Pointe Coupee Parish Economic Development News

September 2006

Brought to you by:

Greater Pointe Coupee Chamber of Commerce

Welcome to the September edition of the Greater Pointe Coupee Chamber of Commerce E-Newsletter. We hope that everyone had a nice summer.

Quote of the month:

"I've always said that the better off you are, the more responsibility you have for helping others. Just as I think it's important to run companies well, with a close eye to the bottom line, I think you have to use your entrepreneurial experience to make corporate philanthropy effective."
--Carlos Slim Helu

“The dumbest people I know are those who know it all."
--Malcolm Forbes

Econ Dev Partners Host Site Location Consultant

Left to Right Back Row: Rick Ward (Association of Louisiana Electric Cooperatives), Keith Davidson (Town of Livonia), Will Hearn (CH2M Hill Lockwood Greene Consulting), Jamie Mabile Delatte (Economic Development Director, Pointe Coupee Parish), Jimmy Ewing (President, Pointe Coupee Electric), Kenny Ramagos (Peoples Bank), Brian Adams (Louisiana Generating, NRG). Left to Right Middle Row: Tammy Fabre (HouseHunters Reality), Fran Bartee (President, Greater Pointe Coupee Chamber of Commerce), Yvonne Chenevert (False River Regional Airport), Joanie Bishop (Pointe Coupee Electric), Addie Armato (Pointe Coupee Electric). Left to Right Front Row: Tim Sullivan (National Rural Electric Cooperative Association), Joseph “Jodie” Cotten (General Manager, Pointe Coupee Electric), Craig Magruder (Pointe Coupee Electric). Not shown in the photo Skip Smart (Louisiana Department of Economic Development) and Janet Vosburg (Pointe Coupee Parish Police Juror).

Seeking to better understand the corporate site selection process and devise ways to attract more business to the area, Pointe Coupee Electric Membership Corporation along with the Association of Louisiana Electric Cooperatives (ALEC) hosted an economic development workshop for 18 local leaders on Aug. 8.

The full-day workshop was conducted by William N. Hearn, Director of Business Location for CH2Mhill Lockwood Greene based in Atlanta. Hearn shared actual experiences of plant location projects, offering an inside glimpse into the thought processes and strategies of corporate facility planners, as well as tips on how to improve the area’s chances of attracting new manufacturing plants or back office operations.

Attending the workshop was Pointe Coupee Electric General Manager J.H. “Jodie” Cotten, who said Hearn’s insights and observations were helpful in gaining an understanding of the different approaches site selectors take in their work.

“It was very interesting and very enlightening to hear from someone who actually consults with corporations on a regular basis and helps lead them through the steps required to site a new corporate facility,” Cotten said.

CH2Mhill Lockwood Greene has worked to locate multi-million facility investments for successful companies such as Boeing, Caterpillar, Lockheed Martin, BASF, General Mills, Pepsi Cola, Nucor Steel and Alcoa.

The Louisiana Basic Site Selection workshop is a program developed by the National Rural Electric Cooperatives Association (NRECA) and offered through a partnership with the Association of Louisiana Electric Cooperatives (ALEC) and the Louisiana Department of Economic Development.

“The threefold purpose of the program is to familiarize participants with key trends that impact the corporate site selection process, create a better understanding of how companies decide where to locate their facilities, and take participants through an effective process for preparing for and working with business prospects,” said Patrick Witty, Director of Community Outreach Services for the Louisiana Department of Economic Development (LED).

“This program is exactly the kind of support that LED wants to deliver to our communities to help engage them in economic development at the local level,” Witty said. Emphasizing regional cooperation, Pointe Coupee Electric invited the Chambers of Commerce in Pointe Coupee as well as Iberville and West Baton Rouge Parish to participate in the workshop.

As a result of completing this course, the team from Pointe Coupee Parish will have an opportunity to participate next year in CH2Mhill’s Site Selection Boot Camp, another program that will be offered by Pointe Coupee Electric Membership Corporation, ALEC, NRECA and LED.

