{"id":6163,"date":"2017-03-17T11:21:40","date_gmt":"2017-03-17T16:21:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/?p=6163"},"modified":"2017-03-17T12:05:14","modified_gmt":"2017-03-17T17:05:14","slug":"alliance-positive-growth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/2017\/03\/17\/alliance-positive-growth\/","title":{"rendered":"Alliance For Positive Growth"},"content":{"rendered":"

A New Group Is Exploring Positive Approaches To Growth In SWLA<\/em><\/p>\n

By Brad Goins<\/em><\/p>\n

A\u00a0<\/b>crowd of more than 200 developers, contractors and community leaders recently attended the first meeting of a new group called the Alliance for Positive Growth.<\/p>\n

It took four months of planning before the group was ready to gather for the first time. It sounds as if the organization is one that is preparing to make a difference.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Matt Redd speaks at the APG new member meeting at Historic Cash & Carry on March 13.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

One of the objectives at that first meeting was to start working out the details of the group\u2019s goals. Board member Allen Singletary of Investors\u2019 Property Services of Lake Charles said the new group is, to a large degree, still feeling its way. \u201cWe\u2019re like a baby. \u201cWe\u2019re not even a toddler yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

But some broad goals and areas of interest have been mapped out. The APG plans to work with municipalities in Southwest Louisiana to \u201covercome longstanding obstacles to development and create ordinances in favor of and supporting growth,\u201d said founding member Matt Redd, who is an associate broker at NAI Latter and Blum.<\/p>\n

Redd says landowners and contractors frequently encounter city or parish ordinances that conflict with development projects; these, he said, cause delays and increased costs.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is to address concerns and craft favorable policies through collaboration between all professionals involved in local development,\u201d said Redd. \u201cWe\u2019re here to unite \u2014 not fight \u2014 to make good things happen in our region.\u201d<\/p>\n

The group raised $60,000 from founding members to support its launch. It opened an office in the SEED Center, and hired a director, Jeannie Weise.<\/p>\n

Weise, a McNeese State University graduate with a sales and marketing background, will attend municipal meetings in the region. She emphasizes that the Alliance is very much a regional group. In particular, it plans to be proactive in the Greater Calcasieu or Imperial Calcasieu Area: an area that includes five parishes, namely, Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron and Jefferson Davis.<\/p>\n

Weise will provide updates to APG\u2019s board members. She\u2019ll keep the group and its board informed on new local ordinances that might affect area growth.<\/p>\n

One of APG\u2019s top priorities at present is a membership drive for the group that\u2019s now underway. \u201cEvery meeting we have had new attendees,\u201d says Weise. \u201cWe want them to know what they\u2019re going to get out of this organization and what it\u2019s going to mean to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The APG plans to use its $200,000 annual budget to employ attorneys and engineers to analyze municipal proposals and advocate for solutions that will have a positive effect on local development.<\/p>\n

To sustain the group\u2019s budget, members make five-year pledges at four different levels, which range from $500 to $5,000 a year. Everyone who can meet this requirement is welcome to join the group. Members range from representatives of large corporations to individual entrepreneurs. Explaining the range of participants, Redd says, \u201cpositive growth benefits us all \u2014 not just those of us involved in real estate and development.\u201d<\/p>\n

Singletary emphasizes that APG is \u201cjust a grassroots community. We want to promote strong, beneficial growth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Making Growth Positive<\/b><\/p>\n

The group\u2019s first board was chosen with the idea that it would guide the alliance through its launch. A new board will be elected this year. This board will be intended to represent APG\u2019s full membership.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe response we received at the launch meeting and since then confirms that our effort is needed and that our timing is right,\u201d said Tim Flavin, president of Flavin Realty and another founding member. \u201cSouthwest Louisiana is poised for unprecedented growth. But we all need to work together to ensure that this growth is good for our community today and in the long-term.\u201d<\/p>\n

Flavin elaborated on the word \u201cpositive\u201d in the new group\u2019s title: \u201cWe\u2019re a group of citizens who believe that a community is either growing or dying. We want to make sure the growth we\u2019re experiencing is positive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Board Members Stay Focused<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Early board meeting; From left, Tim Flavin, Chris Khoury, Matt Redd, Ralph Lewing and Bryan Vincent.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Flavin said that each member of the board focuses on a specific area relating to development. Flavin\u2019s focus is on one of the most crucial aspects of area infrastructure; he notes that \u201ceven in incorporated areas\u201d there are places where there \u201cis no sewer … water. That\u2019s the area I\u2019m concentrating on.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is obviously an area in which government spending could have a significant effect on infrastructure. As Flavin says, it\u2019s not just a matter of absent sewage. It\u2019s also a matter of sewage capacity.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re at capacity,\u201d he says. \u201cWe have a construction project [near] Home Depot that was turned down because the sewage [at the location] was at capacity.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve ignored sewage because it\u2019s one of those things that\u2019s not attractive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Flavin estimates that at this early stage, the group has formed half a dozen committees devoted to some particular aspect of area growth.<\/p>\n

