They may be located on the roads less traveled, but the smaller com­munities that populate Northwest Louisiana’s landscape are anything but off the map.

Indeed, as oil and gas revenues help move ahead projects ranging from airport renovations to business park construc­tion, these communities are becoming havens for new investment and business expansion.

“The rural communities are where most of the new oil and gas activity is going to be, and they are putting in the infrastructure – the roads, bridges, water and sewer – that they’ll need for all that new development,” says David Rockett, president and executive director of the Greater Bossier Economic Development Foundation. “Then they’re going to have all this new infrastructure ready for the next opportunity when it comes along.”

As a prime example, Rockett points to Plain Dealing, which passed legislation dedicating a portion of its sales tax specifically for economic development, funds that now are being used to build an industrial park, with other projects to be scheduled as economics permit.

“They’re being very progressive,” Rockett says. “Communities can use the revenues from the new mineral leases to really build their infrastructure without any new taxes.”

Other communities take advantage of their location and natural resources. Red River Parish is home to a relatively new port on the Red River Waterway, a 50-acre operation that includes cargo-handling equipment.

Arcadia in Bienville Parish offers ideal access on I-20, a major east-west route. The parish is home to major industries such as poultry processor House of Raeford and high-tech tubing company Haynes International. 

Growing the existing business base is an ongoing focus for the DeSoto Parish Industrial Board, and that means working with as many partners as will come to the table, says Nita Richardson, chairman.

“Most of what we’re getting in now is oil and gas related, and we’re working to diversify within that group,” says Richardson. “We’re trying to get good businesses in here, and put in the water lines and other things that will help bring them in. We work with the governments, we work with the utilities, it’s all a net­working thing where we do what we can to help out.”

In addition to addressing core infra­structure needs, economic development organ­izations in the region also are offer­ing funding streams that are helping start­ups and entrepreneurs as well
as larger, more-established concerns, expand and prosper.

The Sabine Parish Chamber of Commerce’s revolving loan program is one such mechanism, and its past suc­cesses bode well for its ongoing efforts, says Liz Tramel, director.

“We loan up to $20,000 to different businesses to get them started in the area,” Tramel says.

“It’s really for people who are high risk, and who either want to start a business, or have one and can’t get any more funding from the banks. We’ve had it going for about 10 years, and have probably lost the money on only one or two loans. It’s opened a lot of businesses that wouldn’t have been here otherwise,” she says.

In Claiborne Parish, which includes Homer and Haynesville, the Claiborne Chamber of Commerce offers a revolving loan program for startup and expanding businesses.

The region also is fortunate to have its major utilities as growth partners. Economic development is a major focus of Cleco Power LLC, which serves 276,000 customers throughout the area.

Helping grow the business base is key not only to the region’s fortunes, but that of Cleco itself, so it makes sense to get in on the action, says Brady Baudin, the utility’s manager of business and economic development.

“We support the local entities and their initiatives,” Baudin says. “If they’re working on an RFP for the state, we’ll help them prepare that, and we support the state’s efforts as it markets the area nationally and internationally. We’re also working with the state on its community development network initiatives, so that we can help our communities develop and become more prepared for new industry and businesses as well as retain their cur­rent ones.”

The Northwest Louisiana economy is growing despite the national down­turn, and its communities are moving full speed ahead. That’s going to position the area well for the coming economic recovery, notes Rockett.

“Now is the time for the communities to take a pause and look at their possi­bilities,” he says. “They’re doing that, and they’re planning their futures now even as we’re adding jobs and growing all around the area.”

A combination of economic development incentives, skilled workforce and excellent quality of life has helped many companies begin, expand and prosper throughout Northwest Louisiana.

Here are just a few of the success stories:
Caddo Manufacturing
4Vivian Caddo Parish

When the VIP boat plant closed, things looked pretty bad for the boat-building trade in Vivian. But when Caddo Manufacturing LLC came to town, the old plant got fresh wind in its sails and now employs more than 40 people.

Caddo was able to take advantage of an operation that just needed to be dusted off and cleaned up a bit, shortening the time it took to begin building boats, says Buddy House, mate­rials manager.

“We had the building, and the personnel were here, so we were able to provide a pretty good boost to the community pretty quickly,” House says. “It’s important that Vivian have this manufacturing facility, because there’s nothing else like it in this part of the parish.”