Jumonville Campus & the P.C. Chamber Assist Film Producer

Amy Gauthier Davis

Jamie Delatte recently came to the aid of a Hollywood writer, director and producer who was in the area scouting locations for filming. Richie Adams needed to shoot several scenes in a hospital setting. Delatte thought of the nursing program at LTC Jumonville, which has a clinical area set up with hospital beds, etc. Adams visited the school and thought it was ideal for his short film.

LTC Jumonville continues to show support for economic development, assisting the chamber and the community with the use of its facilities. “People are often surprised when they see how much the technical college has to offer. Richie was a pleasure to work with. He and his crew were extremely professional throughout the project,” Amy Gauthier Davis, Dean of LTC said.

Richie Adams, a Baton Rouge native, who has worked on films such as Star Trek: Nemesis, S.W.A.T., Hide and Seek and Mr. and Mrs. Smith, does title work. For more information on his work visit, www.riverroadfilms.com

LTC Class Contributes to Baton Rouge Film Economy

Another movie is being filmed in our area. This comes as P3 Magazine named Louisiana the number one place to shoot a movie, outside of Hollywood. What's different about this project? It's aimed at training a local workforce -- from camera operators to makeup artists -- to help bring even more movies -- and jobs -- here. WAFB's Marie Centanni reports from the new movie set in New Roads.

When the Louisiana Technical College (LTC) at Jumonville's film production class called WAFB 9 News to play a small role in their class movie, we expected a typical class project. Little did we know we were walking onto the set of a professional film.

"This is a actual 35mm film shoot, just like I would do in Hollywood," explained director Keith Smith. The Glass Chord, starring local music legend Henry Gray as a blues singer suffering from Alzheimer's, is being put together entirely by students, led by working movie professionals like Smith, a New Orleans native who's worked on movies like JFK and A Few Good Men.

"I remember walking into the class and being blown away," said Smith. "They were just ready to go, real eager, real hungry to learn."

Smith is acting as mentor to the student director, Donta Coleman. "It's a blessing," according to Coleman. "I'm fresh out of high school, stepped into the doors of LTC, took the film class..." Now Coleman and his classmates are putting that knowledge to work.

So why did the film class request WAFB's presence? It's not exactly a stretch for WAFB's Marie Centanni and Nathan Dewberry to play a reporter and photographer, but their two little lines in the film took four hours to shoot.

Rearranging lighting, moving set walls, relaying track for the dolly again and again, just to shoot from a different angle. It's an experience New Orleans evacuee Jabari Walker, a former college math instructor, hopes will mark a new start. "I jumped in," said Walker. "Didn't know what to expect in the beginning, but it all came together."

In the end, The Glass Chord will be about 15 minutes long. The class hopes to enter it in film festivals across the country.

Extras, ages 20-70, are still needed for the jazz club scene to be shot Thursday, August 10 from 12 noon to 11 p.m. Extras cast are asked to wear after-five or dressy attire. For more information call the production office at 225-618-1844 or go online at www.jumonvillefilm.com.

Reporter: Marie Centanni

Film Class Gets Expert Advice from Hollywood

Grammy nominee to star in movie “The Glass Chord”

Grammy nominee Henry Gray stars in The Glass Chord for LTC Jumonville students. (Photo taken by Rachel Junio)

The LTC-Jumonville film class received expert help from Hollywood professionals for their first film, “The Glass Chord”. Students in the LTC-Jumonville program are getting a chance that many film students don’t receive. In addition to working with 35 mm film, the students are getting hands-on experience with film cameras, lighting, and sound equipment guided by Hollywood professionals who flew in to become part of the rewarding experience.

