Summer is now officially over, and it is time to make the leap from ball games and vacations to focus on the business at hand as our children return to school and we settle down to work through some issues and opportunities facing us at the local, state and national levels.

Your Natchez-Adams County Chamber of Commerce is pleased to invite you to a legislative breakfast at 7:30 a.m. Monday at the Natchez Eola Hotel.

This time with our state senators and representatives will be an opportunity for us to understand the complex issues which drove the extended session at the beginning of 2009, and to ask questions and present our concerns on matters which will have to be tackled when they go back for the next session in January.

It will give us a chance to hear about the work each of our legislators has done as they have served as our voice in Jackson in 2009, as they have championed legislation which will protect and nurture our assets and our opportunities as we search for ways to move our corner of southwest Mississippi forward.

Perhaps this dialogue will help us expand our thinking as we share information and opinions on our local plans in the context of the political and financial climate at the state level. Perhaps we can better understand all the talk about the “stimulus” package and form some realistic expectations for its effect on our local economy.

Sens. Dearing and Butler and Reps. Mims and Johnson will be with us on the 14th. Rep. Cockerham has been chosen to participate in a unique fellowship program happening at that time, and we look forward to hearing what she learned when she can join us in the future.

We are so fortunate to be represented by individuals who take their legislative roles seriously, whose roots go deep into southwest Mississippi and who are sensitive to our needs and our concerns for the future our area. The time we can share with them at the breakfast provides a great foundation for forming the partnerships necessary to generate the positive growth and opportunity we all want to see.

So make your plans to join us on the 14th. Breakfast will be $10.

A good crowd is a sign that we are interested, engaged and eager to move forward. It is a chance for us all to be galvanized by one another and to show our legislators that we appreciate what they have done for us and that we are determined to take an aggressive stance to promote a healthy future for Natchez and Adams County.

Stephanie Hutchins is on the Legislative Committee of the Natchez-Adams County Chamber of Commerce.