The company also is capitalizing on a deal with the former owners that will allow it to use the existing VIP, Baystealth and Deckliner names, so it will already have some market recognition for its products. It also will build the Ultra Cat line.

Caddo is using two facilities in town, one that is producing upholstery and also houses the wood shop, and another that will open up for warehousing, final assembly and shipping. The company is in the process of going from single-boat production to two a day, and will speed up more when economic conditions permit.

“We’re going to do that, and we’re also going to open up a trailer manufacturing facility so we can build those again here,” House says. “We’ve got a sales force throughout the United States setting up new dealers, and so we’re headed in a very good direction.”

Fibrebond
4Minden Webster Parish

Since setting up shop in 1982, Fibrebond has become one of the nation’s leading manufacturers of concrete structures for the telecommunications, education and corrections markets.

The company began as a 12-person operation in Bossier City, but by 1984 had moved to a 170-acre site in Minden, where it remains today.

Fibrebond began as a manufacturer of concrete buildings for use in microwave communications, but soon branched out into panelized buildings that could be used by the then-new cellular telephone industry. The company’s shelters now can be found in all 50 states as well as overseas.

In the late 1980s, the company developed pre-cast concrete detention cells, marking its move into a business that has generated projects that hold more than 9,000 inmates in 16 states and Guam. The company also has gotten into equipment installation services, building an installation center in 1994 to receive, warehouse and install wireless equipment into Fibrebond shelters.

Fibrebond currently employs more than 600 people and focuses on the manufacture of a variety of concrete products as well as offering complete site construction services.

Almond Brothers Lumber Co.
4Coushatta Red River Parish

Six generations of Almonds have worked in the family-owned lumber company.

“We’ve been doing what we do now since 1947, but we’ve been around since the turn of the last century,” says Vince Almond, whose father and uncles currently own the company where he works in sales. “The saw mill that we’re in now has been here since then, along with the warehouses and a small concrete operation that we have to pour for small jobs around here.”

Almond Brothers currently has 85 employees. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the company opted to upgrade its mill for a more production-oriented output suitable for the over­seas market.

That led to a decline in domestic sales, which was a receding line of business at the time and was causing the downfall of many timber operations.

“We’re about 85 percent export now, and don’t dress the lumber here,” Almond says. “Our lumber is raw materials for the overseas market, and we sell a lot in the Caribbean, where they use it for construction.”

By being able to anticipate market changes, the company has been able to create and fill its own niche, and will continue to do so going forward thanks to good relationships it has forged with its economic development partners.

“We’ve gotten some help with upgrades, things to help keep us here, keep us providing jobs, so we try to give back by being a good employer,” Almond says. “This is definitely a good place for us to do business.”

Watco Mechanical Services
4Zwolle Sabine Parish

Railcar operators have long tuned to Millennium Rail Inc. for their repair and maintenance needs.

The company, now a wholly owned subsidiary of Watco Cos., offers services that include fleet management, general repair and maintenance, specialty freight car manufacturing and pro­gram works. Millennium Rail has several shops, including one in Zwolle in Sabine Parish.

Watco, based in Pittsburg, Kan., operates 16 railroads in 14 states, as well as industrial switching locations and mechan­ical and locomotive shops around the country.

For more information on Millenium Rail, visit www.watcocompanies.com.

With vibrant downtowns, new housing developments and ever-expanding cultural offerings, Northwest Louisiana communities are giving big cities a run for their money – and then some.

“If you can’t find it in Vivian, we’re only 30 minutes from Shreveport and they’ve probably got it there,” says Betty Matthews, Vivian Chamber of Commerce president. “But, as we tell people, we really do have just about everything up here, on a smaller scale.” Whether you’re Bienville Parish’s Arcadia, which can boast golfing, two museums and the Bonnie and Clyde Trade Days (the two outlaws met their end here), or Sabine Parish, which is overseeing the explosion of housing and recreational development along Toledo Bend Lake, there’s plenty to talk about.

“The chamber of commerce, the tourism commission and the town of Many, which is the parish seat, have banded together to promote Toledo Bend as a retirement destination,” says Liz Tramel, director of the Sabine Parish Chamber of Commerce.

“People are buying and building places on the lake, and when you see $400,000 homes going up it really helps our area a lot,” she says. “People are spending money not just on the houses, and that helps our business community.”

