by Malcolm Butler
The City of Ruston is once again in the market for an economic development director.
Just eight months after hiring Jade West to replace Phillip Smart in that position, Mayor Ronny Walker is looking for who’s next.
West, who came to Ruston in September after serving as the project manager in Hattiesburg (Miss.) Area Development Partnership, accepted a job as the project manager for economic development for Entergy in the north Louisiana football.
“We were very fortunate to get her,” said Walker. “Jade is so dynamic and so good at what she did. We had hoped to keep her a year and a half or two years, but she got a great offer that at age 26 you simply can’t turn down.”
The next hire for this position will be the fifth in Walker’s tenure as Ruston mayor.
“That position is so important to the city,” said Walker. “We have so many projects that are currently in the works right now. Most people think of economic development as manufacturing, but it’s also hotels and restaurants and small businesses. Retail pieces … that’s a big part of it.
“We are already looking. We may do something a little different. I want people who are passionate about Ruston. Passionate about the job itself. And people who want to move as fast as I want to move. That’s what we will be looking for. It’s a tough market out there.”
Walker did reiterate that he feels that the amount of turnover at the position is a compliment to the quality of people that have served in that role.
“Johnny Maxwell used to tell me when I was at Ruston State Bank with him that anytime someone in the organization moves up, then we are 100 percent behind them,” said Walker. “That’s a compliment to the business. I am thankful these young people have had a chance to move up. We will find someone, and we will keep moving forward.”
With the announcement earlier this year that Buc-ee’s would be building in Ruston — the first in the state of Louisiana — and other ongoing projects, filling the position with the a quality candidate is crucial.
Walker did mention that he is looking at a unique solution to the position.
“So much of what we do is retail but at the same time we are constantly trying to bring industrial type jobs to our city,” said Walker. “So it’s almost like two pieces. So maybe we hire someone that is strictly after the industrial piece and then maybe a part-time person who is after the retail piece. The retail piece doesn’t take as much bandwidth as the industrial piece.”
Walker said that a total of 475 new jobs will be available in the next few years between Buc-ee’s and three other unnamed companies that are looking at coming to Ruston.
“People say there aren’t enough workers here now,” said Walker. “But there are workers that aren’t currently working and out-of-labor force than can be brought back in plus people will move to Lincoln Parish. There were only two parishes in north Louisiana that gained population in the 2020 census and Lincoln Parish was one of them.”
