KAREN LAMBERT CLAPP GO GROUP DIRECTOR

Scott E. Raymond Thursday, November 5, 2015 Comments Off on KAREN LAMBERT CLAPP GO GROUP DIRECTOR
KAREN LAMBERT CLAPP GO GROUP DIRECTOR

STORY BY SCOTT E. RAYMOND

PHOTOS BY LINDSEY JANIES

Karen Lambert Clapp, 31, is a home-grown, experienced marketing professional with an accomplished track record of success. Announced by the GO Group (Southwest Louisiana Task Force for Growth and Opportunity) in February of this year as its director, Clapp appears to be an excellent fit for the job.

At my meeting with her, she is professionally dressed and has an attentive demeanor; she begins by talking about her background, and then addresses the history, current activities and future of the GO Group.

Born in Lake Charles and raised in the small, south Beauregard Parish town of Ragley, Clapp says she would characterize herself as ambitious, but that her spiritual identity represents the biggest part of who she is, and that it has never let her down.

“I’m very ambitious,” she says, “and I’m driven to where I feel my skills can be best utilized and where I am called. [My faith] is the biggest part of who I am.

“The challenge of what’s upon our area is real, and I love a challenge,” Clapp continues. “It’s something intrinsic; I can’t necessarily identify what it is. It’s seeing how much you can accomplish, but it’s not necessarily putting your name on it. It’s just, ‘Hey, who says we can’t do this. Who set that limit?’

“Knowing there are no limitations, and having a sense of humor in ‘trying to accomplish the impossible’ is what makes my outlook unique. It takes a special person with a unique outlook to accept this particular challenge [as GO Group director],” she says.

While attending McNeese State in 2006, Clapp met her future husband Jed — an LSU graduate and now an electrical engineer — at a local car dealership they were both working for at the time. After college, they began dating and got married in 2014.

“I come from a very hard-working family,” says Clapp. “Everything we had we worked very hard for.”

Still close to her south Beauregard roots, Clapp says she likes to fish and is a “mean cook.” “Lower Beauregard — it’s everything [in food] we’re used to here,” she says, smiling.

Clapp, who graduated from McNeese with a double major in marketing and management with a minor in speech, says she always knew she wanted a career in marketing. “I knew it was something that sounded exciting, and it was something that would probably push me to my limits.”

After receiving her college degree, Clapp went to work in Kinder at Allen Parish Hospital in an entry level position in marketing. In nine months, she says, she was the hospital’s marketing director.

“In order for you to see success in any business,” Clapp says, “you’ve got to communicate and you have to be successful in marketing your business. It’s all about the strategy: how you define it, and how you choose to implement it.”

A year and a half later, Clapp was back in school working on a master’s of business administration (MBA) degree at McNeese. During that time, she also purchased her first home and started working in marketing at West Calcasieu Cameron Hospital. Within about a year’s time, she says, she was promoted to department head.

Clapp worked at the hospital for seven years before being hired by the GO Group as its director.

KarenClapp-2435 Purpose Of The GO Group

Clapp says the GO Group is a regional, five-parish organization focused on the growth and opportunity coming to this area. She states that three key fundamentals were the basis for the formation of the GO Group: identification of issues; coordination of efforts among various agencies to address the issues; and adoption of a big-picture mentality.

She says that 86 percent of the growth is anticipated to be in Calcasieu Parish. Right now, Cameron Parish, where two new LNG facilities are under construction, is where the biggest investment is taking place.

“Over $30 billion in construction activities/capital investments [in Cameron Parish] are currently underway.

“[The growth is] rapid population growth; rapid expansion. When you have as many announced expansions as we have — $97 billion worth of investments right now — someone has to start looking and planning for what Southwest Louisiana is going to look like, because we want to preserve our culture and who we are. In a nutshell, the GO Group is looking to capitalize on the opportunities that exist with this industry expansion and growth, and reduce subsequent impacts.

“We want small businesses to flourish; we want to ensure that everyone has access to the job opportunities that will result. So capitalizing on the opportunities and reducing any potential impacts [is the goal].

“[For example], how can we make our infrastructure work in a way that is efficient to accommodate the multitude of individuals that will soon arrive here for work? It’s planned growth, not [being] reactive. The GO Group is a proactive, community-driven movement.”

In The Beginning … Now … The Future

Clapp gives an overview of where the GO Group has been, where it is now, and its next steps.

Says Clapp:

“In the beginning, we had our organizational chart and our steering committee, which is pretty much that decision-making body that decides where the GO Group goes and what initiatives we focus on. Our subcommittees, at that point, started talking [about] things we could expect with this industrial expansion. It was just more of a discussion about, ‘What are some things we need to start preparing for?’

“But after Sasol made the investment in the regional impact study, and after that was released in 2014, there were some recommendations that came from that. Everything identified as potential impacts by those subcommittees was taken into consideration when the study was conducted, and all of that information combined resulted in pretty sound recommendations on how we could properly prepare our community for what was to come.

“[The GO Group] looked at that information and said, ‘OK, now we have something we can really take hold of and begin working to develop strategy for.’ And so we created what we call task forces — a new layer of the GO Group that essentially serves as long-term planners. And don’t be fooled by “long-term.” They are talking about some really tough issues that have historically been sensitive issues.

