Discover Lafayette

Are you familiar with the story of the Marquis de Lafayette, the man Lafayette, Louisiana is named after?

The Marquis de Lafayette was a hero of the American Revolutionary War, having served under General George Washington in several crucial battles. He was only 19 years old when he came to the states and he had no previous combat experience.

After the war, he returned to France and entered the political realm championing the ideals of liberty that America embodied. President James Monroe invited Lafayette to tour the United States, to instill the "spirit of 1776" in the next generation of Americans and to celebrate the nation's 50th anniversary.

Lafayette visited all of the American states and was received with a hero’s welcome, traveling more than 6,000 miles, and accompanied by his son Georges Washington de La Fayette, named after George Washington.

When the Louisiana legislature divided St. Martin parish in 1824, it created Lafayette Parish. The parish name Lafayette was chosen due to the enthusiasm of the Marquis de  Lafayette's visit to the United States.

However, the city's name remained Vermilionville due to the fact that the name "Lafayette" had been already given to a suburb of New Orleans. Eventually, in 1884, Vermilionville became Lafayette, and joined dozens of other cities, counties, schools, and public squares named in honor of the Marquis de Lafayette.

Thanks to our Premier sponsor, Rally Marketing, for supporting our efforts to share Lafayette's past so as to inspire pride in our community and knowledge of those who came before us!

Ruffin Rodrigue, proprietor of Ruffino’s on the River in Lafayette, Ruffino’s in Baton Rouge, and Ruffino’s Catering in downtown Baton Rouge, is our guest on Discover Lafayette with Jan Swift.

A native of Thibodaux, Rodrigue followed in the footsteps of his dad, Ruffin Rodrigue, Sr., who played LSU football in the early 1960s as a member of the infamous Chinese Bandits. Rodrigue was an All-SEC guard at LSU from 1986 through 1989 and fondly recalled his time under the tutelage of Coach Bill Arnsparger when the team was #3 in the nation and won the SEC Championship. After graduating in Spring 1990 in Marketing, he played for the World League of American Football (now NFL Europe) until an injury in Montreal ended his career and he returned to Louisiana.

Rodrigue put his marketing degree to use working for five years at Mockler Beverage, a Budweiser distributor in Baton Rouge. He developed a friendship with T.J. Moran, the first franchisee of Ruth's Chris who went on to become one of the largest U. S. franchisees for the steakhouse company and who also owned the wildly popular TJ Ribs and Ninfa's Mexican Restaurant. In 1998, Ruffin entered the hospitality business with Moran to manage DiNardo's, an Italian-themed restaurant in South Baton Rouge on Highland Road named after Gerry DiNardo who had been a popular LSU football coach. As DiNardo's coaching career went into decline it was time to rebrand the endeavor, and Moran, Rodrigue, and chef Peter Sclafani bought out DiNardo and went into partnership in 2000, renaming the restaurant "Ruffino's."

Being mentored by the late T. J. Moran, successful franchisee of Ruth's Chris and owner of TJ Ribs and Ninfa's Mexican Restaurant, left an indelible impression on Rodrigue and he recounted that Moran's motto was to "Strive to Make it Better Every Day." Ruffin has followed that advice every day for the past 22 years.

Being mentored by T. J. Moran left an indelible impression on Rodrigue, and he recounted that Moran's motto was to "Strive to Make it Better Every Day." And Rodrigue has followed that advice every day for the past 22 years. Besides sharing his sage advice, Moran also taught Rodrigue how to treat people and how to do things the right way.

Inside view of Ruffino's on Highland Road in South Baton Rouge, featuring a Blue Dog painting with Ruffin Rodrigue's #68 jersey, along with other memorabilia from his LSU football days.

The success of Ruffino's in Baton Rouge led to the opening of its second restaurant in Lafayette in May 2013. Rodrigue and his partners opened Ruffino's on the River on Camellia Boulevard in the beautiful and spacious restaurant situated on the Vermilion River that was formerly owned by Cochon's. Cochon's, based out of New Orleans, had been in business for only nine months but failed to capture local interest. Ruffin had been advised that the River Ranch development was the perfect place to locate. The combination of delicious food, a huge bar, personality, energy, music, and all of the right intangibles outside of food that make people want to return again and again, made the restaurant a huge success. In 2018, Rodrigue bought out his partner, Peter Sclafani, and is now the sole owner proprietor of all Ruffino's properties.

