Nine months after forming, the Downtown Partners advisory panel is close to choosing a logo and is taking new suggestions to build as a downtown advisory panel.

“I think we’re coming together,” said H.C. Porter, a panel member and artist who designed a logo, the final design of which had not been chosen by Tuesday night’s meeting. “I hope this (logo) will define our community in a way to bring people together to show some pride in the city, so as we travel, we can have a symbol that people can begin to recognize Vicksburg.”

Porter and about six of the panel members agreed on an image featuring the letter V and an image of the cupola atop the Old Court House Museum, but they had not nailed down such details as the font for the type.

The image will be available for residents to use in promoting the city. Talks with the Vicksburg Convention and Visitors Bureau to help fund the logo project are ongoing, Porter said.

Meanwhile, Wayne Mansfield, executive director of the Warren County Economic Development Foundation, offered the panel suggestions on which cities and towns are best for site visits.

He gave examples of economic development in Oklahoma City and Nashville, but said Vicksburg’s downtown development could be closely modeled after downtown areas in such Mississippi cities as Tupelo and Clarksdale.

“Define your goal,” he told the panel. “Define your mission and develop your strategy. Plan a trip and meet with the city’s economic development group.”

The partners, who are not funded by any source, will choose a site to visit by December and plan to travel as early as February.

Chairman Blake Teller said travel expenses will be the responsibility of each member. The panel’s meeting with Mansfield is the fourth in a series with local tourism and business leaders.

In trying to establish a direction for the panel, members have met with leaders of Vicksburg Main Street Association, VCVB and the Vicksburg-Warren County Chamber of Commerce.