Economic development

By Harlan Kirgan
harlan.kirgan
@eunicetoday.com
OPELOUSAS — The newly-formed One Acadiana was greeted as another development path for St. Landry Parish at a meeting of the St. Landry Parish Economic Development District Tuesday.
Bill Rodier, the district’s executive director, said, “This is a collaborative effort. This isn’t an adversarial type of situation.”
Jim Bourgeois, recently named executive director of business development at One Acadiana, and Rebecca Shirley, director of Acadiana Economic Development Council, spoke during the district’s board meeting in Opelousas.
One Acadiana will support local economic developers such as Rodier, Bourgeois said.
“It is going to work with Bill to identify what is it that we can add more resources to,” he said.
“The business community in Acadiana has come together to recognize the importance of all the regions being able to get their fair share of the pie,” Bourgeois said.
“We are really going to get together with them to identify the assets, identify the opportunities, identify the weaknesses and see what we can to improve the situations. We are going to continue the great work that AEDC has done marketing the region on the national and international level.”
One Acadiana was formed from the Greater Lafayette Chamber of Commerce and announced in February as an umbrella agency to lead economic development in nine parishes.
The regional includes the parishes of Lafayette, Acadia, Evangeline, Iberia, Jefferson Davis, St. Landry, St. Martin, St. Mary and Vermilion.
Existing business, economic development and chamber of commerce organizations will continue to work independently, but most have indicated they will work with One Acadiana.
Also announced in February was that a fundraising effort met a goal of $15 million to operate One Acadiana for five years.
Jason El Koubi is the president and chief executive of One Acadiana.
Bourgeois is the first business development professional hired by One Acadiana.
“We are really going to build the program from the ground up,” he said.
Shirley praised the St. Landry Parish economic development effort.
“People around the region are talking about the great things happening in St. Landry Parish,” she said.
“The exciting thing about One Acadiana coming about is to have this full-force staff where previously you had two people doing marketing, recruitment, business retention visits, site development and that whole host of things,” Shirley said. “Now, it is going to be a much larger better funded team to be able to do so much in the region.”
Outside the meeting, Bourgeois said completion of Interstate 49 is One Acadiana’s top transportation priority.
Shirley said, “We can make it all day, but we have to take it where it is going to be sold. That’s what is key for us.”
One of the U.S. 90 choke points is the Lafayette area.
“The competition we have to deal with nationally may not have a Highway 90 going through Lafayette with multiple traffic lights,” she said.
Patterson to Morgan City on U.S. 90 also needs to be upgraded, she said.
Other business included announcing a March 31 deadline for applications and nominees to the Crowne Parc Joint Commission, a development off I-49 at the Harry Guilbeau exit. There are seven commission seats open. Three are to be appointed by the mayor of Opelouas, two by the St. Landry Parish president and two by the St. Landry Parish Council.
“No matter what happens in this district it is going to affect all of St. Landry Parish and north Acadiana,” Rodier said.
Applications are available at www.opportunitystlandry.com.