ST. CHARLES NAMED 'MOST OUTSTANDING' LSU MOBILE CLASSROOM COMMUNITY
Small business seminars were held in 31 Louisiana communities

For immediate release November 18, 2008

BATON ROUGE – St. Charles Parish Thursday accepted an award for hosting the ‘Most Outstanding’ Mobile Classroom in the state, according to LSU’s Louisiana Business and Technology Center.

The traveling business seminars were presented in 31 Louisiana communities earlier this year, with St. Charles holding the event at the West Bank Bridge Park June 17 and 18.

Economic Development and Tourism Director Corey Faucheux, whose office coordinated the visit, represented the parish at LBTC’s 20th anniversary and graduation ceremony Thursday in Baton Rouge.

“The award is given to the community that worked the most diligently to bring the classroom to their town,” Faucheux said. “We know that participants gained a wealth of valuable information to use in their own business plans, making our local economy that much stronger.”

The classroom, which takes the form of a modified semi-trailer, presented small business owners and entrepreneurs the opportunity to learn about topics such as “Surviving a Recession” and “Budgeting and Financial Statements,” among others.

“The success of the St. Charles Parish visit and the large turnout for the training programs is a direct result of the work of the St. Charles Parish partners and the Economic Development office,” Charles D’Agostino, executive director of the LBTC said. “By partnering with local leaders, LSU is able to deliver quality programs in entrepreneurship and small business assistance to the local citizens in an attempt to stimulate the economy and create an entrepreneurial spirit in the community.”

In June, Parish President V.J. St. Pierre Jr. praised the efforts of the mobile classroom. “I want to thank LSU for allowing us to partner with them on this important economic development initiative,” he said. “As a retired small business owner, I know the difficulty of starting and operating a business. A thriving small business community is critical to the overall health of our economy.”

Other Mobile Classroom partners include the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development-Rural Business Enterprise Grant Program, the Louisiana Municipal Association, the LSU AgCenter, Capital One, Louisiana Public Facilities Authority, Louisiana Economic Development and the Louisiana Small Business Development Center.

For more information about the Mobile Classroom Program, visit http://www.bus.lsu.edu/centers/lbtc/mobileclassroom.asp.

The mission of St. Charles Parish government is to provide high quality, efficient services to sustain and enhance the quality of life for all residents of St. Charles Parish.

For more information, contact Public Information Officer Renee Allemand Simpson at (985) 783-5000 or rallemand@stcharlesgov.net.