MONROE CHAMBER WEEKLY REPORT

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2585854 MONROE CHAMBER WEEKLY REPORT Volume 18, Issue 12 Monroe Chamber of Commerce Weekly Report Last week Glen Post, CEO of CenturyLink, and COO Jeff Storey, who will become CEO when Glen retires

TOGETHER WE RE STRONGER Jeff Storey, CenturyLink CEO meets with Community Leaders Last week, members of the Ouachita Parish business community had the opportunity to meet with Glen Post, CEO of

1 MONROE CHAMBER WEEKLY REPORT Volume 18, Issue 12 Monroe Chamber of Commerce Weekly Report Last week Glen Post, CEO of CenturyLink, and COO Jeff Storey, who will become CEO when Glen retires in May, met with area business and community leaders. The purpose of the meeting was to introduce Storey to community leaders. TOGETHER WE RE STRONGER Jeff Storey, CenturyLink CEO meets with Community Leaders Last week, members of the Ouachita Parish business community had the opportunity to meet with Glen Post, CEO of CenturyLink, and COO Jeff Storey, who will become CEO when Glen retires in May. The purpose of the meeting was to introduce Jeff to community leaders. Jeff was previously CEO of Level 3, which CenturyLink acquired last year. Jeff assured the group that Monroe will continue to be the headquarters and is an asset to the company with an extremely talented and dedicated workforce. In fact, the company recently announced it is adding 150 positions to staff a small business sales center in Monroe. He said that the community could help the company attract and retain the best and brightest by focusing on things such as collaborative efforts to educate students and steer them into technology-focused career paths, infrastructure, beautification and other quality of life benefits the things most people look for when making relocation decisions. Another important need is job opportunities for spouses and significant others who move with individuals CenturyLink hires. The company s focus in Monroe has been on IT jobs, but there are a variety of fields represented at the headquarters including finance, legal, marketing, investor relations, customer service, tax, accounting, communications, sales, and public policy. Regionally, the I-20 corridor is a nationally recognized cybersecurity and technology hub with anchors such as the Cyber Innovation Center, Barksdale Air Force Base, La Tech, ULM, Grambling State, Louisiana Delta Community College, IBM, CenturyLink and others. The north Louisiana region has tremendous assets that we need to continue to build on so that all businesses thrive. These organizations have made tremendous contributions toward building the workforce we need to support and develop the I-20 technology pathway. Continued on Page 2 March 26, 2018 CALENDAR Tuesday, March 27 at 6:00 p.m.-monroe City Council will meet at Monroe City Hall, Council Chambers. Wednesday, March 28 at 4:00 p.m. at Louisiana Delta Community College (First Floor Conference Room), the NELA Healthcare Partnership Acute Care Network will meet. Friday, March 30-Good Friday-Chamber office closed. Monday, April 2 at 5:30 p.m.-the Ouachita Parish Police Jury will meet at the Ouachita Parish Courthouse. Tuesday, April 3 at noon-the Monroe Chamber Ambassador s will meet at the Biedenharn Museum with Ralph Calhoun speaking. Cost to attend is $20. Contact Sarita at sdaniel@monroe.org to RSVP. Wednesday, April 4 at noon-the Ouachita Parish Port Commission will meet at the Monroe Chamber office. Wednesday, April 4 at 4:00 p.m.-the NELA Manufacturing Partnership will meet at Louisiana Delta Community College with Thomas Evans of Training Logic. The topic is How to Make Better Decisions. Tuesday, April 10 at 12 noon The NELA Young Professionals will meet. Chris Ramsey is keynote speaker. To RSVP, please call Daphne at Wednesday, April 18 CABL/PAR Legislative Update Luncheon will be held at the Monroe Civic Center Bayou Room. Cost to attend is $25. To RSVP, please call Daphne Garrett at SAVE THE DATE! Tuesday, May 1-Northern Exposure will be held in Baton Rouge. For more information, please call Daphne at

