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One of Downtown Crowley’s most historic attractions, The Egan Hotel is undergoing repairs. Lazar Gielen, Owner of The Egan Hotel said the exterior of the building is being worked on, but he hopes it will one day become a boutique hotel. “It opened around 1913 and it rented rooms until about 1960,” Gielen said. “It wasRead more

This year’s Leadership EXCEL Class spent this month in Lake Charles! The group first found themselves over at the Port of Lake Charles, where they were welcomed by Executive Director, Richert Self and Director of Cargo and Trade Development, Therrance Chretin. From there they traveled down to the Seed Center, where they heard Disaster RecoveryRead more

CROWLEY, La. – Supreme Rice, one of the largest rice-milling operations in Louisiana, is investing $16.2 million to develop parboil facilities in Crowley and Mermentau for a new line of ready-to-eat products. The expansion will create 20 direct new jobs, and LED estimates the project will result in 79 indirect jobs, for a total ofRead more

Acadia Parish, LA – The Acadia Parish Chamber of Commerce marks the week of May 9 to May 13, 2022, as the next Economic Development Week. During this week, communities across North America will celebrate and recognize the contributions made by professional economic developers to create more economically vibrant and livable communities. Created in 2016Read more

LAFAYETTE – SkillUp, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to helping displaced workers land in-demand jobs in high-growth industries, has awarded their first nationally-competitive grant of up to $100,000 to South Louisiana Community College. This grant is designed to aid low-income students as they navigate the road to workforce readiness. The SkillUp Coalition launched its first statewideRead more

Preparations are well underway, and the Acadia Parish Chamber of Commerce is again excited to host the upcoming State of the Parish Address Presented by Cox Communications on Friday, March 25, 2022. It will bring together Acadia Parish Sheriff, K.P. Gibson; Acadia Parish Police Jury President, Chance Henry; and Acadia Parish School Board Superintendent, ScottRead more

Original article written by Sophia Campbell, Jimena Ruiz Castro, and David Wessel for Brookings Institute.  The shift of work and school online highlighted the lack of access to high-speed broadband internet service in some parts of the U.S. and intensified political pressure on the government to make it more widely available.  The bipartisan infrastructure bill that passedRead more

This post is part of a five-part series called Relief to Recovery, an analysis done by Joseph Parilla and Sifan Liu of Brookings Institute.  What to know As the nation recovers from the pandemic, the strategic lens for small business support will shift from averting destruction to making strategic investments in entrepreneurship ecosystems and smallRead more

This post is part of a five-part series called Relief to Recovery, an analysis done by Joseph Parilla and Sifan Liu of Brookings Institute.  What to Know In normal times, small businesses are constantly being created and destroyed. This churn makes entrepreneurship a risky journey for individual business owner, but can be a good thingRead more

This post is part of a five-part series called Relief to Recovery, an analysis done by Joseph Parilla and Sifan Liu of Brookings Institute.  “Small business” is an unhelpfully broad segment. This brief focuses on small businesses with fewer than 100 employees, with the acknowledgement that smaller businesses have experienced particular challenges during the economicRead more