Homer in Claiborne Parish boasts antebellum houses and a historic town center. Corney Lake and Lake Claiborne State Park offer countless recreation options, and sportsmen will find an abundance of hunting lodges. Lake Claiborne is a pop­ular spot for people who like to live in unspoiled nature.

Bienville Parish includes Arcadia and is also home to the Mt. Lebanon community, which includes six homes on the National Register of Historic Places as well as the historic Mount Lebanon Baptist Church.

Adding a residential component to the mix has also been a focus of the Natchitoches Main Street Program, which began in 1993 and works to preserve and supplement the city’s downtown.
These days that means overseeing a resurgence of restaurants and retail as well as a booming apartment and condo scene. “We’ve always had a strong downtown in terms of great shops and tourist attractions, but we were missing that residential link,” says Courtney Hornsby, director of programming and promotions.

That component came together with the development of the Nakatosh Hotel, a multistory building in the heart of the city’s downtown. “It had been vacant for more than 30 years, and when a new developer stopped its planned demolition and got some incentive financing to turn it into condominiums, that began a trend,” Hornsby says.

That building and several others, most notably the Don Theater and the Natchitoches Ford property, have been trans­formed into multiuse buildings, housing art galleries, coffee shops, restaurants and other businesses that cater not only to visitors, but also downtown workers and residents. And with each success another property or two comes back online, spread­ing the wealth outward from the city center.

“It was a matter of getting all the stars aligned, but now our downtown is getting a lot of attention,” Hornsby says.

Camp Minden has long been a major force in the Webster Parish economy, and with a $24 million expansion project under way as the first phase of a four-part, $87 million upgrade, its role in the local economy is getting a lot bigger.

Federal funds will be used to expand the facility into a Regional Training Institute, or RTI, and will be augmented by $4 million from the state’s mega fund during the first phase, expected to be completed by mid-2010.

All told, the expansion will encompass some 300,000 square feet in up to a dozen buildings and include a complete over­haul and upgrade to the Louisiana National Guard’s portion of the site.

“It’s a big development for Camp Minden, and it’s a big thing for the Louisiana National Guard,” says Col. Ron Stuckey, com­mander. “We’ve been doing things like truck-driver training at old, obsolete facilities, and this will give us new, state-of-the-art training capability for that, as well as allow us to accommodate some other programs we’re currently not teaching.”

The project also includes new housing, so plans at present call for the Non-Commissioned Officer Academy at Camp Cook in Alexandria to relocate to the base, Stuckey says. These days, Camp Minden has around 940 students on base, a number that will rise to 5,000 when the entire project has come online.

And in addition to the expanded military personnel, the camp also will see a growth in employment to around 120, providing local jobs after the construction dust has settled.

The camp, which has been under state and Louisiana National Guard control since January 2005, continues to market 1,300 of its 15,000 acres as a business and industrial site with help from regional economic development officials.

Now that its operating budget is slated to rise from $2 million to around $11 million at the end of the fourth phase of the development, look for that partnership to become even more pronounced.

“Since we arrived in 2005, you can drive down U.S. Highway 80 and see several things that aren’t related to what we do out here, but have come into the area because they know something positive is going on,” Stuckey says. “I know of three new sites within a mile of our front gate, people that want to be a part of the installation.”

Stuckey is quick to applaud local and regional elected officials, as well as economic development teams throughout Northwest Louisiana, for their role in the RTI project.

“It takes a lot of support from all levels of the government to make something like this happen, and everyone has been pushing to make this thing a reality,” Stuckey says. “Everyone around here understands the impact on the economy this is going to have, and they’ve worked to help make it happen. We think that our annual economic impact on the area will be about $20 million a year, so we’re going to be affecting the local economy in a lot of ways.”

Community airports have long played an important part in Northwest Louisiana’s economy.

Now, as many of them are upgraded and revamped, they’re taking a more prominent place in the region’s reinvig­orated infrastructure.

Natchitoches Regional Airport is a case in point. Located just southwest of downtown, the airport is kept busy with private and commercial travelers, many of whom utilize the facility’s hangars. The airport has a full-service mechanic shop, rental car outlets and a main terminal whose amenities include a flight school that is operated in conjunction with Northwestern State University.