2 Storey Meets the Community continued from page 1 Jeff spoke to the group on his decision not to move to Monroe. CenturyLink is a global enterprise with pro forma revenues of $24 billion. Through the very technologies that CenturyLink provides, today s workforce is mobile and global. Jeff explained that he can do his job from anywhere in the world and he travels to Monroe frequently as do other leaders from around the country and the world. Today, CenturyLink serves customers in more than 60 countries and is the second largest U. S. communications provider to global enterprise customers with approximately 450,000 route miles of fiber globally and more than 100,000 fiber-enabled, on-net buildings. CenturyLink s goal is to be the world s best networking company. CenturyLink employs more than 50,000 people around the world with approximately 2,700 in Louisiana, most in Monroe. CenturyLink has leadership positions and major work centers all over the globe to efficiently and effectively serve its customers. The business leaders who attended the event were pleased to get to know Jeff and to hear more on how we, the Ouachita Parish community, can help CenturyLink reach new heights here in Monroe. Call For Nominations Thomas H. Scott Awards of Excellence The Monroe Chamber of Commerce, the News Star and the University of Louisiana at Monroe College of Business plan to recognize the growth and development of new and expanding businesses in Ouachita Parish with an awards ceremony that will be held on May 24th. The three entities have collaborated on The Thomas H. Scott Awards of Excellence. The awards will be presented to Ouachita Parish businesses that have demonstrated a commitment to Northeast Louisiana by creating or retaining jobs, making a capital investment in machinery, equipment or a new facility and that participate in worthwhile projects that make the community a better place to live. The award is named after Thomas H. Scott, the founder of Scott Companies, which is headquartered in Monroe. Scott was raised in Mississippi and attended Mississippi State University where he received a degree in agriculture engineering. Following graduation, he moved to Shreveport where he was employed with International Harvester. While in Shreveport, he met Mayme, the woman who was to be his wife and life-long companion. The couple moved to Monroe in 1939 to open Scott Truck and Tractor Company. Over the years, Scott Truck and Tractor evolved into Scott Companies, which includes Scott Equipment, Scott Financial Services, Scott Irrigation, Scott Real Estate and CBS Interests. Scott summarized his business philosophy in a company brochure that was published in In it he said, People are important. Our number 1 goal has always been to serve the customer. Our business has been built on service to our customer and service to the communities in which we are located. Scott continued to work at the business until his death in 2001 at the age of 90. Four awards will be presented: small business category (businesses that employee 1-10 people); medium business category (businesses that employee people); large business category (businesses that employee 51 to 100 people); and corporate (businesses that employee over 100 people). Nominations are open to any Ouachita Parish business that expanded their business or made a capital investment in 2017/18; created or retained jobs; and that participate in worthwhile causes throughout Ouachita Parish. Nomination forms are available at the Monroe Chamber. Area businesses are encouraged to nominate their own business. The deadline to submit a nomination is 5:00 p.m. Friday, April 27th. All completed nominations should be mailed or delivered to the Monroe Chamber of Commerce at 212 Walnut Street, Suite 100; Monroe, LA The winners will be announced at a reception to be held on May 24 th at ULM. Tickets for the event are $40 per person. For more information or to nominate a business, please call the Monroe Chamber at

2018 Regular Legislative Session-Week 2 Last week, the House Education Committee voted to create a Commission to address early childhood care issues.

SB 162 by Senator Troy Carter was scheduled for a vote on the Senate floor last week. This bill seeks to set a minimum wage for Louisiana that is $1.25 an hour higher than the current federal minimum.

