5th & Main - Fall 2021

LOUISIANA ASSOCIATION OF BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY

FALL 2021

GAME CHANGER Reshaping Louisiana’s Business Climate

: S U L P D R A C E R O SC ALED REVE

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CONTENTS

130 Sara Essex Bradley

FEATURES 30 NEED TO KNOW

The quest for free enterprise in Louisiana

36 INNOVATOR

56 COVER STORY

How voting Yes at the polls can change business in our state

Rodneyna Hart brings vision to the Capitol Park Museum

90 FIELD NOTES

43 ON OUR RADAR

98 REBIRTH

49 THE FORECAST

105 MAIN STREET

Photo essay of the Hurricane Ida aftermath

Education updates and future planning

The road to recovery for southwest Louisiana

Stephen Barnes weighs in on Louisiana’s economic future

IN EVERY ISSUE 6 11 20 23 28 124

4

President’s View The Debrief The Hot Seat From the Board The Lowdown Work/Out

5th & Main Fall 2021

127 130 141 147 150

Women Owned

How cities are helping their small businesses survive

THE LEGISLATIVE SCORECARD

Pg. 67

Office Space Events The Network

GAME CHANGER BUSINESS PROFILES

The Takeaway

Louisiana Association of Business and Industry

Pg. 111

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PRESIDENT'S VIEW

Stephen Waguespack

CHANGING THE GAME IN LOUISIANA

W

elcome to the first edition of 5th & Main, a new periodic magazine by the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry that will introduce you to Louisiana’s business and elected leaders, educate you on the issues that impact Louisiana’s economy, share some entertaining insights on our people and tradition, and challenge you to get involved to make a difference in the state we love.

Speaking of our beloved state: Why exactly do we love it? What is it about Louisiana that makes us so loyal and proud to call it home?

No doubt, most justifications begin with some combination of family, faith, food, friendship and fun. That’s the good stuff we have always done better than most, the reason people fly from all over the world to visit us and the backbone of that whole “joie de vivre” culture we own and illustrate in every corner of the state.

But what about those other things that can make or break a state? Things like jobs, roads, schools, taxes, regulations. How have we traditionally done on that front? Most would say Louisiana has some room for growth there, and it is on this point that 5th & Main aims to become the roadmap for expanding our narrative, maximizing our

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5th & Main Fall 2021

potential and harnessing the power of our people and resources in a way we’ve never seen before.

That is our goal, and hopefully, the goal of everyone—for Louisiana to improve our already strong track record of culture with a growing economy, thriving local communities and ample opportunities for people from all walks of life. That’s the mission and it will take all of us to get it right.

“Don’t let yesterday use up too much of today.”

- Will Rogers

We’ve all heard the stories. Unfortunately, too many of us believe them still to be true. All those old tales have a few familiar themes: Louisiana can only be so much.

Boom or bust is just who we are. Our politics are a mess, our laws are outdated, we missed too many opportunities back in the day and we are capable of only competing so much in today’s economy.

Here is a newsflash: That’s a load of crap.

The culture of low expectations peddled by some is usually justified by stories from the past. It’s time to turn our back on that defeatist mindset and pursue a new course

Louisiana Association of Business and Industry

that takes us to a new level. The present is filled with limitless opportunities and the future is bright for Louisiana.

“What is now proved was once only imagined.”

- William Blake

We can do this.

The theme of this edition of 5th & Main is “Game Changer,” a role Louisiana has successfully played before and a mentality we must all more consistently embrace to systemically enhance outcomes for all.

We all remember the horrific days of hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the heartache and destruction caused by those storms. But Louisiana also used—during that era—her trademark resilience, tenacity and communal spirit to bounce back better than before. Other states now look to us to learn how best to recover, rebuild and rebrand in the face of adversity. We also became the epicenter of the education reform movement during that time by recruiting new school operators, leaders and teachers to our state, ushering in a new era of transformational innovation and choice. That march was done in a collaborative, bipartisan way labi.org

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PRESIDENT’S VIEW that benefitted families in every zip code.

This historic moment is simply one of many “game changer” moments for Louisiana and we have many more opportunities to add more to our resume. Our innovative contractors and manufacturers are relied upon all over the world to build tomorrow’s facilities and products, our laborers and entrepreneurs have continuously revolutionized the American energy and maritime sectors for decades and our research capabilities are leading to new breakthroughs on sensible water and land management.

Our reputation is one of not only dreaming, but also implementing solutions to the world’s challenges, a brand that we must continuously and collaboratively reinforce in numerous ways.

“Anything is possible if you’ve got enough nerve.”

– J.K. Rowling

Our challenge isn’t know-how, it’s courage, focus and mission. We have all complained about too many of our young people leaving for better prospects in other states, but have we fully embraced the mission to create the economy and communities they seek here at home? Low tax states with strong economies, reliable infrastructure and highly rated schools in the South are literally gobbling up investors and residents from the East and West Coasts as we speak, as those people flee the high costs and heavy-handed governments found in states like California and New York.

Louisiana can be one of those vacuum states in the South, but it requires some nerve and action. We are living in a potential growth era, and the time is now to be bolder and more decisive than ever before.

Let’s be honest. We need to take a hard look at everything we do and be willing to push the envelope on innovation and creativity. Looking at how other states piece together a tax code, provide education to their children and develop growing economies is helpful, but we must have the goal of beating their ideas rather than just copying them. The pandemic made it crystal clear that the future of workforce is flexibility, the future of education is adaptability, and the future of citizen expectations is customization. People don’t want to live somewhere where they must pay big money for a onesize-fits-all government and a public service sector that doesn’t meet their individual needs. In fact, they simply won’t stand for it 8 5th & Main Fall 2021

in the future. Governments must evolve to attract people as they become more mobile and selective, a reality that may be a tough pill for some of the traditional government crowd to swallow.

So, who has the template for all of this happen? Which elected official, business or interest group? Which political party? Just tell us who that is and we can encourage them to take charge.

Wrong.

There is no knight in shining armor on this one. No person, political party and entity holds the keys to Louisiana’s future.

The truth is everyone has blood on their hands on how we got to the bottom of too many lists and everyone has the duty to roll up their sleeves and get to work to bring us to the top.

Thankfully, we are already good at rallying together. When storms hit, we rally together better than anyone else. When a neighbor hurts, we step in without hesitation. It’s time we take our best traits and put them to work on something larger than throwing a good party and more systemic than helping someone get through a moment. It’s time to create an “Apollo Mission” type mindset and use those admirable traits to solve critical problems and elevate our position in the American economy.

A Publication by Louisiana Association of Business and Industry

PUBLISHER Stephen Waguespack EDITOR Ashley Gordon PRODUCTION/DESIGN Natalie Rabb CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Stephen Barnes, Marie DesOrmeaux Centanni, Emily Kern Hebert, Mariah Manuel Hernandez, Mary Beth Hughes, Fritz Esker, Jennifer Macha, Jeffery Roedel CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Sara Essex Bradley, Jacqueline Marque, Tim Mueller, Jeannie Frey Rhodes, Collin Richie, Sarah Ward

President & CEO

Stephen Waguespack

Communications

“There is no limit to the amount of good you can do if you don’t care who gets the credit.”

– Ronald Reagan

VP of Marketing & Strategic Communications: Ashley Gordon Director of LABI’s Free Enterprise Institute & Public Affairs: Marie DesOrmeaux Centanni Political Operations Manager: Mariah Manuel Hernandez Graphic Designer: Natalie Rabb Communications Manager: Mary Beth Hughes

Membership

Director of Membership: Elena Lacour

5th & Main will try to help stimulate that dialogue for all of us—by sharing ideas, stories, profiles and policies that work, by introducing you to others who share this mission, and by identifying opportunities for collaboration and partnership.

Let’s dedicate ourselves to working together to make Louisiana a “game changer.”

And let’s care less about who gets the credit when we finally get there.

Stephen Waguespack President & CEO, LABI

Louisiana Association of Business and Industry

Policy

VP of Government Relations, Director of Taxation & Finance, Employee Relations and Transportation & Tourism: Jim Patterson Director of Development: Courtney Baker Director of Civil Justice, Energy and Judicial Program: Lauren Chauvin Director of Health Care, Education and Workforce Development: Lauren Gleason Director of Political Action Committees, Governmental Reform, Technology and Small Business: Bo Staples

Administration

Chief Financial Officer: Wanda Allphin Director of Financial Operations: Kelsey Talbot IT Director: Andre Forbes Office Manager, Assistant Director of Financial Operations: Tabitha Guidry Executive Assistant to Stephen Waguespack, Special Projects Manager: Claire Shirley Receptionist: Sheila Saniford

5th & Main is produced by Louisiana Association of Business and Industry and will be published biannually. Printing by Baton Rouge Printing. All rights reserved by LABI.

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5th & Main Fall 2021 9

THE DEBRIEF

MOR E T H AN A LO CAT ION

W

e are 5th & Main. Louisiana Association of Business and Industry is located on the corner of 5th Street and Main Street in downtown Baton Rouge. Right in the heart of the Capitol City. But our spot on the map also represents every labi.org

business, industry and manufacturing company throughout our state who stakes a claim in Louisiana. Who creates jobs here. Who supports communities here. Who builds here, and banks here, and eats here and heals here. Louisiana is an amazing Louisiana Association of Business and Industry

state, and we are stronger together. So, yes, we are 5th & Main. But we aren’t alone. You are 5th & Main, too. Join us as we celebrate the very best Louisiana has to offer.

The Debrief by Ashley Gordon Above photo by Jacqueline Marque Photography

5th & Main Fall 2021 11

LAUNCH WE LOVE

Not Your Mother’s Hot Sauce MATT BEESON WAS RAISED in south Louisiana, so he was raised on dishes that featured a kick of hot sauce. He loved the heat, but he never liked the vinegar taste. As an adult, married with a day job, he had a question. A question that was not meant to launch a new career: “How can I replace the vinegar taste in hot sauce and still have the pepper heat?” Two years of research lead to a brilliant answer—vinegar preserves the sauce so it can sit on shelves unrefrigerated. But, he realized, so would liquor. It was an answer that spawned a new product. In 2017, Beeson launched Swamp Dragon Hot Sauce in Baton Rouge. Four different blends: The Bourbon, The Tequila, The Vodka and The Rum blends all have a mild taste of the liquor with a fresh taste of the peppers. “It’s FDA registered and approved for children to have.” This sauce is now available in almost 900 locations around the country and—most recently—was approved to be distributed in 118 H-E-B grocery stores in Texas. “For the first time in my life, I know I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing,” says Beeson. “It’s not easy work, but it’s worth it.”

THE DEBRIEF

KUDOS

Shaking Things Up CHEERS TO PJ’S COFFEE for being named to Fast Casual’s Top 100 Movers & Shakers list. “Last year, we awarded 32 new franchises and opened 21 new locations,” said Ryan Stansbury, vice president of franchise development for PJ’s Coffee. “This year will be even better.” In 2021, the coffee franchise—based in the New Orleans area—is expected to award over 45 new franchises and open more than 40 stores. Talk about a caffeine kick!

SET FOR GROWTH

Mill Work

HUNT FOREST PRODUCTS of Ruston is joining forces with Tolko Industries of British Columbia to build a $240 million, state-of-the-art sawmill in northwest Louisiana’s Bienville Parish, starting in early 2022. The mill will prioritize buying timber locally, and it will employ about 130 people. “We are excited to be bringing our second high-tech sawmill—and the skilled jobs it will provide—to Louisiana,” says James D. Hunt, co-owner of Hunt Forest Products. “It will also provide a local outlet for the massive inventory of southern yellow pine that exists in this state.” Hunt and Tolko partnered to create LaSalle Lumber Company in Urania, La. in 2018 (pictured here.) The new mill will have about 50% greater capacity at full production.

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Louisiana Association of Business and Industry

5th & Main Fall 2021 13

THE DEBRIEF ON BRAND

MOVING FORWARD

RAISING CANE’S PARTNERED with Parish Brewing Co. to launch a limited-edition beer, “No Slaw Extra Toast”—commemorating a favorite order by fans of the Baton Rouge-based chicken finger franchise. The brew is a refreshing lemonade IPA with a nose of Lemonheads candy, dripping in hops and dosed with Meyer lemon puree. Andrew Godley with Parish Brewing (left) and Todd Graves with Raising Cane’s (right) first kicked off the release on National IPA Day (Aug. 5). The beer is available in all markets in Parish’s distribution area: Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida and southeast Texas.

LOUISIANA’S EXECUTIVE and legislative branches have become more transparent in the last decade, thanks to public scrutiny from active voters, engaged civic and special interest groups, members of the media and elected officials. But what about our critical third branch of state government? Two years ago, LABI recognized the need to research transparency in the judiciary due to the growing impact judicial decisions have had on the business community. Our Legal Advisory Council was created, and a four-part series was produced to increase public understanding of Louisiana’s judiciary in the hopes of implementing best practices to modernize our court system. These four papers will be released at louisianajudiciary.com starting in October 2021. Check out the website for more information.

One Love for Hops

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Transparency

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5th & Main Fall 2021

Louisiana Association of Business and Industry

labi.org

THE DEBRIEF FAST FACTS

Energy Update

Louisiana is one of the top five states in both natural gas production and proved reserves. The state accounted for 9% of U.S. total marketed gas production in 2020 and has about 8% of the nation’s gas reserves.

Louisiana’s 17 oil refineries account for nearly one-fifth of the nation’s refining capacity and can process about 3.4 million barrels of crude oil per day.

In 2020, Louisiana’s two liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals shipped out about 55% of U.S. total LNG exports.

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, April 2021

Courtesy ExxonMobil

NEW ORLEANS

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Louisiana Association of Business and Industry

5th & Main Fall 2021 15

Louisiana

THE DEBRIEF

shining Through.

New online portal to support travel and tourism industry

Latest social media storytelling technology

Digital kiosks at Welcome Centers providing timely, local information to visitors

Focus on in-state and near-state advertising

Record visitation in Louisiana State Parks

Over $4 million in grants to support statewide marketing efforts in 2020

We are excited to celebrate a bright future for the Louisiana travel and tourism industry. With our Sunshine Plan for recovery and the hard work of the resilient people of Louisiana, the power of travel will always shine through.

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Louisiana Association of Business and Industry

Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser

labi.org

Kelly Moore Clarke

THE DEBRIEF

CITY SPOTLIGHT

Future Focused

IT WAS A FRIDAY, and the man was weary. Frustrated with electrical issues that included a streetlight outside his residence in Monroe, he had called the City for a solution—discouraged that it hadn’t been fixed yet—so his expectations were low. That day, a 1968 Ford F100 Ranger slowly pulled onto his street, parked, and Mayor Friday Ellis himself stepped out. The homeowner was delightfully surprised.

“Well, I sure didn’t expect the mayor,” he said.

Ellis simply answered, “When my boss calls, I show up.”

On Fridays, Ellis blocks off half his day and makes house calls. He figures, if the complaints have made it all the way to his office without getting fixed, he and his team needed to see the problems for themselves and create solutions. This boots-on-the-ground approach, plus his recognition that he works for the people of Monroe, drives everything he does.

“It’s refreshing for people to see their mayor working in public. It reminds them that they have access,” says Ellis. “But it’s also great accountability.”

That accountability is at the heart of Ellis’ plan for his city. Elected and sworn into labi.org

office in July 2020—defeating an incumbent who had been mayor for almost two decades—Ellis knew that the people of Monroe wanted change. They wanted revitalization.

They wanted hope.

“As a mid-city market, Monroe has been bleeding talent,” says Ellis, who quickly launched a progressive rebrand of the city to revitalize community pride. This included an inspirational ‘State of the City’ video created to encourage and inform. “The way we win is to kill it with quality of life.”

And Ellis believes that Monroe has plenty of potential when it comes to quality of life.

Large corporations such as Lumen Technologies have brought employees from outside of the state, and these individuals are awed at the ease of how quickly they become plugged in. The hometown mentality and the neighbors-helping-neighbors mindset of a smaller town is essential to drawing others.

Instead of being stuck in significant traffic in larger municipalities, Ellis says he can be in Ruston in 30 minutes and Black Bear Golf Club in a little over 40.

But the real key to his vision is significant: revamping the downtown riverfront with a “beachfront approach” that encourages restaurants, businesses, small retailers and hotels to invest in downtown, with greater Louisiana Association of Business and Industry

access to the Ouachita River and more activity at all times. He’s even moving more than 80 city employees to a newly purchased building downtown, to serve as a one-stop shop for all things that have to do with the city, including planning and urban development. And he’s hired Campo & Associates to create the master plan for the whole area.

“It’s amazing what happens when a mayor announces, ‘Here’s my vision’,” says Ellis, admitting that his vision is actually a 1,000-piece puzzle. “We’ve hired Campo to give them the box top to the puzzle. It’s always easier to do the puzzle with the box top.”

In the meantime, Ellis is doing the simple things that make a big difference. Giving full benefits to the garbage collectors. Clearing the sidewalks and making house calls. He’s visiting other cities and bringing their ideas home. The small things add up, and the big vision and planning creates a movement.

And the movement toward change is top of mind for this mayor at all times.

“We are in this position to move the needle,” says Ellis, who encourages this outlook in all of those who work with him: “How did we move the needle today?”

To view Monroe’s inspirational video, visit stateofthecitymonroe.com.

5th & Main Fall 2021 17

THE DEBRIEF BACK TO BUSINESS

Taking Flight

SMART WORKS

Being Responsible

CHESAPEAKE ENERGY IS working with a pair of environmental groups to ensure its Haynesville Shale production in Louisiana is certified as responsibly produced by the end of 2021. This independent certification of its natural gas production is part of Chesapeake’s commitment to environmental stewardship and sustainable productions across gas basins. The company’s goal is to achieve netzero direct greenhouse gas emissions by 2035.

COMMUNITY COFFEE HAS been Southwest Airline’s choice for in-flight coffee since 2016, and it is now being served again aboard most flights after a pandemic pause. “We are thrilled to be back in the air and sharing our signature coffee with our fans from across the country,” says Leah Herrington, Community Coffee executive vice president, sales and marketing. For every pound of Community Coffee served on a Southwest flight, the Dallas-based airline and the Baton Rouge-based coffee company donates to the ECOM Foundation: a nonprofit focused on ensuring a better life for origin producers through healthcare, education and housing programs.

FOLLOW UP

Dredging It Up

ONE YEAR AGO, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began dredging the Mississippi River to 50 feet, and Phase 1—from the Gulf of Mexico to Venice—has recently been completed. This first phase opens up about 175 miles of the ship channel to a deeper draft.

An early snag in the project—the discovery of obstructions: four utility pipelines and one utility cable that crosses the shipping channel—is being addressed.

Meanwhile, the Corps has reached out to the owners of the obstructions and is attempting to gain information of the depth of each. Plans are being created to correct the problems, and Phase 2 begins soon. When completed, the dredging project will allow larger vessels using the widened Panama Canal to make their way to Louisiana ports all the way to Baton Rouge—256 miles of river—as well as allowing vessels to carry heavier loads in Louisiana. The Mississippi River, a water highway with incredible economic impact to Louisiana and beyond, is getting the investment it deserves.

“This historic project is exciting for the entire maritime community and has such an important long-term impact on the way we do business on the Mississippi River,” says Brandy D. Christian, president and CEO of the Port of New Orleans. “It is the culmination of decades of hard work by all stakeholders involved, including the Big River Coalition and Louisiana Congressional delegation with the critical support of the State Legislature, Governor Edwards and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. This deepening project will harness the economic power of the river and create the most competitive global gateway in the Gulf of Mexico.”

P.J. Hahn of Pelican Coast Consulting/Big River Coalition

“We had not anticipated the obstructions,” says Sean Duffy, executive director of the Big River Coalition. “We are actively pursuing the acquisition of greater technology—maybe even technology used by the Department of Defense—to better analyze the depth of the river and the exact depths

of the obstructions, as well as any obstructions in the future.”

18 5th & Main Fall 2021

Louisiana Association of Business and Industry

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THE HOT SEAT

LEADING

THE WAY

Catching Up with LABI’s Chairman of the Board

T

erry Baugh has his own cubicle.

Upstairs, at the LABI Center for Free Enterprise in downtown Baton Rouge, this Chairman of the Board makes himself at home. During the 2021 Legislative

Session, Baugh became a beloved fixture in the office—cubicle and computer at the ready—and went to the Capitol often to be part of the political process. According to Baugh, it was just one of the highlights of his tenure so far.

“It just fits, and I love it,” says Baugh, of his chairmanship. “This has been the most fun six months of my professional life.”

Although Baugh was a daily fixture at LABI—even renting an apartment near the office—his day job is CFO at D & J Construction in Monroe. He grew up in Monroe, graduated from high school and college there, and settled down with his family. He and his wife Sherry just celebrated their 34th wedding anniversary. They have two sons and four granddaughters.

“Everyone calls me T-Baugh, but the girls call me T-Paw,” says Baugh. “It’s a hoot.”

When LABI President and CEO Stephen Waguespack approached Baugh about becoming chairman, Baugh was taken aback.

“I’m looking around and see the Lane Grigsbys and Art Favres of the world who are successful business folks,” says Baugh.

“I felt completely overwhelmed and undeserving.”

But he’s been instrumental in his position. By being present and informed throughout the session and beyond, Baugh has been a champion for LABI and a support to its staff throughout this year.

“This was the most positive session for business and industry in history,” says Baugh. “LABI was a key player in managing and brokering relationships.”

To Baugh, the biggest win of session was passing tax reform, but there were other victories too.

“Infrastructure was huge. It was the biggest infrastructure investment since the ’80s,” says Baugh. “And the fact that it came down to the last 25 minutes made it that much sweeter.”

With the legislative session wrapping in early June, Baugh is back home with his family for now, but he still has some time left as LABI Chairman.

“It’s hard to believe it’s almost half over,” Baugh said. “I miss my Baton Rouge family, but I’ll be back soon.”

– MARY BETH HUGHES

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PERFORMANCE FIRST AND FOREMOST Since our beginnings as a merit shop contractor in 1979, we’ve operated under the notion that working harder and putting safety and quality at the forefront of every construction project drives better results. Because everything we do is based on our performance.

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FROM THE BOARD

Moments Mattered THAT

LABI looks to our board members to share their game-changing moments in business

BY MARY BETH HUGHES

My entire life took a radical turn when I had to beg the Teamster’s business agent, Edward Grady Partin, to ‘allow’ me to stay in business. He did, and I pledged to devote my time, talent, and treasure to ensuring that no other person should beg for the right to freely earn their living in America.

Lane Grigsby

Chairman Emeritus, Cajun Industries

The game-changing moment for our business occurred in early 2015 when we decided to commit to getting out of the office 4 to 5 times a year with key leaders at the company and focus on ways to do things differently in an industry full of 100-yearold, much more established brands. These meetings led to strategies around product development, distribution, and marketing that weren’t thought to be possible in our market.

It seems these days there are game-changing moments in rapid succession due to the exponential advances in technology. The use of real-time data through cloud-based project management software keeps our project teams and all project stakeholders up to date with the most current information needed to keep our projects on track.

Lauren Gibbs

CEO, Gibbs Construction

Michael Uffman

CFO, Marucci Sports

Moving to Advantous has provided the ‘game-changing’ opportunity to fulfill my ultimate goal of bettering Louisiana’s business climate and making it a better place to live, work, and play. A huge highlight came this year in working with LABI and Louisiana Legislators to help spearhead tax reform efforts during the 2021 Legislative Session.

Jason DeCuir

Partner, Advantous Consulting

A game changer for us is when we fully committed to the idea that creating greater access to people means we get into the car and drive to them, rather than forcing all of them to drive to us.

Dr. Phillip Rozeman

President, Willis-Knighton Cardiology

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Louisiana Association of Business and Industry

5th & Main Fall 2021 23

Your protection is our priori‫﬚‬.

Our game-changing moment at Gulf Coast Bank & Trust came when we decided to go all in on the Paycheck Protection Program. While some national banks passed on the program or limited it to their existing customers only, we built an online application portal, set up shifts to work 24/7 on underwriting and processing requests, and served every business who requested assistance—all while balancing the ongoing essential business of banking with employee health and family care issues.

Kim Carver

VP of Government Relations, Gulf Coast Bank & Trust

Game-changing moments at Golfballs.com have always been about people. Our biggest inflection points have always followed the addition of high impact team members.

