At last week’s third annual Statewide Economic Development Summit presented by Entergy, there was something for everyone. The event’s seven sessions, featuring speakers from throughout the nation, covered topics ranging from city management to corporate incentives. Most importantly, it provided a forum for thought leaders to exchange ideas about how to make Louisiana thrive.
Check out key takeaways from each session. Click the links to watch them on YouTube.
- Session: City CEOs: How Mayors Can Transform Communities
- Panelists: Sharon Weston Broome, East Baton Rouge Mayor-President; LaToya Cantrell, New Orleans Mayor-Elect; Ronny Walker, Ruston Mayor
- Takeaway: Cities achieve the best results when their leadership thinks regionally, not just locally.
- Session: Pursuing Inclusive Growth in an Age of Disruption
- Speaker: Joseph Parilla, Brookings Fellow at Brookings Institute
- Takeaway: Reducing barriers to economic inclusion benefits firms, workers and local economies.
- Session: 2018 Legislative Forecast
- Speaker: John Bel Edwards, Governor of Louisiana
- Takeaway: Louisiana is moving forward as a state, but we need to join forces and get past partisanship to reach our full potential.
- Panelists: Terrell Boynton, DXC Technology’s New Orleans Digital Transformation Center Director; Michael Hayes, Sasol North America’s Manager of Government and Industry Affairs; John Jones, CenturyLink’s Senior Vice President of Public Policy and Government Relations
- Takeaway: A strong STEM pipeline, starting in grade school, is critical to reimagining Louisiana as a technology hub.
- Session: Leadership to Reinvent Transportation and Infrastructure
- Speaker: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Ernest E. Arbuckle Professor at Harvard Business School
- Takeaway: To ignite change in infrastructure, it takes one big vision, a multi-stakeholder coalition of supporters and utmost persistence.
- Session: Talent Wars: What People Look for in Jobs and Locations
- Speaker: Rebecca Gehman, Director of Talent Attraction at Development Counsellors International
- Takeaway: To win the war on talent, you don’t need to spend millions of dollars on marketing. You just need to fight smarter.
- Session: Incentives, Trends and Realities in a New Political World
- Speaker: Gray Swoope, President & CEO at VisionFirst Advisors
- Takeaway: To make the case for economic development projects, professionals must engage the community.
Caitie Burkes
As the marketing and communications intern, Caitie is responsible for providing support for marketing team programs and projects.