VIDALIA — If the concept of regionalism is going to work, everyone involved is going to have to air grievances first, Concordia Economic Director Heather Malone said.

That will likely mean having to bring in someone from the outside who can be objective, Malone said at Thursday’s Concordia Parish Economic and Industrial Development District board meeting.

“In any marriage, if there are issues on either side, it is not going to work,” Malone said.

The “marriage” Malone referred to was a partnership she — with others — is working to establish with Adams County to better market the region as a whole rather than approaching it from a single community or at a county level.

Since the initiation of regionalism efforts in the last couple of months, the response has been overwhelmingly positive, Vidalia board member Mayor Hyram Copeland said.

“I have gotten calls from people in the private sector, and they are interested in joining in, and they realize that we need to join together (as a region) to survive,” Copeland said.

But the concept of regionalism can’t be forced, and there is more preparation work to be done, Malone said.

“We will have to have more discussions,” she said. “We can’t throw it in someone’s face and say, ‘This is what we are doing.’”

The board also discussed the Concordia Parish loading and unloading facility project, sometimes referred to as the Vidalia port.

Approximately $750,000 in capital outlay funds were directed for the project from the state legislature, and the designation is currently awaiting the governor’s signature, Malone said.

Copeland said he is confident the funding will be signed by the governor.

“(The governor) has in the past indicated he is aware of the port issue in Vidalia,” Copeland said.

That state funding could then clear the way for federal funding for the port, and Copeland said Sen. Mary Landrieu and Rep. Rodney Alexander have both included monetary designations for the port in the congressional transportation bill.

“It is my understanding that because they both have money in that bill, we have a good chance of getting it,” Malone said.