W. Pat Bordes II, Chairman OneAcadia
Fezzo’s Seafood & Steakhouse
Trenton Leonards, Chairman Crowley Chamber
One Acadiana
Danny Nugier, Vice-Chair OneAcadia
The Southwest Group
Melinda Malmay, Vice-Chair Crowley Chamber
Home Bank
Crowley Chamber & OneAcadia Board Members
Christine Benoit
Farmers’ State Bank
Claire Benoit
Rayne Building & Loan
Ricky Bonin
The Ellington
Angelique Credeur
Elder Outreach
Jill Habetz
E.L. Habetz Builders
Chance Henry
Keith Henry Insurance
Lee Lawrence
PL3 Associates
Jackie Loewer
Loewer Brothers Farms
April Mixon
South Crowley Elementary
Rep. John Stefanski
Edwards, Stefanski & Zaunbrecher
Tom Trahan
Bank of Commerce & Trust
Gene Williams
MassMutual Insurance
Tracy Young
T-Shirts Etc
Dear Member,
After careful consideration, the respective Board Members of the Crowley Chamber of Commerce and OneAcadia have voted to move forward with a unification of efforts– a merger into a single Acadia Parish Chamber of Commerce that will continue and enhance the exemplary work of both organizations.
Acadia Parish is an amazing place to work, do business, and call home. Our organizations see the need for one unified voice for business advocacy & economic development which leverages our ability to have a stronger message, both internally & externally, in serving the business community of Acadia Parish.
Initially, we envision both the Crowley Chamber and OneAcadia leadership coming together as one to work through details of the organizational structure with new bylaws, management structure, and other considerations. This will truly be a parish-wide entity with representation of all the communities throughout Acadia Parish. Currently, only two cities have a Chamber of Commerce, and, in fact, forty percent of the Crowley Chamber’s membership has a presence outside of Crowley.
Collectively, we express great gratitude for the leadership of past board members, staff, and volunteers that has enabled us to reach this point. We appreciate the diligent work and love of our community that Laurie Suire has exhibited in building OneAcadia from the ground up. Her work has and will continue to produce dividends for our Parish for many years to come. We congratulate her on her new role at United Way of Acadiana and wish her continued success.
Under the leadership of current Chamber President & CEO Amy Thibodeaux, this endeavor is focused on making all of Acadia Parish more economically competitive with a strong parish-wide entity centered on Business Recruitment, Retention and Expansion, Marketing the Parish, Relations and Developing Shovel-Ready Sites, as well as other traditional Chamber activities.
While the Board of Directors from the Crowley Chamber & OneAcadia support this effort, we feel it is imperative that our respective members be given the opportunity to support and/or voice any concerns that should be taken into consideration. Please do not hesitate to contact any of the board members of either organization who are unanimously supporting this unification.
Sincerely yours,
Trenton Leonards, Chairman
Crowley Chamber of Commerce
W. Pat Bordes II, Chairman
OneAcadia