Tom Cox

President, Golfballs.com

Craig R. Watson Labor and Employment

Eric E. o e

Workers’ Compensation

Our game changer was fully committing to being driven by Purpose, based on Values, and focused on Vision. This is the framework we now use to make every decision in our business. All of us who work for Danos love being able to be deeply rooted in things that matter.

Eric Danos

Owner & CEO, Danos

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The game changer for Elmers was in 2015 when we made the decision to invest almost our entire annual revenue into new automation equipment and facilities to transform into a stateof-the art candy manufacturer. This decision enabled us to compete against global competitors while remaining in Louisiana, our home for over 160 years.

Bobby Barousse

CFO, Elmer Candy Corp.

A recent game-changing moment for LUBA was our acquisition of a Florida-based workers’ comp carrier. This not only enabled us to continue the expansion of our geographical footprint, but our teams have taken their combined knowledge and expertise to even further enhance the way we deliver our product, and the services we provide to our clients.

Kelli Bondy Troutman

Senior Vice President, LUBA Workers’ Comp

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labi.org

Game-changing moments in our labor/ employment law practice included experiencing with our business clients the joy of their recovery after such dramatic events as 9-11, numerous hurricanes, and the pandemic. Being able to provide assistance and guidance simply confirmed why we all want to help each other through such wonderful organizations as LABI.

Fred Preis

Senior Partner, Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson

There have been many important moments of change and defining points in our 100-year history, beginning with our ownership’s decision decades ago to remain privately owned. This, coupled with the decision to embrace professional management beyond the family, has enabled us to remain nimble, focused on executing our strategy, producing measured results and growing smartly.

Scott Poole

President & COO, RoyOMartin

After Hurricane Katrina’s devastating impacts, we diversified our core business to include Disaster Recovery Program Management to help states and communities recover after largescale disasters. This diversification has allowed us to expand nationally and provide value-added services in other areas.

Jay Guillot

Senior VP, Hunt, Guillot & Associates

We have always been fortunate to have amazing clients and a fantastic team. Our game-changing moment came in 2012 when we stopped pursuing large fringe opportunities and focused on our core business and what we did best to grow our firm’s revenues and profits.

Todd Perry

Principal, PPM Consultants

The game changer for my career was a mentor. Having a long term veteran help me navigate a new career was priceless and I have paid it forward many times.

Michael Eason VP, Merrill Lynch

labi.org

Louisiana Association of Business and Industry

5th & Main Fall 2021 25

FROM THE BOARD Many of my professional game-changing moments have been directly associated with my involvement with LABI. From workers’ compensation reforms which LABI had me help draft decades ago, to yearly testimony on its behalf on comp, liability, and tort reform legislation, each interaction with LABI and its talented staff increased my legal expertise, elevated our firm’s profile, and helped us prosper. LABI’s meaningful legislative, judicial, and public policy victories have been game changers for not only myself and Louisiana’s employers but also for Louisiana’s people.

Wayne Fontana

Attorney, Roedel Parsons

A pivotal moment for LWCC was the launch of our private foundation in early 2020 with a vision of making Louisiana home to the healthiest and safest workforce in America. When COVID-19 began to threaten our state, the foundation was able to quickly provide assistance through Louisiana Well Again: COVID-19 Response Package, $1.1 million grants and gifts package to help Louisiana respond to and recover from the pandemic.

Kristin Wall

President & CEO, LWCC

For my business, a game-changing moment was when I first started delving into the area of Louisiana state and local tax work. Despite the unpredictability of Louisiana tax treatment for businesses over the years, I have found the state tax practice to be very rewarding and challenging work, trying to help and protect my clients.

Robert Angelico

President & Managing Partner, Liskow & Lewis

After spending 45 years with Associated Grocers, Inc., I decided to offer business consulting services to any interested parties. Without any advertising or promotion, I have been very blessed over the last four years to have been engaged and involved in many endeavors to assist businesspeople and families navigate various ownership, management, and valuation issues and concerns.

JH Campbell

Manager, Client Consulting Services

Atmos Energy’s vision is to be the safest provider of natural gas services, and our dedication to modernizing our infrastructure and business is our game changer. We continue to invest in the replacement of aging steel and vintage plastic pipe which makes our safe system even safer and helps us meet our goal of a 50 percent reduction of methane emissions by 2035.

- Jennnifer Ries

President, Atmos Energy

At the heart of The Chevron Way is our vision to be the global energy company most admired for its people, partnership, and performance. As we develop the affordable, reliable, ever-cleaner energy that enables human progress, we recognize our greatest resource is our people. Their game-changing ingenuity, creativity, and collaboration have met the complex challenges of energy’s past. Together, we’ll take on the future.

John L. Walters

Senior State Governmental Affairs Rep., Chevron

Owning and operating multiple companies that serve different industries can be a challenge. As one team, we defined our purpose and core values and this—by far—was the ultimate game-changing moment for us. Our purpose and core values unify, empower, and engage our people and cultivate a culture that enables Crest Industries to be successful on an unlimited scale.

John Doggett

CAO Crest Operations

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THE LOWDOWN

Louisiana’s Newest Members of Congress

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BY MARIE CENTANNI

What surprised you the most in your first week?

How small the Rotunda actually is!

What’s been your favorite part about getting out and about in your district?

It’s fantastic to see the very real results that federal policies and investments are bringing to LA-02 and to finally be in person with constituents again. I joined colleagues and local leaders in the groundbreaking ceremony for a new levee to protect St. James, St. John and St. Charles Parishes from flooding. And in July, thousands of families in my district received their expanded Child Tax Credit funds, marking a new moment in our nation’s history where we invest in every single kid’s future.

Did you have a “freshman faux pas” moment?

My first few days in Congress were like drinking from a firehose. I was sworn in that morning and voted that evening. No faux pas at this point, but lots learned.

Is there a discovery or revelation that has disappointed you?

Yes. The amount of partisan maneuvering in public policy that should, and could, clearly be bipartisan.

Have you found your favorite place to eat on Capitol Hill?

Yes, a place called Dauphine. Owned, in part, by my Louisianian constituent and friend, it has a great atmosphere and fantastic food that brings the flavor and energy of New Orleans to Washington.

Tell us about your first bill filed.

Student loan debt is financially crippling generations of Americans. While some things are out of our control during this public health crisis, we can take action to ease the burdens of student loans for Americans. My bill H.R. 4797 would forgive $50,000 in federal student loans for anyone who holds a federal student loan.

What do you hope to accomplish during the remainder of your first term in office?

Over the rest of my term, I’m focused on building an inclusive recovery that allows our nation to overcome the devastating public health and economic crises we face and create something new. We can start this process by investing in our nation’s infrastructure to rebuild Louisiana and put people back to work. Additionally, we must prioritize America’s children and young people by extending both the Child Tax Credit and the moratorium on student loan payments.

So far, what’s been the most difficult vote to cast?

So far, it’s only been an honor and a privilege to vote on behalf of the people of LA-02. I was proud to cast one of my first votes to make Juneteenth a national holiday.

What advice would you pass on to other freshmen that you wish you would have known?

If you’re joining mid-year like me, it’s important to know that there is no on-ramp to Congress. It’s straight to the fast lane without much of an orientation. Buckle up for the ride and sleep a lot beforehand!

U.S. REP. TROY CARTER (D–NEW ORLEANS) Louisiana’s 2nd Congressional District

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THE LOWDOWN Tell us about your first bill filed.

My first bill is H.R. 4738–The COVID-19 American History Project Act. This legislation will allow us to have a place in the Library of Congress to house the stories of COVID survivors, the families and children who were left behind, and front-line health care workers who are the heroes of this pandemic. We need to let ordinary Americans tell their stories of loss and what truly happened to families across the country to help inform decisions today and in the future.

So far, what’s been the most difficult vote to cast?

U.S. REP. JULIA LETLOW (R–START) Louisiana’s 5th Congressional District

What surprised you the most in your first week?

Is there a discovery or revelation that has disappointed you?

I think the majority of Americans only hear about the partisan efforts in Washington. And while that can be true at times, I’ve found that the vast majority of us are ready and willing to work with anyone who will help us do the best job for our districts.

I must say there haven’t been many disappointing experiences. Serving in Congress and representing the people of the region of Louisiana that I call home is the highest honor of my life. I would say that probably one of the hardest things has been getting used to the bells constantly going off in my office when we have a floor vote and interrupting things (it feels like high school all over again).

What’s been your favorite part about getting out and about in your district?

My favorite part of being out in the district is meeting so many incredible people doing extraordinary things in business, education, agriculture, and just about every field you can imagine. For instance, I’ve visited every college and university in the Fifth District and witnessed how our higher ed institutions work closely with the business community to build a more robust future workforce.

Have you found your favorite place to eat on Capitol Hill?

This answer is hard for me because growing up in northeast Louisiana, I have unyielding devotion to Johnny’s Pizza, but a great place in D.C. called We the Pizza has a great slice!

Did you have a “freshman faux pas” moment?

The first one. There is nothing quite like walking up to a voting machine for the first time, realizing that you are about to cast a vote as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. I wouldn’t say it was difficult, but one filled with reverence and that I will never forget.

What advice would you pass on to other freshmen that you wish you would have known?

One aspect of the job that guides my decisions is that I represent the voices of 750,000 people, and it is my responsibility to vote in line with them. I believe a member should never lose sight of that incredible responsibility.

What do you hope to accomplish during the remainder of your first term in office?

In addition to passing the COVID-19 American History Act, I want to make sure Congress finally addresses the Windfall Elimination Provision so Social Security quits unfairly penalizing our hardworking teachers, police officers, and firefighters.

I’m also working hard with a group of bipartisan colleagues to expand access to broadband for our rural communities. I firmly believe that the internet is to today’s rural economy what electrification was in the 1930s.

My freshman year in Congress feels a lot like my freshman year of high school.

It takes a while to learn where to sit in the cafeteria and navigate the underground tunnels. I’ve had to ask for directions more times than I would like to admit. labi.org

Louisiana Association of Business and Industry

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NEED TO KNOW

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NEED TO KNOW

FREE ENTERPRISE

WASN’T FREE LABI was first launched to battle for better business competition

BY MARY BETH HUGHES

“W

2

3

5 labi.org

6 Louisiana Association of Business and Industry

alking into the Roumain building felt like 1920s Chicago.

The atmosphere, the old tile. A creaky elevator that took us to our offices,” says Jerome Vascocu, remembering the downtown Baton Rouge building. “I wondered if we were in over our heads.”

The year was 1976, and Vascocu had just shown up for his first day at the newly formed Louisiana Association of Business and Industry (LABI). He and Steve Ridley, a newly hired labor relations lobbyist, arrived at the Third Street office at the same time.

In 1974, a group of business leaders from across Louisiana joined forces to correct an imbalance that had developed in state politics over the years. The mission was to improve the business and political climate across Louisiana. However, each leader belonged to a different organization, each with its own priorities. Still, they all had the same goal: to unify the business community into one strong organization which could speak for business and industry.

“They recognized that we needed a mega organization. One voice for business,” says Lane Grigsby, founder of Cajun Industries. “The combining of the chambers and industry was an intellectually gifted move.”

And so, three became one. Officers of the Louisiana State Chamber of Commerce, the Louisiana Manufacturers Association and the Louisiana Political Education Council agreed to merge their memberships, funding, and staffs into one association. In 1975, LABI was born.

Perfect partnerships were in place,

1. Ed Steimel speaking with State Senator Allen Bares.

2. The Roumain Building, 1920s.

3. Police bracing for protests near the Capitol.

4. Union protestors near the Capitol building.

5. Organized labor protesting outside of the Louisiana State Capitol.

6. Ed Steimel speaking at Capitol House.

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NEED TO KNOW but the executive committee recognized that a strong leader was imperative. They needed someone who could stand toe-totoe with the powerful head of the state AFL-CIO, Victor Bussie. The position called for someone who would be resolute and fearless. They decided that Ed Steimel was the man for the job. Steimel had served as the executive director at the Public Affairs Research Council (PAR) for 20 years and had established himself as voice for smart policy reforms, never backing down from a fight. He would go on to serve as LABI’s president for the next 14 years.

“Ed had a very clear vision of what he wanted for the organization,” said Jimmy Burland, who was hired to lead LABI’s PACs in 1984. “Ed was a visionary, but he’d light a fire under your butt.”

It was Steimel’s reputation that ultimately became the deciding factor in Vascocu’s decision to join the LABI team. He was offered the position of assistant to the president, but Vascocu was a north Louisiana man with a family in Ruston. He would have to move four hours south. He sought the advice of his father-in-law, George Holstead, who was a state representative at the time.

“He told me, ‘It’s going to be hard work,” says Vascocu. “But if you work for Ed Steimel for a few years, that’s the equivalent of getting a Ph.D. Ed is that brilliant.’”

First up on the agenda for the newly developed organization was passing a Right-to-Work law: A goal the business community had unsuccessfully pursued for over 30 years. At the time, Louisiana was the only southern state lacking this law which created a stronghold for organized labor.

The Right-to-Work law guarantees workers the freedom to hold a job without a mandatory union membership.

“The unions controlled everything,” says Grigsby. “Industry couldn’t make any money due to union control. Right to Work put LABI on the map.”

Steimel put together a coalition that included politicians and organizations from across the state. He also brought on advertising guru Jim Leslie to spearhead a grassroots effort that included a $300,000 TV ad campaign. But not everyone was on board.

“So many political folks told LABI not to do it,” Vascocu remembered, “But we were determined to get it done. It was an unbe-

Ed Steimel

M A N U FA C T U R E D I N T E R I O R C O N S T R U C T I O N

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STORAGE SOLUTIONS

Louisiana Association of Business and Industry

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NEED TO KNOW lievable feat.”

The fight to pass Right to Work began at the Capitol in June of 1976, and it wasn’t without controversy. Right off the bat the House Labor Committee was forced to move into the House Chamber because over 500 people showed up to the Capitol for the hearing. Ultimately both the House and Senate labor committees, on orders from then Governor Edwin Edwards and state AFL-CIO President Bussie, tried to kill the bill. It only made it out of committee and to a floor vote because LABI used a procedural maneuver to force the committees to discharge the bill to the full body.

On the heels of this move, chaos ensued as union members descended on the Capitol in droves to protest the vote. Death threats were made against LABI’s leader. Steimel had to receive State Police protection.

After a fierce battle throughout the month of June, Right to Work passed, scoring LABI its first major political victory. The bill was sent to the governor’s desk on July 8th, 1976. It was signed the next day because Edwards had promised the public he would sign it if the bill made it to his desk.

He had been so sure that it wouldn’t when Police restrain union protestors.

DOING THE RICE THING RIGHT! Working together with LABI to create a shared, collaborative vision for the future of free enterprise in Louisiana. labi.org

Kennedy Rice Mill, LLC | Mer Rouge, LA 71261

Louisiana Association of Business and Industry

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NEED TO KNOW he made that promise.

At the time, many considered the Rightto-Work win to be a fluke, a temporary setback for the unions, and it was met with great aggression. Standing on the steps of the state capitol shortly after the vote, Bussie told thousands of his followers, “We’ll keep coming back until this law is repealed, until we can change this terrible day.”

Thankfully, repeal of Louisiana’s Rightto-Work law never came—even though bills were routinely filed to do so throughout the late 1970s into the 1980s. Organized labor, with Bussie still at the helm, made its last serious attempt to effectively repeal Rightto-Work in 1992, during Edwards’ last term as governor. LABI defeated the effort on

SEPTEMBER 4TH, 1975:

LABI was officially formed and the first board officers were elected. Ed Steimel became LABI’s first president.

the House floor following a rare Committee of the Whole that Bussie had demanded, and legislation to repeal Right to Work was never seriously advanced afterward.

No longer at the mercy of organized labor, Louisiana businesses and industries were able to thrive. “Because of Right To Work, the industrial growth in Louisiana caused a ripple affect across the Gulf Coast,” says Grigsby. “Industry in south Louisiana has become the gemstone of our state.”

The passage of Right to Work gave LABI the platform and credibility to become a political powerhouse and the voice for business in Louisiana. In the years following, the policy wins stacked up, membership

JULY 8TH, 1976:

After a fierce battle throughout the month of June, Right to Work was passed, scoring LABI its first major political victory. The bill was sent to Governor Edwin Edwards’ desk on July 8th, 1976 and was signed the following day.

34

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1990s:

1978:

LABI created the first-ever legislative scorecard, a publication breaking down each legislator’s voting record.

1970

increased, and LABI’s role expanded.

Dedicated to holding politicians accountable to their constituents for their votes, LABI created the first-ever Legislative Scorecard in 1978. The Scorecard is a report that breaks down each legislator’s voting record on bills that benefitted business and serves as a tangible way for voters to keep track of how their legislators vote. Politicians couldn’t afford to ignore LABI. While LABI spent the 1970s and early 1980s playing defense against the unions’ attempts to repeal Right to Work, the 1990s saw a different battle with a new opponent.

LABI helped spearhead Louisiana’s first-ever tort reforms, working with Governor Mike Foster to fight the powerful trial bar.

LABI worked with Gov. Mike Foster to reform Louisiana’s bankrupt Workers’ Compensation system and create the LWCC.

1980 1985:

LABI breaks ground on the first official headquarters.

1990 1989:

Ed Steimel retired and was replaced by Dan Juneau as LABI’s president.

Louisiana Association of Business and Industry

1999:

LABI’s PACs endorsed Foster’s re-election over Congressman Bill Jefferson. He won with 62% of the vote.

labi.org

NEED TO KNOW “In the ’90s, the union’s influence waned and the trial lawyers stepped in. So we focused on tort reform,” says Burland. “And we won that too.”

In the 2000s, LABI worked with Governor Kathleen Blanco to pass significant tax reforms and in 2011 was part of the coalition that passed the most sweeping education reform legislation in history. It was clear that LABI was a voice that was listened to.

It’s been almost 50 years since its inception and LABI is still winning. During the first special session in 2020, LABI’s continued push for tort reform delivered a measure that will reign in excessive litigation and the costs it generates for Louisiana

businesses and citizens alike. Then, in the 2021 legislative session, LABI scored one of its biggest legislative victories to date with significant tax reforms that, with voter approval, will help streamline sales tax collection, as well as deliver a simplified tax code with lower income and franchise tax rates.

“LABI’s voice is as loud as ever. It’s the dominating voice,” said Burland. “Someone’s got to protect business.”

And it’s the love of Louisiana business and free enterprise that fuels LABI’s members and allows the organization to maintain an active presence for pro-business, pro-economic growth policies at the Capitol.

Not all Louisiana businesses are members

2013:

2004:

Dan Juneau retired as LABI’s president and was succeeded by Stephen Waguespack.

LABI worked with Governor Kathleen Blanco to pass significant tax reforms.

2000

2021:

During the 2021 legislative session, LABI scored one of its biggest legislative victories to date with major tax reforms.

2010 2011:

During the Bobby Jindal administration, LABI was part of a coalition that passed the most sweeping education reform legislation in history.

labi.org

of LABI, but all businesses in our state benefit from the active voice and influence LABI has, along with its commitment to create a better, more vibrant and competitive place to work for everyone.

“I’m prouder than I’ve ever been,” says Grigsby, a longstanding member on the LABI Board of Directors. “We were a rag tag group of guys with BB guns. Now we’re a sophisticated group that’s shaping society’s future. This isn’t short term, it’s long term.

LABI makes a difference.”

Louisiana Association of Business and Industry

2020 2020:

After helping to elect the most business-friendly legislature in 2019, LABI passed the most significant tort reform legislation since the 1990s.

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INNOVATOR

Rodneyna Hart knows that a vibrant arts scene means better business and education

BY JENNIFER MACHA

I

t really matters. Cutbacks or COVID-19, complacency or the chaos of our times might keep us so focused on the 9-to-5 or on the news that we don’t look up to consider the truth: that a state’s culture and arts scenes are significant factors when quality of life is considered. The arts mean business. And business needs a vibrant—and innovative—arts scene. It adds value to an area, and it helps lure companies who are considering to invest their money, and their people, in a new venture. Once a new company is established, a vibrant arts scene helps keep them there.

And no one knows this better than Rodneyna Hart.

“I believe museums should be inspirational, sometimes aspirational, but most of all relevant to the communities we serve,” says Hart, division director for the Louisiana State Museum. “In my museums, I love to see artwork and artifacts that show the lived experiences of our citizens. Things that change your perspective and give new light to little-known stories.”

These stories play out in museums across the state under the Louisiana State Museum system. Hart oversees all of the state museums outside of New Orleans, which include the Capitol Park Museum in Baton Rouge, E.D. White Historic Site, Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame & Northwest Louisiana History Museum, and

SMITHSONIAN IMAGES The Capitol Park Museum is home to the Smithsonian Institution’s traveling exhibit “The Negro Motorists Green Book” through November 14 in Baton Rouge. These are a few images from the 1930s and 1940s spotlighted in the exhibit.

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INNOVATOR

Rodneyna Hart, Louisiana State Museum Division Director, stands at the Capitol Park Museum second-floor entrance. Capitol Park Museum provides an extensive and vibrant exploration on Louisiana history, culture and commerce.

the Wedell-Williams Aviation and Cypress Sawmill Museum. She guides the direction and focus, across the board, for the various exhibitions, and she helps each museum engage with their individual, public groups.

“Every time you visit a museum, you are experiencing it in a different way,” says Hart. “Because you are not the same.”

Hart believes the mission of museums is to preserve objects that, over time, come to represent the sum of all lives that touch these objects, and all of the stories that surround them. Encouraging people to become patrons of the Louisiana State Museum system not only passes on the culture and history of our state, but also helps with economic development and enhancing the prosperity and quality of life for all residents.

The Capitol Park Museum in Baton Rouge captures the story of Louisiana in its entirety and is not micro-focused on one particular theme or region. It has permanent displays that showcase the rich and diverse history and culture of Louisiana from the Louisiana Purchase to the Mississippi River, from slavery to Civil Rights, and from Native American mounds and archeology to the various celebrations of Mardi Gras.

Recently the museum featured celebrated photographer Fonville Winans in “A Colorful World in Black and White: Fonville Winans’ Photographs of Louisiana.” Winans drove the backroads of Louisiana in the 38 5th & Main Fall 2021

early 1930s and documented fascinating aspects of Louisiana culture before settling down in Baton Rouge and working as a state photographer, then a wedding photographer for more than half a century. His iconic photographs established him as a chronicler of his time.

“It was a really exciting and wonderful show to put on display,” says Hart. “And I was extremely proud. I got to design that exhibition.”

In August, Hart and her team opened the “The Negro Motorist Green Book” exhibit, the Smithsonian Institution’s powerful traveling exhibition which runs through November 14th. The Green Book was a guide—first created in 1936 by Victor Green, a Harlem postman—which provided Black travelers with critical, life-saving information on restaurants, gas stations, department stores and other businesses that welcomed Black travelers during the era of Jim Crow laws. The book also revealed information on sanctuaries for travelers, particularly in “sundown towns”—communities that explicitly prohibited Black people from staying overnight. This upcoming exhibit has a generous amount of educational programing offered throughout the exhibits on display. “The Negro Motorist Green Book” exhibit is being sponsored nationally by the ExxonMobil Corporation because its predecessor, Standard Oil Company of New Jersey, played a critical role in distributing Louisiana Association of Business and Industry

the Green Book through its network of Esso stations. Esso also employed many Black engineers, scientists and marketing executives, and welcomed Black motorists at its gas stations.

“Being a part of the Smithsonian Institution’s traveling exhibition is a great opportunity for Louisianans to experience a national exhibit right here at home.

Capitol Park Museum is the only museum in Louisiana offering this experience,” says Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser, whose office oversees the state museums.

“Culture, recreation and tourism are vital to the vibrancy of our state, and the Green Book exhibit is just one more example of the quality that our museums bring to our communities.”

When it comes to rotating exhibitions, like “The Negro Motorist Green Book”, a significant amount of planning goes into bringing them to life. The process typically kicks off with an exhibition proposal which is reviewed by the Louisiana State Museum team. They consider the target audience, the specific appeal that the exhibit has for them, as well as the educational and programming components involved and the marketing side of the exhibit. According to Hart, planning and executing exhibits is “an organic process, where you start with the concept, and then you figure out the most dynamic and best way of executing it.” Once they have a concept, the team then works labi.org

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INNOVATOR

Huey Long and LSU President James Monroe Smith, 1935

Fonville Winans with camera flash, 1953

Oysterman, Grand Isle, 1934

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labi.org

backwards from the deadline, securing the loans for display, writing, interpretating and research. Lastly, they vet all of the material by historians to be sure their research, interpretation and research is factually correct.

