As a regional economic development marketing organization, North Louisiana Economic Partnership (NLEP) focuses on promoting 14 parishes in North Louisiana in order to recruit new companies and to help existing businesses grow in the region. Our role is to act as the region’s sales force, cheerleader and business development team. We do this on a regional level because collectively North Louisiana is stronger than its individual parts.
By working together, our individual communities can pool their resources to more effectively tell the region’s story through advertising, marketing, public relations, editorial placement, networking, business development trips and familiarization tours of our area. NLEP helps generate and service leads, which we in turn share with communities in North Louisiana. Within the 14 parishes of North Louisiana that we serve, NLEP remains neutral about where a project goes as long as it locates within our region. That’s why our partnerships with local economic development organizations (EDOs) are important in the process.
The site selection process is the process by which a company decides where to locate a new facility or expand an existing one. In reality, it is a process of elimination where the list of communities with suitable sites is gradually shortened based on numerous factors, such as business climate, availability of qualified workforce, and other considerations unique to the company or industry. In the site selection process, regional economic organizations like NLEP help generate and service leads. But local economic development organizations (EDOs) remain key players in the process. Local EDOs usually represent just one parish or one metro area, and they act as advocates for their individual communities. In the site selection process, local EDOs take the lead in negotiating and closing a deal with a prospective company. NLEP continues to walk alongside the community, its local EDO and our clients, facilitating the site selection process.