“It’s more than just a runway,” says Courtney Hornsby, direc­tor of programming and promotions for the city of Natchitoches. “The program with the university means that it is a teaching facility, and we also have a welcome center at the site for dig­nitaries who visit the area. We have different industries that rent the hangars, and there also are fly-ins for car shows and other events, so it’s used by us for tourism as well as business.”

The facility is in the midst of upgrading its apron to concrete, as well as receiving modernized lighting and other improve­ments. That will be of benefit as the city and parish continue to promote the nearby business and industrial parks, as well as handle the occasional celebrity drop-in.

“One Friday, the mayor asked me to come with him and to bring my camera,” Hornsby says. “We went to the airport and it was Oprah Winfrey in her private jet; dogs, bodyguards, camera crew and everything. She had come to tour the town as part of a show, and she flew in and out of our airport.”

Facilities in Homer and Mansfield also pull in their share of small-aircraft traffic, and they, too, are seen as current and future revenue generators and are treated accordingly.

“We’re in the planning stages, and are looking at both the airport property and some adjacent property that would allow us to add some hangars and runway extensions,” says Steve Brown, parish administrator and engineer for DeSoto Parish, which owns and operates the C.E. “Rusty” Williams Airport located in Mansfield.

The airport has an adjacent industrial park, and its parcels are filling up quickly. The facility’s 1,000 or so acres also have been factored into a master plan that’s allowing for some other, more ambitious, development as well.

“We’re looking at some recreation facilities, an emergency operations center and a hotel on the adjacent property, things that the parish can do now with the revenue stream that’s coming from the mineral leases and royalties from the gas industry,” Brown says. “The parish is able to do things that it’s never been in a position to do in terms of quality of life, and the airport and its economic development ability is a part of that.”

Drop-ins of quite another variety are the specialty at Vivian Municipal Airport, which is home to the Skydive Experience, a well-known skydive-training program. The facility gets plenty of more routine traffic as well, says Betty Matthews, president of the Vivian Chamber of Commerce.

“There is a lot of small business out there, and so it’s very beneficial to the area,” Matthews says. “We’re working on some upgrades now, because the airport helps us in many ways, so we want to keep growing it. The city has recently incorporated it into the city limits, so that’s going to help us when it comes time to extend the runway, add hangars and make other improvements.”

With prime spots on abundant major waterways and secluded streams and channels, fishing has long been a sport of choice in Northwest Louisiana.

The popularity of fishing in Northwest Louisiana has grown beyond hometown passions to include major events such as ESPN’s Bassmaster Classic and other tournaments that are draw­ing thousands of participants from outside the region.

“We have so many lakes and outdoor fishing areas around here, and within 100 miles, so it’s important that we promote that and bring people in,” says Paul Keith, who operates Caddo Lake Guide Service.

A prime fishing spot is the 6,400-acre Lake Claiborne, located about 5 miles east of Homer. Largemouth bass, bluegill and striped bass are among the varieties in abundant supply. The lake is also a popular spot for swimming, birding, boating and all manner of water recreation.

Toledo Bend Reservoir offers excellent largemouth bass opportunities and striped bass are maintained by annual stocking, among the several varieties in abundant supply.

Black crappie, largemouth bass, yellow bass, bullhead, bluegill and red-ear sunfish are among the catches at the 27-mile Lake Bistineau, formed in 1800 when several thousand acres were flooded due to a gigantic log jam on the Red River. Lake Bistineau State Park in Webster Parish includes cabin and boat rentals.

Houseboat Adventures is a full-service charter boat service operating on the Red River as well as the other lakes and bayous in the region. “The national tournaments get people here to appreciate what the Red River and our other waterways have to offer, and so they keep us in mind for their next vacation,” says Eddie Jellum, who launched the company in 2003. “Any kind of exposure like that is positive.”

And, Jellum says, part of the effort is spreading the word that the Red River has been cleaned up, that the government spent $5 billion redoing the waterway system and “that we have a 288-mile long lake that’s just beautiful.”

That word-of-mouth effort is being conducted at every level, including local operations that pass along such key information as what’s biting, and where.

Such inside scoop is bread and butter for Bruce Brown, who’s been operating Brown’s Guide Service out of Haughton in Bossier Parish since the late 1970s.

