On December 11, St. Tammany Parish President Pat Brister accompanied a delegation to Washington, DC, to accept the award of Entrepreneurial American Community for 2014, on behalf of all of St. Tammany Parish. The awarding group, Partners for Livable Communities (PLC), each year acknowledges the entrepreneurial spirit of a community and recognizes communities that are innovators and have successfully found unique solutions to local problems.
Among the innovations that made St. Tammany Parish a contender include: our cutting edge Maritime Training Institute in the heart of downtown Covington; the St. Tammany Fishing Pier near Slidell, a testament to perseverance through adversity; and the Community Land Trust, assuring that affordable workforce housing is a permanent and reusable asset here in our community.
“For our Parish to be recognized for our entrepreneurial accomplishments is something that every member of our community can be proud of,” Brister said. “It was very gratifying last week to be cited for this honor among a number of remarkable people and organizations. I want to thank every citizen for their support of local entrepreneurial enterprises throughout our Parish.” Visit www.stpgov.org for more information.
Northshore Housing Initiative (NHI) is a community land trust, an organization committed to the permanent stewardship of land and the long-term affordability of workforce housing. Using a shared equity model, NHI helps moderate-income homebuyers purchase a home by investing in the land. The land is leased to the homebuyer by the trust with a long-term lease that includes a resale formula to ensure affordability is preserved for the next buyer. Board members of NHI include St. Tammany Parish Planning Director Sidney Fontenot and Director of Economic Development Donald Shea. Other board members include Maureen Clary, G.M. Benson Tower; and Edward Bee, President of Taimerica, a management company offering solutions for energy-related economic development. Learn more at www.northshorelandtrust.org
Timothy Gates, Correspondent, Covington Weekly
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