One Acadiana Provides Resources, Collaboration

One Acadiana has provided to Vermilion Parish resources and a collaboration between partners, according to Anne Falgout, executive director of the Vermilion Economic Development Alliance.

During a conversation with One Acadiana President Jason El Koubi and Falgout, she said it is the job of economic developers to "build capacity, and we have no better partner than One Acadiana in doing that."

"Whether we're talking to our local business community about taking their business to the next level or we're recruiting businesses from outside the state to come and locate to Vermilion," Falgout said, "we have resources and funding and staff capacity at One Acadiana that we can now leverage for good results."

Falgout said there has been a lot of collaboration and coordination between her office and those of One Acadiana, which has enabled her to do her job more effectively.

"Being able to collaborate is unique. Most regions don't have nine parishes engaged actively in economic development with a central repository of information and staff and talent," Falgout said.

El Koubi said one of the major points of One Acadiana was to develop such synergies--to develop that collaboration--to make it easier to fulfill regional initiatives.