Ruffino's on the River is situated on a beautiful setting on the Vermilion River in River Ranch at 921 Camellia Blvd., Lafayette LA 70508

As the oil and gas recession intensified in late 2014/early 2015, Rodrigue's close friend and LSU football buddy Jamie Howard warned him that tough times were in store for South Louisiana. When the expense accounts of the energy executives dried up, he turned to the marketing of small gatherings and parties to healthcare and IT professionals and maintained a pr...

Steven Picou, Executive Director of the Lafayette Regional Airport, visits with Jan Swift, Host of Discover Lafayette, to discuss the ongoing progress of construction of Lafayette’s new terminal, as well as the impact the COVID-19 virus on air travel numbers at the airport.

A native of Cut Off in Lafourche Parish, Picou graduated from Louisiana Tech University with a bachelor's degree in professional aviation and obtained his commercial, multi-engine, instrument pilot's license at Tech the same year. He has worked at other airports around the country in New Orleans, Albuquerque, and Amarillo. His experience includes remodeling and building new terminals.

Picou was hired in 2015 by the Lafayette Airport Commission as the body was poised to move forward with the construction of a larger terminal, an expanded parking lot, and other facility upgrades. In order to raise matching funds needed to obtain federal and state funding for the project, in December 2014 Lafayette Parish residents overwhelmingly approved a temporary one-cent tax to be imposed from April 1 through November 30, 2015. Approximately $33.5 million was raised during that time, with all funds being dedicated to the airport terminal project.

https://www.facebook.com/LafayetteRegionalAirport/videos/1045675319137061/

Watch the video to take a tour of the new Terminal Drive and see construction progress as of March 2020.

The $90 million terminal project is funded by thirteen sources which include the local tax proceeds collected in 2015 along with federal and state grants from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Louisiana State Department of Transportation (DOTD) Aviation Division, La. DOTD, and airport savings. The total cost of the project may reach $130 million when a new FAA facility, rental car area, and other upgrades are completed. Lemoine Manhattan, a joint venture of The Lemoine Company and Manhattan Construction Company, is the prime contractor for the new terminal.

Construction of the new airport terminal and upgraded facilities began in 2018 and is projected to be completed in September 2021. Picou says "the project is on time and on within its budget." Lafayette is the 'poster child' for the FAA as to how communities should go about funding projects and Picou says "it goes a long way when you can bring something to the table when you're asking for financial help in building a facility."

Picou likens his job to that as mayor of a city. He says, "I'm not elected but I do serve as the "Mayor" of the Airport working with the Lafayette Airport Commission's seven members, who are vested with authority similar to that of a City Council. The airport has its own law enforcement (contracted with the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office) and its own aircraft fire-fighting rescue services (contracted with the Rural Metro Corporation). The Airport encompasses approximately 1,116 acres over four separate tracts of land which include the airfield, hangars, terminal building, aviation and non-aviation facilities, and safety areas, all of which are overseen by Picou and the Lafayette Airport Commission.

While the airport partners with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the airlines, it does not have control of their operations. The flight partnership is three-prong: Lafayette Regional Airport is your gateway to travel and is responsible for roadways, the maintenance of all facilities and infrastructure such as the terminal and runways, keeping the grounds safe, and providing space for parking and rental car lots. The TSA is responsible for the safe and secure screening of all passengers. (*Note that a second TSA screening line was scheduled to be opened but the pandemic has delayed this addition.) And thirdly,

Mark Miller has worked in the oil and gas business since 1981 and is a veteran of the dramatic ups and downs the industry has experienced. In this episode of Discover Lafayette, Miller discusses how the overnight collapse in demand due to the Covid-19 pandemic, in conjunction with a war over market share between Saudi Arabia and Russia, has caused a glut of oil on the market causing prices to tumble to unsustainable lows.

Miller is a nationally recognized spokesperson for the oil industry and recently served as Chair of the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA), a group that represents thousands of smaller independent natural gas and oil producers and the service industries that support their operations. His company's career production is based within a fifty-mile radius of Lafayette.

He is a passionate proponent of his industry which reinvests billions of dollars back into the U. S. economy; Miller shared that "83% of oil wells and 90% of the natural gas wells onshore in the U. S. are drilled by independent producers. IPAA's website states that the average independent has been in business for 26 years and employs 12 full-time and three part-time employees. Independent producers have certainly been the backbone of Lafayette and South Louisiana's economy providing well-paying jobs and supporting arts and culture, as well as raising the quality of life for the region.

