MONROE CHAMBER WEEKLY REPORT Volume 17, Issue 8 2585854

Monroe Chamber of Commerce

Weekly Report

February 20, 2017

TOGETHER WE’RE STRONGER CALENDAR

Tuesday, February 21 at 5:30 p.m.-The

Ouachita Parish Police Jury will meet at the

Ouachita Parish Courthouse.

Wednesday, February 22 at 12 noon-

Congressman Abraham will provide a

Congressional Update at the Monroe Civic

Center. The cost to attend is $25. Please call

Daphne McClish at 807-4018 to RSVP.

Wednesday, February 22 at 3:30 p.m.-The

Monroe Chamber Governmental Advocacy

Committee will meet at the Monroe Chamber

office. For information, please call Lori Reneau

at 807-4022.

Friday, March 3 at 2:00 p.m. - Affinity

Specialty Clinic Ribbon Cutting. The business is

located at 2516 Broadmoor.

Tuesday, March 7 at 12 noon -The

Ambassadors Club will meet at Copeland's.

Guest speaker is Cesar Camacho with INFIT-

Monroe. Cost to attend is $15. Please RSVP to

Sarita Daniel at sdaniel@monroe.org.

Tuesday, March 7 at 3:00 p.m. - Copeland's of

New Orleans Ribbon Cutting. The business is

located at 3851 Pecanland Mall Drive.

Wednesday, March 8 at 11:30 a.m.-The

Monroe Downtown RiverMarket Expansion

Groundbreaking. The event will take place on

the south end of the Warehouse No1 parking lot. Thursday, March 9 at 4:00 p.m. - Bank of

Ruston Ribbon Cutting. The business is located at

2450 Tower Drive.

Friday, March 10 at 3:00 p.m. - BancorpSouth

Grand Opening & Ribbon Cutting. The business

is located at 4094 Sterlington Road.

MONROE CHAMBER ANNOUNCES 2017 LEADERSHIP OUACHITA CLASS

The Monroe Chamber of Commerce announced the participants of the 29th

Leadership

Ouachita Class today at the Monroe Chamber Office. On hand for the announcement

were Monroe Mayor Jamie Mayo, a graduate of Leadership Graduate, Sue Nicholson,

Monroe Chamber president and Jeff Laudenheimer, Chairman of the Leadership Council.

The 2017 participants are: Stacie Ambrose, OIB; Jessie Arant, Origin Bank; Jody

Blakley, CenturyLink; Lori Calhoun, P & S Surgical Hospital; Alicia Calvin, MCS –

Excellence Academy; Ashlee Clampit, KTVE/KARD; Rachel Dean, ANGUS Chemical;

Kaitlyn Grekoff, Monroe WM CVB; Jennifer Haneline, Louisiana Campaign for a

Tobacco-Free Living; Miracle Hill, Centric FCU; Kelvin Horne, Immanuel’s Healing

Center; Rachel Hutchinson, CenturyLink; Traci Jordan, University Health Conway; Leah

Martin, BancorpSouth; Nicole Morgan, MoeBiz; Linda O’Neal, Origin; Morgan Patrick,

ULM; Audrey Peterson, First National Bank; Daryl Platt, City of Monroe; Chetamor

Robinson, First National Bank; Matt Simonton, ANGUS Chemical; Laurie Smith, Chase

Home Finance; Kayla Smith, Monroe Housing Authority; DeRon Talley, LSBDC; Iantha

Thomas, Mogul Realty Solutions; Carlie Turner, Origin Bank; Justin Underwood,

Movement Mortgage; Ashley White, The Food Bank of NELA; Erica Williams, SMSO.

Continued on page 4

Last Week, CenturyLink announced their partnership with the City of Monroe, the Monroe City

School System, the Ouachita Parish School System and the Cyber Innovation Center (CIC) to

bring a nationally recognized STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) curriculum to

local students. Currently teachers with the Monroe City School System are training to begin

incorporating the program into their curriculum.

MONROE CHAMBER WEEKLY REPORT | Volume 17, Issue 8

MONROE CHAMBER WEEKLY REPORT | Volume 17, Issue 8

MONROE CHAMBER WEEKLY REPORT | Volume 17, Issue 8

2017 Leadership Ouachita continued from page 1 The Leadership Ouachita class will run through November 2017. Those selected will be trained to take an active role in government advocacy, workforce development, infrastructure and all aspects of the community where leadership is needed to make an impact. The course empowers the emerging leaders of northeast Louisiana to transform the region into one of the best places to live, work and do business. The 2017 class will begin with an opening retreat at Toledo Bend Lodge. The first session includes a basic leadership assessment that includes a component on how society works through participation in SIMSOC, a simulated society. Over the course of the year, class members will meet with leaders in education, economic development, transportation, and workforce development. To learn more about Leadership Ouachita, go to www.monroe.org.

Ribbon Cuttings

The City of Monroe and the Monroe Chamber hosted a ribbon cutting last week for Terri’s Tax Service. The new business is located at 208 Cole Ave, Suite A.

The City of Monroe and the Monroe Chamber hosted a ribbon cutting last week for Mel’s Fried Chicken and Catfish. The business is located at 340 Highway 594 in Monroe.

Last week, ULM and the Convention and Visitors Bureau cut the ribbon on the new baseball fields at ULM. Pictured to the left is ULM President

Nick Bruno and Alana Cooper and her staff from the Monroe-West Monroe CVB.

MONROE CHAMBER WEEKLY REPORT | Volume 17, Issue 8

Nominations Now Accepted for the

2017 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 25th.

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 2000. 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 11-50

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 2016/17;

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 28th. All

completed nominations should be mailed or delivered to

the Monroe Chamber of Commerce at 212 Walnut

Street, Suite 100; Monroe, LA 71201.

The winners will be announced at a reception to be held

on May 25th at the ULM Conference Center. Tickets for

the event are $35 per person. For more information or to

nominate a business, please call the Monroe Chamber at

323-3461.

MONROE CHAMBER WEEKLY REPORT | Volume 17, Issue 8

NELA Manufacturer’s Council to Meet

February 28

On Tuesday, February 28 at 3:30 p.m. at the Monroe

Chamber office, the NELA Manufacturer’s Council will

meet. The Keynote speaker for the event is Ray Peters

with RoyOMartin.

Recently RoyOMartin led a group of manufacturers in

Northwest Louisiana in a training program that

provided on the job training. Students participating in

the program learned C4M and were paid while they

trained. The training was provided by the Louisiana

Community College system.

The program was very successful with the participating

manufacturers saying they would participate in the

program again because the students graduating from the

program were so well prepared to go to work when they

finished their training.

The meeting is open to all area manufacturers. For more

information please call Sue Nicholson at 807-4015.

MONROE CHAMBER WEEKLY REPORT | Volume 17, Issue 8

MONROE CHAMBER OF

COMMERCE

212 Walnut Street, Suite 100 Monroe, LA 71201

PHONE: (318) 323-3461

FAX: (318) 812-7594

E-MAIL:

communications@monroe.org

Website: www.monroe.org

THE MONROE CHAMBER’S MISSION

IS TO LEAD IN THE CREATION

OF AN ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH

OUR BUSINESSES THRIVE.