Fund to Revitalize Shreveport-Area Neighborhoods
Published Mar 10, 2008
Private investment is leading a $100 million revitalization effort for 16 targeted Shreveport-Bossier City neighborhoods
Bob Hamm knows what a rare opportunity awaits his community. It isn’t every day government can get its hands on $20 million for a special project.
Rarer still is the day when local businesses can generate $20 million for a single purpose.
Rarest of all is the $20 million infusion the Shreveport-Bossier City area will receive soon from investors beyond Louisiana. A community development committee, or CDC, will work with a professional fund manager to manage the money in a private equity fund aimed at revitalizing inner-city neighborhoods and rural enclaves where business investment is a big challenge.
“These projects we’re talking about will be built because they will provide economic return to the investors while at the same time enhancing the quality of life for the neighborhoods,” say Hamm, president of the 22-member Strategic Action Council of Northwest Louisiana.
That steering committee rose as the rallying force behind a 2003 study, “Finding the High Common Ground,” funded by seven organizations bent on bettering life throughout Northwest Louisiana, especially in areas needing the most help.
The $20 million stake will be invested by the CDC in the most worthy business projects identified in 16 targeted neighborhoods. The investment should grow fivefold with tax credits and other matches for a $100 million impact.
Belden Daniels of Boston-based Economic Innovation International conducted the 2003 study and has assembled many other equity funds that have made similar community investments with success.
A double bottom line will see investors gain a return while ensuring a measurable leap in quality of life for Shreveport-Bossier, Daniels says.
“The best projects would be mixed-use,” says Hamm, CEO of Berg Inc. “That would include some housing, some retail and possibly some light manufacturing.”
The CDC is one of a dozen initiatives expected to come out of the Higher Ground study.
Other efforts include BEST, Building Excellent Schools & Teachers, a partnership to boost K-12 education through community dialogues, teacher incentives and career connections. Regional Technology Strategies of Chapel Hill, N.C., will create a template for the ideal economic development organization in Northwest Louisiana. And the Strategic Action Council will work with LSU-Shreveport to create an entrepreneurial institute with building more minority-owned business as a key goal.
Meanwhile, the CDC will begin investing the $20 million fund in groundbreaking projects by late 2006.
“The nice part of it is this $20 million is coming from outside our community and is going to be deployed in our community,” says Richard Bremer, president of the Greater Shreveport Chamber of Commerce. Investors will include banks, insurance companies, foundations and pension plans. In other cities, Daniels’ company has helped more than 100 private funds raise standards of living while also returning a profit to investors.
With the initiatives, Hamm says, Northwest Louisiana is proving itself a region of action that refused to let “Finding the High Common Ground” gather dust on a shelf.
“You’re talking about a five- to 10-year life of this first cycle,” he says. “But if we are as successful as we hope to be, there will be a second fund raised and another round of projects done.”
Story by Gary Perilloux
Photo by Wes Aldridge
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