Community leaders come together for “State of the Region” in Tupelo

TUPELO, Miss. (WCBI) – Business people, civic and government leaders are spending part of their day learning about strengths and areas that need improvement throughout Northeast Mississippi.

The annual “State of the Region” took place at the Bancorpsouth Conference Center in Tupelo. The meeting features guest speakers who tell their stories, encouraging leaders in the area.

One of the speakers is Thomasville, Alabama Mayor, Sheldon Day. He has led the town of about 4,000 through steady economic growth for the past two decades.

He says Northeast Mississippi is the model when it comes to economic development for many towns in the southeast.

He says rural areas have a lot to offer and market.

“We think it’s cool to be rural,” Mayor Day explained. “Where do people go, in a large city, on weekends, they want to go to where, a rural area. They want to go hunting, the lake, fishing, biking, and we are already there where a lot of people want to go so we need to take the assets we have in rural communities and make the best of them, we can’t be somebody we’re not.

The State of the Region meeting is organized by the Create Foundation’s ” Commission on the Future of Northeast Mississippi.”