Educational Functions<\/b><\/p>\n

Another basic APG goal is going to revolve around education.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of us felt like there was a need to disseminate good information to the public,\u201d says Singletary.<\/p>\n

He hones in on the way in which new projects are often discussed and debated by such governmental bodies as city councils and police juries. \u201cWhen it comes to projects, the most verbal person can shift the process. People accept their stance as good policy. But they may not know what they\u2019re talking about.\u201d<\/p>\n

Singletary says he\u2019s been to government meetings at which a single, vocal opponent to a project has brought along 15 people he\u2019s persuaded to take up his cause. Such opponents, he says, sometimes bring with them \u201cpeople who don\u2019t even live in the district. You can\u2019t operate in that environment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to monitor every public meeting in the area. Our goal is not to be bullies … What we\u2019re trying to do is be positive in a world that\u2019s gone negative in many ways.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re an agent to assist. We\u2019re not an agent for any other reason.\u201d<\/p>\n

APG intends to \u201cmessage good information out to the people … We want to provide factual information.\u201d<\/p>\n

The group, says Singletary, is \u201cgoing to have a review process [for new projects].\u201d And, as has been mentioned, it will be kept abreast of local government decisions about new projects and new local government ordinances that could affect growth.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be all about accountability,\u201d says Singletary. Part of the group\u2019s effort will be to determine whether government representatives are voting a particular way because they\u2019ve gotten and accessed the facts or simply because they\u2019re acquiescing to a certain number of vocal, angry people in the audience.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re trying to understand [the process of debate about a project],\u201d says Singletary. \u201cWere things not addressed correctly?\u201d<\/p>\n

Mindset For Growth<\/b><\/p>\n

As Singletary sees it, the area economy has been \u201cpretty dormant since Chennault\u201d \u2014 since the flood of young men returning from World War II fueled a surge of economic activity at the airport on the edge of town.<\/p>\n

Things eventually became so dormant, says Singletary, that \u201cyoung people had to move away to have a good career.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow we have a chance,\u201d with the economic boom, he says, to give the youth good careers at home. \u201cWe\u2019re going to be able to retain the talent we need for the future if we can provide employment.\u201d In addition to retaining talent, Singletary thinks, \u201cgood employment relieves social ills. Everybody\u2019s participating.\u201d<\/p>\n

Singletary says he is \u201cnot a big believer\u201d in change for the sake of change. \u201cBut if we want to keep our kids close,\u201d some fundamental changes must take place.<\/p>\n

One of the barriers to these changes is the loud collective voice of the great number of local residents who tend to think, and sometimes say, \u201cNo, I like things just the way they are.\u201d A long period of more or less stagnant growth has left many residents unaware that growth involves change \u2014 and a certain number of growing pains.<\/p>\n

Growth requires not just new shopping, but also new schools, drainage, sewage and housing. When such new developments are strenuously resisted, growth can be stifled in impractical and unnecessary ways. As an example, Singletary says some people who live in the Lake Charles metro area are sending children to schools in Bell City because they can\u2019t find adequate schooling where they live.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2019Anywhere but here\u2019 \u2014 that\u2019s not really acceptable,\u201d says Singletary. \u201cWe want to have the right things in the right areas.\u201d When some residents oppose new developments in housing or infrastructure in their areas, Singletary wonders whether they were ever asked, \u201cWell, did you see the benefit?\u201d<\/p>\n

He notes that as large urban areas grow, those who moved to a certain location 20 or 30 years ago to get peace and quiet may have to move further out if they want to keep that peace and quiet.<\/p>\n

But it will be difficult to change a dominant culture that\u2019s long viewed change with suspicion. \u201cIt\u2019s challenging to do things in this area,\u201d says Singletary. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be challenging for this area to deal with [the boom].\u201d<\/p>\n

Viable \u2014 And Positive \u2014 Alternatives<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Government is bound to be affected by the dominant culture. Singletary says it is the \u201cresponsibility [of local government\u201d to fund certain goods and services\u201d that are crucial to growth. In particular, says Flavin, \u201cinfrastructure spending is critical to growth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Singletary is concerned that the legacy of Gov. Bobby Jindal will make it unlikely that the state can be of much use as a monetary contributor to such spending. Jindal, he says, \u201craped our budget. It\u2019s almost criminal what he did to Louisiana.\u201d As a result, \u201cWe can\u2019t look to the state for help.\u201d<\/p>\n

APG will be assisting those who are looking for viable alternatives. \u201cWe have to get out there and make things work in a positive way,\u201d says Singletary.<\/p>\n

For more information about the new organization, visit www.apgrowth.org<\/a> or call Weise at 337-602-6788.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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