Our community’s economic development effort is beginning to look a bit brighter by the day.

In the end, its success may hinge on the ability to turn butts in seats into dollars in the bank and turn a group of people who “want” something to happen into a group that works hard to “make” something happen.

More than 50 business and community leaders came together Wednesday for a meeting to discuss the next steps in that goal. The strong turnout is a testament to the underlying importance of what’s happening in Natchez-Adams County, and the mood of the business community that the time for a big change is now.

Natchez and Adams County have seen quite a number of economic development structures and plans through the years.

Now, as we approach the dawn of a new decade our community is poised to step into a new era of economic development.

But this time, hopefully, our community will be working things a bit different.

Rather than simply leaving the responsibility for economic development entirely to our government, a new plan, unveiled publicly last week, proposes to get private businesses involved.

For far too long, our business community has viewed economic development as someone else’s responsibility. Some have even considered it negatively, choosing to view business growth as merely bringing in competition for their existing businesses.

Those old ways of thinking are fast being buried and a new wave of optimism and an empowered community is being born.

Hopefully, our community can soon get the word out about how great Natchez can be and how bright our future truly is.