La. Speaks rep to address BIG

Although the Tri-parish region was only partially affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Baton Rouge looks at the area as being involved in the state’s overall recovery effort.

A representative from Louisiana Speaks, which is part of Gov. Blanco’s post-Katrina rebuilding agency, the Louisiana Recovery Authority, will talk at the monthly meeting of the Bayou Industrial Group (BIG), an industrial and business association covering Terrebonne, Lafourche, and Assumption Parishes.

The meeting will take place Monday, May 7, at noon in the Isabella Room of the Howard Johnson’s Envie Restaurant (203 N. Canal Blvd. in Thibodaux). A lunch buffet, which begins at 11:45 a.m., is free to BIG members, but costs $15 for all others, payable in cash or by check at the door.

Reservations are required by 5 p.m. Thursday, May 3.

Boo Thomas, coordinator of Louisiana Speaks, will talk mainly about the future of south Louisiana’s economy, and “formulating a vision for coastal Louisiana,” said BIG’s Executive Director Jennifer Armand.

“The Louisiana Speaks program encompasses all of coastal Louisiana,” Armand said.

She said also that Louisiana Speaks’ mission does not concern only hurricane recovery, “but planning for the future-what kind of development for the future.”

“Louisiana Speaks is having meetings all along coastal Louisiana,” including Lake Charles and New Orleans, she said. “We’re one of the stops.”

According to a news release, “Louisiana Speaks is the public face of the LRA,” and “brings together Louisiana citizens, federal agency technical staffs, local and regional planning bodies, citizen committees, non-profits and local, state and national industry experts to identify and address Louisiana’s long-term recovery needs and opportunities.”

The program “is a long-term planning initiative of the LRA that is supported with private funds,” states another release.

In February, Louisiana Speaks concluded a huge “regional planning outreach initiative” in which people from south Louisiana were polled concerning their outlook on “issues including community growth, transportation, coastal protection and economic development,” according to the survey.

“The public campaign generated 23,260 responses, including 1300 responses from displaced residents living in 32 different states,” the survey states.

The poll “will now serve as the foundation for the Louisiana Speaks Regional Vision,” it states.

Armand said that Thomas will discuss the “results of the poll” at BIG’s May meeting.

“I attended a meeting with Louisiana Speaks,” Armand said. “I invited them to join us at the meeting. She said she could make it our (Louisiana Speaks’) regional presentation.”

Call (985) 580-3901 for more information.