“We have such a vast waterway here, with old lakes, back­waters, plenty of places to find the quality bass,” Brown says. “It’s important that we promote our fishing year round, because we really don’t have an off season here.”

The bayous of Northwest Louisiana get a lot of visitor traffic from avid sportsmen, Civil War aficionados and other history buffs, most of whom have a specific destination in mind when they visit.

But the region’s festivals, celebrating everything from tartans to tamales, bring in a whole different crowd and offer residents a cross-section of culture and heritage to experience.

Natchitoches’ annual Festival of Lights and Christmas Festival, which dates to 1927, attracts more than 100,000 visitors annually to tour the Holiday Trail of Lights, watch the parade and fireworks displays and experience the entertain­ment, food and arts and crafts. The six-week extrav­aganza, along with events covering everything from arts and crafts to jazz and R&B, keeps the town hopping, and keeps those visitors coming back.

If it’s variety you crave, you’ve come to the right corner of the world. The Rodessa Boomtown Days Festival show­cases that city’s oil-industry history and includes live music and an arts and crafts fair. The annual Sunflower Trail & Festival in Gilliam showcases the trail of sunflowers along Highway 3049 and ends at Gilliam’s library; live entertain­ment and a craft show are part of the festival.

The outlaws Bonnie and Clyde met their doom near Arcadia. Friday, Saturday and Sunday before the third Monday of every month is Bonnie and Clyde Trade Days, billed as the largest outdoor flea market in Louisiana, which features some 200 vendors.

The Scottish Tartan Festival in Minden celebrates all things Scottish. “That’s our largest spring event, and it’s probably our most unique,” says Lynn Dorsey, exec­utive director of the Webster Parish Convention & Visitors Bureau. “We have arts festivals, spring flings, garden tours, car shows and all that, but not too many areas in the state have events with bag­pipe bands.”

Other high points on the region’s fes­tival calendar include the Natchitoches Meat Pie Festival, which along with the Zwolle Tamale Fiesta celebrates the full spectrum of Northwest Louisiana cuisine.

“All of these get people to visit our region,” Dorsey says. “Once they do, they come back for something else.”

Northwest Louisiana’s blend of rich cultural textures is one of its most alluring draws as a place to live.

Each community and parish offers an amazing variety of unique attractions that show­case the region’s heritage and cultural mosaic.

A unique attraction is the Herbert S. Ford Memorial Museum in Homer, which gives a glimpse into Claiborne Parish from pre-Columbian times to the present day.

“When our founder, Mr. Ford, returned from World War I in 1918, he had already begun collecting,” says Linda Volentine, project director. “He had an immense interest in preserving the area’s history, so he began storing things in his house.”

The museum now makes its home in the former Hotel Claiborne, which opened in 1890, and offers everything from an authentic cypress dugout canoe to Caddo pottery dating back almost 1,000 years. There is also an 1861 cabin on the site. “We really have the history of the entire parish here,” Volentine says. “Not just reproductions, either, but the real thing.”

The Germantown Colony State Museum in Minden recognizes the German roots of the community’s 1830s settlers. The new Dorcheat Museum in Minden’s historic downtown brings to life the culture of Webster Parish along the Bayou Dorcheat area.

The community has become a magnet for movie making, with some 15 films, including The Guardian, Premonition and The Mist, filming in and around Minden since 2005.

Local officials are working on a self-guided walking tour that will highlight that new slice of local culture, says Lynn Dorsey, executive director of the Webster Parish Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Downtown Arcadia is home to the Bienville Depot Museum, built in 1908 as a passenger and freight station and now a museum that includes a variety of exhibits, especially arts and crafts from artists in Bienville Parish. Visitors can also see historical papers and docu­ments, photographs, railroad items and military memorabilia from the 1930s and 1940s.

Northwest Louisiana is chockablock with destinations that cover the cultural gamut from historical to just plain fun. History buffs often stop at Melrose Plantation near Natchitoches, an Antebellum estate that at one time was owned by freed slaves, and during its stint as an artist colony, played host to the likes of William Faulkner.

The former Mansfield Female College in DeSoto Parish, which operated from the 1850s through the 1930s, has been converted to a museum that chronicles life and education in Northwest Louisiana in that era.