Lafayette has proudly been home to the "Oil Center" since the industry's heyday beginning post-WWII in the 1950s, yet the landscape has changed dramatically. The recession caused by the 2014 drop in oil prices caused the consolidation of capital and an exodus of the major oil companies such as Chevron and Texaco who may never return. There are very few independent producers of oil and gas left in South Louisiana, and Miller's company, Merlin Oil and Gas, is one of them. He says that the renowned "legacy lawsuits" have kept independents out of Louisiana and new business has declined due to the fear of litigation. "What's left of the business is being squeezed from all sides." Current market conditions may be the downfall of the remaining companies who have held on and were just beginning to successfully emerge from the precipitous drop in prices in late 2014.

Mark Miller of Merlin Oil and Gas says that "legacy lawsuits" have kept independents out of Louisiana and new business has declined due to the fear of being pulled into litigation. "What's left of the business is being squeezed from all sides." The combination of the reduced demand for oil due to the pandemic along with the war for market share between the Saudis and Russians has turned the market on its head, causing oil prices to fall by more than two-thirds since the beginning of 2020.

The normal factors governing supply and demand are out of whack as people around the globe stay at home, work from home, and avoid unnecessary excursions and travel on airlines. According to oil industry expert David Yergin writing in Foreign Affairs Magazine, "A price war, with producing nations (Saudi Arabia and Russia) battling for market share, has become lodged in the larger crisis of the novel coronavirus pandemic and what will likely be the worst recession since World War II. The resulting collapse in demand will be bigger than any recorded since oil became a global commodity. Oil prices are already down two-thirds since the beginning of 2020 and still falling."

Saudi Arabia holds the largest oil reserves in the world and can produce oil cheaply. While the U. S. has historically been dependent on imported oil and gas, the development of fracking techniques has enabled our nation to become energy sufficient. Between 2016 and 2019, U. S. production grew by 60%. The federal government lifted restrictions on the exporting of ...

This Discover Lafayette podcast was taped on September 2019,prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, and features a panel discussion on healthcare trends and disruptors led by Cian Robinson, Lafayette General Health Executive Director of Innovation, Research, and Real Estate Investment, at the September 2019 South Louisiana Community Health Summit organized by Beacon Community Connections.

Panel members joining Robinson included Gwen Guillotte, V. P. of Payor Strategies at LHC Group; Dr. Gary Wiltz, CEO of Teche Action Clinics; Kevin Callison, Ph.D., Professor of Health Economics at Tulane University; and Dr. Yiad Ashkar, Director of the Louisiana Center for Health Innovation at UL-Lafayette.

Focusing on the outside forces pushing the healthcare industry to switch from being reactive to proactive, Robinson asked a series of questions relating to "disruptors' which are turning the traditional model of healthcare delivery on its head. Historically, the medical profession has not experienced competition, but the healthcare market is evolving quickly as information technology, smart devices, and retailers have entered the arena.

Cian Robinson began his career at Lafayette General Foundation (LGF) in August of 2014 as the Director of Development and Operations. In November of 2014, Cian was promoted to the position of Executive Director of the Foundation, and in 2018 was moved to the position of Executive Director of Innovation, Research and Real Estate Investments for Lafayette General Health System. In addition to his work at LGF, Cian is also an adjunct instructor at the B. I. Moody III College of Business Administration at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

While the traditional doctor's office is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. when most people are at work, consumers are clamoring for convenient options for healthcare delivery. If they can have groceries, meals, and products delivered to their home, they also expect to be offered more convenient ways to receive treatment for health issues.

Millennials are increasingly choosing urgent care centers in lieu of primary physicians, opting for more affordable and convenient access to medical treatment. Kevin Callison stated that "millennials will increasingly be the driving force where dollars are spent. The question is 'Will there be healthcare alternatives different than the traditional models that older generations have been used to?'"

Kevin Callison, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Health Policy and Management at Tulane University's School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. "Millennials will increasingly be the driving force where dollars are spent. The question is 'Will there be healthcare alternatives different than the traditional models that older generations have been used to?'"

