BusinessReport.com

In his three-and-a-half years as head of the Mid City Redevelopment Alliance, Samuel Sanders has seen a number of improvements happen to the neighborhood. Dufrocq Elementary School has undergone a $14.8 million expansion. New businesses, from interior-design firms to restaurants, have moved in and fixed up existing buildings. Baton Rouge General, Mid City’s biggest employer, has reaffirmed its commitment to the area.

“People are speaking more positively about the region,” Sanders says. “Now, it’s a matter of keeping the work going and keeping things solidly focused on the region. Positive things are occurring.”

Sanders became involved with the redevelopment alliance several years ago through his old job with Consumer Credit Counseling Service. The organization worked along with the redevelopment alliance in sponsoring homebuyer-training programs. That relationship led Sanders to join the staff of the redevelopment alliance in March 2003, moving up to executive director when Perry Franklin stepped down three years later.

During his tenure as head of the group, Sanders has worked to build on past achievements and strengthened local partnerships, including incorporating self-sustaining revenue opportunities. “We just want people to find a reason to come into the area and turn it around,” he says.

The Mid City area has a “great mix of people” and fine historic buildings “with great bones,” pointing to Providence Engineering and Circa 1857 as examples of what can be done in the neighborhood. “We know that a creative person can get inside and turn these buildings into something different. We want to keep telling that story,” he says. “It’s a matter of reusing what is already here.”

The pace of activity in Mid City has remained consistent, but Sanders says frustration sometimes sets in because progress is often slower than he and his staff members would hope. “But we know there’s a big investment coming here,” he says. “It’s just a matter of when and what.”

If you could have a job other than your own, what would it be? “My dream job was always to be a field reporter in some war-torn country.”

Age: 38

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