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Thursday is an important day in Natchez. It’s the day the Alcorn State University’s Women’s Business Center will hold its grand opening celebration on Alcorn’s Natchez campus.

It’s also a day Natchez residents will have an opportunity to meet the person who will likely be our new U.S. Representative in Congress — Bennie Thompson — if the redistricting plan approved by the state legislature withstands legal challenges.

Thompson is expected to attend the event, which is slated from 2 to 4 p.m., said Daye Dearing, director of the Alcorn Women’s Business Center.

Dearing is the daughter of the late Bob Dearing, who served Natchez and Adams County for many years as our state senator.

The Women’s Business Center’s aim is to help small business owners in every phase of development with a mission to empower and inspire women by providing business training, individual counseling sessions and access to capital, Dearing said.

“We help women building a business for themselves or help women who are already in small business expand and improve their existing businesses,” she said.

The center is funded via an agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration.

More and more, women are flexing their entrepreneurial muscles and using a skill, talent or passion to create new businesses.

Have you been thinking about starting a business of your own? Resources are available to you at the Alcorn State Women’s Business Center, located at 9 Campus Drive, the first building on the left when you enter the Natchez campus.

For more information about Alcorn State’s Women’s Business Center, visit alcorn.edu/wbc.