Dr. Gary Wiltz asked, "Do healthcare providers want to be "disrupted or disruptors? (Healthcare) markets who wait to adopt change will be replaced quickly by more agile technology." Wiltz reminisced about his medical training at Tulane University years ago when Dr. Albert Hyman predicted that "50 years from now we'll receive healthcare at Sears department store." While it seemed a bit outlandish then, things have certainly evolved to validate Hyman's prediction that medical care would have to change to meet the consumer where they are.

Dr. Gary Wiltz reminisced about his medical training at Tulane University years ago when Dr. Albert Hyman predicted that "50 years from now we'll receive healthcare at Sears department store." While it seemed a bit outlandish then, things have certainly evolved to validate Hyman's prediction that medical care would have to change to meet the consumer where they are.

Rodney and Laurel Hess join Jan Swift on Discover Lafayette. Business partners and advertising gurus that created Rally Marketing, Laurel has also launched hampr which is making all the news as an on-demand laundry service.

Hurricane Katrina was the catalyst for the couple to meet when Laurel came to Lafayette from New Orleans to attend UL in 2005. The two joked about how they didn't hit it off at first when they met in a creative writing class, but through mutual friends, reconnected a few months later and fell in love quickly, marrying in 2008.

Fast forward to today: the two are owners of Rally Marketing which was formed in 2016. Laurel brings experience in developing and executing comprehensive marketing plans for international corporations, as a production manager, and then five years as Sales and Marketing Manager of the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, Smoothie King Arena and Champions Square. Rodney is the driving force behind Rally’s strategic content, SEM/SEO and online advertising plans, having cut his teeth in Search Engine Optimization over ten years ago when digital media was still referred to as "new media. He previously worked for one of the fastest-growing Search Engine Marketing firms in the south and developed and grew a successful digital marketing department for a large ad agency in Lafayette.

Rally Marketing was formed as an offshoot of its sister company, Comit Developers, and has nine team members in addition to Rodney and Laurel. They help clients with marketing automation, content development, search engine optimization, strategy, or how to use strategically use social media to grow and market your business.

Rally Marketing was formed in 2016 with Laurel and Rodney Hess serving as President and Vice-President. The marketing firm works closely with its clients to focus on clear, concise online content. They counsel businesses to "simplify their message to its absolute core and make it as short as possible, which is hard to do."

The importance of a company or entrepreneur starting with their mission statement can't be overemphasized. Many business owners know that they want to make money but they haven't fine-tuned who they are, what they offer, or what their values are. Rodney stated, "Start with your mission statement, and then you can move toward that with intention. If something you're doing doesn't feel right, you shouldn't be doing it. Simplify your message to its absolute core; you only need to post focused, clear content. People want to be spoken to directly, not just thrown a lot of content that doesn't explain what the company does or what it offers."

Rodney Hess hosts Social Media Breakfast Lafayette to bring together local sharing of information on the ever-evolving social media industry. It is a casual and comfortable setting for newbies and experts alike to ask questions, toss around new ideas, and offer personal stories of success.

Meetings are typically the first Friday of every month from 7:30-9:00am. Participation is free. @smblafayette

Laurel Hess launched hampr, an on-demand laundry service on January 15, 2020, which also happens to be Rodney's birthday. She freely admits, "I've hated doing laundry since at least 2013 when I was pregnant for my first child" and even posted on Facebook a few years ago that "someone should invent this!" Her long-held dream to get rid of the chore of tackling the never-ending pile of laundry crystallized in 2018 when she took the idea to the next level, talking with potential investors, working on the app to be downloaded, and finetuning details such as the ideal hamper to provide customers who utilize the service.

Hampr has already experienced unprecedented success in Lafayette, a Tier 3 market,

Reverend John Cannon, Senior Pastor of Asbury United Methodist Church,  is our guest on Discover Lafayette.

A native of Shreveport, John graduated from the University of Arkansas and LSU Law School. While working as an Assistant District Attorney in East Baton Rouge, he began to discern a call to pastoral ministry that he had first experienced as a youth in the Episcopal Church. Following that call, John attended the Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Missouri. Before joining Asbury as Senior Pastor, John served as the District Superintendent for the 74 churches of the Acadiana District of The United Methodist Church.

Cannon's first appointment as a pastor was at Church of Our Savior in Junction City, Kansas. Located near U. S. Army Fort Riley, the congregation was multi-ethnic with about fifty members, most of whom were retired military. It was a simple time for Cannon and his wife, Erin, and the church provided a home for them to live in as he commuted twice a week for two hours to attend his theological classes in Kansas City.

