VIDALIA — The proposed Concordia Parish port is closer to being funded than ever before.

That was the message officials gave at the Concordia Economic and Industrial Development District meeting Thursday.

Concordia Parish Economic Director Heather Malone said she met with state development officials, and they were very supportive of the port project.

“(They) thought it would be very beneficial for the region and the state,” Malone said.

The recent trip local officials took to Washington, D.C., was also helpful, Malone said.

Ferriday Mayor Glen McGlothin said the project received a good reception this time because of the preparatory work those involved had done.

“This is the first time we had gone there and took the paperwork to prove (the port) would pay for itself,” McGlothin said.

The next step to getting the port built will be what Malone termed a pre-application meeting with the appropriate officials to walk through the permitting process and anticipate any problems that might happen.

“We don’t want to apply for a permit and then have them tell us, ‘But first you have to apply for this other permit,’” Malone said.

Two avenues for funding the port project are the recently passed stimulus package and the 2010 congressional spending appropriations, Malone said.

Malone is currently in the process of applying for the congressional appropriations, she said.

The proposed port location is near the second Vidalia Industrial Park.

Getting the port built and developed is not just a Vidalia or Concordia Parish issue, but one for the entire Miss-Lou, Vidalia Mayor Hyram Copeland said.

“We have 26 acres here for industrial development,” Copeland said. “For every industrial development we get here, that’s another job for the Miss-Lou.”

It only makes sense to use the river, the area’s biggest transportation portal, McGlothin said.

“We aren’t getting the railroad back,” he said.

Clayton Mayor Rydell Turner said he backed the port for the jobs it could bring the residents of his town.

“You’ve got people who drive hours to work every day in the city, so you can drive 15 minutes to work (in Vidalia),” he said.

The CEIDD board is composed of the mayors of Concordia Parish’s municipalities and three members-at-large. The CEIDD board meets monthly.