Natchez’s downtown is unique. It’s a hodge-podge of buildings, built across a variety of generations.

Downtown Natchez is the center of the community’s commerce and tourism industries as well.

But Natchez’s downtown is also a collection of independent businesses, each with their own agendas and motivations.

The latter description is one of its biggest challenges, but also its biggest strengths.

For several years, downtown Natchez has functioned on the strength of the individuals who run business there. They are not, however, working collectively together, in part because no common thread connects them.

The City of Natchez cut the funds that helped pay for a Natchez Downtown Development Director several years ago. The collaboration and communication has been going downhill since.

Business owners see the need, but struggle to devote the time and effort themselves — they’re often personally attending to customers and other business needs.

Natchez needs a stronger downtown, and it needs a leader to rally the business owners and make plans to benefit the greater good.

As city leaders begin to budget for the next fiscal year, we encourage them to look for ways to cut something else from the budget and refund the donation to the Natchez Downtown Development Association.

Such an investment in downtown would help not only downtown retail businesses, but other businesses outside downtown as well. A strong downtown will create a strong Natchez.