Several weeks ago, after talking with successful economic development leaders in other communities and with our own local officials, we came up with a &uot;recipe for success&uot; we could apply to Natchez and Adams County.

So how are things cooking so far?

There seems to be a lot of energy in economic development projects &045; whether it is in site visits from unnamed companies hosted by the economic development authority or in the efforts at an employee stock option plan for International Paper.

EDA chairman Woody Allen has been continuing talks with Alcorn State University President Clinton Bristow on a technology park for Natchez. The college and the EDA continue to recruit technology companies to the area.

Because of the nature of economic development, many of these projects are happening behind the scenes &045; companies don’t want their secret meetings made public until a deal is done.

But, while many projects are humming along, we haven’t seen the progress we would like to see in other areas. A group of business leaders asked to come up with ideas on a private incentive fund for economic development has not met since its first meeting more than a month ago.

Mayor F.L. &uot;Hank&uot; Smith said he would convene that group early next week, and we encourage them to share their findings and act quickly to establish a private fund. That fund could help economic development leaders do anything from

More than anything, though, we continue to encourage local leaders to unite our economic development efforts.

With so many different projects under way &045; and so much of it happening behind the scenes &045; it can be easy to duplicate efforts or to misunderstand what is happening.

We need a concerted effort toward recruiting jobs and retaining other businesses &045; and we need an effort in which egos do not get in the way of progress.