“I love material culture. I love history, I love stories. I love that we have this connection to our past, and a deeper richer understanding of it by being immersed in spaces,” says Hart. “I also love the mission of museums: that we are here to preserve objects, and for perpetuity, so that the experience you have will be the same experience that your grandchildren have. And that we can be storytellers, making sure to honor people’s histories.”

This conviction is why Hart is critically aware of the importance of the voice used when interpreting exhibitions, making sure that it is personable without being too eurocentric. Her goal is that the tone of each exhibit is knowledgeable and fact-based and elevates the various voices of those first-hand narratives represented. If she does her job well, more first-time visitors will become lifelong patrons of the arts.

“I want to create lifelong museum lovers, culture lovers, art lovers, people who grow in appreciation for the world around them,” says Hart. “And I love for my institutions to be that starting point.

The place where people feel comfortable walking into a cultural space and know that it was for them.”

FONVILLE WINANS IN 2020 The Capitol Park Museum spotlighted the life of Fonville Winans (1911-1992) through the exhibit “A Colorful World in Black and White: Fonville Winans’ Photographs of Louisiana.” The Louisiana photographer was the chronicle of state culture of his times.

labi.org

Down the Hatch, 1938

5th & Main Fall 2021 41

AFTER 3 YEARS, WE DID THE MATH...

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ON OUR RADAR

Combating Learning Loss After a Year of Virtual Education

BY MARIAH HERNANDEZ

W

alking paths marked with arrows.

Makeshift partitions erected between desks. Safe handwashing signs hang from the walls, the scent of Lysol and hand sanitizer wafts through the air vents. Over the last year and a half, schools, like much of the world, have been in survival mode: strictly reacting to the latest rules and guidance thrust upon them while trying labi.org

to provide a safe environment for students to learn.

On the heels of one of the most chaotic and disruptive school years in history, it’s time to take stock of where we are, what we’ve learned and how to move forward.

Vaccination rates are on the rise, schools have implemented protocols for exposures, quarantines and temperature checks.

Louisiana Association of Business and Industry

Schools are—for the most part—fully open and ready for students. As the shock and fear have worn off and we’ve adjusted to our new normal, we’re confronted with the harsh aftermath of school closures and distance learning caused by COVID-19.

As we begin to examine of the toll the pandemic has taken on education, terms like learning loss, achievement gaps, and

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ON OUR RADAR

remediation have come to dominate the conversation. But before we rebuild, we have to survey the damage. And the moment we’ve all been waiting for has arrived—test scores are out, and the results are not surprising.

Learning loss due to COVID-19 is acute and widespread and is amplifying gaps across racial and socioeconomic lines.

SURVEY SAYS...

After much anticipation, the Department of Education released the LEAP 2025 scores for Louisiana’s students in August of this year. From 2019 to 2021, the number of students (in grades 3-8) scoring “Mastery” or above decreased by 5 percentage points.

This decrease was felt across all grade levels, content areas and student subgroups.

High school students had similar results, with the number of students scoring “Mastery” or above also dropping by 5 percentage points across all subjects.

However, of the information released, the most important statistic shows that students who participated in in-person learning fared much better than those who went 100% virtual. For those children who participated in in-school learning for the entire year (grades 3-8), 36% of them scored at the “Mastery” level or higher.

In contrast, of the students who moved to 100% virtual learning, only 21% of them scored at the “Mastery” level or higher. The scores confirmed what many in the edu-

44

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cation community had already concluded: Nothing beats being in the classroom.

Some lucky students were able to attend school in-person for most of the year. Others were not so fortunate, with a number of issues like lack of or unreliable internet, teachers out sick, or families making conscious decisions to keep their kids home.

At the same time, as statewide lockdowns shattered the economy, parents lost their jobs, forcing many lower income students into caretaking duties or getting jobs to help support their family.

Now that we know the magnitude of the loss, we can use this data, not to judge and rank teachers and students, but to guide our resources in a strategic, meaningful way to improve academic engagement and student outcomes.

In August, Dr. Cade Brumley, State Superintendent of Education, announced details for a $132 million plan to help students with learning loss from the last year. “Our Louisiana Comeback initiative is our statewide strategy for overcoming the complications caused by the pandemic,” says Brumley. “Further, it should place the Louisiana educational community in a stronger posture as we emerge from the obstacles we’ve faced.”

The plan will include three areas of focus: academic recovery and acceleration,

which will include tutoring and summer learning programs, professional development for teachers, and re-engaging students and parents with schools after more than 18 months of distance learning.

It’s easy to look at these scores and have a dismal outlook for students’ futures. But what’s behind those numbers are real students, real educators and real parents who showed remarkable resiliency in the face of adversity, adapting to unprecedented and ever-changing circumstances.

“I place the Louisiana educational community up against anything across this country over the last year and a half,” says Brumley. “We found a way–although it wasn’t perfect—to both keep kids safe and continue the educational process.”

BESE President Sandy Holloway agrees, noting, “While we know that Louisiana students have a long way to go, I am confident that we – as BESE – can work together with our parents, families, and the Department to get things back on track for the betterment of our kids.”

Large-scale disruptions, particularly in education, are always a hardship, but they can also be an opportunity to reimagine our education system for the long term. There are long-standing issues in Louisiana’s education system that continuously put us at the bottom of national rankings—and with millions of dollars in COVID-19 relief coming down the pike from the federal gov-

Louisiana Association of Business and Industry

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ON OUR RADAR ernment, this tragedy can be an opportunity to finally prioritize the areas where our state is lacking.

“We need to increase access to high -quality, early education, improve literacy rates, reimagine the high school experience in preparation for career or college,” says Brumley. “We must continually improve and professionalize the educational profession while expanding options to ensure every family has the choice of a school that fits their needs.”

Our children have lost so much—family members, connection to their community, financial stability, emotional well-being—but have also had huge wins in terms of resiliency and determination, collaboration, and adaptability. Children learned valuable lessons about the brevity of life, mental health, the meaning of family: lessons that can’t be quantified on a standardized test.

Brad Durio, Principal of S.J. Welsh Middle School and former coach, echoes that sentiment. “Much like the last 12 months have been a struggle, you will always have struggles in life, whether it’s during your time in school or in your future as an adult,”

Durio says. “You have to use what you’ve learned from your tough experiences and perseverance to achieve what you want.”

When asked what he would say to students who were disappointed in their test scores, he took a coach’s stance. “We work harder next time, we push ourselves a little harder — even when we are tired, can’t focus, don’t feel like studying or doing homework, and are ready to quit,” he says.

“We have to get up, dust ourselves off and move forward in our lives — and move forward with education.”

While tragic and disruptive, this can be a game-changing moment for Louisiana’s education system. We have the opportunity to make substantive changes in education policy that move the needle. Lauren Gleason, LABI’s Director of Education, emphasizes the importance of prioritizing student outcomes from a business perspective.

“We at LABI care deeply about Louisiana’s children,” Gleason says. “We know that the education of today’s students is the foundation for tomorrow’s workforce, and we will continue to be engaged in and prioritize education in Louisiana. As with most things

in Louisiana, our education system is unique and there is not a “one size fits all” approach that works. We will always work with our partners to support choice and educational flexibility because each child should be able to access education in a way that works best for them.”

The lingering effects of unfinished learning won’t be realized for years to come, but we know that our students will come back from this better, bolder and brighter.

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Louisiana Association of Business and Industry

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labi.org

THE FORECAST

Louisiana’s Economic Future

NAVIGATING THE

ROAD AHEAD

W

ith the fourth wave of the pandemic pushing a full economic recovery further down the road, it’s important that we reflect on how our economy is changing so we can capitalize on new emerging opportunities. For many, the COVID-19 pandemic has been an extended detour, providing an opportunity (or in some cases, forcing us) to reassess major aspects of our lives, jobs, and businesses.

Our daily routines were turned upside down, creating more downtime, but also new stress. Schools worked tirelessly to reinvent education in real time. Vacations were canceled while outdoor recreation boomed and many across Louisiana gained a renewed appreciation of Louisiana as the Sportsman’s Paradise. For those fortunate to stay employed, the typical workday was reshaped by remote work and Zoom meetings, or PPE and social distancing, or all of the above.

Businesses have navigated government-mandated closures, supply chain disruptions, and massive distortions in product demand. Ways of doing business that could have never been imagined have become the norm. labi.org

RETHINKING SYSTEMS & GOALS

After launching the Kathleen Babineaux Blanco Public Policy Center in August 2019, a new research center at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, we were finally getting key staff in place and had just hosted our first major event in March 2020 when the pandemic sent us on our own extended detour. In the earliest days of the pandemic, we were brought into the state’s efforts to forecast COVID cases; I served on the Louisiana Economic Recovery Task Force established by Senate President Page Cortez and House Speaker Clay Schexnayder to guide the legislative response; briefed Governor Edward’s Resilient Louisiana Commission; and served on the Unemployment Compensation and Trust Fund Task Force.

We’ve spent much of the last year and a half tracking the economy, fielding myriad pandemic-related questions, and supporting several state agencies with research and data analysis to aide in navigating the rapidly changing environment. One theme that has become clear when looking at this moment in time is that we are in the midst of a rare opportunity to rethink systems and Louisiana Association of Business and Industry

BY STEPHEN BARNES

goals. While we have much work ahead to rebuild what was lost, we must do so in a way that is future oriented so we can push Louisiana to a path of long-term sustainable economic growth.

According to the Current Employment Statistics, Louisiana lost more than 280,000 jobs between February and April 2020 (14% of pre-pandemic employment). An initial rebound added back nearly 100,000 jobs by the end of summer 2020 as businesses developed ways of adapting and reopening in the midst of the pandemic.

Since that time, the recovery has been more sluggish with another 30,000 jobs added over the last year. Today, Louisiana is still sitting more than 150,000 jobs below pre-pandemic levels.

Louisiana’s recovery has lagged the national economy where nearly 75% of lost jobs have come back. Louisiana has regained less than half. Louisiana’s poor performance is due in part to the importance of tourism and oil and gas to the state’s economy. Though some travelers have returned, tourism is still far from normal. For example, international travel, which brings the highest per-trip expendi-

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THE FORECAST

tures, remains 65% below pre-pandemic levels. Meanwhile, the oil and gas industry, which has been heavily impacted by the pandemic, is grappling with a shifting regulatory environment and accelerating changes in global consumer demand that are pushing for greater use of renewable energy and alternative fuels.

Despite all of this economic turmoil, the state budget has weathered the storm fairly well. After the bottom fell out of the economy during the initial pandemic lockdown, it didn’t take long for anxious watchers to begin worrying about tax revenues and the state budget. Fortunately, strong revenues leading up to the pandemic gave the Revenue Estimating Conference a little breathing room to watch and see how this event would unfold. In our May 2020 meeting, the Revenue Estimating Conference adopted relatively modest decreases in projected total revenues amounting to about a 3% drop for Fiscal Year 2020 and an 8% drop for Fiscal Year 2021.

Consumer spending on taxable goods stayed strong, in part, thanks to massive federal supports including direct stimulus checks and enhanced unemployment benefits. Higher income jobs were more likely to be deemed critical, or able to be done 50 5th & Main Fall 2021

remotely helping to maintain the personal income tax base. Though still below the pre-pandemic forecast, Fiscal Year 2020 ended slightly above expectations at less than 1 percent below the pre-pandemic benchmark. As time passed, waves of federal funds and the early recovery led to higher expectations for 2021 with an upward revision at the Revenue Estimating Conference to $12.2 billion in state taxes, licenses and fees, or about 5 percent below the pre-pandemic forecast for the year.

While better than the initial forecast of an 8% drop, tax revenues have clearly taken a hit and will take some time to recover.

LABOR PRODUCTIVITY UP In any recession, businesses find new and creative ways to operate with fewer workers and this pandemic certainly pushed many businesses to think far outside the box. With leaner operations, greater use of technology and processes that have been redesigned from bottom to top, economywide labor productivity is up.

New business formations soared both nationally and in Louisiana several months after the pandemic began and have remained well above pre-pandemic norms.

Louisiana Association of Business and Industry

Entrepreneurs saw new opportunities in the pandemic shakeup and would-be entrepreneurs finally had time and resources (thanks to federal stimulus checks and funding via other pandemic programs) to launch new businesses. In Louisiana, the uptick in business starts has held more than 85% above pre-pandemic levels compared to just over 50% nationally.

In Louisiana, the uptick in business starts has held more than 85% above pre-pandemic levels compared to just over 50% nationally.

As businesses continue to evaluate supply chain alternatives and consumers try out new services, restaurants, and retailers, we should all look for opportunities to support those new Louisiana businesses and keep more of those indirect and induced economic effects here in Louisiana.

Another sign of a robust recovery ahead is the strong demand for labor with the number of positions open for hire now almost 50% higher than pre-pandemic levels labi.org

THE FORECAST

and reflects a record for job openings since data collection began in 2000. Even better is the fact that this economic momentum has touched many sectors across the economy including manufacturing, professional and business services, education and health services, and leisure and hospitality.

This past summer, economic expectations were rising for a faster path to a full recovery thanks to widespread availability of vaccinations, low virus infection rates and the support of large, continued federal stimulus. However, just when it seemed economic growth would accelerate, the Delta variant and fourth wave of the pandemic seems to have put the brakes on our move toward full recovery. So we find ourselves taking another pandemic detour offering one more opportunity to step back and think strategically about how we should focus our efforts to move Louisiana out of this challenging time and chart a new path for future prosperity.

UNDERLYING TRENDS Looking back at how the pandemic has reshaped the economy, it’s easy to forget that several underlying trends that stand out as critical factors today have been labi.org

steadily reshaping the economy for years.

The 2020 Census showed that Louisiana’s population growth failed to keep pace with national trends, increasing by only 2.7% compared to national growth of 7.4% since the last census.

It is easy to fixate on the seemingly endless string of events that have disrupted our long-term plans for growth dating back to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita; the Deepwater Horizon oil spill; and most recently Hurricane Laura (not to mention a range of other major floods and hurricanes and, of course, the pandemic). However, the bottom line is that Louisiana has fallen behind after decades of outmigration and brain drain with our most highly educated and skilled workers leaving for better opportunities elsewhere. The pandemic may have dramatically accelerated the evolution of these trends, but they will certainly not disappear as we move beyond the pandemic.

ENERGY SECTOR CHANGES Perhaps most notable among the underlying economic trends is the transition taking place in the energy sector, which has been a major economic driver of Louisiana’s economy for decades. In fact, for Louisiana Association of Business and Industry

most of its history, this group of businesses was simply referred to as the “oil and gas industry” in Louisiana. Thanks to our natural oil and gas resources and strategic coastal position straddling the Mississippi River, Louisiana was an early leader in oil and gas production and has become a major hub for chemical manufacturing, which continues to rely heavily on oil and natural gas as feedstocks.

At the Blanco Center, we have been forecasting oil and gas activity in the Gulf of Mexico to support our research on the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act, which shares a portion of offshore oil and gas revenues with states along the Gulf. That research has supported state planning as well as Louisiana’s efforts to push changes at the federal level to bring more dollars to Louisiana—most recently including Senator Cassidy’s efforts to advance the RISEE Act. This revenue stream is seen as one of the few long-term funding sources for our state’s $50 billion Coastal Master Plan.

So, the outlook for Louisiana’s oil and gas industry is not only important to near-term economic activity, but also our plans to protect and restore our coast.

As important as these activities are to today’s economy, global market forces are

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leading many of these oil and gas companies to invest in renewable energy and even adopt carbon emissions targets. As the oil and gas industry expands to focus more broadly on energy, so too will the chemical industry adapt to use a greater variety of feedstocks. Market pressures will accelerate efforts across the chemical industry to improve energy efficiency in production and develop new processes or products to meet the demands of an emerging low-carbon economy. Louisiana’s chemical industry is working through the later stages of a massive wave of capital investment with tens of billions of dollars in construction over the last decade.

These investments have given Louisiana a modernized and more competitive mix of businesses that will continue to re-invest as the industry evolves.

Moving forward, the focus will be providing the energy that our economy needs, but changing public sentiment is pushing a transition toward a mix of energy sources that meets global demand and a new regulatory environment. As the market begins to move more quickly to increase renewable energy generation, Louisiana manufacturers and service companies that have supported oil and gas development must also find ways to transfer their technical expertise to new applications.

The rapid pace of change in the energy sector can also be seen in other parts of the economy and there is a growing need for workers to have access to mid-career training and education to stay engaged in the workforce. The recently passed MJ Foster Promise Program will offer financial support to help adult learners in Louisiana access much needed training and education.

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labi.org

BROADBAND INTERNET’S IMPORTANT ROLE Another major underlying trend is the increasingly important role that broadband internet plays as a fundamental part of doing business. After emerging from the early pandemic lockdown, remote work remained nearly twice as common in 2020 compared 2019 (42% in 2020 vs 22% in 2019 according to the American Time Use Survey). While that rate of remote work may fall off some, much higher rates of remote work are surely here to stay.

At the Blanco Center, we recently collaborated with the Acadiana Planning Commission in drafting a report on broadband infrastructure and services to provide an assessment of the current state of broadband and lay out priorities for broadband investments that can position the region for future growth. The report highlights the critical role of broadband in education, job and population growth, and access to critical services.

Improved broadband access is particularly important in rural areas. With increases in remote work, there are also new opportunities for rural areas to retain and attract population now that workers have more flexibility to choose where they live while keeping jobs that may have historically been concentrated in big cities. However, reliable high-quality broadband is critical to success in this area.

labi.org

Louisiana Association of Business and Industry

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THE FORECAST

INVESTING IN OUR FUTURE Related to increases in remote work is a broader need for investments that improve quality of life and make our communities attractive places to live. In an economy where workers have more latitude than ever to pick a place to live, we must get serious about cultivating the rich cultural assets of Louisiana and making smart investments in our public spaces. These can help grow our population and the economy with potential spillover benefits to tourism. We are supporting One Acadiana’s efforts to move in this direction following the Vibrant Community Summit and will launch a data driven strategy to measure and improve quality of

life in the Acadiana region. Similar strategies can be pursued throughout the state.

Not only at the community level, but this type of collective visioning is happening at a state level as well. At the Blanco Center, we’ve recently launched an agency-wide collaboration with the Department of Child and Family Services that will use rigorous research and evaluation to improve program delivery and outcomes for those the agency serves. We’re evaluating a new initiative convened by the Board of Regents to support adult learners as part of their state goal to increase educational attainment to 60% of working-age adults by 2030 (60 by 30). We’re also supporting the Louisiana Department of Education’s efforts to reimagine how the Child Care Assistance

Program can provide the childcare support that Louisiana families need to more fully engage in the economy.

People and businesses have used this pandemic as a reset. As we reflect on a new path forward for Louisiana, we must collectively refocus our efforts on opportunities most likely to pay dividends down the road.

Our top priorities should include leading the way forward in reshaping the energy sector and chemical industry; accelerating the expansion and quality of broadband in Louisiana; and investing in education and quality of life. This fourth wave of the pandemic will pass, and when the economy is ready to move, let’s be sure we’re pushing in the right direction to make Louisiana a better place to live and work.

STEPHEN R. BARNES, Ph.D, is the founding director of the Kathleen Babineaux Blanco Public Policy Center of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and serves as the independent economist on the state’s Revenue Estimating Conference. He has collaborated with federal and state agencies, industry partners and advocacy groups as well as scholars in more than a dozen disciplines on research addressing many aspects of the economy and population of Louisiana. The Blanco Center is an independent, interdisciplinary research center committed to serving the public interest through leadership in state and local policy with a focus on education, poverty and economic opportunity, criminal justice reform, health and healthcare, the coast and environment, and government ethics. Prior to this role, Barnes directed LSU’s Economics and Policy Research Group.

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labi.org

COVER STORY

ER ta W O L – s b o j e mor

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COVER STORY

How a pair of tax reform measures on your November 13 ballot could reshape Louisiana’s business climate

BY MARIE CENTANNI

I

t’s a scenario that plays out on retail countertops, kitchen tables and in countless cubicles across Louisiana.

In this case, one cavernous collection of cubicles in particular­­—nestled in Sulphur, Louisiana, in a building rebuilt just enough to reopen and function after 2020’s natural disasters. Brand new flooring is in place, but baseboards are yet to be installed. It smells of fresh paint and there’s no signage in the complex, but it’s clear from the company posters and the cheerful voices answering phones that the headquarters of Stine Lumber is buzzing with business. In the midst of a historic rebuilding, they have to be.

But interrupting this business is the burden of complex calculations.

labi.org

5th & Main Fall 2021 57

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Tim Mueller

Retha Wisthoff and Elizabeth “Buffy” Kelly, Stine Lumber’s sales tax compliance squad, at Stine’s headquarters in Sulphur.

“WE LAUGH BECAUSE OTHERWISE WE’D CRY.” Deep in a back corner—in one set of cubicles in particular—behind stacks and stacks of binders, spreadsheets, compliance reports and audits (there’s even a sad, dead office plant amid the reems of paper) you’ll find Buffy and Retha.

Buffy Kelly and Retha Wisthoff do math. Lots and lots of math. Once a month, they spend an entire week calculating and remitting local sales tax for Stine’s 10 stores in Louisiana to dozens and dozens of local government collectors.

“Each parish has anywhere from one jurisdiction to... I believe one parish has 20 jurisdictions,” says Retha. “And they all have different rates; they all have different addresses.”

Local sales tax is owed on every transaction. And Stine has lots of transactions, especially during a period of hurricane recovery.

By the end of the first quarter of 2021 alone, individual transactions had already topped 500,000.

“Yeah, we’re retail,” explains Buffy, “We’re not remitting $2 million taxes on hundred-million-dollar sales, we’re doing a ton of $40 sales at a cash register.” labi.org

“We’ve got 39 cent sales,” adds Retha.

And it’s up to Buffy and Retha to get it right, even on those 39 cent sales. And sometimes even when there are no sales at all, they must simply check and double check what, if anything, is owed. They do this for every parish, to 54 local collectors, calculating Louisiana’s more than 100 different local tax rates. Because at any time, any one of those local collectors can request an audit of their work.

“The nightmare we feel when we get a registered certified letter from a parish stating that we’re going to go through another audit, is terrifying,” says Buffy, who in her eight years with Stine cannot recall a time when they were not undergoing at least one audit. “Nobody trusts anybody to give them their fair share, and they want to have the power to go look and see and take. It’s way too many chefs in the kitchen. We laugh because otherwise we’d cry.”

“A FIXABLE PROBLEM.” There’s one Stine store that’s actually a bright spot in Buffy and Retha’s complex ledger, and it’s located in Natchez, Miss.

Unlike Louisiana, Mississippi has a streamlined, centralized system to collect local Louisiana Association of Business and Industry

sales tax, as do most states. That’s right: When it comes to local sales tax collection, we’re losing to Mississippi.

“It is far easier to do business in Mississippi than here in Louisiana,” says Jeremy Stine, marketing director for Stine Lumber. “That’s because, again, they have that centralized system. It’s so much easier to pay one entity. Whereas here in Louisiana, not only do we have 10 stores, we deliver all across Louisiana, 64 parishes. Then you add on top of that all the different taxing districts within the parish, and it is a complete nightmare.”

Louisiana’s archaic and fragmented method of collecting local sales taxes—that nightmare—is just one factor that has left us languishing on the bottom of business tax climate rankings for years. Our tax code in general is so tangled, the knot itself is a barrier to doing business here. It’s the hurdle economic developers find themselves repeatedly having to overcome when recruiting new employers and their jobs to the state—more so than Louisiana’s poor infrastructure, crime rates, quality of public education or access to health care.

“One of the biggest stumbling blocks in our business recruitment efforts has been Louisiana’s complicated tax code,” says

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COVER STORY

LOUISIANA’S TAX CODE: “AT A HIGH LEVEL, WE LOOK EXPENSIVE, BUT ARE ACTUALLY CHEAP—THE WORST OF BOTH WORLDS.” — Michael Hecht,

president & CEO of Greater New Orleans, Inc.

