After being back in Ruston now for three years, I am very impressed with what Mayor Walker and the other City leaders are doing in moving Ruston forward. Communities the size of Ruston are either moving forward or declining. With no large manufacturing operation in the city or parish serving as an economic anchor for the community, Ruston has still found a way to grow and expand.
The key to economic growth for any community is to develop revenue streams to bring “outside” money into the area. While it’s important to maintain shopping, dining, and other service provided options to keep money within the community, it’s not enough to just keep “swapping” money internally. Attracting revenue streams from outside the community generates growth, stability, and provides funding for improvements.
The Ruston Sports Complex is a great example of an investment that not only provides a first-class sports facility for residents of the community, but it is also being utilized to attract significant outside revenue generating events that bring people from outside the community to Ruston. While the revenue generated from hotel stays, dining out, gas stations, and other local spending is hard to quantify, there is a significant impact of fully utilizing the complex!
Ruston’s strong financial institutional presence goes well beyond providing services to residents in that several of these local banks have expanded their presence well beyond Ruston and Lincoln Parish. Their scope of operations not only provides additional support service jobs in Ruston, but also further strengthens the local economy through their success outside the area. Argent Financial is another example of a Ruston-based firm having significant success well beyond this area!
This strong financial base, along with some great work by Mayor Walker and his team, were no doubt instrumental in bringing the proposed Chase operations center to Ruston. This addition is another example of accentuating the strengths of a community and further clarifying its identity in a proven segment.
Ruston and Louisiana Tech continue to partner together in a very effective manner. Mayor Walker does an outstanding job of being involved with Tech orientation and partnering with school administrators on several levels. The Tech Pointe concept continues to grow and expand technological service expansion with both new companies moving to Ruston and existing operations continuing to grow. Here again, the City and University are accentuating the strength of the University in a manner that provides job growth, local economic expansion, and opportunities for Tech students.
Mayor Walker’s work to attract Buc-ee’s will be another revenue stream from outside the community by utilizing proximity to a major interstate system. We will also see additional growth along the interstate as restaurants and other service-related organizations will take advantage of the Buc-ee’s attraction for those passing through the Ruston area.
With all this encouraging news, we don’t need to lose sight of the solid foundation provided by the Experience Ruston Organization and Mainstreet Ruston. These two provide stability and support to ensure the community maintains the historical small-town charm while still providing progressive ideas on new events. The Chamber of Commerce does a wonderful job of connecting local businesses with each other and to the larger economic environment beyond the local area.
With so much negative news and events going on in the world, let’s not miss some local good news to feel good about. There’s a great team working together in Ruston to advance the community! Don’t take it for granted!
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