By Nita McCann

The Natchez Democrat

NATCHEZ — A March workshop in Natchez will look to inform and educate local business owners on ways they can boost retail sales.

Members of the Mississippi Main Street Association and the Mississippi Development Authority will host the workshop at the Natchez Convention Center March 12.

Representatives of those bodies, as well as local government and business leaders, attended a brainstorming session on the subject Jan. 6 at City Hall.

“It was very informal, whereas the March one will be more structured,” said Bob Wilson, executive director of the Mississippi Main Street Association.

The idea of a workshop came in November when Natchez officials attended the Mississippi Municipal Association’s Small Towns Conference, said Ward 1 Alderwoman Joyce Arceneaux-Mathis.

She attended a breakout session on retail and shared information from that session during a Board of Aldermen meeting later in November.

“It was decided … to have a follow up meeting with the power players from the State of Mississippi,” Arceneaux-Mathis said. The result was the Jan. 6 session.

Topics included the importance of finding new ways to market downtown and Natchez Mall to prospective business owners and ways to boost sales at existing stores.

Other topics included possible tax incentives for retail and encouraging the public to shop locally.

Retail and other industries, such as tourism, are closely linked, Arcenaux-Mathis noted.

“For instance, tourists will want to visit the stores downtown during their time here, and that boosts the local economy,” she said.

Wilson and Joy Foy, an executive with the Mississippi Development Authority, attended the Jan. 6 gathering and will return for the March workshop, Wilson said.

Arcenaeux-Mathis said officials and merchants will soon be sent information about the upcoming workshop. And the meeting will also be open to the public, Wilson said.