“The Glass Chord” is a touching story about an aging musician suffering from Alzheimer’s. Starring in the film is blues legend and Grammy Nominee, Henry Gray, from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Gray received a Grammy Nomination in 1999 for his work on the “Tribute to Howlin’ Wolf” project where he performed on 10 songs. He is no stranger to the big screen, having filled supporting roles for greats such as Clint Eastwood and an appearance in “All the Kings Men”. Playing the role of Saul Solomon, however, is his first time as a leading actor. This year Gray is the winner of the prestigious National Endowment of the Arts, National Heritage Award which he will receive in Washington D.C. on September 14. Other awards include: France International 2003 Blues Pianist of the Year; 2003 & 2002 Living Blues Magazine Blues Pianist of the Year and four W. C. Handy nominations in 2000.

Keith Smith, director for “The Glass Chord”, is a film industry professional with over fifteen years’ experience. He has worked on movies such as “JFK”, “Meteor Man”, “A Few Good Men”, and “Natural Born Killers”. Smith explains that he is “excited about working with such great students.” Smith has worked mainly as a Director of Photography and is happy that “The Glass Chord” is his directorial debut.

Nathan Black serves as the sound mixer for “The Glass Chord”. Black has experience working on many films, most notably the Academy Award winning “Hustle and Flow”, “Scream 2”, and “Black Snake Moon”. Working as grip department mentor is Kenneth Smith who has worked on feature films, “Big Momma’s House 2”, “Glory Road” and “All the King’s Men”. Adding to the production team is Sydney Briscoe, gaffer. Briscoe has worked as a gaffer or lead electrician on films including “Spider-Man 3”, “All the King’s Men”, and “Big Momma’s House 2”. Talented set dresser Erika Rice, who is serving as production designer on this project, has worked on “Mr. Brooks”, “The Guardian” and “American Splendor” and is sharing her keen eye and visual creativity with students in the set design, set dressing, wardrobe, makeup and hair departments.

Production Manager Cyril G. Neville, Jr. has worked in lighting, audio and video. He is co-founder of the production company “4 Sight Productions, LLC”, in which he is the director, producer, writer and editor for all video, DVD and production needs. He has produced video for documentaries, conventions and tradeshows and has worked as an audio mixer for MTV.

Executive Producer of “The Glass Chord”, Marquetta Cheeks, President of Production at Emerald Bayou Studios, is excited about the generous support from Hollywood, “We have had an outpouring of support from Hollywood professionals interested in our student’s success. They’ve heard good things about the film program and the talent within the class. The word is spreading quickly.”

Extras, ages 20-70, are still needed for the jazz club scene to be shot Thursday, August 10 from 12pm to 11pm. Extras cast are asked to wear after-five or dressy attire. For more information call the production office at 225-618-1844 or go online at www.jumonvillefilm.com.

Katrina Fund Established

The Association for Manufacturing Excellence (AME) is trying to help manufacturers who have been negatively impacted by the devastating hurricanes that struck Louisiana last year. As a practitioner based non-profit association, the AME focuses on helping its members learn new tools and techniques to help their companies grow and prosper and they would like to provide this type of assistance to manufacturers in Louisiana.

The AME is holding their 27th Annual Conference in Dallas, Texas in October 2006 and have established a special relief fund for the 2,000 attendees to contribute to along with their conference registration. With this fund, AME would like to provide free employee training, consulting and hands-on help from experienced manufacturing practitioners to companies struggling to recover and become viable employers again. The Manufacturing Extension Partnership of Louisiana (MEPoL) will be one of the organizations providing assistance to affected companies.

Applications from manufacturing firms affected by the hurricanes to receive AME Katrina Fund dollars should include a cover sheet (see link below) and meet the following criteria:

* Provide a brief history of the company.
* A description of the pursuit of excellence initiatives undertaken by the firm.
* Summary of businesses and financial damages sustained and rebuilding plans.
* Expression of willingness to work with AME and an agreement to share your company story with AME membership.
* Description of why your organization wishes to receive the AME Katrina Fund
* Financial results such as annual sales and profits from 2003 to August 2005.

Applications should be received by the AME by September 29, 2006 for consideration.
For an AME Katrina Fund Application cover sheet and qualification criteria list with AME contact information, click here http://www.mepol.org/uploads/KATRINAFUNDAPPVer.3.pdf .
For the AME Katrina Fund Request for Proposal, click here http://www.mepol.org/uploads/KATRINAFUNDRFPVer2.pdf .
Please visit www.ame.org to find out more about AME.

