BATON ROUGE, La. – Today, Louisiana Economic Development launched the Louisiana Development Ready Communities pilot program at the Louisiana Municipal Association Annual Conference in Alexandria, La. This initiative is one of LED’s strategies to cultivate the economic competitiveness of municipalities, parishes and regions statewide. All Louisiana municipalities are invited to apply for the program.
“At last year’s LMA Annual Conference, LED and its partners launched a Web-based resource, LouisianaCommunityNetwork.com, to help local communities improve their economic opportunities,” said LED Secretary Stephen Moret. “The Louisiana Development Ready Communities pilot program is an extension of our Web-based resource, and uses a targeted, customized approach that will be instrumental in strengthening our communities.”
Eight communities will be selected to implement four development-ready elements (community assessment, strategic planning, leadership development and marketing a community) before completing their own economic development strategic plans by early 2010. Throughout the process, experienced community and economic development professionals will provide guidance.
In addition to customized training, the selected communities will benefit from community research data, strategic planning assistance and a community visit by a site selection consultant. Once the pilot program is successfully completed, it will be extended statewide.
Applications are available at LouisianaCommunityNetwork.com. Applications must be submitted through each municipality’s designated mayor’s office. Applications submitted directly to LED or LMA will not be accepted.
LED’s program partners include Entergy, CLECO, ALEC, SWEPCO, University of New Orleans, LMA, Police Jury Association of Louisiana and LSU/SU Extension Services.
