Ellisville, Soso become Mississippi Main Street Association members

JONES COUNTY, Miss. (WDAM) – The City of Ellisville and the Town of Soso are new associate members of the Mississippi Main Street Association.

The association is designed to help downtowns develop.

Revamping and revitalizing efforts are underway now with the help of Ellisville Main Street.

Sarah Hinton owns two businesses downtown and is the president of the new organization.

Hinton said being a part of the Mississippi Main Street Association can help Ellisville not only keep merchants, but recruit more.

“The downtown area is historic and Mississippi Main Street focuses on that historic element, but also tries to recruit new businesses,” said Hinton.

The group is teaming up with Jones College and the City of Ellisville to promote economic development.

Hinton said the main goal now was to create community events and make improvements to facades of businesses downtown.

“We’ll have access to the information that will help us grow,” said Hinton.

Across the county in the Town of Soso, the community was feeling the perks of also being part of the association.

“We’re really excited to partner with them,” said Soso Mayor Mike Moore.

Moore said while the partnership is expected to be good for the town, Mississippi Main Street also may be able to help a speeding issue the downtown area faces.

Three highways intersect downtown and drivers don’t slow down through the area, Moore said.

“What we’re going to do is set up radars on (the) highways to let drivers know the speed limit that they’re going,” Moore said. “Other towns have done this, and it has helped.

More businesses are beginning to pop up in the area, and Moore said collaborations with other towns can continue to help with that development.

“It gives us an opportunity to better our town, to reach out and help out ways that the others are doing things,” said Moore.

Both municipalities will have access to resources and training, as well as connections with other Mississippi cities.

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