By KAREN LAGRANGE COX
The City of Broussard, Louisiana, received approval from its City Council to contract with Retail Strategies. Retail Strategies is a professional firm in Birmingham, Alabama, that helps position cities as desirable locations for attracting new businesses.
Lacey Baccus of Retail Strategies presented to the City Council on April 23, 2024. Her presentation included information and strategies used by Retail Strategies to represent/sell the city to developers and bring new businesses to Broussard. (view the presentation on YouTube starting at 5:12 minutes into the video)
Retail Strategies recruits retail businesses in cities. Its team identifies retail and restaurants, handles outreach, and partners with the contracted city.
Broussard Economic Development Corporation (BEDC) members support the city entering into a contract with Retail Strategies. At the council meeting, Toby Armentor, representing BEDC, supported the city’s utilization of Retail Strategies. Armentor said Broussard can sit back and wait for businesses to show up or proactively go after businesses to come to Broussard. He added, “Very few of us [BEDC] have a ton of experience in economic development” and that BEDC is limited. He continued, saying, “Having someone [like Retail Strategies] selling Broussard daily is worth every dollar spent on it.” He encouraged the council to take the initiative and move forward with it [using Retail Strategies].
Ryan LaGrange spoke on behalf of Mandi Mitchell, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and President of Lafayette Economic Development Authority (LEDA), supporting the city’s use of Retail Strategies.
LaGrange emphasized the importance of Broussard investing wisely in strategies to build sales tax revenue, particularly since the city does not have property taxes. He gave a hypothetical scenario in which if Broussard could land one fast-food restaurant that is not already in this area, it could potentially generate over $33 million in gross domestic product over five years, with the sales tax being about $600,000 for Broussard over a five-year period.
BEDC members John H. Broussard, Jennifer Whitmore, and Michael Pritchard attended the council meeting and signed support cards to support the city’s use of Retail Strategies but did not wish to speak before the council.
The City Council approved Ordinance #24-796 on May 14, 2024, to allow for a contract with the City of Broussard and Retail Strategies for $45,000 for one year. Mayor Ray Bourque is authorized to take action necessary, in his opinion, to confect an agreement with Retail Strategies containing terms and conditions he deems appropriate.