3 2018 Regular Legislative Session-Week 2 Last week, the House Education Committee voted to create a Commission to address early childhood care issues. HB 676 by Representative Hilferty will create a commission tasked with establishing a vision for accessible, quality early childhood care and education. SB 162 by Senator Troy Carter was scheduled for a vote on the Senate floor last week. This bill seeks to set a minimum wage for Louisiana that is $1.25 an hour higher than the current federal minimum. The bill was made special order to be heard on Tuesday this week. Research has shown the best path out of poverty is a good job. When government raises wage rates, employers are forced to make tough decisions that can lead to fewer opportunities for minimum-wage workers. These tough decisions might result in an increase of every product you see on the shelf. The increase in wages will only end up hurting those workers that it seeks to help as the extra money they earn doesn t go as far as it used to. The state s construction bill was filed last week. House Bill 2 provides for the capital outlay budget and program for FY The Kansas Lane Connector and Hannah s Run Control Structure projects are included in the bill. Women s Symposium at ULM As part of the celebration of Women s History Month, the University of Louisiana Monroe will host the Third Annual ULM Women s Symposium on Wednesday, March 28 at Bayou Pointe Student Event Center. The event will start at noon with lunch and will continue until 5:30 p.m. with a networking social following the symposium. The women s symposium will feature discussions in a panelist/moderator format. Panelists include university faculty, staff, and prominent leaders within the community. Some of the timely topics will include financial health, diversity and cultural awareness, social media consciousness, overall health and self-care, authentic leadership, and negotiations and communication. Last week, CenturyLink announced their success at recruiting an addition 150 people to fill new customer care jobs that will be added to their Forsythe location in Monroe. The keynote speaker is Meryl Kennedy Farr, president and owner of KenRice Pac and co-owner and CEO of Neighbors, LLC. Farr will speak about paving her path to leadership. ULM will also welcome Taryn C. Branson from the Women s Policy division of the Louisiana Governor s office. Branson is a 2011 ULM alumna and will be featured during the opening welcome to the symposium. The symposium will conclude with the prestigious ULM Women s Symposium awards presented to five individuals that have empowered women both personally and professionally. The honorees this year include Cindy Rogers, Linda Holyfield, Kelsea McCrary, Nirali Patel, and Dr. Ron Berry. The overarching theme of the women s symposium this year is WINGS: Women Influencing the Next Generation of Success. The mission of the symposium is to empower, motivate, and encourage girls and women from all backgrounds and all educational and professional levels to pursue their passions and seek leadership roles in their desired career paths. The ULM campus is 64 percent female, an average higher than the UL system average of 60 percent. Thirty percent of those females at ULM are students of color, McKinnie stated. As the landscape becomes more diverse, so should our efforts of inclusion and promotion of one another. This event is an attempt to further that cause, to represent to students and professionals success in every color, gender, socioeconomic background, and professional field. Complete information about the Women's Symposium, including registration, discussion topics, panelists, and more are available at ulm.edu/womens-symposium.

For more information, please call Sue Nicholson at 807-4015 or 614-2833.

6 CORRECTED DATE!!!!! You are invited to join the The Northeast Louisiana Manufacturing Partnership on Thursday April 4 th from 4:00 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. In Conference Room B on the first floor of Louisiana Delta Community College Monroe Campus on Millhaven Road Thomas Evans with Training Logic will facilitate. For more information, please call Sue Nicholson at or Apply by March 31 for LED s CEO Roundtables CEO Roundtables bring together groups of 15 to 18 key decision makers from Louisiana-based small businesses 10 times a year for peer-to-peer learning and support through growth-oriented, collaborative roundtable sessions. These peer groups give executives the opportunity to discuss business practices and management strategies with likeminded business people who deal with similar growth challenges so that they can address these challenges with the advantage of each other s experience and expertise. The application period for CEO roundtables that began in July 2018 closes on March 31. Visit OpportunityLouisiana.com/CEO- Roundtables to learn more and apply today. To view testimonials from past participants, visit CEORoundtablesYouTube.

MONROE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 212 Walnut Street, Suite 100 Monroe, LA 71201 PHONE: (318) 323-3461 FAX: (318) 812-7594 E-MAIL:

7 MONROE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 212 Walnut Street, Suite 100 Monroe, LA PHONE: (318) FAX: (318) Website: THE MONROE CHAMBER S MISSION IS TO LEAD IN THE CREATION OF AN ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH OUR BUSINESSES THRIVE.

Mayor James E. Jamie Mayo

1 Biographical Information Mayor James E. Jamie Mayo 33 rd Mayor of the City of Monroe, Louisiana (2001 Present) PERSONAL LIFE Mayor Jamie Mayo was born in Monroe, Louisiana. During his youth, he lived