Adams County supervisors have another EDA board seat to fill, and they are again going about it in the right way.

Supervisors are keeping nominations until next week, but they have two names in the hat so far: Fred Callon, chairman and CEO of Natchez-based Callon Petroleum, while S.F. &uot;Spanky&uot; Felter nominated Jimmy June, member services manager and safety coordinator for Southwest Mississippi Electric Power Association.

You could never overstate how important economic development is to our community, or how important it is to find the right person to sit on this five-member board.

The EDA itself is about to begin interviews for a new director, and anyone new coming to the position needs to know he or she has a solid board of professional, competent people backing up the staff.

In the past, supervisors have interviewed candidates for the EDA spot as if they were interviewing job applicants. Of course, this job comes with no pay and is a fairly thankless position, but it is of the utmost importance. Our EDA works hard to lure businesses and industry to the area, but their work often happens behind the scenes, and they can’t tout their accomplishments.

We encourage supervisors to choose a fair board member with the business experience and time to give to the EDA board.