NATCHEZ — With 100 years of experience under its belt, the Chamber of Commerce may have a new job description, Gov. Haley Barbour said Tuesday night.

The governor spoke to the members of the Natchez-Adams County Chamber at their annual dinner, which was converted to a gala this year to celebrate 100 years.

A struggling national economy means local chambers have a job to do, Barbour said.

“We should not kid ourselves,” he said. “We are not immune to what is going on (nationally) in the state of Mississippi.”

The state’s budget is feeling the crunch already, and it will only get worse, Barbour said.

“The legislature is going to face a very difficult budget year,” he said.

And the role of local businessmen, businesswomen and the chamber as a collective organization is to stand up to government spending, he said.

“Are you willing to stand up and tell government ‘Get a hold of yourself. The taxpayers come first and we are not willing to cut our own throats,” Barbour said.

Now is the time to control spending, he said, but even though the situation isn’t all roses, Mississippi and Natchez still have reason to hope.

Mississippi has three major industries pushing its economy forward — energy, shipbuilding and the Toyota plant, the governor said.

And in Natchez, Rentech is on the horizon.

“I’m old enough to have watched Natchez have tremendous ups and then tremendous downs in the world of economic development,” Barbour said.

“Natchez was first in a lot of things in Mississippi and Natchez stays first in a lot of things in Mississippi.”

Barbour said he anticipated great things from the coal-to-liquids plant, Rentech, and was still hopeful a shipbuilding company might locate in the area. Barbour and others have courted shipbuilding for southwest Mississippi for years.

Barbour gave the introductory speech at the chamber’s gala.