Fort Jesup State Historic Site in Many is a border outpost whose history dates to 1822, while Fort St. Jean Baptiste State Historic Site, built by French explorers in the early 1700s, grew to what eventually became Natchitoches.

The region also gives a nod to one of the areas of commerce upon which it was built. The Louisiana State Oil and Gas Museum in Oil City, Mooringsport Mini-Museum and Red River Crossroads Museum in Gilliam provide a compre­hensive look at the trends and industries that shaped the region’s history.

Parish: Bienville
Community: Arcadia

Arcadia has a proud heritage and a reputation of achieving a good balance of quality economic development and superior public service, while maintain­ing a friendly, small-town atmosphere that welcomes newcomers.

Arcadia has a broad industrial base, with industries ranging from very small, such as Genesis, to very large, such as House of Raeford. Service-oriented industries like Leslie Lakes and high-tech companies such as Haynes International, which makes parts for the space shuttle, are in the community.

A dozen major energy companies are in and around the town of 3,100. To bor­row a line from the CEO of Haynes International, “Arcadia may be the best keep secret in the United States.”

Economic Development contact: 
Omar Valentine, Town of Arcadia
(318) 263-8456

Parish: Bossier
Community: Plain Dealing

Known as the crossroad of Southern Hospitality due to the intersection of Louisiana Highway 3 traveling north and south and Louisiana Highway 2 traveling east and west, Plain Dealing retains its small town atmosphere with all the conveniences of larger cities.

In 2008, the movie Leaves of Grass was partially filmed there along with another low-budget film.  Coupled with its rolling hills, dogwood blossoms (in early April) and lakes that offer swimming, boating, fishing and camping, it’s a must to drive through or stop off for a visit.

Plain Dealing has a 47-acre industrial park with shovel-ready sites along with a diversified retail area. It is home of the first Outpost Travel Center and casino open 24/7, food stores, convenience stores, drug stores, gift shops and restaurants.

Economic Development contact: 
Mayor Dale Barnette, Town of Plain Dealing, (318) 326-4234

Parish: Caddo
Communities: Includes Oil City and Vivian

The Northern Caddo section of the parish includes the communities of Oil City and Vivian.

Vivian is located on Louisiana Highway 1 in an area known as the Gateway Region for its proximity to Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma.

Vivian enjoys a mild climate, afford­able housing, a low tax base and easy access to major highways including U.S. Highway 71, Interstate 20 and Interstate 30. Vivian also includes the Vivian and Ward II industrial parks.

Oil City includes the famed Louisiana Oil & Gas Museum and Caddo Lake, a popular outdoor recreation spot.

Economic development contact:
Diane House, Ward II Industrial District, (318) 375-5608

Parish: Claiborne
Communities: Includes Homer, the parish seat, Haynesville, Athens, Lisbon and Summerfield

Claiborne Parish is situated in some of the most scenic hill country in Louisiana. Claiborne lets you experience the pace and gentility of the South, evident in the well manicured lawns, stately antebellum homes and family-oriented communities.

Claiborne has 10 buildings that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The 643-acre Lake Claiborne State park attracts more than 55,000 visitors a year.

The parish has a population of about 16,500. Major employers include the Claiborne Parish School Board, Homer Memorial Hospital, Ludlow Corp. and the Wade Correctional Center.

Economic development contact:
John Watson, Claiborne Parish Chamber of Commerce, (318) 927-3271

Parish: DeSoto
Community: includes Mansfield

The parish, with a population of around 26,000, includes the community of DeSoto, the parish seat.

I-49, a major north-south interstate, bisects DeSoto Parish, which is also served by several other major highways. The parish includes an industrial park near the municipal airfield in Mansfield.

DeSoto Parish has a vibrant history, which is on display at a number of land­marks and attractions in the region. Mansfield State Historical Site includes a museum with Civil War weapons, uniforms, letters, diaries and other items related to the battle.

Rock Chapel near Mansfield was begun in 1891 by monks who lived in the nearby Carmelite monastery and served as a retreat.

Economic development contact:
Jim May, DeSoto Parish Chamber of Commerce, (318) 872-1310

Parish: Natchitoches
Community: Natchitoches

Known as the City of Lights in honor of the world-famous Festival of Lights, Natchitoches became famous in recent years through the film industry.

In 1988, the popular movie Steel Magnolias was filmed here.