“That’s where we are with the task forces. The subcommittees that were formed at our inception are continuing their work and are addressing short-term issues.

There are four task forces: Growth Planning, Education & Workforce Development, Public Service Improvements and Special Community Related Initiatives.

KarenClapp-2263 One of the issues Clapp says Growth Planning is studying is where population growth will be most suitable. She mentions Barbe High School in south Lake Charles as an example of a school that’s at capacity.

“Where does the infrastructure exist that could support large developments and (also) the amount of people who are coming here?” Clapp asks.

Clapp says the Growth Planning Task Force is also talking about the possibility of the development of unified standards for planning and development in the area, which, she says “is going to benefit so many pieces of our community. An area that could benefit would be the current drainage system.”

An issue Clapp says the Public Service Improvements Task Force is talking about is drainage because, she says, “you see more people flooding than ever before in their neighborhoods. Why is this happening? We know the answer and are looking to institute positive changes.”

Clapp mentions water districts as another example of where restructuring may enhance operational efficiencies.

“With these task forces, we’re talking about these and other issues; we’re looking at alternatives; we’re researching other communities that have had success in other models; and we’re trying to determine whether the adoption of those models of success would make sense here or [would] they need to be adapted to fit what we have in this area?”

All four of the task forces are discussing key issues relative to their assigned areas of focus.

Clapp says one of the biggest issues facing the Education & Workforce Development Task Force is the unfavorable “attitudes and perceptions that exist” relative to some of the jobs that will soon be available. She says that because many students may feel pressured by their parents into going to four-year colleges, they may be bypassing industrial career opportunities providing salaries that are very good and that require a lot of skill.

“You’ve got some jobs in industry that require highly skilled individuals,” she says, “but just because it requires a two-year degree doesn’t necessarily make it inferior to anything a four-year institution could offer you.”

Clapp says another issue being address by the GO Group is temporary housing.

“The studies have shown that worker villages are the preferred alternative to meet a short-term, but temporary, demand for housing,” she says. “If our community is unable to reach a solution to the temporary housing issue, it could be detrimental to the success of some of these projects and our community moving forward.

“Displacement or homelessness is something we’ve already begun seeing given increasing rental rates. Not only that, but if temporary workers seek temporary housing in residential neighborhoods, you’ll have an increased likelihood that numerous people will begin sharing single family housing units.”

Clapp uses south Beauregard and Allen Parish as examples of growth in terms of new building permits that have already been issued as a result of the industrial growth in Southwest Louisiana.

“Calcasieu Parish, where most of the growth is occurring, doesn’t have as much land available as it did in the past. Some people who are coming here from other areas — and while working here — are looking for more of a rural lifestyle,” she says. “They may be looking for acreage, and in their search they may reach out to Beauregard and Allen Parish. South Beauregard Parish, in general, has grown astronomically.”

Clapp says “while Allen and Beauregard have seen growth in the number of residential development permits in those areas, Jeff Davis Parish is seeing increased interest from industry looking to locate there.” Clapp mentions the new Metalplate Galvanizing plant in Jeff Davis Parish.

Clapp says the job of the GO Group is to “show what types of needs exist and then work on some type of strategy to address those [needs].”

On Aug. 18, the GO Group held a public meeting at the West Cal Events Center in Sulphur to give the public an update on its activities and provide an opportunity for public comment. The next steps for the GO Group include introducing strategic initiatives to address identified issues, seeking public input on those strategies and then beginning implementation.

Says Clapp:

KarenClapp-2438 “The whole idea behind the GO Group is community-driven change, and I’ve said some of it won’t be comfortable; I’ve said some of it won’t be popular. [The volunteers of the GO Group] know that. They are aware of it, and they are actually very excited to objectively show what their research has resulted in and to share that with the community. They are excited to engage the community and say, ‘OK, these are changes that must be made to our current system; these are some of the things that we think might be suitable. What do you think?’

“The bottom line is that without the community’s input and buy-in, the essential changes needed to move our community forward won’t be made.

“Some people view change as negative, and as soon as they hear the word, there’s just something attached to it that is very unattractive. But we have an abundance of opportunity that exists for us that will enhance the quality of life of so many people. Who wouldn’t want a better life for themselves and their families?

“I cannot tell you what the future of [the GO Group] is going to be. I know that I’m going to give it everything I have to make it successful [so] that Southwest Louisiana can emerge from this growth and expansion much better and much more prosperous than it is today.”

When The Boom Is Complete  

When this writer asks Clapp what would be a very positive outcome, overall, years from now, when the bulk of the industrial expansion work is complete; when the permanent new jobs are in place for the long-haul; and when most aspects of the GO Group’s goals and objectives and needs and challenges have been addressed, she has the following to say:

“The best possible outcome would result in little to no observable recognition that investments of this magnitude were made here because the proper systems were in place to welcome these opportunities, in their fullness, gracefully and flawlessly.”

 

Ways To Follow The GO Group

The GO Group can be followed on its website gogroupswla.com; on Facebook: facebook.com/gogroupswla; and by viewing videos on YouTube entitled, “GO Group Now!.” For more information about the GO Group and the goals of the task forces, call 721-3508.

 

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