How can Shreveport attract the “creative class” of knowledge-based workers?
Come find out on Wednesday (20 June 2012) at 5:30 PM at CoHabitat (610 Commerce Street, Shreveport, Louisiana).
A panel of experts will discuss how Shreveport can become more economically competitive in a global economy.
Writing in The Atlantic (8 May 2012), urban public policy expert Richard Florida found that based on his research, New York City is the most economically powerful city in the world. Florida has written:
There are several reasons to believe New York’s position atop the global urban hierarchy is secure, at least for the medium-run. For one, it is the world’s most open and diverse large city. As its mayor Michael Bloomberg recently noted in the Financial Times, the key to global competitiveness lies in a city’s ability to attract the best and brightest from every corner of the globe. “The most creative individuals want to live in places that protect personal freedoms, prize diversity and offer an abundance of cultural opportunities.”
The Be Fair Shreveport campaign, a joint project of Forum For Equality and People Acting for Change and Equality (PACE), is dedicated to improving Shreveport’s ranking on that list.
Florida found that cities most devoted to the 3 T’s (talent, technology, and tolerance, and in particular tolerance of their gay population) were the ones that attracted the creative class.
Exploring the ways that area businesses can more fully embody those 3 T’s and attract the “creative class” of highly talented, high tech knowledge-based workers will be panelists:
- Brandon Oldenburg — Oscar winner and co-founder of Moonbot Studios
- Angelita Jackson — HR Director, City of Shreveport
- John Grindley — Executive Director, CoHabitat
- DeAnn Arnold — Former HR Director, LSUS and current doctoral student in Industrial/Organizational Psychology, LA Tech
- Richard Brower — National Director for LGBT Marketing, Harrah’s Casinos
The moderator will be Dr. Kelly Weeks (Associate Professor of Business at Centenary College’s Frost School of Business). Dr. Weeks has a Ph.D. from the University of Memphis in Management with specializations in Organizational Behavior and Human Resources.
Free and open to the public.