Natchitoches continues to retain its magic, charm and heritage while main­taining a perfect balance with progressive industries. Coupled with scenic beauty and friendly hospitality, the quality of life makes Natchitoches a retirement haven. Thirty-three blocks in the downtown are in the National Historic Landmark District that overlooks picturesque Cane River Lake.

Natchitoches has a diversified industry base that includes manufacturing, food production and energy services. A major employer is Alliance Compressors, which designs and manufactures compressors for the cooling industry.

Economic development contact:
Randy LaCaze, City of Natchitoches, (318) 357-3839

Parish: Red River
Community: Includes Coushatta

The Red River divides the parish, creating rich river bottomland on the west and the pine and oak uplands on the east. 

Water assets including the Red River and Toledo Bend Lake make fishing a major recreational activity.

Red River Parish, with its parish seat in Coushatta, has a population of around 10,000.

Interstate 49, several U.S. and state highways and rail lines connect the parish, which also includes the 50-acre Red River Parish Port at Hanna.

Major employers include Hood Industries Inc., CLD Inc. and Almond Bros. Lumber.

Economic development contact: Coushatta-Red River Parish Chamber of Commerce, (318) 932-3289

Parish: Sabine
Communities: Includes Florien, Many and Zwolle

A parish rich in culture, history and natural resources, Sabine is growing in popularity as a place to do business and as a place to retire.

With a population of 24,000, the parish boasts access to 186,000-acre Toledo Bend Lake, the largest man-made lake in the South, as well as three state parks and a host of renowned festivals.

Sabine is rich in forests and the timber industry is a major component of the economy. In addition to timber-related business, major employers include the Sabine Parish School Board, Fort Polk Military Base and Sabine Medical Center.

Economic development contact: Liz Tramel, Sabine Parish Chamber of Commerce, (318) 256-3523

Parish: Webster
Communities: Northern Webster Parish includes the communities of Springhill, Cullen, Sarepta, Cotton Valley and Shongaloo.

The North Webster community offers all of the amenities and services that appeal to business and a high quality of life that includes good schools, low crime rates and abundant recreational opportunities. The rural, country-like atmosphere provides many opportu­nities for outdoor enthusiasts to enjoy camping, hunting, fishing and other outdoor activities.

The close proximity of the Shreveport-Bossier City metro, provides a cornucopia of shopping and nightlife. 

North Webster Parish has a diversified industry base that includes solid manu­facturing, wholesale food distribution and energy-related industries. The area’s largest employer is Trane Corp., with a workforce of 260.

Economic development contact:  North Webster Parish Industrial District, (318) 539-5058
www.nwpid.com

Wooing new businesses or try­ing to keep existing ones and help them grow, Northwest Louisiana now speaks together with one united voice.

The Northwest Louisiana Economic Development Foundation represents the region’s 10 parishes. It had been a sepa­rate arm of the Greater Shreveport Chamber of Commerce, but in May 2008, formally became a stand-alone agency.

“Now, we belong to everyone,” says Kurt Forman, the economic development foundation’s president. “It was an evolu­tion. Many leaders wanted a more regional approach.”

Such a unified approach had long been a goal of Harold Turner, president of Red River Bank and the foundation’s chair­man in 2008-09. The chamber’s chairman in 2002, Turner helped bring Foreman here to build a regional economic devel­opment program.

“It has come together really well,” Turner says. “With a regional approach, Northwest Louisiana can offer prospects a greater range of sites and expertise.”

The region can respond to inquiries more quickly, and site locators and the clients they work for know whom to call to get information. “What we can do is offer a grocery store approach more than a specialty,” Turner says.

A separate Web site (www.nwlaprospector.com) allows prospects to “drill down” to see available buildings and sites by type, size and parish, and the region is getting a serious look from many quarters.

In late 2008, the foundation’s staff was working with more than 50 potential projects that represented at least 9,800 new jobs and more than $3 billion in new investment.

Local support is building for the foun­dation, too. The Community Foundation of Shreveport Bossier anted up $100,000 in matching funds in late 2008 to create an endowment for economic development, and local businesses contributed $109,000.

The NLEDF will receive annual dis­bursements to support its work.

The region is home to more than 600,000 people and encompasses Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Claiborne, DeSoto, Lincoln, Natchitoches, Red River, Sabine and Webster parishes.