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Donna Meyer, chamber executive president

Chamber pursued partnerships in 2014

By JEAN L. McCORKLE jmccorkle@daily-review.com

The St. Mary Chamber of Commerce is working in proactive partnerships to enhance workforce development, housing and the I-49 South effort.
Through 2014 and into 2015, Donna Meyer, chamber executive president, said chamber development also is a priority.
“What we’ve accomplished is just amazing, the things that we have done that people just don’t realize,” Meyer said.
Membership and retention is something Meyer said the chamber plans to focus on.
“The chamber continues to want to show value for what we’re doing,” she said.
In 2015, Lisa Patterson will take on a new position at the chamber as she will be a dedicated marketing director.
Rise and Shine breakfasts will kick off again in February, somewhat replacing Business After Hours in an effort to better cater to business owners.
Rise and Shine is an early-morning meeting hosted at a different business each time to highlight them that brings in a speaker who talks about business in Louisiana and various similar other topics. It’s a meeting of the minds that is free to participants, Meyer said.
Meyer said the organization will continue to hold its monthly luncheons, but only the annual Business After Hours and those by request will be held.
“We find that the younger business leaders have young children and they really can’t get out in the evenings. So, we’re focused on them and what we can do to get them involved in the chamber,” Meyer said.
Meanwhile, the housing shortage in St. Mary Parish will be the chamber’s focus in 2015, Meyer said.
“It’s going to be part of that push to get more housing. We do need apartments. We do need townhouses and things of that sort. We know that we need it. We still have that elderly population that, I think, it would be nice if we had smaller living spaces for those who want to downsize,” Meyer said.
Major cities, she said, provide housing for those who are over 60, active, and still working.
“Our kids are gone, so we’re ready to downsize and not have all that maintenance and still go and enjoy life,” Meyer said.
The organization continues to provide a residential and commercial rental list, but recognizes that there is a greater need for apartments and townhouses.
As an example, Meyer said an estimated 5,000 employees leave the parish with their paychecks every night to go to their homes in neighboring Terrebonne Parish.
“We work so hard to make sure people find places to live,” Meyer said.
Meyer said that the chamber knows I-49 is another major subject. The chamber works closely with local legislators and area mayors in that effort.
“We know that when that happens, things are going to change drastically here. Just by virtue of having it completed, you’ll see businesses come in,” Meyer said.
Workforce development is another major stumbling block the chamber is attempting to tackle.
“We know there’s still a shortage of laborers … we know that our technical college works really hard with all the major companies to get people trained for them.”
The chamber allocated $10,000 toward a new machine shop class at Louisiana Technical College — Young Memorial campus to help with expenses and training fees.
The 2012 Leadership St. Mary class began a basic machine shop training class. The donation to Young Memorial was born out of that effort, Meyer said.
“We got it started. There were not enough students for it although we know the machine shops need the workers and need them trained,” Meyer said.
The chamber president said the organization knows there are lots of other jobs available.
“We just need to get people trained and to work. We also know, with that, they need places to live. It’s kind of hand-in-hand,” Meyer said.

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