Office Space for Rent

727 Hospital Road
950 sq. ft.
3 offices, a bath, kitchen and storage
Contact: 638-4541
or after hours, 638-9367

Greatest Opportunities for Making More Money

There are many ways to make more money. They include:

• Get more customers into your door.
• Get current customers to spend more each time they buy.
• Get current customers to buy more often so that they don't go elsewhere to buy products that they would be just as likely to buy from you.
• Improve product lines.
• Add product lines.
• Negotiate lower prices from vendors but keep current prices to customers.
• Cut overhead.
• Motivate employees to sell more.
• Grow the market for the products you sell.
• Increase or change the number of channels by which you offer your products, making it less expensive to distribute your products.

When thinking about your research questions, think about implementing the results of the research. If you learned that you have to add new products to grow your business, is this viable for you? If you have to spend money to grow your market, can you make an investment that would pay off? You should continually be asking yourself, "Once I get the answers to my research questions will it be realistic for me to implement the research results?"

In going through this process, many times the typical answer I have received from clients is, "I don't know what I'd do until I see the results of the research." While this can be a fair answer, it also smacks of research that might be interesting, but results never acted upon.

Getting answers to interesting questions where taking action is out of the question can be a monumental waste of time and money. But answering questions where actions can be taken, if indicated, are always worth the effort.

Take the research for the wallpaper company again. Say the results suggest that the real reason people don't buy when they get the catalog is because they are afraid to buy wallpaper sight unseen using only a catalog or the internet as their guide. What actions might the company take if this proves to be a major stumbling block?

Maybe they should open retail stores so that customer can see their products before they buy - an unlikely solution. Maybe they should offer free returns if the customer doesn't like the wallpaper once they see it - a reasonable but perhaps profit-sapping solution. Maybe the company can't afford to do anything that is cost effective that would address this problem. But I would doubt that as well.

While there is no apparent solution to this dilemma, it highlights why many research studies are not action-oriented. If you were Kraft or General Foods, that might not be such a problem. The cost of such research is often an insignificant part of their profits. But for a small company, the cost of research can divert funds that could be used for their important initiatives. Therefore, it is far more important that those new to research be able to conceptualize solutions or areas where action might be taken prior to engaging in research. Anticipating possible actions that you might take would make you far more likely to conduct research that could lead to a profitable outcome.

Robert J. Kaden. Guerrilla Marketing Research. Kogan Page Publishing. 2006 Pages 13-15

Anyone interested in enrolling in the program should call (225) 359-9465 or go to http://www.lctcs.net

The program is funded in part by a federal H1B grant awarded under the President's High-Growth Job Training initiative, as implemented by the U.S. Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration.

The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman

History of the world twenty years from now, and they come to the chapter "Y2K to March 2004," what will they say was the most crucial development? The attacks on the World Trade Center on 9/11 and the Iraq war? Or the convergence of technology and events that allowed India, China, and so many other countries to become part of the global supply chain for services and manufacturing, creating an explosion of wealth in the middle classes of the world's two biggest nations, giving them a huge new stake in the success of globalization? And with this "flattening" of the globe, which requires us to run faster in order to stay in place, has the world gotten too small and too fast for human beings and their political systems to adjust in a stable manner?

In this brilliant new book, the award-winning New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman demystifies the brave new world for readers, allowing them to make sense of the often bewildering global scene unfolding before their eyes. With his inimitable ability to translate complex foreign policy and economic issues, Friedman explains how the flattening of the world happened at the dawn of the twenty-first century; what it means to countries, companies, communities, and individuals; and how governments and societies can, and must, adapt. The World Is Flat is the timely and essential update on globalization, its successes and discontents, powerfully illuminated by one of our most respected journalists.

For More Information:

email: jamie_delatte@bellsouth.net

phone: 225-638-3500

web: http://www.pcchamber.org