Melanie David | The News
LIVINGSTON, La. - First impressions make a difference.
That's what the Town of Livingston Mayor Jonathan 'JT' Taylor will tell anyone. As a former tourism expert, JT discussed his time traveling around the southeast and how any time he visited somewhere new there were certain indicators that would give the impression of an inviting community.
"Oh, this place has some nice parks," he explained. "Or this other place would have sidewalks.
"These were things that stuck out, at least to me."
So when JT heard about the Louisiana Economic Development (LED) Grant for community improvements, he immediately applied for the town. The $10,000 in grant funding was earmarked for Development Ready Communities (DRCs) to support 'marketing, infrastructure improvements, grant writing, and potentially used as matching funds' to enhance the community's economic development efforts.
For the Mayor of Livingston, the choice was easy. There was another indicator of a community that he always noticed when traveling - street signs. Taylor believed that replacing all of the street signs, and attaching the city's logo to them, would help enhance the community feel and maintain that 'small-town' charm.
Livingston Economic Development Council (LEDC) agreed, as a board, to match the grant with an extra $10,000. The sum total of $20,000 allowed the Town of Livingston to replace and rebrand all of their street signs.
“The LEDC is uniquely positioned to partner with LED on this initiative thanks to the strong support of our Livingston Tomorrow investors,” LEDC CEO Melody Lockwood said. Livingston Tomorrow investors contribute annually, some for more than ten years, to support economic development projects in the parish.
"People think that (LEDC) is only after industrial projects, but that isn't true," Lockwood continued. "Our work begins at the community level, and we're excited to partner with the Town of Livingston."
