Natchez developing a 1.5 billion dollar bio-refinery..... (sales, homes, movies)

[Mississippi Alabama Line]

https://www.magnoliastatelive.com/20...76pIew4NOKGtt4

We've all seen this show before, but I think this one may happen and actually be successful. There are some successful tests behind it. This would be a gamechanger for Natchez, which is already seeing big inflow of tourism, and the movie industry.

[Seadory]

Don't forget the Hallmark Christmas movie currently in production! People are so excited. Hope the cast and crew don't die of heat exhaustion. They'll have to convince the audience that they're cold. Someone told me they are going to make it snow!

[Mississippi Alabama Line]

Originally Posted by Seadory

Don't forget the Hallmark Christmas movie currently in production! People are so excited. Hope the cast and crew don't die of heat exhaustion. They'll have to convince the audience that they're cold. Someone told me they are going to make it snow!

I figured it was a matter of time before those super-rich Hollywood types discovered that lower river region. It's like there are forces that attract them. They like that old school plantation look and feel.

[brickpatio2018]

This is wonderful for Natchez. I wonder how they got selected for this. I'm guessing the combination of nearby pine trees in the region and transportation by barge on the Mississippi River. Or was it part of a political negotiation inside some bill in D.C? They are also looking at building an east-west interstate through Natchez, so maybe it's finally their time. In any event, it seems like Natchez has a good mayor; maybe they can leverage this into attracting similar industries.

[Seadory]

Originally Posted by brickpatio2018

This is wonderful for Natchez. I wonder how they got selected for this. I'm guessing the combination of nearby pine trees in the region and transportation by barge on the Mississippi River. Or was it part of a political negotiation inside some bill in D.C? They are also looking at building an east-west interstate through Natchez, so maybe it's finally their time. In any event, it seems like Natchez has a good mayor; maybe they can leverage this into attracting similar industries.

From what I've heard and read the filming of this particular Hallmark Christmas movie was already underway in Louisiana. The producer spent a weekend at the home of a friend living in Natchez and subsequently fell in love with the place. He and his partner changed the location to Mississippi. I don't know exactly what homes will be used, but much of Silver Street, The Bluff, overlooking the river, and Main Street will be included in the filming.

https://cdispatch.com/news/2021-08-0...n-mississippi/

[Suesbal]

It would be for actress Lacey Chabert to make a movie here, since she is a Mississippi native.

[Seadory]

Originally Posted by brickpatio2018

This is wonderful for Natchez. I wonder how they got selected for this. I'm guessing the combination of nearby pine trees in the region and transportation by barge on the Mississippi River. Or was it part of a political negotiation inside some bill in D.C? They are also looking at building an east-west interstate through Natchez, so maybe it's finally their time. In any event, it seems like Natchez has a good mayor; maybe they can leverage this into attracting similar industries.

I'm sorry! I completely misread your post and incorrectly interpreted the whole thing. Been swept up in the Hallmark excitement.

This is from the Natchez Democrat. "The Bayou Fuels project in Natchez would specialize in the production of environmentally friendly fuel, especially jet fuel, made from woody biomass that would otherwise be waste from paper and lumber industries. The plant would be one of only two such facilities built in America with a similar one being built in Oregon."

You are probably right about the pine trees being an important factor.

Anyway, for each of the last four or five months the City of Natchez has received more than $500,00 in sales tax revenues. According to Mayor Dan Gibson this is a city record. He opined that Natchez is one of the fastest growing economies in the state. "I think it has to do with a number of things," Gibson said. "We have had more than 70 new businesses open up since July 2020."

The people are happy about all the much needed changes in Natchez. Much, much excitement and optimism! And yes, it seems that Dan Gibson is a very good mayor. Bubbling over with wild enthusiasm.

[RocketDawg]

Originally Posted by Seadory

Don't forget the Hallmark Christmas movie currently in production! People are so excited. Hope the cast and crew don't die of heat exhaustion. They'll have to convince the audience that they're cold. Someone told me they are going to make it snow!

Will the movie be ready for 2021 Christmas viewing?

[Timaea]

Y'all will make me move to Natchez! So excited to see this development.

Hurricane Ida inspired me to read about hurricanes in general, and the economy of the Gulf Coast, along with the Mississippi River, more broadly. I came away being much better informed (and impressed) by how vital the Gulf Coast -- and specifically the Mississippi River --is to this nation’s economy. The Mississippi is like the nation's coronary artery -- there is no US economy (as it exists now) without the mighty Mississippi. It's only natural that a billion-dollar development project should emerge in the region. From an article about the possible impacts of Ida:

Ida is predicted to track over one of the most critical industrial areas in the U.S.: the industrial corridor between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Not only is the region home to dozens of key petrochemical sites, and crisscrossed by important pipelines, it also has three of the fifteen largest ports in America: the largest bulk cargo port in the world, the Port of South Louisiana, which lies along a 54-mile stretch of the Mississippi River; the nation’s largest export grain port, the Port of New Orleans; and the Port of Greater Baton Rouge, the nation’s 10th-largest port. These three ports handle 55-70% of all U.S. grain exports to the world, supplied by barges moving downriver.

Going upriver, Mississippi River barges transport petrochemicals, fertilizers, and raw materials essential for the functioning of U.S. industry and agriculture, making the Mississippi River the lifeblood of the American economy. If the ports of the Mississippi River are closed for an extended period of time, the entire U.S. economy suffers, with impacts to the global economy and world food supplies; world food prices, vulnerable to extreme weather shocks, in May of 2021 hit their highest levels since 2011.

(Ill see if I can find the link to this article -- I copied and pasted it into a word doc, and now don't have the link ready)
.
Edit to add: Found the link. https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2...nfrastructure/

[Seadory]

Originally Posted by RocketDawg

Will the movie be ready for 2021 Christmas viewing?

If I remember correctly it is scheduled to air in November or December of 2021.

I just read that since 2011, from late October to January, Hallmark has televised Christmas movies nearly 24 hours a day, seven days a week. These Christmas movies are outrageously popular. Well behaved, attractive players of the opposite sex meet in sumptuous settings. They fall in love, overcome a few teeny-tiny obstacles and become engaged beneath the town's huge Christmas tree! Sometimes in front of a cozy fireplace. Estranged family members are reunited and old friends become reacquainted. Everyone is cheerful and merry.

I confess that I am a closet Hallmark Christmas movie watcher. Natchez is the perfect setting for such a film.

This should increase the volume of tourists that visit Natchez each year. Now more than ever Americans are craving this.

And there's almost always a cute dog and delicious Christmas cookies.