Michael Hecht, president and CEO of Greater New Orleans, Inc. “At a high level, we look expensive, but are actually cheap—the worst

of both worlds. Further, companies prioritize predictability, simplicity and stability, and our tax code offers very little of that.

Louisiana’s tax code is a fixable problem, that—if corrected—would help drive jobs and opportunities for our citizens.”

That fixable problem specifically earns Louisiana the No. 42 spot nationally on the nonpartisan Tax Foundation’s rankings of state business tax climate, or how attractive we are to new business compared with the rest of the country. Janelle Cammenga, a policy analyst with the Tax Foundation, says tweaking a tax code is an easy and immediate way any state can change its trajectory. “There’s not a lot of ways for a state to change, say, what it’s natural resources are.

Or if it’s going to improve the education system, it’s going to take time and a lot of effort in order to get it going. But tax policy is one thing you can change immediately in order to make your state more competitive.”

As Louisiana looked to pull itself out of the economic crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic, Senate President Page Cortez (R-Lafayette) and House Speaker Clay Schexnayder (R-Gonzales) rounded up legislative leaders, businesses large and small, policy

analysts and tax experts to determine what— if anything—could be done to immediately help the economy from a policy standpoint, knowing other states were undergoing similar tax transformations as they faced the same challenges. The result was a bundle of bills aimed to streamline, simplify and untangle Louisiana’s tax code so businesses, and individual taxpayers, could finally get a break.

“I think the magic to it this year was the fact that we had a working legislative body that was willing to, not only, put their ideas down on paper but also willing to meet with the public, local tax collectors and local businesses to understand the value of tax reform and how good of a tool it could be to attract new businesses,” says Schexnayder, who authored HB 199, the streamlined sales tax collection piece of the plan. “In the past, we couldn’t get everybody to work together, but the pandemic definitely played a part this round. You saw the House and Senate leadership come together on this task force that produced solid solutions to keep businesses afloat. Locals were with us the whole way and, in the end, on the streamlined sales tax collection piece, we produced a

Support Louisiana producers Louisiana Department of Louisiana Department of agricuLture & forestry agricuLture & forestry mikedvm, straincommissioner dvm, commissioner Mike Strain 60 5th & Main Fall 2021

Louisiana Association of Business and Industry

labi.org

COVER STORY true compromise that earned overwhelming support.”

HB 199 and the rest of the tax reform package collectively addressed what task forces and economists have long pinpointed as the most egregious aspects of our tax code—the decentralized local sales tax collection, corporate franchise tax, the higher rates for both individual and corporate income tax—high on paper but masked to make up for it by complex deductions like the Federal Income Tax deduction, or “FIT.” That specific deduction throws uncertainty and unpredictability into Louisiana’s state budget process. If Congress lowers taxes, state revenue goes up. If Congress raises taxes, state revenue goes down—leaving funding for vital state services like health care in jeopardy.

“All other states have jettisoned that coupling of state revenue to federal revenue.

It just doesn’t serve us well,” said Sen. Bret Allain (R-Franklin), who chairs the Senate’s tax writing committee and authored SB 159, the other main tax reform bill. “Whether it’s high federal taxes or low federal taxes with higher state taxes as a result, the taxpayer

wins in neither scenario, so why do it? It’s just bad tax policy. This session, we did the hard work to come up with good tax policy that moves the state forward, and we did it in a revenue neutral way. In the end, we’ll reduce income tax rates and have a simpler system. And it’s about time.”

“THIS IS TRULY A GAMECHANGING MOMENT FOR LOUISIANA.” And now these tax reform measures are in the hands of Louisiana’s voters.

Both Speaker Schexnayder and Chairman Allain’s bills will be on the statewide ballot as constitutional amendments #1 and #2 on November 13.

Amendment #1 is Schexnayder’s HB 199, providing for streamlined local sales tax collection, eliminating the cumbersome current system and putting our local businesses on equal footing with out-of-state competitors by creating a single commission. The commission would be made up of an equal mix of local and state government stakeholders and would have the authority to

Flanked by legislators at the State Capitol during the recent legislative session, Senate President Page Cortez (R-Lafayette) talks up the tax reform package that gained overwhelming bipartisan support.

streamline electronic filing, remittance and the collection of sales taxes in an efficient manner, ensuring accuracy, transparency and accountability to both those paying local sales tax and the local governments who will receive the funds.

The second proposed amendment, Allain’s SB 159, would lower tax rates in exchange for removing the FIT deduction from the State Constitution. And, if passed by voters, this amendment triggers a trio

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5th & Main Fall 2021 61

COVER STORY

of companion bills into effect that together create a simpler system with lower rates, making Louisiana more competitive with other states. Specifically, the amendment and accompanying bills: • Cap personal income tax at 4.75% - that would be the lowest in the South and fourth lowest in the country (amendment) • Remove current individual tax brackets from the State Constitution, allowing the Legislature to lower rates (amendment) • Remove the FIT requirement from Louisiana’s Constitution (amendment) • Lower rates in the 3 brackets for personal income tax, lowering the highest from 6% to 4.25% (HB 278) • Collapse corporate tax brackets from 5 to 3, capping the highest at 7.5% (HB 292) • Eliminate the Corporate Franchise Tax on the first $300,000 of taxable capital, lowers the tax from $3 to $2.75 per thousand on capital greater than $300,000 (SB 161) In its analysis of the two measures before the voters, the Tax Foundation predicts that

62 5th & Main Fall 2021

if passed, these constitutional amendments will indeed improve Louisiana’s competitiveness—finally moving us out of the bottom 10 states, up to No. 38 nationally and continuing to improve as key economic growth triggers built into the plan could further reduce rates. According to the analysis: “By overwhelmingly approving this tax plan, the Louisiana Legislature has demonstrated its hunger for reforms that enhance simplicity, transparency, and neutrality in the tax code, while aligning it for growth. If voters approve these reforms at the ballot, Louisiana would see a more competitive tax code that would serve residents well for years to come.”

But this election is predicted to have extremely low turnout—some pundits predict as low as eight percent. With the exception of local elections in New Orleans and special elections in places like Lake Charles and Monroe, for most of Louisiana, voters will only have a set of constitutional amendments on their ballots. Traditionally, that

Louisiana Association of Business and Industry

hasn’t been a huge lure, but LABI’s president & CEO Stephen Waguespack says with so much on the line for economic opportunity, it should be.

“This is truly a game-changing moment for Louisiana,” says Waguespack. “Our home-grown businesses, our employers and their family of workers have been through enough over the past year. They were there for us during this shutdown, providing essential services and fighting to keep our communities moving. We need to show up for them at the voting booth and vote yes on amendments 1 and 2. It’s time to untangle our tax code and free our businesses and taxpayers of this burden for good.”

Meanwhile, Buffy and Retha watch and wait, hoping voters will embrace what they see as an easy fix. “The majority of America has a less complicated, more streamlined system,” says Retha. “They have figured out a way to do it. I’m pretty sure we can, too.”

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A Movement to Celebrate & Elevate Louisiana From our natural beauty and treasured culture to the hardworking people who live here, there’s no other place like Louisiana. At LWCC, our business is helping Louisiana businesses thrive — and we’re inspired to do even more. Together with our employees, agent partners, and policyholders, we’re on a mission to elevate our state and raise its profile across America. It starts with a commitment to exceptional workers’ compensation insurance and grows deeper with innovative ideas and new opportunities to elevate Louisiana. Through every triumph and every challenge, we’re Louisiana Loyal. Always.

We can all join the movement. Louisiana Loyal builds momentum with every company, worker, and resident who helps bring transformational change to the state we love.

See how you can be a part of it at louisianaloyal.com.

WE ARE From the moment you walk into LABI, you are reminded of its unwavering commitment to free enterprise. I know those principles will enable Louisiana to be a better place, not just for our manufacturing business and growth, but for the attraction, retainment, and growth of all business and talent.

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Lipsey’s is a proud and longtime partner with LABI. Our relationship ensures that we have a voice of leadership in the business and industry sector.

LABI’s strong membership encourages economic development for all Louisiana businesses locally, nationally, and worldwide.

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LABI has been a great ambassador for our industry and fights to make Louisiana better for business.

Without LABI, we would not have gotten tax reform done. Having LABI fight every day levels the playing field for all businesses in Louisiana!

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CEO, Baton Rouge General Baton Rouge General is committed to providing care to our communities, but our success relies on the success of the people we serve.

LABI’s free enterprise advocacy and member collaboration creates an environment for economic growth in both our community and our state, allowing us to continue to grow the services we provide for the people of Louisiana.

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I most appreciate LABI’s proactiveness. Many industry groups spend their time and energy focused on the negative, fighting mostly rearguard actions. LABI gets involved early, when there is still a chance to treat conversations and policy making as opportunities, not just problems to defend against.

INTERESTED IN JOINING THE LABI TEAM? Get in the game by contacting Elena Lacour at elenal@labi.org for more information.

LABI is truly the glue between business and government. For a small business like ours, it is comforting to know that the team at LABI is not only looking after our needs, but the needs of all Louisiana-based businesses. We are truly blessed as a business community to have this organization in our state.

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We believe LABI is a valuable strategic partner because they give us space and opportunity to have our voices heard regarding critical issues affecting small businesses like ours.

LABI plays a crucial role for Louisiana businesses, both large and small. Its influence in the legislative process is powerful and essential to helping ensure sound public policy and strong economic growth for our state and entire business community.

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It is important that businesspeople engage at all levels of government to promote good policy and oppose bad policy. LABI is the ‘one stop shop’ for all of the above. As a business owner, I cannot go to every meeting and attend every committee hearing. But I can through LABI, and still have a seat at the table. LABI has an established track record in areas such as tort reform, tax reform, education policy, workforce development, election results, judicial reform, the list goes on…It all supports the fact that LABI is not only the largest business lobby group in the State, but also the most effective lobby group in Louisiana.

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LABI’s team of experts consistently advocates for pro-business policies to support a stronger workforce, to attract investment to Louisiana and to ensure a prosperous future for industry and communities across the state.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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We are nowhere near mission accomplished, but what’s clear from the work done in both 2020 and 2021 by this largely new crop of lawmakers is that the old days of “kicking the can down the road” have been decidedly replaced by a “get ‘er done” resolve that gives me a whole lot of hope. Think about it. With all that happened in 2021 across our country, while the world was falling apart around us, our Louisiana Legislature managed to keep it together and enact impactful bipartisan measures

Thankfully, the Legislature took some strong steps this session to help make my goal for the day my prodigal son returns a reality.

Well, now this whole reform movement just got personal.

It makes it that much more important in my eyes that we all act quickly to tackle Louisiana’s competitiveness problems, create the economy we deserve and, yes, make it very easy for my son to move back home in a few years to a good job and promising future right here in Louisiana.

While I am extremely proud of him as a man and all that he has accomplished, it is a touch bittersweet knowing he thoughtfully chose what he thought was best for his immediate future and it wasn’t in Louisiana. Will he come back after graduation? Will his dream job be here, near his mom and me? Will my grandkids one day be near me or will they end up being part of the “brain drain” we’ve fought so hard to curb?

s this summer came to a close, I found myself doing what many other dads across Louisiana were doing that same weekend… moving my child into a college dorm room. We likely all went through the same motions with vehicles packed to the brim, carefully timed check-ins and unloading routines, final family meals and goodbyes filled with pride. Only mine came with a slight sting… I was sending my son to college… in Texas.

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Mississippi beats us on corporate and personal income tax rates, franchise tax, simpler sales tax collections and even lower severance tax. But not for long. In 2021, during what’s constitutionally set as a “fiscal session,” the Legislature said enough is enough, and in an effort to boost our economy and help our home-grown businesses that kept us afloat, fed and supplied during a global pandemic, legislators came together and crafted a plan designed to simplify our tax code, remaining revenue neutral and ultimately lowering tax rates for Louisiana taxpayers. In particular, House Speaker Clay Schexnayder’s HB 199, which voters still must approve in the form of a constitutional amendment on the November 13 ballot, finally puts into place something our local business owners have longed to see… streamlined sales tax collection. Legislators have tried this for years, through multiple failed attempts, but this year that determined attitude carried the concept through, with

Now, back to Texas for a moment. We know we’re losing to the Lone Star State when it comes to our tax competitiveness, a state with no personal income tax, no corporate income tax, no franchise tax and a streamlined method of collecting local sales taxes. We know this, and we’re a bit too comfortable lagging behind. But our tax code is also lagging behind another neighbor…

Mississippi.

Let’s look at what was achieved. On the heels of 2020’s landmark legal reform, this legislature set its sights on tax reform. Not the sexiest topic, and certainly wasn’t the headline-grabber this session, but these proposals addressed issues that have long haunted our economy and once implemented will do wonders to help change Louisiana’s trajectory and lure employers and the jobs they bring with them.

that will truly help shape a better climate for economic opportunity, meaning jobs for Louisiana.

Jeannie Frey Rhodes

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And speaking of long-term priorities, how about a modified paycheck protection bill? Fiscal transparency for how public school systems spend taxpayer dollars? Extra appeals for parents wishing to move their children out of failing schools? Lawmakers also dug into issues stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly with respect to public education and business recovery. They looked at expanding broadband, and ending the enhanced unemployment benefits that kept the “help wanted” signs hung at businesses across the state. Again, looking across our country lately, it’s easy to find examples of angst and gridlock, but the Louisiana Legislature was the surprising exception to that rule. We truly hope this bipartisan reform-minded undertaking is a template used again and again.

Legislators were equally tenacious when it came to transportation and infrastructure funding.

Multiple plans circulated the Capitol this year, but in the end innovation in the final weeks yielded a compromise plan to shift $300 million from vehicle sales and lease taxes to fund key projects like a new I-10 bridge at the Calcasieu River in Lake Charles, a new bridge over the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge, completing I-49 through Lafayette and more. No taxes were raised, but a steady source of funding for roads, bridges and maintenance was secured. That’s a creative but clear investment in Louisiana’s future.

local government collectors at the table, working on compromise after compromise to achieve the ballot language. We’re grateful for their guidance and insight, and for their willingness to shed the status quo.

TERRY BAUGH LABI CHAIRMAN | D&J CONSTRUCTION

STEPHEN WAGUESPACK PRESIDENT & CEO, LABI

But now we need your voice in the voting booth.

2021’s tax reform wins won’t happen unless the first two constitutional amendments on your November 13 ballot win approval. You have the power to shape Louisiana’s future, and that of our sons and daughters, by voting “YES.” With so much out of our control these days, from interrupted supply chains to mask mandates to quarantining, it’s a bit thrilling to think about being in charge. Of this, if nothing else. We know our economy is miserable, we know our tax code is tangled, but when else will you have the power to fix it? If we don’t, what score will we earn for ourselves when it comes time for our children to come home? Let’s give them a reason to return.

This year’s LABI Scorecard, as it has done for decades, spotlights those game-changing issues and the legislators who championed them. In the end, votes on 16 key bills were scored… issues prioritized by our members with their expertise and input through our issue councils and cemented in our annual Program of Work that guides our advocacy. We take pride in this member-driven method, which allows LABI and our issue experts to truly serve as the voice for Louisiana’s job-creators.

This bill extends the application of the franchise tax exemption for small business corporations until 2023, at which time no taxpayer will be required to pay franchise tax on the first $300,000 of taxable capital. In addition, the tax rate for all taxpayers will drop from $3 per $1,000 of taxable capital to 2.75 perent on taxable capital above $300,000. Also, future franchise tax rates will be lowered further whenever state revenue growth meets certain criteria. This bill will only go into effect if Louisiana voters ratify the constitutional amendment that was SB 159 in the November election. The Senate adopted the Conference Committee report by a vote of 38-0. A vote to ADOPT was a vote WITH LABI.

hb 38

This bill is a constitutional amendment that would cap the maximum individual income tax rate at 4.75 percent and make the federal income tax (FIT) deduction permissible instead of mandatory. It is the linchpin of a tax reform package the Legislature enacted to make Louisiana more competitive for business investment from around the world, thereby generating economic growth and vitality for our state. Voters will decide November 13th if they favor this constitutional amendment that will help improve our national tax rankings, which are currently among the worst in the country. The Senate adopted the Conference Committee report by a vote of 34-3. A vote to ADOPT was a vote WITH LABI.

This bill sought to limit misleading advertising practices and solicitations for legal services. It would have regulated attorney-only advertisements specifically soliciting people to allege an injury from an FDAapproved prescription drug or medical device. Such advertisements would be required to include a verbal and printed statement: “Consult your physician before making decisions regarding prescribed medication or medical treatment.” It passed the Senate by a vote of 288. A vote FOR the bill was a vote WITH LABI.

sb 161

This bill would have required school board information to be accessible on the Louisiana fiscal transparency website known as the “Louisiana Checkbook,” holding school systems accountable for how they are spending their federal COVID-19 relief dollars in addition to making this information more easily accessible to the public. The Senate adopted the Conference Committee report by a vote of 20-14. A vote to ADOPT was a vote WITH LABI.

This bill will increase the trigger for exempting stripper wells from severance tax from $20 to $45. It passed the Senate by a vote of 36-1. A vote FOR the billl was a vote WITH LABI.

This bill would have barred the refund of a number of tax credits whenever they exceed a taxpayer’s state income/franchise tax liability in a given year. Included among these were credits for taxes paid on inventory and vessels operating in the Outer Continental Shelf.

This would have effectively eliminated the full benefit of these credits for eligible businesses. While the bill would have provided for a five-year carry forward of any credit balance not applied in that year, few businesses would ever be able to make use of it within this time frame. It passed the Senate by a vote of 20-16. A vote AGAINST the bill was a vote WITH LABI.

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Legislators filed 959 bills during the 2021 session, 486 (51%) of which became law.

DID YOU KNOW?

REP. RICK EDMONDS (R-BATON ROUGE)

hb 26 REP. DANNY MCCORMICK (R-OIL CITY)

SB 240

SEN. JAY LUNEAU (D-ALEXANDRIA)

SEN. BRET ALLAIN (R-FRANKLIN)

sb 159 SEN. BRET ALLAIN (R-FRANKLIN)

sb 43

SEN. BARROW PEACOCK (R-BOSSIER CITY)

2021 LABI VOTES FOR JOBS:

This bill establishes a funding source for infrastructure development in Louisiana, shifting a portion of state tax proceeds from motor vehicle sales and leases to the Construction Subfund of the Transportation Trust Fund. Beginning FY 2023-24, 30 percent of the vehicle tax revenue will be deposited in the subfund, and each fiscal year thereafter, 60 percent of the revenue will be deposited into the subfund. Eventually, $300 million will go into the subfund every year, 75 percent of which must be used for specified major road and bridge construction projects, with the remainder going to highway and bridge preservation projects. The Senate adopted the Conference Committee report by a vote of 37-0. A vote to ADOPT was a vote WITH LABI.

SPEAKER PRO TEMP. TANNER MAGEE (R-HOUMA)

hb 514

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This bill would have been a constitutional amendment authorizing the Legislature to develop a common-sense approach to containing the growth of state government to better match state expenditures to the ability of taxpayers to afford the cost. It would have (1) restricted annual budget growth to five percent or less and (2) required a two-thirds vote of the Legislature to change procedures for determining the state expenditure limit. It failed to clear the Senate despite a 21-16 vote in favor because, as a constitutional amendment, it required 26 votes (two-thirds of the body) to pass. A vote FOR the bill was a vote WITH LABI.

I fight for those businesses back home that struggle every day in our state to be better.

Speaker Schexnayder on HB 199

This bill would have allowed teachers to freely associate (outside of unions), including the ability to create their own local organizations and to receive a payroll deduction for those groups. Later Senate amendments allowed for further freedom and choice by requiring school employees to annually authorize these deductions, choosing whether to participate each year. It passed the Senate by a vote of 26-11. A vote FOR the bill was a vote WITH LABI.

This bill expands school choice for families whose students are enrolled in “D” or “F” rated public schools by allowing them to select an “A”, “B”, or “C” rated school within the district as long as there is capacity for the student. The legislation authorizes appeals to Louisiana’s Board of Elementary and Secondary Education by parents of students who are denied enrollment into their public school of choice. It passed the Senate by a vote of 35-1. A vote FOR the bill was a vote WITH LABI.

REP. BEAU BEAULLIEU (R-NEW IBERIA)

hb 273

hb 256 REP. PHILLIP TARVER (R-LAKE CHARLES)

hb 211

REP. MARK WRIGHT (R-COVINGTON)

This bill is a constitutional amendment authorizing a major overhaul of Louisiana’s archaic local sales tax collection system. The measure is a compromise between business and local government to create a Commission that would develop procedures for Louisiana businesses to electronically file and remit state and local sales taxes. It would also establish rules that simplify and streamline the audit process for businesses with a physical presence in Louisiana. Voters will decide in November if they favor this constitutional amendment to streamline sales tax administration for Louisiana’s medium-sized and small businesses operating in multiple parishes. The Senate adopted the Conference Committee report by a vote of 37-0. A vote to ADOPT was a vote WITH LABI.

This bill provides exceptions to most of Louisiana’s occupational licenses for the dependents of physicians, removing burdensome barriers to entry while still protecting citizens from inexperienced and unqualified professionals. It passed the Senate by a vote of 37-0. A vote FOR the bill was a vote WITH LABI.

This bill authorizes the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to create a voluntary environmental selfaudit program. It establishes the rules and regulations to provide for the conduct of the self-audit, submission of the results to the department, the period of time that information contained in the self-audit may be held confidential, incentives to encourage the use of selfaudits, corrective actions for violations discovered by the self-audit, submission of a corrective plan and fees for reviewing the audit and corrective plan. It passed the Senate by a vote of 33-4. A vote FOR the bill was a vote WITH LABI.

HB 199 SPEAKER CLAY SCHEXNAYDER (R-GONZALES)

hb 197 REP. CHARLES “CHUCK” OWEN (R-LEESVILLE)

hb 72

REP. JEAN-PAUL COUSSAN (R-LAFAYETTE)

2021 LABI VOTES FOR JOBS:

This bill expands school choice for families whose students are enrolled in “D” or “F” rated public schools by allowing them to select an “A”, “B”, or “C” rated school within the district as long as there is capacity for the student. The legislation authorizes appeals to Louisiana’s Board of Elementary and Secondary Education by parents of students who are denied enrollment into their public school of choice. It passed the House by a vote of 60-39. A vote FOR the bill was a vote WITH LABI.

REP. MARK WRIGHT (R-COVINGTON)

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Rep. Edmonds on HB 38 in the House Committee on Appropriations

I think this is the highest level of transparency that any state has done.

We need to know where our tax dollars go. I think that’s only reasonable.

This bill is a constitutional amendment authorizing a major overhaul of Louisiana’s archaic local sales tax collection system. The measure is a compromise between business and local government to create a Commission that would develop procedures for Louisiana businesses to electronically file and remit state and local sales taxes. It would also establish rules that simplify and streamline the audit process for businesses with a physical presence in Louisiana. Voters will decide in November if they favor this constitutional amendment to streamline sales tax administration. The House adopted the Conference Committee report by a vote of 102-0. A vote to ADOPT was a vote WITH LABI.

This bill provides exceptions to most of Louisiana’s occupational licenses for the dependents of physicians, removing burdensome barriers to entry while still protecting citizens from inexperienced and unqualified professionals. It passed the House by a vote of 98-0. A vote FOR the bill was a vote WITH LABI.

hb 211

hb 199 SPEAKER CLAY SCHEXNAYDER (R-GONZALES)

hb 197

REP. CHARLES “CHUCK” OWEN (R-LEESVILLE)

This bill authorizes the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to create a voluntary environmental selfaudit program. It establishes the rules and regulations to provide for the conduct of the self-audit, submission of the results to the department, the period of time that information contained in the self-audit may be held confidential, incentives to encourage the use of selfaudits, corrective actions for violations discovered by the self-audit, submission of a corrective plan and fees for reviewing the audit and corrective plan. The House voted to concur in Senate amendments by a vote of 88-4. A vote to CONCUR was a vote WITH LABI.

This bill would have required school board information to be accessible on the Louisiana fiscal transparency website known as the “Louisiana Checkbook,” holding school systems accountable for how they are spending their federal COVID-19 relief dollars in addition to making this information more easily accessible to the public. The House adopted the Conference Committee report by a vote of 76-27. A vote TO ADOPT the bill was a vote WITH LABI.