Asbury UMC is one of the largest churches in Louisiana, with about 1000 active members attending services in any month. Cannon explained that even in large churches, it is important to maintain a "small church feel" so that people feel connected to one another. Large congregations have to work to create that feel; small groups such as Sunday School classes or adult and children ministries are important so that each individual member can connect with others and share their God-given gifts.

Cannon's training in his first career as an appellate attorney has many similarities with his work as a pastor. He believes the best lawyers are storytellers and the best stories are the ones that make you think and bring you to a new place of understanding. Today as a pastor, Cannon is a collector of stories....odd, humorous and interesting stories of real people he finds in the news and saves in a manilla folder for use in his sermons. The congregation enjoys his humorous openings to sermons where the true, offbeat human story is woven into a relevant passage of scripture to more impactfully deliver the message. Cannon believes that is why Jesus used parables as he taught His messages so that the crowds could understand the teaching and relate them to everyday life. You could say that John Cannon makes his closing argument for God each and every week!

John Cannon is a collector of stories....odd, humorous and interesting stories of real people he finds in the news and saves in a manilla folder for use in his sermons as he weaves in a relevant passage of scripture to deliver an impactful message. You could say that John Cannon makes his closing argument for God each and every week!

Asbury draws a diverse crowd of all ages, socioeconomic backgrounds, and is a place of acceptance for the LGBTQ community. Cannon is proud that the congregation models what it means to be a family, even when all members don't agree on every societal issue, and stated, "At the end of the day, we love each other, support each other, and have each other's back." Ultimately, it's all about love, the love that Jesus exemplified in His two great commandments: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:35-40.

Asbury has started a new church ministry in Youngsville and offers a service on the second Sunday of each month at 5:30 p.m. at Ascension High School. Led by Reverend Allison Sikes, the service is a casual, family experience that is a "Dinner Church model,

This podcast features Dr. Larry Simon, Medical Director of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana who discusses the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Dr. Simon was a guest on our sister podcast, Nourish Your Health at every age, taped on March 12, 2020, and we felt it was important to share the information with as wide an audience as possible.

Dr. Simon is an alum of LSU, Baylor College of Medicine, and Rady Children’s Hospital’s Pediatric Otolaryngology Fellowship in San Diego, CA.  He also serves as Clinical Assistant Professor of Otolaryngology at LSU. And by the way, ” otolaryngology’ is a fancy word for “ENT”….an ear, nose and throat doctor!

To read the show notes from our podcast, please visit https://nourishyourhealth.life/podcast/dr-larry-simon-discusses-the-coronavirus-and-what-health-officials-know/

Thanks to RADER for its continuing support, and Jason Sikora for producing our show!

Cpl. Bridgette Dugas, Public Information Officer for the Lafayette Police Department, is our guest on Discover Lafayette. Well-known in our community for her work on behalf of Lafayette Crime Stoppers, Cpl. Dugas joined the police department in 2009 at the encouragement of former Lafayette Deputy Police Chief Reggie Thomas who at the time was working security at the Northgate Mall.

Dugas has risen through the ranks, starting out as a patrol officer at nights, then serving as a Precinct 4 Resource Officer assigned to community relations, and appointed in 2018 to serve as the department’s spokesperson on all matters affecting the City Police Department. Her duties require her to be on duty 24 hours a day to handle all direct contact between the media and the department, as well as to field phone calls from citizens needing information about who to contact for problems they are experiencing.

Crime overall is down 7% in Lafayette. Two categories of crimes did increase in 2019, however; homicides and burglaries both rose. Dugas explained that the homicides were "relationship-based," meaning that the perpetrator knew the victim and the crimes weren't random acts of violence.

Chart shows 2019 Crime Statistics in Lafayette LA. Note that while homicides were up, the victims knew their perpetrators. Burglaries were also up slightly, while all other categories of crimes decreased. "Lafayette is a very safe community," says Cpl Bridgette Dugas.

Important safety tips to keep your self and your possessions safe: Lock your vehicle and home! The majority of vehicle burglaries occur when cars are unlocked and possessions are in plain view. Criminals don't want to make noise or get caught, so they look for easy targets. Dugas explained if nine cars in your neighborhood are burglarized and the criminals get three guns in the process, they'll be back looking for more because the area is ripe for easy pickings.

