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NATCHEZ — Downtown Natchez merchants are invited to take part in a webinar Tuesday from 1 to 2 p.m., which will focus on strategies for vacant downtown properties, storefront upgrades and other small business challenges.

The webinar, presented by the Downtown Natchez Alliance, a Mississippi Main Street designated community, will focus on what the community can do right now with limited time about each of these issues.

The webinar will be presented at the Natchez Convention Center, 211 Main St., in its St. Francisville Room, which is on the second floor. Participants should enter on Main Street.

Speakers will include Ilana Preuss, founder and CEO of Recast City LLC, and Dionne Baux, vice president of Urban Development at Main Street America.

“The action-oriented webinar gets straight to the point,” said Mickey Howley, executive director of the Downtown Natchez Alliance.

He said topics will include:

• Rebuilding and strengthening downtown economies.

• Taking concrete actions now to fill storefronts.

• Seeking small-scale manufacturing and service business opportunities.

• Growing local businesses in a way that creates more opportunity for more people.

Howley said all downtown stakeholders are invited to attending, including business owners, investors, economic developers, real estate and financial professionals, elected officials, preservation professionals and residents.

Howley said he would be available after the presentation to take questions about how strategies presented in the webinar can be put to use in Historic Downtown Natchez.

For more information, contact Howley at mickeynatchezdna.org or 601-443-3350.