Thomas Howard / The Meridian StarCraig Hitt is the City of Meridian's new Director of Community Development.

Craig Hitt is no stranger to Meridian. Born and raised in Lauderdale County, he’s managed a successful timber business, served on the Lauderdale County Board of Supervisors and most recently worked with Kemper County Economic Development Authority.

Now, Hitt is taking on a new challenge as the City of Meridian’s new Community Development Director.

Community Development plays a big role in Meridian. In addition to managing the parking garage, Union Station and other properties, the department handles building inspections and code enforcement, works with event organizers on permitting and public safety and coordinates with businesses looking to open or expand in the Meridian area.

Hit said the department has a lot of moving parts, and getting up to speed is one of his first goals.

“In honesty, I’m still learning some of that,” he said last week. “There’s a lot of things rolled into this department.”

Community Development requires a lot of cooperation and coordination with other city departments, Hitt said. Events require coordination with law enforcement for safety, parks and recreation for supplies, public works for utilities and communicating with the administration to make sure everyone is on the same page.

“There has to be a lot of coordination throughout the city anytime we have some event,” he said.

But events are just one small part of what Community Development does. As part of his vision, which is shared by the administration, Hitt said a main goal of his department will be to clean up downtown Meridian and to promote growth for businesses and residents.

“You always want to be growing your city,” he said. “I believe there is a focus from this administration to look at small businesses, specifically downtown, and then our other business sections of the city to make the growth of new businesses, as well as the expansion of existing business, as easy as possible.”

With today’s technology putting a library of information within a few clicks, Hitt said business owners can find out a lot about a city before they ever start talking to Community Development. That advantage makes it even more important for the city to have a clean, welcoming community to present to potential new businesses.

“They do their homework, and with the technology we have today they can find out pretty much anything they want to find out,” he said. “So, I think it’s important for us to be presentable on the front end so that when someone does start looking, they see a community that’s well maintained and a population that’s excited about what’s going on in their community and shows an open door for new opportunities.”

Hit said Community Development works with landowners to address dilapidated buildings and clean up abandoned properties. The department also stays in contact with the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, community organizations and historic preservation groups to bring additional resources and voices to the table.

The initial focus for clean-up is the downtown area, Hitt said, but the goal is to expand the effort to other areas of the city to address issues and build opportunities city-wide.

As he settles in to his new role, Hitt said he encourages residents to reach out to his department to share their thoughts and ideas on growing the City of Meridian.

“We’re here to serve the folks of the city,” he said. “We have a great staff that’s very knowledgeable about what they do and what needs to be done. So I encourage folks to reach out the us and let us work with them as have idea or look to grow the community.”