"Lock your vehicles and take valuables out. Secure all personal items and don't leave things in plain sight. The majority of vehicle burglaries where cars are unlocked are Southside residents. It's an open invitation to be burglarized if you keep your vehicle unlocked." Cpl. Bridgette Dugas.

Cpl. Dugas is also the spokesperson for the Lafayette Crime Stoppers program. With a focus on anonymity, anyone with information on the details of a crime is encouraged to call (337)232-TIPS or utilize the free mobile app found at P3tips.com. All callers or tipsters remain anonymous and are only identified by a number assigned to their tip. With most crimes, the people closest to the perpetrators may know information about the commission of the crime.

If an arrest is made based upon the tip or if a grand jury indictment is handed down, the confidential informant receives a cash award from Crime Stoppers. The program is also active in the schools and students can provide the Resource Officer information to solve crimes while remaining anonymous; they receive a $50 Visa Card if their tip provides information to resolve an issue. With the new P3 app which allows you to share information with law enforcement directly from your smartphone, witnesses are now able to report a crime while it’s being executed and provide video footage and other relevant data to local crime enforcement officials.

“If you see something, say something!”  When contacting Lafayette Crime Stoppers, your identity will remain anonymous and you will be eligible to receive a reward for helping solve a crime if your tip leads to an arrest or grand jury indictment. (337)232-8477 or P3TIPS.com.

The Lafayette City Police give back to the community and Cpl. Dugas was proud to share their efforts.

Dr. Gary Wagner, Professor of Economics at UL – Lafayette, joins Discover Lafayette to discuss his role as the Acadiana Business Economist Endowed Chair in Economics where he works to strengthen UL's presence in the community and the state while monitoring the regional economic environment, conduct research, and keep the business community up to date on trends.

A first-generation college graduate, Wagner was initially interested in studying political science. After a professor encouraged him to take a couple of economics classes, however, the subject matter clicked with him and he switched majors earning a Ph.D. and master’s degree in economics from West Virginia University and a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Political Science from Youngstown State University.

Prior to joining UL, Wagner worked with the Federal Reserve Banks of Cleveland and Philadelphia.  His experience in analyzing regional economics, state tax structures, and municipal pension systems informs his work in economic forecasting for our region. Dr. Wagner has authored or co-authored over 60 professional articles and given more than 200 presentations on economic trends and forecasts.

While teaching at Old Dominion University in Norfolk VA, a metropolitan area comprised of about 2 million people, Wagner served on the school's Economic Forecasting team. He enjoyed speaking to groups about economic trends and his expertise led him to work with the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia where he honed his skills in forecasting and research. After a stint at the Fed in Cleveland in a higher-level administrative position, he jumped at the opportunity to return to what he loves, research and forecasting, and applied for his current position at UL - Lafayette.

Dr. Gary Wagner loves research which he compares to solving a puzzle. "I don't have questions that are different than others. Going to graduate school in economics gives you a tool kit that helps you answer questions. You learn where to find that data and the appropriate research methods to use to answer questions." Wagner recommends that all college students take classes in quantitative analysis and coding as businesses need people who can solve problems.

In discussing Louisiana's taxing model, Wagner noted that its complicated, dual system of tax collection imposes monetary and time costs on businesses struggling to comply with the regulatory compliance burden. He would prefer to see a simplified, pro-growth tax policy with lower tax rates imposed upon a broad base of goods and services. He noted that Louisiana is the slowest growing state in the U. S. ranked 50th in Gross Domestic Product (monetary value of all goods and services per capita), imposes high taxes with a myriad of exemptions, and ranks 3rd highest in incentives in the U. S. Wagner compares Louisiana's failure to adapt to changing market forces as similar to what the Midwest and Rust Belt went through 25 to 30 years ago as they lost residents and economic opportunities dried up. Whereas Louisiana could get away with high tax rates in the past based upon the demand for its oil and gas resources, those days are gone.

Wagner would also like to see Louisiana rely more on property taxes for local municipalities, which is a more stable source of revenue than sales taxes. Our homestead tax exemption is among the highest in the country and the reason municipalities must rely on higher sales taxes to support the cost of services. He joked that when he received his first Lafayette Parish property tax bill after paying taxes around the country, he was shocked at how low the bill was and thought it was just for a half year of taxes.

Lafayette's economy is holding its own according to Wagner, and the job losses in the oil and gas sector stopped about ...