Lauderdale County community leaders were encouraged to continue efforts to grow the area’s cultural identity at a Business After Hours event Tuesday organized by the East Mississippi Business Development Corporation.
Hosted at Soulé Steam Museum, the event provided an opportunity for networking, as well as a presentation by Stennis Institute Project Director Chance McDavid. McDavid, who also serves as president of the Mississippi Main Street board, has a wealth of knowledge about community development, strategic planning, civic engagement and more.
“For 20 years plus, I have worked under the belief of asset-based community development. In other words, looking at what communities have as opposed to what they don’t have,” he said. “And it’s very, very important to realized that the people, their knowledge, skills and abilities, and the resources they bring to the table are the very things that build community, and that’s where we start.”
McDavid encourage local leaders to “think big and start small,” by leveraging the assets already present in the community and making small but impactful change. Starting could be something as simple as adding a bench along a walkway or installing planters to break up a monotonous stretch of wall.
“Whether it’s an underutilized building or maybe a closed bridge over a beautiful creek, or a school that is closed, or a playground that’s been sort of neglected. All of those things can be looked at as challenges in the community, but they can also be looked at as opportunities,” he said. “How do you take those underutilized assets and work with them?”
Throughout the United States, small communities have come up with creative ideas to not only address challenges in the community but also to leverage local history and culture to create events and attractions that draw thousands of visitors. McDavid said Lauderdale County leaders can look at those successes and try to incorporate some of the ideas in a way that works locally.
Great things are happening in Meridian, McDavid said, but the key to successfully growing a community is the people. Events can bring in visitors, businesses can bring shoppers and attractions can draw vacationers, but growth needs residents advocating for their community.
“You are your best ambassador of your community. A lot of people think that’s tourism’s job, that’s the chamber’s job, that’s main street’s job, it’s the economic developer’s job, it’s the mayor’s job,” he said. “No, it’s all of our jobs to be ambassadors of the place we call home. We have to love where we are from. We have to love our communities because the journey of a thousand miles really does begin with that single step when we think big and start small.”