After just a few months in the position, Natchez Downtown Development Association is without a director but moving forward, NDDA officials said.

Director Carrie Kimbrell left about a month ago, NDDA board member Bill Furlow said Friday.

Kimbrell moved to Natchez and took the job of director the end of last year, taking the place of former director Tammi Gardner.

“I think it’s fair to say the condition of the organization was not as the board members understood it to be and consequently, it was not as she understood it to be,” Furlow said. “At the time that she arrived, we were in worse financial shape than we had realized. I think she thought, ‘This is not the kind of project I thought I was joining.’”

The association’s finances had been a little lower than some realized, Furlow said. Traditionally revenue-generating activities, like Art and Soul and the balloon race, didn’t generate as much money as was expected or budgeted, he said. Membership dues were also down.

Non-voting NDDA board member Mimi Miller said she thought Kimbrell’s salary might have played a part in her decision to leave the job.

“I think she’s very capable, but I think one of the difficulties of hiring someone for a much lesser salary when they were making much more before is that they’ll look for better opportunities,” Miller said. “I think she wanted to be in Natchez because her husband was from Natchez, but I think the salary may have been half what she was making before.

“I think she was very qualified, and we were very lucky to get her for that short amount of time.”

Since then, more membership dues are coming in, and the NDDA is taking a fresh look at where it’s going, Furlow said.

“Where we are today is truly a transition period, and the board of directors is taking a time-out to look at where we are, what are strengths and weaknesses are, and where we need to go with this organization,” Furlow said.

The board recently met with the state director of the Mississippi Main Street Association, an organization of which NDDA is a branch. They received some good guidance and did some brainstorming, too.

And the board won’t look for a new director until the organization has had a chance to do some “soul-searching,” he said.

“We need to set priorities and determine just what we want the NDDA to look like before we hire a director,” Furlow said. “In fairness to ourselves and in fairness to any potential job candidates, we need to know what we want this person to do.”

Until then, the board members have stepped in to temporarily fill the role of director, he said.

Furlow said he felt NDDA was a vital part of drawing people to Natchez.

“It’s important not just for the people who own businesses or work downtown, but it’s important for the whole community,” he said. “When visitors come here, downtown is a big part of what they see. They’re not just going to spend money downtown, but you need the downtown core to bring those people to Natchez.”