This bill will increase the trigger for exempting stripper wells from severance tax from $20 to $45. It passed the House by a vote of 63-27. A vote FOR the bill was a vote WITH LABI.

hb 72 REP. JEAN-PAUL COUSSAN (R-LAFAYETTE)

hb 38 REP. RICK EDMONDS (R-BATON ROUGE)

hb 26

REP. DANNY MCCORMICK (R-OIL CITY)

2021 LABI VOTES FOR JOBS:

This bill would have been a constitutional amendment authorizing the Legislature to develop a common-sense approach to containing the growth of state government to better match state expenditures to the ability of taxpayers to afford the cost. It would have (1) restricted annual budget growth to five percent or less and (2) required a two-thirds vote of the Legislature to change procedures for determining the state expenditure limit. It passed the House by a vote of 71-22. A vote FOR the bill was a vote WITH LABI.

This bill would have allowed teachers to freely associate (outside of unions), including the ability to create their own local organizations and to receive a payroll deduction for those groups. Later senate amendments allowed for further freedom and choice by requiring school employees to annually authorize these deductions, choosing whether to participate each year. The House voted to concur in Senate amendments by a vote of 7228. A vote to CONCUR was a vote WITH LABI.

This bill would have helped to improve the quality and safety of navigation up and down Louisiana’s rivers.

It included enhanced education and examination requirements for pilots, established ethics and competency standards for them, called for statutory establishment of drug and alcohol policies for candidates and apprentices, and prohibited discrimination in hiring practices. The measure also sought to bring reasonableness to the rate setting process for piloting fees charged to shippers, which would generally have benefitted consumers. It passed the House by a vote of 53-47. A vote FOR the bill was a vote WITH LABI.

This bill establishes a funding source for infrastructure development in Louisiana, shifting a portion of state tax proceeds from motor vehicle sales and leases to the Construction Subfund of the Transportation Trust Fund. Beginning FY 2023-24, 30 percent of the vehicle tax revenue will be deposited in the subfund, and each fiscal year thereafter, 60 percent of the revenue will be deposited into the subfund. Eventually, $300 million will go into the subfund every year, 75 percent of which must be used for specified major road and bridge construction projects, with the remainder going to highway and bridge preservation projects. The House adopted the Conference Committee report by a vote of 88-13. A vote to ADOPT was a vote WITH LABI.

This bill extends the application of the franchise tax exemption for small business corporations until 2023, at which time no taxpayer will be required to pay franchise tax on the first $300,000 of taxable capital. In addition, the tax rate for all taxpayers will drop from $3 per $1,000 of taxable capital to 2.75 perent on taxable capital above $300,000. Also, future franchise tax rates will be lowered further still whenever state revenue growth meets certain criteria. This bill will only go into effect if Louisiana voters ratify the constitutional amendment that was SB 159 in the November election. The House adopted the Conference Committee report by a vote of 90-14. A vote to ADOPT was a vote WITH LABI.

This bill is a constitutional amendment that would cap the maximum individual income tax rate at 4.75 percent and make the federal income tax (FIT) deduction permissible instead of mandatory. It is the linchpin of a tax reform package the Legislature enacted to make Louisiana more competitive for business investment from around the world, thereby generating economic growth and vitality for our state. Voters will decide November 13th if they favor this constitutional amendment that will help improve our national tax rankings, which are currently among the worst in the country. The House adopted the Conference Committee report by a vote of 95-6. A vote to ADOPT was a vote WITH LABI.

This bill was a constitutional amendment attempting to change the composition of the Louisiana Supreme Court and provide for population to be considered when drawing Supreme Court election districts. It failed to clear the House despite a vote of 67-27 because it required 70 votes (two-thirds of the body) to pass. A vote to CONSIDER the bill after 57th calendar day was a vote WITH LABI.

sb 163 SEN. PATRICK MCMATH (R-COVINGTON)

sb 161 SEN. BRET ALLAIN (R-FRANKLIN)

sb 159

SEN. BRET ALLAIN (R-FRANKLIN)

This bill sought to limit misleading advertising practices and solicitations for legal services. It would have regulated attorney-only advertisements specifically soliciting people to allege an injury from an FDAapproved prescription drug or medical device. Such advertisements would be required to include a verbal and printed statement: “Consult your physician before making decisions regarding prescribed medication or medical treatment.” It passed the House by a vote of 7030. A vote FOR the bill was a vote WITH LABI.

sb 43 SEN. BARROW PEACOCK (R-BOSSIER CITY)

hb 650 REP. THOMAS PRESSLY (R-SHREVEPORT)

hb 514

SPEAKER PRO TEMP. TANNER MAGEE (R-HOUMA)

This bill sought to prohibit the use of certain rating factors in automobile insurance underwriting. Specifically, LABI opposes removing credit-based insurance scores to determine insurance rates. It failed to pass the House by a vote of 38-50. A vote AGAINST the bill was a vote WITH LABI.

hb 467 REP. EDMOND JORDAN (D-BATON ROUGE)

hb 273 REP. BEAU BEAULLIEU (R-NEW IBERIA)

hb 256

REP. PHILLIP TARVER (R-LAKE CHARLES)

2021 LABI VOTES FOR JOBS:

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With the COVID-19 lockdown shining a spotlight on just how important technology and reliable internet service are to businesses and students, legislators filed numerous bills to help close the connectivity gap this session. Louisiana has now authorized the use of the 4.9 GHz spectrum for commercial use, providing enormous benefits to consumers, especially those who rely on fixed wireless networks in rural and urban areas. In addition to this new spectrum, Louisiana is set to receive almost $200 million in federal funds to provide broadband in unserved and underserved areas. With these dollars on their way, the Legislature took the appropriate step to set up a grant program for private and public providers to bid on these funds and unserved areas. While there was a major push to allow government-owned utilities to be exempted by the Local Government Fair Competition Act (LGFCA), LABI fought hard against this creation of an uneven playing field between private companies and taxpayer-subsidized entities, ensuring the proper safeguards were added and the LGFCA remained in effect.

technology

Legislators and the education community tackled a myriad of education issues this session, mainly due to the pandemic’s effects on students and families over the last year. Schools were closed in March of 2020, and students returned last fall to a number of scenarios designed with public health in mind–athome learning, static groups, block scheduling and hybrid attendance, not to mention quarantines as needed interrupting academic access. While we do not yet know the full extent of the learning loss, LABI was proud to continue our multi-decade support of education reform. Regarding literacy and learning loss, LABI supported a literacy bill named in honor of the late Rep. Steve Carter, providing resources to students and families to improve reading skills. There were additional measures aimed at enhanced academic support and remediation plans ensuring schools are putting students’ best interests first, with plans reviewed and approved by the Department of Education. There were other bills aimed at micro-schools, or pods, a unique model allowing for educational flexibility in how children are instructed. LABI recognizes the importance of giving families the choice in

education

27 PERCENT OF ALL STUDENTS ACHIEVED “MASTERY” IN MATH, DOWN 8 PERCENTAGE POINTS FROM 2019

40 PERCENT OF ALL STUDENTS ACHIEVED “MASTERY” IN ENGLISH, DOWN FOUR PERCENTAGE POINTS FROM 2019

76

THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS WHO SCORED “UNSATISFACTORY” INCREASED BY FIVE PERCENTAGE POINTS FROM 2019

Advanced - A student at this level has exceeded expectations.

Mastery - A student at this level has met expectations.

Basic - A student at this level has approached expectations.

Approaching Basic - A student at this level has partially met expectations.

Unsatisfactory - A student at this level did not met expectations.

LABI was also proud to support wins for school choice, specifically an appeals process for students trapped in “D” and “F” rated schools. Additionally, in Louisiana’s Student Scholarship program, important accountability improvements were enacted to ensure students receive the highest quality education.

how to best educate their children, especially in light of the challenging year and what lies ahead as we seek to remediate our students. Although vetoed, LABI was proud to support a school system transparency measure which would have required systems to share their financial information on the state’s fiscal transparency website known as “Louisiana Checkbook.” While LABI has long supported transparency, this particular legislation was important because of the billions of dollars in federal COVID-19 relief funds going directly to schools. We believe it’s critical for the public to see where their hard-earned tax dollars are going, especially as it relates to their students’ education.

For students in grades 3-8 who participated in in-person learning for the entire year, 36 percent of them scored at the “Mastery” level or higher. In contrast, students who moved to 100 percent virtual learning fared worse, with only 21 percent scoring at the “Mastery” level.

IN-PERSON SCHOOLING

The governor largely yielded to the legislature in these efforts—indicating his support for a tax reform package only if its collective impact was

The Legislature recognized the need to improve our state’s tax rankings nationally if Louisiana is to be competitive for business investment. The leadership provided by the Senate President and House Speaker, along with the tax committee chairs, was instrumental in enacting reforms that move the needle in the final days of session.

Being a “fiscal only” session, tax and budget issues were front and center, and LABI’s top priority was tackling the state’s complex and overly burdensome tax code. Congressional enactment of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act last year and the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act this year provided substantial federal assistance to prop up the state’s fiscal outlook, allowing a legislative initiative to reform Louisiana’s tax system to take shape.

When the 2021 Regular Session convened, the catastrophic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic were beginning to subside as vaccines became widely available. The state economy was recovering, but still faced significant headwinds as the federal unemployment compensation (UC) benefit of $300/week–in addition to state weekly benefits– incentivized some workers to remain unemployed rather than return to their jobs, creating a labor shortage and hindering many businesses from reaching full operation or, in some cases, even opening.

TAXATION AND FINANCE

77

There was a point during the session when the other components of the reform package seemed somewhat in doubt, as leadership grappled with how to bring about a simpler, less burdensome income and franchise tax code while attaining revenue neutrality. The ultimate solution was wrapped into four bills that will only take effect

NEW BRACKETS

OLD BRACKETS

The enacting statute by Sen. Allain and Representative Stuart Bishop retains the existing three brackets for individual income taxes but reduces rates from 2 percent to 1.85 percent, 4 percent to 3.5 percent, and 6 percent to 4.25 percent. It also includes a trigger for additional rate reductions depending on state revenue growth meeting certain criteria.

The centerpiece of this reform package was the Speaker’s Constitutional Amendment No. 1 to establish a commission that will streamline how Louisiana businesses must file and remit local sales and use taxes as well as be audited. Louisiana has long been an outlier in terms of sales and use tax collection as one of only three states not requiring the filing of local sales taxes through their state revenue departments—putting homegrown small and medium-sized businesses at a disadvantage.

The provisions comprising this Act were the culmination of months of intensive negotiations, spurred by the Speaker, between representatives of business and local governments. While its passage is a monumental achievement—the last time significant progress was made was 30 years ago—much work remains to be done in order to win voter support across the state for the measure’s approval in the November 13 election.

if Constitutional Amendment No. 2 by Sen. Bret Allain is ratified by the voters on November 13.

The measure would cap the maximum individual income tax rate at 4.75 percent while permitting a federal income tax (FIT) deduction if the Legislature provides for it statutorily.

“revenue neutral.” Meeting this criterion presented a challenge for leadership as they worked to advance legislation that improved state corporate and individual income tax provisions by lowering rates and reducing the number of brackets while maintaining state revenues at current levels.

Ahead of this session, there were many who predicted that little to nothing would come of the tax reform proposals being talked about and introduced, given that they never had before. Nevertheless, the legislative leadership, with whom LABI worked closely throughout session, was determined to finally make Louisiana’s tax code simpler, fairer and more predictable in order to move our economy forward to the benefit of all.

It is fair to say this year’s fiscal only legislative session was one of the more productive and economically beneficial in recent history. While there are a couple pieces of this tax reform puzzle needing approval from the voters, the fact that this Legislature was willing to take on these issues when those in the past consistently refused to do so is a profoundly encouraging development.

A couple more bills rounded out the reform package in the form of tax administration improvements promoted by the Council on State Taxation (COST). Legislation by Sen. Allain allows nonresidents to work in Louisiana for up to 25 days in a calendar year without being subject to individual income tax and their employers from withholding the tax if they are from a state that reciprocates such treatment for Louisiana workers and their employers. Sen. Allain also authored legislation streamlining filing and payment requirements with the Louisiana Department of Revenue for partnerships when federal adjustments are reported due to IRS audits.

To further reduce overall corporate taxes, Sen. Allain amended another bill of his to decrease the franchise tax rate from $3 per $1,000 to $2.75 per $1,000 of taxable capital and eliminate the tax for all taxpayers on the first $300,000 of capital beginning in 2023. Franchise tax rates in future years could go even lower if state revenue growth reaches certain benchmarks.

Louisiana has one of the highest corporate income tax rates in the nation at 8 percent–along with five brackets–while some states have a single, low rate for all corporate taxpayers. Rep. Neil Riser authored a bill that would have set a flat rate of 6.5 percent, but in the interest of revenue neutrality the Legislature ultimately amended the measure to restructure and lower corporate income taxes by reducing the number of brackets from five to three at rates of 3.5 percent, 5.5 percent and 7.5 percent.

TAXATION AND FINANCE continued

Speaker Schexnayder on HB 199

Whether it was you, your municipalities, your sheriff, or your mayors or your police jury, your school boards, whoever they were - I traveled this state and I sat down with every one of them who was willing to sit down and listen. Every one. I did it because I wanted those people to trust me and trust us in what we do.

Infrastructure funding was a particular focus for the Legislature this session, given increasing demand from citizens to take action to address Louisiana’s $14 billion backlog of projects. It is commonly agreed that infrastructure issues are hampering Louisiana’s economic growth, and our state’s infrastructure requires upgrading that will not happen without long-term funding. Numerous bills were filed that would have raised or created taxes to tackle the backlog, while others sought to tap existing revenue streams.

Eventually, the Legislature was able to support a bill by Rep. Tanner Magee that

infrastructure

79

began as a tax on medical marijuana but was converted late in the session into a measure that, beginning July 1, 2023, phases in a reallocation from the state general fund of a portion of the income generated from taxes on motor vehicle sales over to the Construction Subfund.

As much as $300 million could go into this subfund annually. However, in any fiscal year in which a decrease in recurring state general fund revenue is $100 million or more, the amount of revenue deposited into the subfund cannot exceed $150 million.

Rep. Tanner Magee on the House Floor

Since I’ve been here we’ve invested in education, we’ve invested in healthcare, we’ve invested in teachers, we’ve invested in everything – and all those things are great investments – but the one thing we’ve never committed to investing, the one thing that can really trasnform our economy... is infrastructure.

Sen. Rick Ward on transportation infrastructure bill on LABI’s “Sounds of Session” podcast

I think this is one of the things that we’ve done since I’ve been in the legislature that I feel actually will give the general public some hope that we’re trying to reinvest in our state in a way that could really allow us to re-develop the state of Louisiana from the ground up.

Rep. Jean-Paul Coussan on oil and gas on LABI’s “Sounds of Session” Podcast

We’ve been really trying to reduce our highest severance tax in the country so that we can incentivize people to drill here versus across the border in Texas.

Being a fiscal-only session, several industry-specific tax bills benefitting the energy sector were passed and signed by the governor — including one by Chairman Bret Allain — provide a severance tax exemption and site-specific trust funds for orphan wells. Additionally, Sen. Allain authored a measure dedicating $30 million to help plug and abandon orphaned wells. Other industry tax-related bills were less successful and never made it across the finish line, such as a bill to exempt manufacturing inputs, as well as several other severance tax exemption measures. The energy sector also saw quite a few non-fiscal bills this session, including a “self-audit” bill authorizing the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to establish a program and a fee for voluntary environmental self-audits, and an underground storage bill expanding the list of liquids or gaseous hydrocarbons that can be stored and regulated by the Office of Conservation – both were signed by the governor. Efforts to enact legislation on both sides of the coastal lawsuit battle ended in a stalemate. LABI will continue to defend against the frivolous and abusive coastal litigation driving away investment in our state.

energy

80

When it came to civil justice reform, the primary goal for 2021 was simple: ensuring we did not lose ground on our historic 2020 tort reform wins.

LABI held strong by fighting against restrictions on insurance criteria used to effectively predict risk under automobile policies. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) studied the impact of the usage of credit scores in determining auto insurance rates on consumers and found that “credit-based insurance scores are effective predictors of risk under automobile policies. They are predictive of the number of claims consumers file and the total cost of those claims.” LABI also made strides in modernizing our judicial system–an effort we will continue to push forward in the coming years. Thanks to legislation passed this session, judicial budgets will for the first time be made uniform and public, published on the Louisiana Supreme Court’s website. Judicial recusal rules were updated and the code of civil procedure was amended to help bring practices up to date.

LABI looks forward to continuing this impactful work with judicial stakeholders as we move to bring this critical third branch of government in line with the executive and legislative branches when it comes to transparency, accountability and efficiency.

civil justice reform

Rep. Beau Beaullieu on SB 43

If you’re going to advertise in Louisiana, you have to follow Louisiana law.

Additionally, negotiations with Governor Edwards to end federally enhanced unemployment benefits– which suppressed the state’s workforce and left thousands of employers shorthanded–were successful, resulting in his announcement of a July 31st end date (ahead of its scheduled September 6th termination). The compromise legislation would provide a modest increase in weekly state UC benefits beginning in 2022 if the federal UC benefit is discontinued by July 31st. Unfortunately, a lawsuit was filed at the end of July that may prevent this legislation from having an effect.

LABI successfully defended small business owners from the perennial round of expensive mandates, working to defeat increases to the minimum wage, efforts to bring more lawsuits against employers and other attempts to over-regulate small businesses.

Several LABI-supported bills became law, including legislation to ease occupational licensing requirements for the dependents of physicians.

This is a key recruiting tool for the state, removing burdensome barriers to entry and enabling healthcare providers to give the peace of mind to relocating physicians that their family’s professional talents would be unencumbered upon their arrival in Louisiana.

small business

81

Transparency was a major theme this year in the legislature. A bill was passed, but subsequently vetoed, that would have required school boards to post all expenses to a publicly available website, Louisiana Checkbook, a much-needed safeguard with billions of dollars in federal money being sent down to school districts. A push was made to decrease the long-term cost burden of the state retirement systems by bringing the state retirement age in line with the age for Social Security for all new hires. It was a major accomplishment to get this bill out of committee, but there was not enough support in the Senate to bring the bill to the floor for a vote. Both of these bills are likely to be brought up again next year in hopes of moving the ball forward when it comes to transparency and pension reform.

Governmental Reform

REP. FOY GADBERRY REP. LANCE HARRIS REP. VALARIE HODGES REP. MIKE HUVAL REP. SHERMAN MACK REP. SCOTT MCKNIGHT

SEN. BETH MIZELL SEN. BARROW PEACOCK SEN. MIKE REESE SEN. KIRK TALBOT SEN. BODI WHITE SPEAKER CLAY SCHEXNAYDER REP. BERYL AMEDEE REP. TONY BACALA REP. BEAU BEAULLIEU REP. RAYMOND CREWS

SEN. LOUIE BERNARD SEN. EDDIE LAMBERT SEN. RICK WARD SEN. GLEN WOMACK REP. LARRY BAGLEY REP. STUART BISHOP REP. RHONDA BUTLER REP. DEWITH CARRIER

REP. PAULA DAVIS REP. DARYL DESHOTEL REP. MARY DUBUISSON REP. GABE FIRMENT REP. BRYAN FONTENOT REP. BRETT GEYMANN REP. STEPHANIE HILFERTY REP. DODIE HORTON

HONORABLE MENTIONS

SEN. BRET ALLAIN SEN. FRANKLIN FOIL SEN. RONNIE JOHNS REP. RYAN BOURRIAQUE REP. JEAN-PAUL COUSSAN REP. LARRY FRIEMAN

ALL-STARS

PRESIDENT PAGE CORTEZ SEN. MARK ABRAHAM SEN. STEWART CATHEY SEN. HEATHER CLOUD SEN. MICHAEL FESI SEN. CAMERON HENRY SEN. SHARON HEWITT SEN. PATRICK MCMCATH SEN. BARRY MILLIGAN SEN. ROBERT MILLS

MOST VALUABLE POLICYMAKERS (MVPS)

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Scored 80 percent or higher on the legislation important to LABI and the state’s employers.

ALL-STARS: Scored 90 percent or higher on the legislation important to LABI and the state’s employers.

MOST VALUABLE POLICYMAKERS (MVPS): Scored 100 percent on the legislation important to LABI and the state’s employers.

RANKINGS KEY:

SNAPSHOT

REP. JOHN ILLG REP. BARRY IVEY REP. MIKE JOHNSON REP. TIMOTHY KERNER REP. JOE MARINO REP. JACK MCFARLAND REP. NICHOLAS MUSCARELLO REP. NEIL RISER

REP. BLAKE MIGUEZ REP. GREG MILLER REP. BUDDY MINCEY REP. JOSEPH ORGERON REP. BOB OWEN REP. ALAN SEABAUGH

REP. PHILLIP DEVILLIER REP. MIKE ECHOLS REP. RICK EDMONDS REP. JULIE EMERSON REP. LES FARNUM REP. BARBARA FREIBERG REP. RAYMOND GAROFALO REP. JONATHAN GOUDEAU REP. TANNER MAGEE REP. DANNY MCCORMICK

80% +

90% +

REP. RODNEY SCHAMERHORN REP. FRANCIS THOMPSON REP. BILL WHEAT

REP. POLLY THOMAS REB. DEBBIE VILLIO REP. MARK WRIGHT

REP. WAYNE MCMAHEN REP. RICHARD NELSON REP. CHARLES OWEN REP. THOMAS PRESSLY REP. TROY ROMERO REP. LAURIE SCHLEGEL REP. JOHN STEFANSKI REP. PHILLIP TARVER REP. CHRIS TURNER REP. JEROME ZERINGUE

100%

champions

SESSION

S E N A T E

SNAPSHOT

ABRAHAM, MARK ALLAIN, BRET BARROW, REGINA BERNARD, LOUIE BOUDREAUX, GERALD BOUIE, JOSEPH CATHEY, STEWART CLOUD, HEATHER CONNICK, PATRICK CORTEZ, PAGE FESI, MICHAEL FIELDS, CLEO FOIL, FRANKLIN HARRIS, JIMMY HENRY, CAMERON HENSGENS, BOB HEWITT, SHARON JACKSON, KATRINA JOHNS, RONNIE

100% 93% 63% 85% 63% 63% 100% 100% 70% 100% 100% 63% 91% 63% 100% 78% 100% 57% 93% LAMBERT, EDDIE LUNEAU, JAY MCMATH, PATRICK MILLIGAN, BARRY MILLS, FRED MILLS, ROBERT MIZELL, BETH MORRIS, JAY PEACOCK, BARROW PETERSON, KAREN POPE, J. ROGERS PRICE, EDWARD REESE, MIKE SMITH, GARY TALBOT, KIRK TARVER, GREGORY WARD, RICK WHITE, BODI WOMACK, GLEN

85% 63% 100% 100% 72% 100% 100% 78% 100% 33% 72% 63% 100% 63% 100% 63% 86% 100% 85%

H O U S E

ADAMS, ROY DARYL AMEDEE, BERYL BACALA, TONY BAGLEY, LARRY BEAULLIEU, BEAU BISHOP, STUART BOURRIAQUE, RYAN BRASS, KEN BROWN, CHAD BRYANT, MARCUS BUTLER, RHONDA CARPENTER, BARBARA CARRIER, DEWITH CARTER, GARY CARTER, ROBBY CARTER, WILFORD CORMIER, MACK COUSSAN, JEAN-PAUL COX, KENNY CREWS, RAYMOND DAVIS, PAULA DESHOTEL, DARYL DEVILLIER, PHILLIP DUBUISSON, MARY DUPLESSIS, ROYCE ECHOLS, MIKE EDMONDS, RICK EDMONSTON, KATHY

2021 session

SCORECARD

75% 100% 100% 86% 100% 87% 92% 62% 59% 56% 87% 35% 80% 31% 20% 19% 40% 94% 27% 100% 88% 87% 100% 87% 44% 100% 100% 75%

EMERSON, JULIE FARNUM, LES FIRMENT, GABE FONTENOT, BRYAN FREEMAN, AIMEE FREIBERG, BARBARA FRIEMAN, LARRY GADBERRY, FOY GAINES, RANDAL GAROFALO, RAY GEYMANN, BRETT GLOVER, CEDRIC GOUDEAU, JONATHAN GREEN, KYLE HARRIS, LANCE HILFERTY, STEPHANIE HODGES, VALARIE HOLLIS, PAUL HORTON, DODIE HUGHES, JASON HUVAL, MIKE ILLG, JOHN IVEY, BARRY JAMES, TED JEFFERSON, PATRICK JENKINS, SAM JOHNSON, MIKE JOHNSON, TRAVIS JONES, FRED JORDAN, EDMOND KERNER, TIM LACOMBE, JEREMY LANDRY, MANDIE LARVADAIN, ED LYONS, RODNEY MACK, SHERMAN MAGEE, TANNER MARCELLE, C. DENISE MARINO, JOE

100% 100% 87% 88% 77% 100% 94% 92% 29% 100% 83% 27% 100% 50% 92% 86% 92% 71% 88% 53% 92% 88% 88% 27% 42% 35% 87% 50% 19% 48% 83% 51% 21% 21% 50% 94% 100% 6% 81%

MCCORMICK, DANNY MCFARLAND, JACK MCKNIGHT, SCOTT MCMAHEN, WAYNE MIGUEZ, BLAKE MILLER, DUSTIN MILLER, GREG MINCEY, BUDDY MOORE, PAT MUSCARELLO, NICHOLAS NELSON, RICHARD NEWELL, CANDACE ORGERON, JOSEPH OWEN, BOB OWEN, CHUCK PHELPS, TAMMY PIERRE, VINCENT PRESSLY, THOMAS RISER, NEIL ROMERO, TROY SCHAMERHORN, RODNEY SCHEXNAYDER, CLAY SCHLEGEL, LAURIE SEABAUGH, ALAN SELDERS, LARRY ST. BLANC, VINNEY STAGNI, JOE STEFANSKI, JOHN TARVER, PHILLIP THOMAS, POLLY THOMPSON, FRANCIS TURNER, CHRIS VILLIO, DEBBIE WHEAT, BILL WHITE, MALINDA WILLARD, MATTHEW WRIGHT, MARK ZERINGUE, JEROME

100% 81% 94% 100% 94% 48% 92% 92% 35% 83% 100% 33% 94% 94% 100% 21% 48% 100% 81% 100% 87% 100% 100% 94% 48% 77% 69% 100% 100% 94% 81% 100% 94% 87% 71% 29% 92% 100%

District 38 District 36

District 33

District 12

District 37

sen. fesi

District 20

84

sen. peacock

District 28

sen. cloud

sen. mizell

sen. cathey

sen. mills, r.

