Blogs

Earlier this month, Dennis Jones of the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems presented “An Assessment of Community College Service Needs in Central Louisiana” to the board of the Louisiana Community & Technical College System in Baton Rouge. In preparing the report, Mr. Jones conducted analyses; interviewed Central Louisiana civic leaders, economic development professionals and major employers; and reviewed the Rapides Foundation’s 2008 “Beyond High School” report that set the stage for the region’s progress towards a comprehensive community and technical college.

Among other things, the new report says, “Central Louisiana is the most underserved region of the state with regard to provision of community college services.” It could have said that we are one of the most underserved regions in the nation with accuracy as well.

More importantly, the report makes a series of recommendations that when implemented could change the landscape of Central Louisiana forever.

The report recommends “…creation of a technical community college in the Alexandria region.” It says that the college should be serve as the “…single front door” for community college services for students and employers. It goes on to prescribe the kinds of services that should be offered through the new entity.

A question that often arises on this subject is, “Didn’t LSUA used to be a community college?” Since LSUA’s status as a four-year institution is a relatively recent phenomenon, this is a perfectly normal question. However, the answer is “no.” LSUA was a two-year college, but it was never the kind of comprehensive community and technical institution that is envisioned by “Beyond High School” or in the new recommendations.  A comprehensive community and technical college in Central Louisiana is a game-changer for us, a landmark event.

It fills a gaping hole in Central Louisiana, and it does so within a system that is constitutionally mandated to provide such services. As we look at building a real knowledge platform for the citizens, businesses and institutions of Central Louisiana, the addition of the technical community college is exactly what is called for at this point in our history.

It is astonishingly good news for the region. As “Beyond High School” demonstrated, the greatest opportunity for job creation in the region for the next decade will be in jobs requiring more than a high school education, and less than a four-year diploma. It is specifically that arena in which the region is so underserved, and it is specifically that market that the new institution will serve.

The result will be investment, jobs, higher levels of knowledge, higher levels of pay, and new wealth creation for our region.

Congratulations and thanks to all of the leaders in Central Louisiana who have supported and encouraged the creation of a technical community college in Central Louisiana.

Rapides Foundation President Joe Rosier and I had the pleasure of accompanying Alexandria Mayor Jacques Roy and Pineville Mayor Clarence Fields to make comments to the NCTCS board. While we all expressed our pleasure with the recommendations, it is notable that these two elected officials were willing and able to lead in such harmony. Many other community leaders have supported this action over the past two years, and they, too, deserve credit.

Another region that is moving towards development of a technical community college is on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain. The region needs the school, but it is not as underserved as Central Louisiana. However, the political and civic leadership are thoroughly united behind this goal and that makes a huge difference for the region.

Mayors Fields and Roy have shown that we can have that kind of harmony across jurisdictional and political lines in Central Louisiana as well.

The report will now go on to the Louisiana Board of Regents for its consideration. Because of the way the report recommends using existing institutional resources to pave the way on implementation, we could be looking forward to the commencement of classes before the year is out.

I may do a little dance across the Jackson Street Bridge on that day.

The Milken Institute has released "Best-Performing Cities 2010" and the Alexandria MSA ranks 56th, down from 31st last year. The region, composed of Rapides and Grant parishes, ranked 29th in five-year job growth and 62nd in one-year job growth. Although labeled a 2010 report, the data are for 2009.

Tony Schwartz, best-selling author of The Way We're Working isn't Working, blogs for the Harvard Business Review. His current offering should be an evergreen post: Six Ways of Being Excellent at Anything. His blog builds from an Aristotle base ("We are what we repeatedly do") and utilizes the performance studies of Anders Ericsson. There is compelling evidence that how hard we are willing to work consistently trumps how gifted and talented we may be.

Schwartz packs these ideas into his list of six. The details are worth reading, but here's the short version:

1. Pursue what you love.

2. Do the hardest work first.

3. Practice intensely.

4. Seek expert feedback, in intermittent doses.

5. Take regular renewal breaks.

6. Ritualize practice. 

The Central Louisiana Chamber of Commerce and CLEDA will hold an economic development forum on Thursday, June 3 beginning at 10 AM at the Country Inn Suites Conference Center in Pineville.

Not to give David Byrne too much credit, but it is a beautiful day, I do have a beautiful house (um, apartment), a beautiful child, a beautiful...well, Subaru. And I have a Summit on the Future of Central Louisiana that I am supposed to be getting ready for.

MID-STATE Communication Services was recently honored at the International Wireless Communication Expo in Las Vegas, NV by receiving awards for sales achievement by EF Johnson and Zetron.

MID-STATE Communication Services was recognized by Zetron as a "Top 100" re-seller for the international dispatch and 911 communications manufacturer.  Earlier in the year Zetron had marked the achievements of MID-STATE Communications by featuring a MID-STATE project in their international newsletter.

The Rapides Foundation has announced the award of an $8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) to fund the Central Louisiana Academic Residency for Teachers Partnership (CART). The award from the Department's Teacher Quality Partnership initiative is one of only 28 nationally, and one of only three in the South.

As Louisiana's declining revenue fortunes force budget cuts, reorganization, and refocusing, here's a significant opportunity. Of all the "best of" lists that are published every year, this one could make all the difference for Central Louisiana: U.S. News and World Report's ranking of the best undergraduate colleges for entrepreneurship education.

Since the announcement of the closing of International Paper's Pineville plant, a group of the region's economic developers has been meeting at the Central Louisiana Chamber of Commerce. These meetings are intended to help chart the magnitude and nature of the economic disruption, and to plan and execute appropriate responses.

The first issue of Moves Magazine, a publication from the Louisiana Community and Technical College System Foundation, arrived recently.

The Baton Rouge Business Report says that Baton Rouge-based IEM will soon become North Carolina-based IEM.

This week I’ve been working with Pineville as Economic Development Ready Community working on inventorying Pineville’s strengths and weaknesses.  The city of Pineville will hold a town-hall style public meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday at Pineville City Hall as part of the city's community assessment for Louisiana Economic Development's Louisiana Development Ready Communities program. We would love to have both public and entrepreneurial representation as we create a road map to improve the business climate for Pineville and Central Louisiana.

A couple of time-related apologies to start. First, I should have taken note of the Wall Street Journal review that triggered this entry when it was published in October. Second, this installment of CenlaFuture will of necessity be more nostalgic than I would prefer.

 "In fall 1999, the Louisiana Community & Technical College System awarded 44% of all associate degrees in Louisiana. By fall 2008-09, LCTCS was awarding 64% of associate degrees."--Council for a Better Louisiana

My former colleagues at Southern Growth Policies Board noted in their Southern Compass newsletter today, the release of a new Kauffman Foundation report on job creation and young businesses.

Both Louisiana and the Alexandria MSA fare very well in the 2009 Milken Institute Index of Best Performing Cities.

Last week I worked on helping individuals affected by the International Paper Pineville Plant Closure. We are scheduling a workshop on Nov. 19 and 20 at the mill.

La Econ. Dev. (LED) selected 12 cities to participate in their Development-Ready Community Pilot Program. Pineville was one of the communities selected. We are gathering the pertinent economic data and preparing plans to remediate deficiencies identified through data assessment. This is a comprehensive program, focused on Business Retention, Job Creation, and Industrial Recruitment.

Once upon a time I was a "Forty Under Forty." It wasn't a Forbes or Fortune or Inc. list (okay, it was the Baton Rouge Business Report) but still...

It made me feel good, briefly bolstered my self-esteem, made me feel that my future was ... you know ...in the future.