News that a rubber recycling plant is interested in locating at Vidalia’s new industrial park is an early Christmas present, albeit not one we can unwrap just yet.

The deal isn’t final, but it bodes well for the success of the Vidalia Industrial Park at Whitehall. The plant would initially bring 65 jobs, with a goal of expanding to 130 employees.

The project also shows how important it is to continue our economic development efforts &045;&045; and to expand them.

The process of recruiting industry can be frustrating for economic development officials as well as residents &045;&045; not only because it is difficult to compete with so many other communities but also because so much of the work is done behind the scenes.

Residents &045;&045; not to mention reporters &045;&045; want to know what is happening, and officials have to keep a tight lid on any pending deals.

You might not realize it, but economic development work is happening every day in the Miss-Lou &045;&045; requests for information, site visits, negotiations. Some site visits are conducted even without economic development officials’ knowledge as companies send consultants to scope out prospective towns.

Vidalia’s success inevitably will benefit Ferriday and Natchez, just as any project in those towns would benefit the whole Miss-Lou.

We’ll keep our fingers crossed that this deal is signed soon.