District 25

sen. abraham

sen. milligan

District 23

president cortez

senate MVPS

District 30

sen. reese

District 9

District 10

District 1

District 6

District 11

sen. mcmath

sen. white

sen. hewitt

sen. talbot

sen. henry

rep. edmonds

rep. echols

District 66

District 51

District 81

District 14

rep. amedee

Speaker schexnayder

District 39

rep. emerson

District 59

rep. bacala

HOUSE MVPS

85

District 33

rep. farnum

District 48

rep. beaullieu

District 70

rep. freiberg

District 8

rep. crews

District 103

rep. garofalo

District 41

rep. devillier

District 31

rep. goudeau

rep. schlegel District 82

District 37

District 1

rep. Mccormick

rep. romero

District 53

rep. magee

District 42

rep. stefanski

HOUSE MVPS

86

District 10

rep. mcmahen

District 36

rep. tarver

District 89

rep. nelson

District 12

rep. turner

District 30

rep. owen, c.

District 52

rep. zeringue

District 6

rep. pressly

94%

DISTRICT 80

REP. THOMAS

94%

92%

DISTRICT 47

93%

SEN. JOHNS

DISTRICT 27

92%

DISTRICT 15

94%

DISTRICT 45

REP. COUSSAN

REP. VILLIO REP. BOURRIAQUE REP. GADBERRY

DISTRICT 79

91%

93%

DISTRICT 16

SEN. FOIL

DISTRICT 21

SEN. ALLAIN

all-stars

92%

DISTRICT 25

REP. HARRIS

94%

DISTRICT 74

REP. FRIEMAN

87

92%

DISTRICT 56

92%

92%

REP. MILLER, G

REP. HUVAL DISTRICT 46

REP. HODGES DISTRICT 64

94%

DISTRICT 49

REP. MIGUEZ

94%

DISTRICT 68

REP. MCKNIGHT

94%

REP. MACK

DISTRICT 95

92%

DISTRICT 71

REP. MINCEY

94%

DISTRICT 54

REP. ORGERON

92%

DISTRICT 77

REP. WRIGHT

94%

DISTRICT 76

94%

DISTRICT 5

REP. OWEN, R. REP. SEABAUGH

85% 85% 85% 88%

SEN. BERNARD

SEN. LAMBERT

SEN. WOMACK

REP. DAVIS

DISTRICT 22

REP. FIRMENT

DISTRICT 90

REP. DUBUISSON

DISTRICT 28

REP. DESHOTEL

DISTRICT 38

REP. BUTLER

DISTRICT 43

REP. BISHOP

DISTRICT 65

REP. IVEY

DISTRICT 78

REP. ILLG

DISTRICT 9

REP. HORTON

DISTRICT 55

REP. FONTENOT

DISTRICT 69

DISTRICT 32

DISTRICT 18

DISTRICT 31

87%

87%

87%

87%

87%

88%

88%

88%

88%

86%

DISTRICT 17

SEN. WARD

88

REP. DUBUISSON

REP. DESHOTEL

REP. CARRIER BUTLER DISTRICT 32

REP. THOMPSON BISHOP DISTRICT 19

REP. RISER IVEY

DISTRICT 20

REP. MCFARLAND ILLG

DISTRICT 13

REP. MARINO HORTON

DISTRICT 85

REP. MUSCARELLO FONTENOT

DISTRICT 86

REP. KERNER DAVIS

DISTRICT 84

SEN. GEYMANN REP. WOMACK

DISTRICT 35

SEN. HILFERTY REP. LAMBERT

DISTRICT 94

SEN. BAGLEY REP. BERNARD

DISTRICT 7

SEN. WHEAT REP. ALLAIN

DISTRICT 73

SEN. SCHAMERHORN REP. WARD

DISTRICT 24

SEN. JOHNSON, REP. WHITE M.

DISTRICT 27

honorable mentions

80%

81%

81%

81%

81%

83%

83%

83%

86%

86%

87%

87%

87%

®

thank you to our top stakeholders

90 5th & Main Fall 2021

Louisiana Association of Business and Industry

labi.org

FIELD NOTES

PHOTOS BY COLLIN RICHIE

T

he week 5th & Main magazine was going to press, Hurricane Ida slammed southeast Louisiana as a Category 4 storm, causing flooding, power outages, water system destruction, gas shortages and much more. The effects of this storm—much like the desolation that Hurricane Laura brought on southwest Louisiana in 2020—will be long term. Here are a few photos from just days after.

To find more information on how to lend support, go to labi.org.

labi.org

Louisiana Association of Business and Industry

5th & Main Fall 2021 91

FIELD NOTES

92

FIELD NOTES

95

FIELD NOTES

96

LABI Foundation is the non-profit 501 (c)(3) arm of LABI charged with expanding its reach within the community to support free market principles through programs geared toward community outreach, economic recovery, and educational investment. Our mission is simple: preserve and promote the values of free enterprise through charitable and educational activities that address issues affecting our state, economy, and our business environment.

BUSINESS FOR GOOD

DONATE TODAY Giving to the LABI Foundation not only allows you to partner with our team and statewide network to develop programs that will truly improve out comes for all Louisianans, but it also provides a tax benefit to supporters. Under the CARES Act, new charitable giving incentives were put in place for 2020 and extended through tax year 2021.

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REBIRTH

98 5th & Main Fall 2021

Louisiana Association of Business and Industry

labi.org

REBIRTH

WORK Progress in

Southwest Louisiana still in a state of significant recovery efforts one year after storms

BY FRITZ ESKER AND ASHLEY GORDON

It’s easy to forget the devastation when you don’t live there. When you don’t pass the boarded-up buildings and the blue tarps—still flapping—and the debris, and the rubbish and the abandonment. But residents of Lake Charles, and all of southwest Louisiana, can’t forget. Because they lived through it. And they live in it, every day.

labi.org

Wind damage from Hurricane Laura on August 28, 2020 destroyed the Capital One Tower, the tallest building in Lake Charles.

Tim Mueller

T

he people of southwest Louisiana lived through one of the strongest storms to ever make landfall in Louisiana—Category 4 Hurricane Laura in August 2020 that killed 33 people and caused about $19 billion in damages to the area—followed swiftly by Category 2 Hurricane Delta just six weeks later.

They’ve lived through the COVID-19 pandemic, like the rest of the world, that has put lives at risk while shuttering vital businesses. Winter Storm Uri, in February of 2021, caused temperatures to drop to the lowest levels Calcasieu Parish has experienced in over 30 years. Pipes froze and burst. And in May of this year, Lake Charles suffered over 12 inches of rain in a single day, causing widespread flooding of streets, houses and vehicles.

It’s almost more than a community can handle. Lake Charles Mayor Nic Hunter admits some residents had to gut their homes three or four times in the span of one year. Even for the insured, the financial costs have been high. Some have found out exactly how limited their policies are. For the uninsured, the costs have been unimaginable. For all, it has taken a considerable toll on mental health. And hope. And yet the people of Lake Charles work every day to bring their city back to its feet even as they request more aid from the federal government.

“We soldier on, we find a way. But there’s no playbook for what we’re going through here,” says Hunter. “If you pitched what happened to southwest Louisiana in the last year to Hollywood for a movie, they’d tell you it was too ridiculous.”

But a year after Hurricane Laura’s landfall, there are some signs of progress in Lake Charles and surrounding areas. In June 2021, project partners broke ground on Port Wonder, a new education and entertainment venue that will include a children’s museum and a science and nature center. Entergy Louisiana donated $500,000 to help fund the project.

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REBIRTH

Lake Charles Mayor Nic Hunter stands at the Lake Charles Civic Center. The city continues to recover since Hurricane Laura swept through the city nearly a year ago. In the background is the now boarded-up Capital One Tower.

“We are thankful for this opportunity to help the community continue building back after the devastation of Hurricane Laura,” says Phillip May, president and CEO of Entergy Louisiana. “The Port Wonder project is further proof of the hope, strength and resiliency of Lake Charles and its people.”

The former museum was outdated even before it was completely destroyed by Hurricane Laura. Port Wonder, a $20 million lakefront development project, will provide family-friendly activities for the community as well as help attract visitors to the area.

“There were so many nights last year where I thought the project would fall apart,” Mayor Hunter says. “The project’s survival shows the resolve and determination of the community.”

Additionally, Interfor Corporation announced in August that it would invest $8 million to reopen an idle sawmill in DeQuincy, just outside of Lake Charles. The company is one of North America’s largest lumber producers, and it recently acquired the Georgia Pacific facility. Interfor plans to

restart operations in the first half of 2022 and create 170 jobs.

“If you pitched what happened to southwest Louisiana in the last year to Hollywood for a movie, they’d tell you it was too ridiculous.”

- Lake Charles Mayor Nic Hunter

Lincoln Builders is one of a number of construction firms with a heavy presence in the rebuilding process of Lake Charles.

With extensive resources throughout the Gulf South, the group was able to get into the devastated city on the night of the storm (thanks to chainsaws and backroads) and set up a make-shift command center to help secure the assets of some of their financial clients.

“I was in New Orleans to help rebuild right after Katrina. This was like Katrina on steroids,” says Keith Keller, division leader and vice president of operations for Lincoln Builders, South Louisiana. “It looked like a

massive tornado roared through town.”

Lincoln Builders got right to work helping with the recovery effort of financial institutions, healthcare and student housing.

It has tens of millions of dollars’ worth of projects going on in the area today, and it’s building multi-family housing so needed that people are driving up into the construction parking lot and asking how soon they can move in. Keller believes that people trying to move back into the city is a great sign that residents are invested in the area and want to be part of the restoration process.

“Lake Charles has made a 180 degree turn from the night we entered the city to today. It is absolutely incredible to see. From an infrastructure standpoint and a utility standpoint, I’m impressed with how the city of Lake Charles has turned around,” says Keller. “But one drive through the city and surrounding areas will remind you that many areas have not been touched at all.

There is still a lot of work to do.”

While Mayor Hunter is proud of the resilience of Lake Charles residents, he is quick

This rendering of the new Port Wonder by Randy M. Goodloe Architecture Firm shows the concept for the children’s museum and a science and nature center planned for the waterfront.

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McNeese State University housing was damaged by Hurricane Laura but refurbished by Lincoln Builders just in time for students to move in this fall.

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to emphasize that they need—and deserve— federal assistance. After Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans residents received help from the Road Home program. After the 2016 floods, Baton Rouge residents received help from the Restore Louisiana program. Hunter says, in both cases, those residents deserved to get that aid. But he wants Lake Charles and southwest Louisiana residents to benefit from similar programs.

“President Trump and the 116th Congress had a chance to act, and they did not,” Mayor Hunter says. “President Biden and the 117th Congress has a chance to act, and I pray they will.”

While Lake Charles residents wait for federal assistance, many individuals and companies have stepped up to put the city on the path to recovery. For example, Sasol provided grants of $2.3 million to employees and distributed $3.5 million in loans. The company helped its employees find temporary lodging after both hurricanes Laura and Delta, and it also donated $30,000 to the Community Foundation of Southwest Louisiana’s Hurricane Relief and Recovery Fund. Sasol’s Site Services and Corporate Affairs departments coordinated the removal of over 1,700 fallen trees and the clearing of 750 properties.

“One hurricane is bad enough. Two—in a six-week span—is devastating,” said Kim

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development and infrastructure as well as how we live with water. Water in this area is one of our greatest assets and one of our greatest risks. How we manage water will be one of the key components of the master plan.”

And while Judson is proud of what her organization has accomplished and grateful for what donors and volunteers have done for the region, she echoed Mayor Hunter’s emphasis on the need for a more robust federal aid package. The Community Foundation published a report by McKinsey & Company on the housing crisis in Lake Charles: About 50% of Calcasieu Parish’s homes were damaged by the two hurricanes while 26% (12,000 houses) were deemed uninhabitable. This was compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, which prevented the use of congregate shelters.

“The philanthropic dollar and volunteer efforts can only go so far,” Judson says.

“Without that appropriation from the federal government, there will be thousands of people who will be unable to be housed.”

To volunteer or join advocacy efforts, go to rebuildingSWLA.com. To donate, visit foundationSWLA.org or unitedwaySWLA.org.

Community Foundation Southwest Louisiana president and CEO Sara Judson stands outside the foundation office in Lake Charles.

Tim Mueller

Cusimano, Sasol Senior Manager, Americas Corporate Affairs.

The Community Foundation of Southwest Louisiana (CFSWLA) opened its hurricane recovery fund shortly after Hurricane Laura’s landfall and began receiving donations that night. The fund received contributions from all 50 states and 10 countries.

“One of our very first donations came in an envelope postmarked from the state of New York but had no return address. Inside the envelope were three $1 bills wrapped in brown paper, addressed to the residents of southwest Louisiana for ‘Hurricane Laura relief’,” says Sara Judson, president and CEO of CFSWLA. “That simple donation continues to inspire our work every day.”

As the city plans its rebuilding, CFSWLA is working collaboratively with local leaders to develop a master plan for the city’s future.

The master plan will address strategies to mitigate flood risk, facilitate the construction of mixed-income housing in flood resilient areas, and improve the area’s position in the tourism market. David Filo, the co-founder of Yahoo, grew up in the Lake Charles area and donated $2.5 million to fund the master plan for Calcasieu and Cameron Parishes.

“We are so fortunate to have this donation. It allows us to work with world-class master plan experts,” say s Judson. “The master plan will address housing, economic

Louisiana Association of Business and Industry (LABI) Office Renovation, Baton Rouge, LA (2020)

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BUSINESS SUCCESS IS ROOTED IN RESPECT. Louisiana businesses are partnering with Manners of the Heart to lead the charge in the Champion of Respect movement.

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JOIN THE MOVEMENT. Contact us to join this growing community of supporters.

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Getting creative to keep local businesses alive Courtesy Natchitoches Historic District Business Association

BY FRITZ ESKER

The Cane River Commissary is a creole restaurant nestled in the folds of the Cane River Creole National Heritage Area. They will deliver food to your boat at the Cane River Shell Beach boat launch if you call it in.

One of the #GoNatchitoches contest winners purchased a gift card for the Commissary with their winnings.

L

ocally owned businesses throughout Louisiana have faced challenges in recent years due to the ease of online shopping and the ubiquity of big chain stores. But once the COVID-19 pandemic hit, these same stores took another serious blow. Closures, capacity restrictions, and shoppers who were scared to go shopping made staying in business almost impossible.

That’s why cities all over Louisiana have come up with innovative ways to encourage residents to, safely, shop locally and support the homegrown stores.

INITIAL RESPONSES In Natchitoches, a team effort took place.

The Cane River National Heritage Area, the Natchitoches Historic District Business Association, the Natchitoches Area Chamber of Commerce, the Natchitoches Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Natchitoches Main Street, all collaborated on its Go Natchitoches campaign. This included promotional videos encouraging residents to explore their hometown. A month-long contest encouraged locals to use the hashtag #GoNatchitoches while shopping which labi.org

registered them to win a $100 gift card to eligible businesses. A Go Natchitoches app was also created for residents to get the latest information on local events and businesses.

Downtown Lafayette Unlimited (DLU)—a nonprofit with a mission to preserve, restore and expand downtown Lafayette—understood that some people would be afraid to go inside restaurants or stores for fear of getting exposed to the virus.

“Folks were really worried about small businesses not having enough foot traffic downtown,” says Anita Begnaud, CEO of both the Downtown Development Authority, a government entity, and DLU. They came up with a plan.

Through social media, DLU encouraged residents to support restaurants through its “Toot and Scoot” program. Reserved parking spots directly in front of eateries allowed customers to pull up, honk their horn and get their food delivered curbside.

Natchitoches is incentivizing its younger sector—more than 11,000 students at North-

western State—to purchase items locally, instead of buying online. The Natchitoches Chamber of Commerce, Northwestern State, and the Natchitoches Convention & Visitors Bureau collaborated on updating the city’s tourism page, natchitoches.com, to include a directory of local stores offering student discounts. Laura Lyles, president of the Natchitoches Area Chamber of Commerce, says they have also encouraged vendors to sell Northwestern State merchandise and advertise on social media, where college students are more likely to see the ads.

Similarly, DLU is incentivizing its Sunday church-going population to stay downtown after church with its Sunday Brunch event.

For one Sunday a month, the 400 block of Jefferson Street in downtown Lafayette is closed to vehicle traffic, and restaurants set tables on the street while nearby stores— usually closed on Sundays—are open for shopping. A live band or a DJ is on hand to provide music for outdoor diners to enjoy.

“We’re trying to encourage people to come downtown,” Begnaud says. “And have an experience here they can’t have anywhere else.”

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TARGETED POPULATIONS

Lafayette Downtown Development Authority

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Locals gather downtown for Sunday Brunch, a new event series on the 400 block of Jefferson. This pedestrian-friendly event offers live music, outdoor seating, brunch specials from over eight restaurants, and shopping opportunities from local retailers and artisans.

FRIENDLY COMPETITIONS Greg Walls, the owner of Johnson’s Boucaniere in Lafayette, helped stoke the support for the downtown area by creating a friendly food face-off between local restaurants. The first Chicken Sandwich Snackdown in the summer of 2020 involved 14 downtown restaurants competing for titles such as “Best Overall” and “Crowd Favorite.” A dollar from each sandwich sale benefited the DLU. By the end of the event, more than $50,000 was raised from the sale of chicken sandwiches with more collected through drinks and other food items. Due to its success, more competitions have followed, including the Burger Battle Royale which involved 16 restaurants—even those who don’t traditionally serve hamburgers.

A Downtown Taco Takedown took place recently “Many people tried a restaurant for the first time at those events,” Begnaud says. She also notes that restaurants creating items not typical to their menu exposes them to new audiences.

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The “Mother Hen.” This is the sandwich by Ye Olde College Inn that won the Chicken Sandwich Snackdown competition, one of two month-long competitions supporting Downtown Lafayette Unlimited.

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The Shreveport-Bossier Convention and Tourists Bureau has started publishing a quarterly magazine to highlight, and support, its local businesses. Here, The Seventh Tap Brewing Project (a new business specializing in craft beer) was highlighted.

DIGITAL PUBLICATIONS In Shreveport-Bossier City, Shalisa Roland, the public relations and digital content manager for the Shreveport-Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau, says the bureau is now publishing a quarterly digital

publication—The Shreveport-Bossier Travel Magazine—highlighting various businesses in the area in each issue. Plans are also underway to publish a guide called Eat Here, specifically highlighting area restaurants.

While there are concerns about how the continued COVID-19 pandemic might affect

local businesses, Roland remained cautiously optimistic.

“This is no longer a new issue,” says Roland. “So we’re able to combat the effect of COVID-19 on businesses because we’re prepared for it.”

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MAIN STREET In February 2021, Mardi Gras parades were canceled in New Orleans, and New Orleans Mayor Latoya Cantrell closed bars over the Mardi Gras weekend. It was a difficult blow to an already suffering industry.

So Devin de Wulf, founder of the Krewe of Red Beans, launched Bean Coin to help neighborhood bars. The krewe made glass red beans out of recycled beer bottles. Supporters could buy the beans, which would count as a $10 prepaid bar tab redeemable at participating local bars. The krewe prepaid 50% of what they raised to local bars to give them immediate assistance at a time of crisis.

Explaining his interests in helping local waterholes, de Wulf wrote on nolabeancoin. com: “Because you know as well as I do, you don’t want to have to watch the Saints’ game at Starbucks.”

De Wulf says the first Bean Coin project was a smashing success. It raised approximately $150,000, half of which has already been sent to 14 area bars. The other half is reserved for when the bean coins are redeemed.

“Neighborhood bars are vital to our city’s

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Collin Richie

CRESCENT CITY CREATIVITY

The bar scene is New Orleans has taken quite a hit during the pandemic. So Devin de Wulf created a Bean Coin project to encourage people to support the local watering holes.

culture,” says de Wulf. “Many of the smaller businesses are not well positioned to get government grants and funding, so we are trying to step in and fill the void in any way we can.”

Every city in Louisiana has its own culture and its own mom-and-pop stores

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that have struggled over the last 18 months.

Getting creative with ways to support these vital businesses will ensure our main streets remain open, and vibrant, for decades to come.

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SPONSORED CONTENT

L

ouisiana is a state filled with hard-working decision makers, innovators, visionaries and job creators. From education to industry.

From technology to manufacturing.

From the natural resources we cultivate to the aesthetics we build a culture around, Louisiana has it all. We are

changing the game in this state to create better opportunities and a brighter future for generations to come. On the following pages are true game changers: Those who are making a difference, day in and day out. Be inspired by their stories and change your own game right where you are!

112.......... BALLARD BRANDS SERVING PEOPLE DURING THE CALM OR THE STORM 113.......... IBERIABANK | FIRST HORIZON BLENDING THE STRENGTHS OF TWO REMARKABLE COMPANIES 114.......... LOUISIANA FORESTRY GREAT GROWTH IN ONE OF LOUISIANA’S NATURAL RESOURCES 115.......... GMFS MORTGAGE GMFS GIVES BACK WITH GREAT IMPACT 116.......... SPARKHOUND TECHNOLOGY INPUT, BUSINESS OUTCOMES 118.......... PELICAN STATE PARTNERS A NEW FIRM WITH A LONG HISTORY OF SUCCESS 119.......... ANN CONNELLY FINE ART AESTHETIC INNOVATION BRINGS CORPORATE STORIES TO LIFE 120.......... BATON ROUGE ALLIANCE FOR STUDENTS TRANSFORMING THE EDUCATION LANDSCAPE 121.......... EXXONMOBIL BATON ROUGE MAKING FOOD GRADE PRODUCTS FROM PETROLEUM 122.......... CENTER FOR LITERACY & LEARNING NEW NAME, HISTORY OF PROVEN RESULTS

GAME CHANGERS

Scott Ballard, Steven Ballard (sitting) and Paul Ballard

BALLARD BRANDS

SERVING PEOPLE DURING THE CALM OR THE STORM When school systems around Louisiana found themselves struggling to execute their boxed meal programs during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the team behind Mandevillebased Ballard Brands knew this was a task they could tackle. After all, Ballard is known for stepping in and providing support during a crisis. Through its subsidiary company Ballard Hospitality, the family-owned firm had gone into some of the most dire headlinemaking situations in recent memory, from the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill to the devastation in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. Ballard had boxed up millions of meals for the island territory’s disaster relief efforts, and the team applied that experience to this equally large-scale project much closer to home.

