opulent. And now, Tupelo is trucking.

Home to the state’s newest car assembly plant, the northeast Mississippi town will soon start rolling out Toyota’s Highlander sport utility vehicle.

The news of the $1.3 billion plant this week is great for Tupelo and great for our state.

It is easy to sit way down here in southwest Mississippi and say “Why not us?” It is easy to blame our leaders for not being top-notch big industry recruiters.

Southwest Mississippi can have a bit of a pity party mentality though.

And the truth is, we don’t need a car manufacturing plant.

Just look at Canton. Nissan claims the Jackson suburb as home, but its employees don’t. Many of the facility’s workers drive in from Jackson and other central Mississippi towns. Canton hasn’t shown significant growth as a result of Nissan, former Mississippi Development Authority Director Leland Speed says.

Natchez doesn’t need that kind of employer. Southwest Mississippi isn’t anything like northeast Mississippi, and it doesn’t need to become like its catty corner friend.

Big industry isn’t the future for Natchez. Tourism is. Small business is. The service industry is.

Going big means all your eggs are in one basket. Why do that when there are so many baskets waiting to be filled?

We are proud for Tupelo, but we aren’t jealous.