Lauderdale County community leaders were encouraged to continue efforts to grow the area’s cultural identity at a Business After Hours event Tuesday organized by the East Mississippi Business Development Corporation. “For 20 years plus, I have worked under the belief of asset-based community development. McDavid encouraged local leaders to “think big and start small,” by leveraging the assets already present in the community and making small but impactful changes. A lot of people think that’s tourism’s job, that’s the chamber’s job, that’s main street’s job, it’s the economic developer’s job, it’s the mayor’s job,” he said. We have to love our communities because the journey of a thousand miles really does begin with that single step when we think big and start small.”