Launched in 2001 by New Orleans-born brothers Paul, Steven and Scott Ballard, Ballard Brands has grown to more than 175 retail food and beverage brands—including PJ’s Coffee of New Orleans, WOW American Eats and New Orleans Roast—in 30 states as well as overseas.

But the three owners weren’t content with satisfying diners on a retail level. They created Ballard Hospitality in 2005 as a result of Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts, bringing their expertise to a new realm: remote site services for corporations and government entities during emergency response operations.

“We realized very early that we could be experts at providing what we call lifestyle services,” Scott says. “That fed off of what we already did in the food and

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beverage world. We added things that you don’t do in a restaurant— food, laundry, housekeeping, security—but it all related to serving people. We’re now known for that, and we get calls weekly from entities in need of these services.”

During the pandemic, the Ballard brothers formed Ballard Logistics, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ballard Hospitality, to provide turnkey logistical services and project management expertise in emergency situations. That support ranges from staffing and lodging to semi-permanent and permanent modular buildings. Most visibly, Ballard Logistics provided wraparound services for a 2,000bed pandemic hospital at the Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, as well as medical staffing support for Ochsner Health and LCMC Health. |

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“Our experience has given us a competitive advantage,” Steven says. “We have the equipment.

We have the people. It made us more relevant in that space, not only in times of emergency but also preparing for the everyday business.”

The brothers say their common work ethic and sense of trust, along with the team they have in place, have helped to make Ballard Brands an industry leader. “As the company grew, we created infrastructure to be successful in each category,” Paul says. “And we can attribute that to having really good people in the organization— from people who have been with us for close to 20 years to great young talent. We have what it takes to get it done.”

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GAME CHANGERS

IBERIABANK | FIRST HORIZON

BLENDING THE STRENGTHS OF TWO REMARKABLE COMPANIES IBERIABANK and its predecessors have been a household name in Louisiana for 133 years. Following a merger of equals with Memphisbased First Horizon, formerly First Tennessee, in July 2020, the combined company began its journey to bring together the best of both organizations. In October, the company will complete the final stages of the merger as it moves IBERIABANK clients on to new operating systems and changes signage to First Horizon.

“Although our name will change, our company’s commitment to the community and relationship-based approach to business remains the same,” says Beth Ardoin, senior executive vice president and chief communications officer for First Horizon Corporation.

“With banking being a commodity-based business, and financial institutions offering many of the same or similar products and services, it is the people within our organization and the

relationships we have with clients that differentiate us.”

The combined company— with complementary geographic coverage and similar operating models—will continue to operate a market-centric model to best meet the unique needs of the clients and the communities it serves. “Despite the change, many members of the executive leadership team, market leadership, associates and banking centers will remain the same.”

Ardoin continued.

The merger creates a regional leading financial services company with $87 billion in assets, just over 8,000 associates and more than 400 banking centers located in 12 states across the southeastern United States. As the financial services industry continues to consolidate, the newly combined company is better positioned to compete in an industry where scale of resources and depth of talent and expertise matter.

Clients will benefit from the ability of the bank to invest in advanced

technology and expanded products and services, including a credit card product suite with competitive rewards, additional mortgage offerings, expanded Wealth Management capability and new specialty lines of business, including mortgage warehouse, franchise finance, asset-based lending and international services.

Ardoin notes the importance of the bank adopting technology to not only meet clients’ needs at their current stages of life, but also the necessity of staying ahead of technological advancements so the bank is prepared for the future.

Caring for its communities also remains at the heart of the combined company. As part of the merger, the company launched the Louisiana First Horizon Foundation to support Louisiana-based nonprofit organizations that align with the company’s mission to help strengthen the vitality of the communities it serves.

LOUISIANA LEADERSHIP Karl Hoefer, Louisiana Regional President Tony Adams, New Orleans President Phil Earhart, Southwest Louisiana President John Everett, Baton Rouge President Greg Kahmann, North Louisiana President Jerry Prejean, Acadiana President

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GAME CHANGERS

Jeff Zeringue

LOUISIANA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION

GREAT GROWTH IN ONE OF LOUISIANA’S NATURAL RESOURCES Through the practice of sustainable forestry, Louisiana has almost 15 million acres of forests, an increase of close to a million acres over the past decade. That’s the positive news being shared

by Jeff Zeringue, a spokesman for the Louisiana Forestry Association, who says people in Louisiana shouldn’t be fearful that our state is losing forestland.

“We’re not losing forests,” Zeringue says. “We have a growing forest, and we’re really happy about it.” The Louisiana Forestry Association was formed in 1947 to foster the practice of forestry, to rebuild the state’s cut-over lands and to build a healthy forest industry. Today, almost 75 years later, forests cover about half of the state’s land area—increasing from 14 million to 14.9 million acres, according to the USDA Forest

Service—and forestry is the second largest manufacturing employer in Louisiana.

While a lot has been reported on carbon sequestration and the importance of trees when it comes to slowing or reversing carbon dioxide pollution and reversing climate change, “I think there is a disconnect with forest management and what deforestation actually is,” Zeringue says.

Zeringue explains that forest management isn’t just cutting down of trees. Rather it is a wholistic approach to caring, protecting and utilizing the natural resource.

Deforestation is the opposite of forest management. It doesn’t look to the future like forest management does, managing this important natural resource so forestland will continue to grow.

“People have a greater use for forest products than they realize,” Zeringue says. The products consumers use every day like food packaging, cardboard shipping boxes and even the cellulose added to shredded cheese and ice cream are forest products. With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, masks and other disposable PPE are also being made from trees.

Trees must be harvested to make those products. Loggers who harvest trees are professionals, trained through the Sustainable Forest Initiative and the Master Logger program with conservation in mind, Zeringue says. This practice makes sure forests continue to be good filtration systems for water and air, as well as remain good habitat for wildlife.

“Landowners in Louisiana plant more than 75 million trees every

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year to fulfill their commitment to practicing sustainable forestry,” Zeringue says. “Instead of people being fearful that we are losing trees, they should be happy we are gaining forests in Louisiana and making the products they need.

We have great resources for those interested in investing in forestry.”

Along with informing the public about forestry and Louisiana’s forest product industry, the Louisiana Forestry Association works to help private landowners understand more about forest management and reforestation on their lands. Also, educating landowners and loggers in the use of forestry best management practices that protect Louisiana’s abundant natural resources are the hallmark of the Louisiana Forestry Association.

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GAME CHANGERS

Tee Brown

GMFS MORTGAGE

GMFS GIVES BACK WITH GREAT IMPACT With the mortgage industry doing well despite the COVID-19 pandemic, GMFS Mortgage is more committed than ever to its philanthropy work and making a positive impact on the local communities it serves.

“We see a need, we see an opportunity, and we want to try to make a difference,” says GMFS Mortgage CEO Tee Brown. The residential mortgage lender was established in Baton Rouge in 1999. Today, GMFS is licensed in 12 states, including Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and South Carolina.

The company began its philanthropy in a small and quiet way, allowing employees who paid $10 the opportunity to wear jeans to work on Fridays. The money collected was given to a family in need at Christmas. The company

now raises between $25,000 and $30,000 a year through that program, and employees can nominate families who need help during the holidays.

Over the last 22 years, GMFS has continued to grow its philanthropy. The company’s first corporate partnership was with Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center, after Brown witnessed for himself the devastating way cancer was affecting his employees. GMFS donates to Mary Bird Perkins for every loan they close in Louisiana, through event sponsorship, employee volunteerism, and GMFS employees benefit from the partnership through free onsite cancer screenings. GMFS customers receive a letter acknowledging their donation.

At the start of the pandemic, Brown says he and his staff

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discussed how they should respond, to serve those who were hardest hit by the virus and by the stay-at-home orders enacted by the state of Louisiana. One result was a partnership with restauranteurs Stephen Hightower and Patrick Valluzzo, where GMFS paid local restaurants to provide lunch and dinner for the homeless at St. Vincent de Paul for two weeks. The arrangement provided much-needed business for the restaurants and took some of the stress away from the nonprofit to feed its homeless clients.

Additionally, GMFS has teamed up with Christ’s Community Church in Denham Springs to respond to the natural disasters that have impacted our state, including the historic flooding of August 2016 and the more recent hurricanes that impacted southwest Louisiana. |

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Other partnerships include teaming up with Guaranty Foundation for the Banking on BR initiative, which benefitted the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank.

The two organizations offered to match the community’s donations, dollar for dollar, up to $25,000 each, for a total match of up to $50,000. While they hoped to raise $100,000 for the Food Bank, the initiative actually raised $125,000, Brown says.

Brown says he hopes to bring awareness to other business leaders that these types of opportunities are available. “We are not trying to gain media hype,” Brown says. “For us, it’s bigger than that. We need our community healthy. When there’s a problem, we feel like it’s our responsibility to participate in finding the solution.”

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GAME CHANGERS

SPARKHOUND

TECHNOLOGY INPUT, BUSINESS OUTCOMES With some analysis and investment in the right technology, what’s the potential for improving the operations and bottom line of my business? This question is one mid-market companies struggle to address every day. According to a recent McKinsey study, 60% of occupations could save 30% of their time with technology-based automation.

APPLIED THOUGHT IN TECHNOLOGY “Gaining that edge—the means to grow and make business operations more efficient is what we see clients struggling with time and again when we begin working with them,” says Sparkhound CEO, Shawn Usher. Recognizing the opportunity for businesses to make better use of technology to improve outcomes, Usher founded

Sparkhound in Baton Rouge in 1998. He concedes, “Technology can help or hinder a situation depending on how it’s applied, and that’s the point. Our clients know the value of identifying opportunities for employing automation technologies. It’s critical, and it’s at the crossroads of our expertise: thought leadership and technology. It’s what we do better than anyone like us.”

IT consulting and solutions can mean different things for each company. Sparkhound’s model is industry-flexible, yet frequently finds focus in industries like healthcare, finance, and manufacturing.

“Regardless of client or industry, we wake up every day thinking about driving business outcomes with a partner-centric approach,” says Sparkhound CSO Dan Lynch. “We don’t wait

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for the client to tell us the problem. We diagnose the problem for them and get to work.”

Being comprised of two divisions, Sparkhound’s Digital Automation business unit is led by consultants who identify and apply technologies to drive efficiency,

Applying digital automation consulting, on average, Sparkhound’s clients see revenues jump 10%, and save roughly $125,000 annually for each process automated. improve employee productivity, minimize errors, ensure compliance, and thus improve clients’ bottom line. However, this isn’t about removing humans from the picture. Automation means harnessing existing and new technologies for better allocation of resources along with improved

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data to deliver predictable and reliable results.

Sometimes CEOs, COOs or CFOs hear the word efficiency and think solely in terms of cost-cutting measures. “Contrary to what some think, digital automation is not all about cost-cutting. Automation boosts company culture and the employee experience,” says Jason Lasseigne, Sparkhound’s President.

“More often than not, employees and resources are shifted to better, more strategic work after automation, which eliminates monotonous, repetitive tasks.”

Applying digital automation consulting, on average, Sparkhound’s clients see revenues jump 10% and save roughly $125,000 annually for each process automated. It’s just one example of Sparkhound’s proven expertise across the technology and thought leadership value chain.

sparkhound.com

GAME CHANGERS

ADDRESSING EVERGROWING NEEDS AND THREATS WITH MANAGED SERVICES With multiple well-respected companies and government entities recently hit with ransomware attacks, leaders of mid-sized companies have begun to question the maturity of their own technology and cybersecurity infrastructure. Sparkhound’s leadership and consultants recommend business leadership ask themselves these important questions: • Although cyber threats are increasing, can we confidently say that we’re properly secured to minimize our vulnerabilities against such threats?

• What specific protocols are we adopting to keep customer information and our own data safe when so many employees work from home on their own devices?

• Can we continue to handle 100% in-house the dayto-day operations and

needs of our employees, plus manage against cybersecurity risks and threats?

• Do we need external verification that our IT is in good shape?

As an outgrowth of its thought leadership in technology, Sparkhound’s Managed Infrastructure division is armed with solutions and services (including cybersecurity) to execute a wellsupported managed services program. Managed Services includes 24/7 coverage of servers, desktops, help desk, and most network devices by experienced

11207 Proverbs Ave. Baton Rouge, LA 70816

professionals.

“You don’t want to have to be a guru at these infrastructure capabilities, or trust a small company with little experience,” says Lasseigne. “Sparkhound allows you peace of mind to focus on your business and growth.”

“Because we’re thought leaders in technology, we analyze the client’s business goals beyond IT, and then strategically engage technology and infrastructure solutions that get them to those goals,” Lasseigne explains. “All at 70% of the cost of an inhouse IT department.”

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According to its leadership, Sparkhound’s managed services give clients a distinct advantage because of two critical elements mid-market companies have difficulty achieving in-house: 1.

Process maturity: services provided at industry standards such as ITIL and are known to drive the best possible employee productivity 2. Economies of scale: access to advanced specialists in each area of IT infrastructure need without major costs, additional hires or increasing overhead “Because we’re thought leaders in technology, we analyze the client’s business goals beyond IT, and then strategically engage technology and infrastructure solutions that get them to those goals,” Lasseigne explains. “All at 70% of the cost of an in-house IT department.”

Concludes Usher, “Everything at Sparkhound is adaptable and flexible around the needs of our clients, except for our standards.”

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GAME CHANGERS

(from left): Cary Koch, Suchitra J. Satpathi, Johnny Koch, Christian J. Rhodes, Scott Kirkpatrick and Liza Albrecht

PELICAN STATE PARTNERS

A NEW FIRM WITH A LONG HISTORY OF SUCCESS The members of Pelican State Partners have worked in governmental affairs for years. With decades of successful experience in governmental relations among them, and with the changing global shift, the group redesigned their model. Christian Rhodes, one of the firm’s partners, explains that just as so many aspects of life were changing globally, and businesses and industries were altering how they do things, the time was right to transform into Pelican State Partners which handles a wide range of client’s lobbying, association management and consulting needs.

“The pandemic made everybody re-imagine everything.

Business owners, individuals, industries… We all changed how

we do things. The people who represent those interests must be cognizant, not only that the interests are changing, but that they themselves are required to change as well,” says Rhodes, who along with partners Johnny Koch, Cary Koch, Scott Kirkpatrick and Suchitra Satpathi, operate offices in Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

“The pandemic was the time to transform.”

From large-scale business interests to government entities and associations, Pelican State Partners work with a diverse group of clients and help them strategically navigate the political and legal landscape in the legislature and at regulatory bodies throughout the state. “The diversity of our client base works to the

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benefit of each of our clients,” Satpathi says. “They get the benefit of us touching a wide range of people – decision makers and influencers at all levels.” “Having a wide array of interests and issues to work with keeps us involved with a broad range of people and that has a tremendous benefit for those we represent,” says Cary Koch.

Pelican State Partners has a strong connection with business and industry with two partners serving as contract lobbyists with LABI when the organization first got its start. “We were trained in the Steimel philosophy of hard work and strong research,” says Johnny Koch.

Not only is the client base diverse, but the partners themselves come from different

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backgrounds and life experiences that give them unique strengths, and all have successful experience working with or in government at the local, state and federal levels.

“Each of us has some unique niches,” Kirkpatrick says. “We wanted to pull together a dynamic group so whatever the client’s needs were, we could find the right partner for those needs.”

Kirkpatrick says the firm is focused on facilitating commerce in the state, and at its heart, Pelican State Partners wants to help the state to grow. “We’re very interested in making this a better state, and a great state to live and do business in,” he says. “We’ve all been here a long time. We’re invested with our families here.

And we’re focused on growing.”

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GAME CHANGERS

(from left): Chelsea Norris, Molly Hauck, Ann Connelly, Kim Howard, Adrienne Adams | Not pictured: Nanci Gaddy, Sharise Ruiz, Liz Goad

ANN CONNELLY FINE ART

AESTHETIC INNOVATION BRINGS CORPORATE STORIES TO LIFE When a multinational specialty chemicals company with deep footprints in clean energy, electronics and pharmaceuticals realized it needed a creative boost in order to tell its own story throughout an expansive headquarters, Ann Connelly Fine Art got the call.

Utilizing water as a recognizable image of strength and sustainability, the team at the Baton Rouge-based gallery and art consultancy firm developed a complete visual arts program and an aesthetic that reaches beyond borders, using the commonalities of human language to remake a work environment and build community among the company’s clientele and employees alike.

It is synergistic connections like these that the long time gallerist and culture scout likes to pinpoint

with every project.

“We are the opposite of the status quo,” Connelly says. “Being in a smaller city like Baton Rouge but wanting to reach a larger regional clientele has pulled us out of the box of being only a white-walls gallery and into helping organizations tell their stories through commissioning and curating intentional fine art.”

Recent projects include the iconic Watermark hotel in downtown Baton Rouge and Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital.

Whether it’s a vivid wildlife mélange by Baton Rouge artist Demond Matsuo, a Zen flow mural

by Berlin-based street artist KEF!, or a whimsical splash of neon

by North Carolina creative Nate Sheaffer, the gallery gets it right for the specific client and parameters

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of the space.

“Branding and establishing an experience are more important than ever before, especially to my generation,” says the gallery’s codirector Chelsea Norris. “And it’s so important when it comes to talent retention. That’s a stress point we hear about from a lot of clients.”

With six full-time staff and a rotation of other part-time associates and specialists, Connelly’s team is a creative turnkey operation, from research and development, to strategy, sourcing, production and installation.

“It’s one thing to curate a space and say ‘that painting looks great on that wall’,” Connelly says. “But it’s a whole different approach to build the entire aesthetics around a corporate identity, and to get artists’ intentions to match the specific values, mission and story |

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of the company.”

This is aesthetic innovation, and it’s the wildly creative side of business consulting.

Tremendous thought is put into every visual decision, Norris attests, and can even mean custom crafting frames and other presentation structures that elevate the company’s own artifacts into publicly-prominent works of storyfocused fine art.

At the heart of every project is narrative. What is the story of this client, these people, and this place?

“Clients tell us they want to walk into the room and dream the dream, and then let us realize that dream,” Connelly says. “That’s what we do—our team works hard to make the dream a reality so everyone can experience it.”

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CEO Adonica Pelichet Duggan

BATON ROUGE ALLIANCE FOR STUDENTS

TRANSFORMING THE EDUCATION LANDSCAPE The Baton Rouge Alliance for Students is working to change the conversation in education from what is best for the system to what is best for students. In this studentcentered approach, education leaders ask how a particular decision affects children and use the answer as their North Star to guide them when creating policies and procedures.

“We are in this moment in Baton Rouge, and even across the state, where we have an opportunity to transform our education landscape to make sure we’re set up for success for all students moving forward,” says Baton Rouge Alliance for Students CEO Adonica Pelichet Duggan.

The agency was formed in March 2021, with the vision of empowering families, elevating the community and engaging both

current and future leaders. Duggan says the politics of education are challenging, and students don’t often have a voice. “We believe every decision should be made based on what’s best for children, and then let the adults sort out the best way to get there,” she says.

One priority is ensuring parents are informed and supported so they can make the best education decisions for their families, including choosing a quality school.

The Alliance is also working to engage school leaders, ensuring they understand what it means to be student-centered, and holding them accountable for the desired outcomes.

With on-going conversations about pausing letter grades this year and not having accountability in place after a difficult year, much of the discussion is about how that

would affect schools and teachers, Duggan says. “If we don’t measure the learning loss that took place, how do we make sure we’re helping the kids who have slid backwards?” she says. “How do we implement the right interventions, the right resources and support, to help them make up that lost ground?”

Federal funding is at an alltime high, and Louisiana schools stand to receive $4 billion in federal funding. “We can get education right in Baton Rouge, and Louisiana, and we can set ourselves up for success if we look at how we allocate resources and make sure it’s aligned with our vision of putting children first,” says Liz Smith, the Alliance’s chief strategy officer.

One of the Alliance’s programs, CHANGEMAKERS, is like other

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leadership programs hosted by Chambers of Commerce, but instead of one day focused on education, CHANGEMAKERS takes that educational aspect and expands it over a full year. “We dive into how we got where we are, what systems are in place now, and what are the solutions,” Smith says.

Another program, Torch Candidates and Campaigners Program, is geared toward anyone contemplating a run for office, anyone who would like to be a campaign manager or have a role on a campaign staff. The program is non-partisan. “We need everybody,” Smith says, “from all political ideals and all geographies, to be doing the right thing for kids.”

GAME CHANGERS

ExxonMobil employees Ray Spruill, Katie Jennings, Jason Pettrey, Josh Perkins, Joshua Ramirez, Beverly Chatman are part of the Refinery’s Specialties Business Team that makes food-grade wax and other products.

EXXONMOBIL BATON ROUGE

MAKING FOOD-GRADE PRODUCTS FROM PETROLEUM Many people associate ExxonMobil Baton Rouge Refinery with the gasoline it produces.

However, few people realize that molecules from the same crude oil used to make gasoline can be separated to produce foodgrade wax, which is then turned into commonly used products like crayons and candles. The process is complex, but the result is a product that people can touch and hold (and, yes, the crayons are non-toxic for the children who decide to eat them!)

Katie Jennings, business team leader at the Baton Rouge Refinery, explains that when a barrel of crude oil enters the refinery, it goes to a crude unit where the various components are separated

by their different boiling points.

The lubricant cut of the barrel comprises about 20 percent of the total, and it goes through another specialty processing unit called a de-waxer. The resulting wax is fed through yet another purification step to improve the product’s color and smell. At that point, the wax is shipped via heated barges, trucks or rail cars to customers in liquid form, similar in appearance to melted candle wax.

About half of ExxonMobil Refinery’s wax customers are candle manufacturers, and the refinery even prepares for “candle season”, which is beginning now, just as pumpkin spice and other fall scented candles are starting to line the shelves at local stores.

“To know that you physically loaded that crude oil from a pipe or ship and now the product is in a store is a neat connection you don’t often have in the refining industry,” says Jason Pettrey, a department head at the refinery.

Much of the rest of the wax produced by the refinery is sold for making crayons. On a smaller scale, some of the wax produced at the refinery is used on food packaging, such as the thin wax coatings on cardboard boxes to keep them clean and dry throughout the shipping process.

Pettrey says he is often asked how the refinery can make a foodgrade product from petroleum. “At the end of the day, crude oil is just a giant assortment of molecules.

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We have the technology and the knowledge to separate crude oil into the components that become other products,” he says.

Jennings notes that the refinery’s wax production is certified to international standards of quality to ensure it is safe for the public to handle. Additionally, ExxonMobil Baton Rouge Refinery sources its crude oil from all over the world, and sometimes crude sourced from a particular area is used for a specific product.

“It’s not about one country, or one company,” Pettrey says.

“We are part of a massive, global industry that is making these products for customers in Baton Rouge and across the world.”

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GAME CHANGERS

Dr. John Wyble

CENTER FOR LITERACY AND LEARNING

NEW NAME, HISTORY OF PROVEN RESULTS The Center for Development and Learning is changing its name to the Center for Literacy and Learning: a step to better reflect the nonprofit’s mission and work of improving reading rates and education through evidence-based practices in the classroom, home and larger community. The center has grown rapidly over the last few months, from a staff of only 10 at the beginning of June to a team of more than 30 by mid-July. That growth is a result of a partnership with the Louisiana Department of Education to work directly with the state’s K-12 teachers and enhance classroom literacy instruction.

“Literacy really is the key to having an employable workforce and reducing generations of poor outcomes,” says Dr. John Wyble, the agency’s president and CEO.

“By having that shared investment, we can move the pendulum in this state and have the outcomes we desire.”

