By Kyle Roberts
Laurel Nerren loves Ruston, no question.
She’s also an avid reader and a history buff, with a passion and talent for communication.
And she understands the importance of local politics, growing up in a household with a district judge as her father and spending a lot of time knocking on doors in neighborhoods to remind voters to head to the polls.
Combine those ingredients, and you can easily see why Ronny Walker felt she will be a good fit for her new role as director of communication for the City of Ruston, set to begin Tuesday, Aug. 1.
“I’m super excited to be able to bring things back to my hometown because, you know, I live here now and this is my home. I’m excited to just bring opportunities and to be able to communicate to everybody in the area that I live in, and just help us grow through knowledge and understanding,” Nerren said. “And, you know, I have a bunch of ideas and I’m super ready to just try out, and I’m just I’m very excited.”
Walker understands the importance of a role like Nerren’s as she gets ready to start in the coming weeks.
“We are very excited to have someone of Laurel’s caliber and experience taking over a very important position in our city,” Walker said. “We look forward to great things happening in our communications department.”
Originally from Benton, La., Nerren started her collegiate career at Louisiana Tech before graduating from LSU-Shreveport. Not long after, she earned her master’s degree in communication from Loyola in New Orleans.
Nerren spent time afterward working with United States Representative Julia Letlow on her comms team, and while she admits that at one time she believed she would work in our nation’s capitol full-time, it is the policy and bureaucracy that ultimately quashed that desire.
Now, Nerren is excited to bring her talents to the City of Ruston, looking to make sure residents are informed about the growth and economic development going on in the town. Along with communication duties, Nerren will also work with restaurants, hotels and small retail businesses that are planning to set root in the city.
“Laurel is handling just the retail piece,” said Walker. “But that’s just a small piece of her overall responsibilities with us. She will be the contact person for retail. Every week she will have a list of all the restaurants that are trying to come to Ruston, and she will call every one of them every week to check and see if they need anything.
“If they need something they will call her. If she can’t provide it, then she will come to me for more direction. I think she will be a great part of our team.”
Nerren is excited about this aspect of her new job.
“We want to make sure the community is in the know and that residents understand what is going on,” Nerren said regarding new businesses coming to Ruston. “And we want to make sure all these new businesses feel welcome
“We want to be a thriving city. One way to do that is to make sure that business that are coming here feel like they are needed. I’m very happy to serve in that role. I love stepping outside myself, and serving is a huge thing for me. So I’m very excited for that.”
