Closed down.Originally Posted by Rickeydad
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Closed down.
Ruston's problem is a "lack of jobs". If you've got job growth, you'll automatically draw new citizens and new commercial business to go with it.
I don't know anything about the City of Ruston govenrment. But I do know allot about how a city govenrment can encourage and entice job growth and commercial business growth through tax incentives and aggressive solicitation.
If they don't already have one, the City of Ruston government needs to fund a FULLTIME Ruston Economic Development Corporation (REDC) with sales tax dollars. The REDC will be staffed by a FULLTIME director and his/her fulltime staff. The goal of the REDC will be to encourage business growth in Ruston and to encourage businesses outside Ruston to RELOCATE to Ruston.
For example, with Ruston's "cheap" cost of living, cheap real estate, and highly educated work force, Ruston would be an IDEAL location for a corporate "Call Center" for routing calls of a credit card company (American Express), a retail company (JC Penney) or a "managed services" type business (ala EDS). A "Call Center" business like this could literally bring THOUSANDS of new jobs --and new tax dollars-- to Ruston overnight.
And that's just ONE (1) example. I could literally think of dozens more. I've seen it. I've LIVED it.
Anyway, with Louisiana Tech University as a major resource, there's simply no excuse for Ruston to NOT be growing. The city of Ruston is NOT growing for the same reasons Louisiana Tech athletics is stalling: Poor leadership.
HD
You hit the nail on the head, HD. As I've noted many times before, the biggest problem with both Ruston and Tech is that the "leadership" have their heads buried in the Lincoln Parish red clay. It's almost like they don't even know there's anything out there beyond the parish line. It's always been that way and probably always will be.
The city has just(last 3 months) hired a director of ecomonic development...Mayor Hollingsworth now in his second term has been pushing for this for some time and the city has hired him with out parish help.
Things in Ruston have in the past moved at a snails pace...or worse...things are changing--new connect service roads are starting up...new Theatre and various new resturants and other retail outlets are opening this year...it is unfortunate that Lewis' clothing has to shut down--that is not a FAULT of Ruston's Mayor or council...Industrial jobs are being sought with new sources every month....
The Mayor has always pushed to use the Tech resources ... now he is starting to make progress with others coming on board to see the importance of Ruston being a College Town instead of what it was before a town with a college in it.
I have been helping businesses in Ruston and Monroe for over 25 years with advertising....I have seen a lot come and go .... I have seen stagnation at it's best....BUT...I have to say that the leadership as it is now is not the problem..yes I worked for the Mayor for 25 years when he owned our stations--which gives me a little bit better insight to the kind of man he is ...I respectfully say that his leadership will begin this year to come to show that things will happen NOW in Ruston...
Lincoln Parish still is one of the 3 parishes with the lowest unemployment figures in this state...it has potential unlimited...it is now starting to tap some of it....
Ed
First of all, I congratulate you --and the city of Ruston-- for hiring a Director of Economic Development. That's EXACTLY what I was talking about in my previous post. However, I was not aware that Ruston had taken this "gigantic" leap of faith recently.
Please understand that this new "Director" is going to need help. He can't get it done by himself. However, his hiring is a GREAT start in the right direction. IN today's word, a city of ANY size just can't live without an Economic Development Corp. driving their commercial growth.
Ruston has got allot going for it. With TWO (2) nearby universities, an interstate running through its' front yard and an extremely low cost of living, Ruston is a time bomb waiting to explode (in a good way). With a few tax break incentivess and an improved educational system in elementary through high school, Ruston should grow like wildfire. There's just no excuse for it not to happen.
Good luck.
HD
Bring back Muther's. Is Stow's still in business? I remember the records and lighted dance floor! Many stories from those places on weeknights and weekends (only if there was a ball game on a Saturday).
What is Ruston known for other than Tech? While I was there, I always wondered where everybody worked. Take away Tech, what's left? All I remember is the Stone Container plant about 15-20 miles south of town that really stinks. Economic Development would be fantastic for Ruston.
Yes, Stow's is still with us. What I would like to see is industrial growth between Choudrant and Ruston. Bring in a plant like the Mercedes plant in Tuscaloosa, AL. Give them some tax breaks and in turn they give you 1000+ jobs. A couple of those in addition to the offshoots we may see from the Micromanufacturing and Biomedical Research going on at TECH, and now we're talking.
I'll admit, Ruston's downtown looked a little down at the heels when I came down for Christmas. But I don't think it's a symptom of a bad economy there. In fact, a recent national economic survey on policom.com had Ruston as the second-ranked small town economy in Louisiana, behind Hammond.
When you talk about a lack of restaurants and bars downtown, though, I think that will be fixed by the new liquor law. I know it's been a little while since it passed, but if the success of Chili's is any indication, the restaurants will come, and not just along the interstate.
http://www.policom.com/ranknum.htm
This guy complained about all the fried food he has to eat down south. Come on. What a joke. Did he look around Grambling while he was there? Did he visit Monroe? There is more to being a "college town" than having a lot of bars. Ruston is a nice, small, southern town. I agree it could be a lot better, but I'm not going to lose any sleep because some hack from Denver couldn't find a bar to his liking. List columns like this are "throw-aways". It's easy to write, it's good for a laugh or two, and it requires no thought. Meaningless.
This guy complained about all the fried food he has to eat down south. Come on. What a joke. Did he look around Grambling while he was there? Did he visit Monroe? There is more to being a "college town" than having a lot of bars. Ruston is a nice, small, southern town. I agree it could be a lot better, but I'm not going to lose any sleep because some hack from Denver couldn't find a bar to his liking. List columns like this are "throw-aways". It's easy to write, it's good for a laugh or two, and it requires no thought. Meaningless.
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