The Center for Literacy and Learning, founded in 1992, focuses on closing the achievement gap among students by increasing teacher effectiveness. Its annual conference in New Orleans— Plain Talk About Literacy and Learning®—is one of the largest gatherings of its kind, attracting the top experts on literacy instruction and early childhood development and educators from 40 states and numerous countries.

The Center for Literacy and Learning will support more than 300 schools and ensure that classroom teachers have the most current, evidence-based practices and information on the

science of reading and effective literacy instruction, regardless of a student’s socio-economic background, Wyble says. This is imperative because only 26% of Louisiana’s fourth grade students are reading proficiently, according to the 2019 National Assessment of Educational Progress. The center’s aim is to take what has worked in other states, including neighboring Mississippi which has shown huge gains in literacy, and adopt the same strategies with some minor tweaking.

Additionally, the center is launching Louisiana Reads!, a program to promote at-home reading opportunities through book distribution and direct service to families. For businesses, Wyble says, there is the opportunity to share information about the

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Louisiana Reads! program and get more books into homes. There are also corporate investment opportunities available.

The Center for Literacy and Learning plans to host regional roundtable discussions this fall, as well as release its own report on literacy and economic development in 2022.

“For 30 years, we’ve been carrying the message and the banner that literacy is fundamental to every economic and social challenge Louisiana faces,” Wyble says. “Finally, the attention is on the issue of literacy. Now is the time to partner with corporate businesses and invest in the future of this state.

Literacy is the core issue.”

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Group3 members gather to support each as they train and prepare for triathlons. From the bottom left is, Adonica Pelichet Duggan, Melissa Samuel, Ana Alvarez-Tanner, Calli Boudreaux, Tatiana Saavedra Patel and M.E. Hart. Top row, from left, is Xenia Silva-Gasc (gray top), Gail Blakley, Lindsey Liles and Adrien Busekist

Professional women take to the streets for exercise, competition and companionship

BY JENNIFER MACHA When it comes to exercising and living a healthy and active life, accountability can play a huge role. It also helps if the exercise of your choice is enjoyable and comes pre-packaged with fun adventures and an amazing support system to help you challenge yourself to reach new goals.

Group3 is exactly that, with a side dose of shenanigans. The group was founded in 2014 after a bike ride with the three original members, Calli Boudreaux, Adrien Busekist and myself. A male triathlete friend of mine posted on Facebook, after his bike ride, that there were two groups of triathletes out training that day: the group training for Ironman Florida on River Road in Baton Rouge and the group training for Ironman Chattanooga riding in the hills of St. Francisville. Feeling slighted, the founding members cleverly replied to the post that there was a third group out training that day which consisted of fashionable, slow-ish triathletes just out having a good time. And voila, the idea of Group3 was born.

After that post, Calli Boudreaux created a new Facebook group, added a few admins, and we all started inviting female friends and acquaintances who are triathletes or were looking to get into endurance sports.

The group’s original goal was simple: Help organize rides and share selfies.

Over the years, the group has grown to more than 100 triathletes and runners.

It has become an incredible resource for the sport of triathlon and beyond. In fact, Group3 has become a place where so many women have found their squad, their playmates, their support system, their cheerleaders, their coaches, their tribe and— most importantly—a place where they are

loved and accepted as they are while being supported and challenged to be the best version of themselves they can be.

The group is full of women from all walks of life: teachers, doctors, lawyers, nurses, scientists, engineers, tech gurus, entrepreneurs, and everything in between.

Group3 is incredibly diverse, made up of women who are just getting started and some who have completed 12 ironman races and raced in Kona. We even have one professional triathlete!

Group3 crosses barriers of teams, coaches, and athletic ability in a way that makes us all very proud. We do not care what your team jersey says or how fast you can go. We care about each individual and the journeys we are all on—both athletically and beyond. Group3 may just be seven years old, but we’ve packed so much fun into these last seven years, so many adventures, so many laughs and incalculable amount of memories. We encourage you to get out of the office and start you own adventures throughout the state of Louisiana today.

Jennifer Macha, Calli Boudreaux and Adrien Busekit

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Tim Mueller

WORK/OUT

WORK/OUT

My proudest moments as a founder of this group have been watching our members first hand at various finish lines, completing feats they once thought were impossible. The lessons learned through the sport of triathlon and running tend to boil over into our professional and personal lives, in that hard work yields success, and that truly, anything is possible. I’m so very thankful for #groupthree.

It doesn’t matter your size, fitness level, commitment level, whether you do the small hometown races or the big Ironman brand races: this group is here for you and is rooting for you.

But it’s so much more than just a training group.

It’s your support group, the family you didn’t know you needed and now can’t imagine not having.

Mandi McCarstle, medical billing specialist member since 2015 When I was added to the group, I expected to find some like-minded friends to train for races with, and exercise on the weekend. What I did not expect was to find my life long best friends through this group. I’ve seen people accomplish their first open water swims having the same support and encouragement as those on their training quest for the Ironman World Championship. The diverse group of backgrounds, ages, and places in life makes this group so unique. Though each person is so different, we all share a passion for living healthier, and being better people for our families and our communities.

Group 3 members Nely Ward, left, and Amanda Robinson ride along River Road. Ward is helping new rider Robinson learn the techiques of road riding.

I love to be part of a group that supports each other. Confidence and encouragement is given out freely. When someone brings a problem to this group, 20 people offer up solutions and share their experience with the same problem. When I think about Group3, these words come to mind: love, compassion and courage.

Tracy Scott, engineer member since 2015

Group3 has saved my life in so many ways. I started triathlon during a time in my life when nothing seemed to go right, but the women I met through Group3 were the light I needed. I don’t consider many of these women to be my friends, they are my family.

It’s interesting how you can bond so much with someone while training for an Ironman and I believe these friendships have been forged in a time of complete vulnerability. We all see each other as our true, authentic selves and it has made for deeper friendships.

Tatiana Saavedra Patel, physician member since 2015

Nely Ward, nutritionist, entrepreneur member since 2016 labi.org

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Tim Mueller

Calli Boudreaux, attorney founding member

RESERVE YOUR SPACE TODAY IN T H E S P R ING ISSU E OF

Tell your story to Louisiana’s most influential business and industry leaders, policy makers and elected officials.

5TH & MAIN IS: • Direct mailed to 5,000+ LABI members throughout the state • Distributed to 1,000 people at LABI Annual Meeting in February • Direct mailed to all of the Louisiana Legislators • Direct mailed to members of the Louisiana Congressional Delegation • Distributed throughout Louisiana at all LABI events

AD SPACE DEADLINE FOR THE SPRING ISSUE IS DECEMBER 3 5th & Main will be published twice a year.

Contact Ashley Gordon at ashleyg@labi.org to reserve your space today!

WOMEN OWNED

WOMEN OWNED

Felicity Kennedy, Meryl Kennedy, Chantel Kennedy, Patchez Kennedy

A decades-old family business grows with help from some strong females

BY HOLLY DUCHMANN

F

or 4Sisters Rice founder and CEO Meryl Kennedy and her sisters, the path to farming and agricultural entrepreneurship was embedded in their genes.

Meryl has been working with her sisters Patchez, Felicity and Chantel for years, first launching Kennedy Rice Mill in Mer Rouge, Louisiana, in 2012, and later 4Sisters Rice branded products in late 2019. They follow in the footsteps of their father, Elton Kennedy, who began his farming career in northeast Louisiana in the early 1960s with Kennedy Rice Farms and later expanded it with Kennedy Rice Dryers.

While the physical size of a grain of labi.org

rice is small, there’s nothing small about the role Louisiana plays in the rice market, with the state being the nation’s third highest producer of the crop. Elton Kennedy instilled a passion for rice into his girls, and now grown, the four women carry his motto today as a mantra—“take a little grain and make a big difference in the world.”

“When you grow up the daughter of a farmer, the deep appreciation of the land just becomes who you are as a person,” says Meryl, who returned to the family farm after graduating from college. “We truly grew up playing in the fields on the weekends and summers. It is part of our childhood and Louisiana Association of Business and Industry

shaped the women that we are today.”

They’ve all been involved in the family business for years in some capacity or another, and while working to develop the 4Sisters brand, they tailored their roles based on their skill sets. The youngest sister, Meryl Kennedy, steers the reins of Kennedy Rice Mill and 4Sisters Rice brand as CEO, while Patchez Kennedy serves as the chief marketing officer. Chantel Kennedy serves as the sustainability manager on the farming side of the business. Felicity Kennedy serves as a brand ambassador.

With 4Sisters Rice, Kennedy says they wanted to create a line of products to “spice

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WOMEN OWNED up” the rice category while also meeting the demand for organic products. They launched the brand in December 2019 with a portfolio of three products—long grain organic white rice, long grain organic brown rice and enriched extra-long grain white rice. With the help of their network of family farmers, 4Sisters was able to meet the demand for rice by grocers as consumers began to cook increasingly at home during the initial pandemic restrictions.

“When vendors were stretched during COVID because of demand, we had rice available,” says Meryl. “It helped us prove ourselves to retailers and expand.”

Today, 4Sisters Rice can be found in over 3,000 grocery stores across the United States. Their products are sold by retail grocer giants such as Walmart and Kroger from coast-to-coast, as well as regional chains: Rouses Markets, Whole Foods Markets, Brookshires, H-E-B and more. 4Sisters Rice can also be found online on Amazon.

As of late summer 2021, the brand has seen 135% growth year-over-year, estimates Meryl, and depending on the year, the family can source from approximately 30,000 to Elton Kennedy with his daughters Meryl, Chantel, Felicity and Patchez

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WOMEN OWNED 50,000 acres of rice.

“Our brand resonates because the story is something very unique to the commodity market,” says Meryl. “Family businesses are challenging and rewarding. It’s been a journey. We’ve made incredible progress.”

The sisters have several product line extensions planned—especially for 2022— and are currently working to grow their distribution channels. Focusing on quality of product, they hope to attract repeat-return users and become the rice company consumers trust on to feed their families.

“At some point in everyone’s career, it is easier to quit or tell yourself that it is better to take a backseat position,” says Meryl.

“This is especially true for women; we have lots of outside pressures that hinder us from pushing forward. However, real entrepreneurs and industry changers do not have the luxury of taking a backseat when times get tough. Though agriculture is a predominantly male industry, I have found that resilience and sheer perseverance is highly respected by all and will carry you a long way.”

Elton Kennedy, founder of Kennedy Rice Farms

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OFFICE SPACE

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LABI’s new headquarters mixes business with pleasure

BY ASHLEY GORDON

Jacqueline Marque

T

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here was one in every neighborhood growing up. It had the game room, the lenient parents, the good snacks. It’s where the cool kids on the block lived, and their friends came and went without knocking. Every weekend, it’s right where you wanted to be—not missing out on a thing. The hangout house. It made childhood more fun.

With the hangout-house vision in mind, LABI president and CEO Stephen Waguespack knew as soon as he was elected in 2013 that he wanted to move LABI headquarters downtown.

At the time, LABI was located in a building on a backstreet off College Drive—not a location that welcomed drop-ins and not a gathering place unless a meeting was in the works. Waguespack envisioned a property with an open-door policy.

One that would attract high-level entrepreneurs, elected officials, policy makers and job creators.

Louisiana people who started their own business in their garage and others who have been farming the family land for over a century. Where the head of a health-care organization rubs shoulders with a beer distributor. He envisioned a hangout house where everyone wants to gather and consider how to make Louisiana a better place to live and do business.

The Entergy 5th & Main space on the second floor of the LABI Center for Free Enterprise is an ideal location for a quick lunch meeting. Neon Sign by Nate Sheaffer of Big Sexy Neon.

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The Lane Grigsby Conference Center can be configured a number of ways to include everything from classroom- and banquet-style seating to a layout for a full reception.

“It was a significant goal to come back downtown and establish LABI as the center of gravity, where business and policy makers can intersect in an inspiring environment,” says Stephen, who received board approval to start the search process in early 2017. “It had to be a place where people want to come, share, learn and listen.”

Stephen found the building he was looking for at 500 Main Street in downtown Baton Rouge, just steps from the Louisiana State Capitol. Built in the 1880s, the building was originally a furniture company that took advantage of the proximity of the Mississippi River—just blocks away—to ship products. Stephen loved the idea that LABI would be housed in a location with a history of manufacturing. But it wasn’t the idea that sold him on this building, it was the building itself.

“I knew within 10 minutes of walking in the front door that this was the place for LABI,” says Stephen. “I loved the old bricks, the old bones, the old stories of what it was before. It’s a historic building of bricks and

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Fotosold

Sara Essex Bradley

The conference center also offers a full bar area for catering and special events.

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OFFICE SPACE

Fotosold

Kef!, a Berlin-based artist, created this acrylic and ink on linen piece specifically for LABI in one of his trips to the United States. Commissioned by Ann Connelly Fine Art.

steel, and we could take it back to its roots and reimagine it. This building represents free enterprise at its very beginning.”

The only caveat to Stephen’s find was that it was owned by one organization and occupied by another. He quickly worked to find a buyer for the LABI location off College Drive; he negotiated a price for the building on Main Street; he found rental space downtown for the LABI staff; and he brought the whole deal before the LABI board for approval. They simply had to wait for the renter’s lease to run out. In the meantime, LABI became landlords, funds were raised through membership for construction, and the planning process began.

“We created a building committee that oversaw the entire process,” says Stephen.

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“Those on the committee were asked to not bid on any of the work. There are so many members of LABI who excel in the building and construction business, so it was very competitive.”

Ultimately, Eskew Dumez Ripple Architecture Firm based in New Orleans was chosen to “dream big” and create an inspiring space that was as professional as it was inspirational. Faulk & Meek General Contractors in Baton Rouge was tasked with making that dream a reality. After occupying the 15,680-square-foot building in 2018, it took 12 months of planning and 13 months of construction to complete. Ann Connelly and her team at Ann Connelly Fine Art curated the significant art pieces and treatments throughout the building, which soften Louisiana Association of Business and Industry

the bricks-and-steel vibe while adding to the cutting-edge aesthetic. AOS Interior Environments provided the furniture, and Spackman Mossop Michaels completed the scene with landscaping. Stephen’s wife, Colleen—an interior designer by trade—lent her expertise to the entire process. In June of 2020, the LABI Center for Free Enterprise was opened for business on the corner of Fifth and Main.

“There is a lost component in political discourse today. At one point in time, policy makers knew each other away from the Capitol. Because they knew each other’s families, they could cordially disagree.

Now that has, unfortunately, become less common,” says Stephen. “This building has allowed us to create an inspiring environlabi.org

Classroom-style seating in the conference center

An open galley from the conference center leads toward the lobby and seating area. Mixed media on canvas by north Louisiana-based artist Doug Kennedy lightens the brick wall.

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OFFICE SPACE Jacqueline Marque

A custom wood panel installation features core building patrons in the logo lounge.

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ment intended to help bring back that collaborative spirit. If we don’t all agree, let’s debate it. Let’s create a place where we can civilly do it.”

The Lane Grigsby Conference Center at LABI is the largest indoor gathering spot and can hold receptions for up to 350 people and seated gatherings up to 150.

A catering kitchen and bar in the back— with custom coffee machines and beer on tap—makes this space versatile for events.

And the state-of-the-art audio-visual system makes this room ideal for presentations and meetings. The Performance Contractors Meeting Room can seat up to 10 people, and the AT&T Louisiana Board Room can host up to 16. The Lamar Ad-

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The AT&T Board Room upstairs seats up to 16 people and boasts state-of-the-art audio/video capabilities. Wendy Westlake created the artwork inspired by the mid-century modernism of the early 1950s.

Her use of color was inspired by the natural landscape of Louisiana and influenced by the brand colors of LABI.

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OFFICE SPACE Sara Essex Bradley

The Performance Contractors Meeting Room downstair seats up to 10 people and is just steps from the main conference center.

vertising Recording Studio is the ideal spot for podcasts—an imperative element to help get messaging out. And the Danos Outdoor Event Space, with full outdoor kitchen and mounted 65” TVs, can hold up to 300 people.

All of these spaces are available for rent, with discounts going to LABI members.

“This is the nicest, most state-of-the-art, user-friendly state chamber of commerce in the country,” says Stephen. “We’ve created something right here in Louisiana that we should be proud of and all members should take advantage of.”

Since its opening, the LABI Center for Free Enterprise has been host to board meetings, receptions, cookoffs and cocktail parties. It has been used by non-profit orga-

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Small, sound-proof rooms are the perfect place to step out of a meeting for a call.

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OFFICE SPACE Sara Essex Bradley

Located at 500 Main Street, the LABI Center for Free Enterprise is in the heart of downtown Baton Rouge and just steps from the Capitol.

nizations as well as Congressional leaders.

During the legislative session, elected officials have walked over from the Capitol to be recorded on a podcast while early morning update sessions inform local advocates and policy makers about ongoing bill debates. Catered events draw many to mingle and network throughout the building, while private rooms provide sound-proof walls for a quick phone call. It is set up to be the hub for business, industry, manufacturing, healthcare, hospitality and finance as well as for policy makers and political operatives.

“We’ve created this amazing space, and then COVID has slowed us down and kept the training wheels on,” says Stephen, who envisions events booked every weekend and a packed house of meetings and gatherings throughout the week. “We are ready to rip the training wheels off this building and really see how fast it runs. We’ve got great potential here with an ideal location and an inspiring space. LABI has laid the foundation for a bright future for Louisiana.”

Want to learn more about renting space at the LABI Center for Free Enterprise?

Email Claire Shirley at clairek@labi.org.

The Danos Outdoor Event Space includes an outdoor kitchen with all Viking appliances, and can hold up to 300 people.

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OUR POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEES

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LABI’s strength comes not only from its members, but also from the ability of our Political Action Committees (PACs) to recruit and elect champions of free enterprise to foster a climate for economic growth. While the policy experts at LABI are inside the rail, fighting to protect business interests, LABI’s four regional PACs are working to support incumbents who support business growth and replace those who don’t. We encourage you to be active participants in the election process and consider becoming a member of our PACs.

The mission of the PACs is to recruit and elect both state and local candidates who will champion policies that support economic development. LABI’s PACs have a history of success — in 2019, the PACs helped elect the most business-friendly legislature in Louisiana history. We created a demand for change, and since have passed historic legal reform in 2020 and tax reform in 2021. In 2023, 25 legislative seats will be open due to term limits, giving us another opportunity to make meaningful changes to our state.

Four regional PACs with area board members allow us to engage statewide with local leaders who know the political landscape.

Candidates are carefully vetted and interviewed by area committee members.

Each PAC decides on a slate of candidates to endorse, supporting them through Election Day.

DONATE TODAY.

Scan the codes below with your camera and you’ll be redirected to our online donation pages.

GET INFORMED. GET INVOLVED. GET RESULTS.

W E’V E G OT YOU COVER ED!

The LABI Benefits Center

INSURANCE SOLUTIONS

Individual & Group Offerings

PAYROLL AND ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES IDENTITY THEFT

EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM VIRTUAL WELLNESS CENTER COMPLIANCE REPORTING

PLUS HEALTH DISCOUNT PROGRAMS, AIR & GROUND EMERGENCY TRANSPORTATION, PET BENEFITS AND MORE!

WEATHER ANY STORM WITH US Go to labibenefitscenter.com for more information.

EVENTS

TO THE NEXT LEVEL

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hether it’s entertaining clients or hosting an employee gathering, you can’t go wrong with a good old-fashioned tailgating event this time of year. It’s finally football season, and teams around the state are hitting the fields with fans aplenty, so a company tailgate is the perfect way to show your team spirit. But don’t rely on the standard tailgate setup.

Like everything else you do, make it professional.

“Company parties can be entertaining while pulling out all the stops,” says Angela DiVincenti Babin of Angela Marie Events in Baton Rouge. “It’s a great atmosphere to show clients, or those who work for you, that you mean business when comes to having fun.”

Babin turned to local vendors (listed on pg. 145) to decorate for this LSU tailgate event on LABI’s outdoor patio, just three

BY ASHLEY GORDON PHOTOS BY SARAH WARD

miles from Tiger Stadium. With an outdoor kitchen featuring all Viking appliances, a wrap-around bar, and two 65” LG TVs, the Danos Outdoor Event Space can hold more than 300 people, and it has easy access to an additional indoor catering kitchen. It was here that chefs from the City Hospitality Group prepared tasty treats well above the standard hamburgers and fries.

“There is no need to be boring with pre-game food these days,” says Babin, who notes that the chargrilled oysters straight from the grill were her favorite. “There are so many options. Great food surrounded by great friends watching a great game on TV is just one option. Or you can host a pregame tailgate with all the fixings.

Just make sure to include special touches that celebrate your team. It makes all the difference.”

For information on renting the Danos Outdoor Event Space at LABI for your own pregame party, email clairek@labi.org.

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Provided by City Hospitality Group

White Chicken Pesto Pizza City Pork Highland Charbroiled Oysters City Slice Wings in Hot Sauce Spinach & Artichoke Dip with Tortilla Chips City Pork Wild Board Flautas Coaches Platter (grilled meats, sausage, cheese, charcuterie) City Taco “Brisky Business” and “Prawn with the Wind” Tacos labi.org

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EVENTS

D E TA I L S LABI Center for Free Enterprise

Balloon arch

Balloonatics of Baton Rouge

Linens

Doug Olinde Events

Cookies

The Cookie Chick

Linen napkins, ice bucket, tumblers, purses

Highlandside Gift Gallery

Styrofoam and frosted cups

The Keeping Room

Acrylic sign

Sharon Benton Designs

Craft beer

Supplied by the Louisiana Craft Brewers Guild

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Queen of Sparkles

Angela DiVincenti Babin is an event planner and florist in Baton Rouge. To book her for pregame events and more, email angelamarieevents@gmail.com.

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Whether it’s our Good Works, Deep Dive, or our Sounds of the Session podcasts, we've got something for you to listen to. Check out recent episodes on our YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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thursday-friday

10.07-08 thursday

10.14

thursday

11.11

Renaissance Hotel

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Workers’ Comp Seminar

Two-day seminar breaking down challenges in Louisiana’s workers’ compensation arena

LABI Center for Free Enterprise

Impact Seminar

A day-long summit exploring Louisiana’s Judiciary

LABI Center for Free Enterprise

Free Enterprise Awards

Celebration of businesses, policymakers and other partners making a difference across the state

Business & Boots

A new event following the Free Enterprise Awards with a special appearance by Parish County Line.

Cowboy hats are encouraged!

202 1 FA L L E V E N TS CA L E N DAR For more information and how to register online, visit labi.org.

THE NETWORK

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he Free Enterprise Awards are an opportunity to spotlight LABI members who demonstrate an outstanding commitment to improving the business climate in Louisiana.

Last year’s awards took place on November 13, 2020. Is there a company or individual that you think should be honored at this year’s awards? Go to this link to nominate them: surveymonkey.com/r/3BYNLK5

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ABI members hit the greens to benefit LABI’s four PACs on March 8, 2021 at Squire Creek Country Club in Choudrant.

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THE NETWORK

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great kickoff to the 2021 Legislative Session with a chance to mingle with House and Senate Leadership! The legislative leadership fundraiser took place on February 25, 2021 at the LABI Headquarters.

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@Shoot802

THE TAKEAWAY

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aryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss are shaking things up. The former LSU superstars have taken the volleyball world by storm after winning their debut Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) tournament in August. It was their first tournament after going pro.

Two rookies, in their first event as professional athletes, have never won that event. Ever. Not only that, but they beat out two 2021 Olympians and the No.2 seed to capture the win. They’re also the first duo to 150 5th & Main Fall 2021

BY MARY BETH HUGHES advance through qualifying and win an AVP main tournament since 2013.

“I don’t quite know how to describe what winning the tournament means to me,” says Nuss. “I have been dreaming about this moment for several years now, and that dream has become a reality.”

Nuss, a Louisiana native, is thrilled to be representing her home state and university on the national stage.

“LSU and Louisiana have a special place in my heart,” says Nuss. “Every time I Louisiana Association of Business and Industry

step onto the court I want to do them proud, and I love representing the best university in the country.”

Kloth grew up in South Dakota before moving down south to play volleyball at LSU. “Louisiana isn’t my home state like Kristen, but they have definitely adopted me,” says Kloth. “I am forever grateful for this state, the opportunities, support, and people that have been brought into my life since moving here.” labi.org