MONTICELLO — State officials from several community developmentagencies joined local officials and concerned citizens in a roundtable discussion Thursday to help determine what they could do forcounty advancement.

Nick Walters, director of the Mississippi Rural DevelopmentAuthority, brought several executives of his staff to join withlocals on a day-long look at Lawrence County.

The day began with the officials touring the county. Theyvisited Southeastern Emu Oil Processing and Miles Lumber Company inSilver Creek, Lee’s Pigskins in New Hebron and Georgia-Pacific, theold Kellwood Manufacturing building, Monticello Hardwood and AtlasBucket Manufacturing in Monticello.

Three of the facilities toured have benefited from USDAguaranteed loans through other agencies. Southeastern Emu wasawarded a $412,500 Rural Business Enterprise Grant (RBEG) forconstruction, Lee’s Pigskins received a $175,000 Rural EconomicDevelopment Loan (REDL) through Southern Pine for construction andcounty supervisors were awarded a $450,000 REDL loan throughSouthern Pine to assist Atlas Bucket, who will make the loanpayments.

Watkins praised the tour as giving his team a chance to see thegood they are doing for the county and what still needs to be donefor it to advance economically.

Approximately 50-60 state and local officials attended the roundtable discussion following the tour to address county needs andmethods to meet them.

“We want this to be a conservation and not a presentation,”Walters said to begin the discussion. He opened the meeting with abrief summary of the offices within his department and the scope oftheir operations then turned it over to the audience to submitideas and concerns.

“There are two essential questions we are going to be askingeach of your questions: is it eligible and can we get it funded?”Walters said.

Topics mentioned included more housing, a community center inNew Hebron, a joint city-county fire station, upgrading the citywater system, storm drainage in west Monticello and rural businessopportunities.

Housing, private and rental, dominated the discussion.Construction assistance for apartments was not available presentlybecause the county is not listed on the agency’s priority list forthat type of work, according to Darnella Smith-Murray, director ofthe Multi-Family Housing Program.

Smith-Murray told participants she would look into what could bedone to get the county listed there.

John Jones, director of the Rural Housing Service, said the bestoption available to most families for private dwellings would bethe guaranteed housing loans program. He said funding for thatprogram is increasing each year, but the funding for direct loansare decreasing.

Walters suggested the county hold a “housing fair.” He said itwould be best to hold it on a week night when working people couldattend. The USDA could give a brief presentation on their programsthen turn the attendants loose to browse among booths oflenders.

New Hebron Mayor Bill McCallum asked about the possibilities ofgetting funding for a community center there. He was told thecounty is eligible, but that funding for those type of facilitiesis limited.

Walters said the program which would administer that received atotal of $240,000 this year to be allocated statewide. Therefore,he said, RDA tends to approve a lot of low dollar loans rather thanheavily invest in one project. He said guaranteed low interestloans, however, were always a possibility because those type ofloans receive much more funding.

Local and state officials shared information on how to obtainfunding for a joint city-county fire station, upgrading the city’swater system and improving storm drainage in west Monticello, butall the projects would receive low priority from the RDA because ofmore pressing needs elsewhere in the state.

The county is in a good position, however, to receive some ruralbusiness opportunities grants and loans. The closures of severalmajor county industries in the past several years puts theseapplications in a good position to be funded, said Susie Kopf ofthe Rural Business Service.

Walters suggested the county look into creating an “emuone-stop” at the plant in Silver Creek. A location that would serveall emu needs, from processing to market, would have a good chanceat funding, he said.

Kopf said funding is available for rural business projects.

Local officials and Walter’s team were joined by representativesfrom Southwest Mississippi Planning and Development, Sen. TrentLott’s office, the Social Security Office in Brookhaven, LawrenceCounty Chamber of Commerce, Mississippi Development Authority,local industry executives, Copiah-Lincoln Community College, bankofficials, retired teachers and other school officials, CompetitiveCommunity Program alumni and members, Housing and Urban Developmentand Mississippi Rural Water Association.