Vicksburg residents interested in investing in a business in the city will be able to meet company representatives and learn about franchises at a Vicksburg Investment Opportunity Forum Tuesday hosted by the city of Vicksburg and The Retail Coach, the city’s retail consultant.

The forum will be from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on the Motor Vessel Mississippi at the Jesse L. Brent Lower Mississippi River Museum and Interpretive Center in Washington Street.

“We’ll have retail folks coming in and trying to get folks to invest in Vicksburg’s retail market, and to bring up to date on the investors outside the city who want to invest in the Vicksburg Market,” Mayor George Flaggs Jr. said.

Will Kline, director of retail strategy for Tupelo-based The Retail Coach, said the primary focus of the program is franchising.

“We’re in our third year working with the city of Vicksburg, and over the course of some of our retail recruitment efforts, the majority of the feedback we’ve gotten from retailers and restaurants in regard to the market is ‘we need a franchisee.’”

He said his company has contacted some of the retailers and restaurants that have shown an interest in the Vicksburg market to and asked them to attend in hopes of encouraging residents to take a look at a certain franchise, primarily in the food and restaurant business.

Some companies, he said have expressed an interest in bringing a franchise to Vicksburg.

“What we want to do is take an opportunity to introduce people in Vicksburg to what becoming a franchisee may look like,” he said.