Early voting ends Saturday and turnout is again projected to be low. If you plan on heading to the polls, Business Report Publisher Rolfe McCollister, in his latest column, offers recommendations for the following races and ballot measures.
- State Treasurer: John Schroder
- City Court Judge Chris Hester
- Parishwide Hotel Occupancy Tax: Yes
On another note, Baton Rouge Entrepreneurship Week—an annual celebration of all things entrepreneurial—is set for Nov. 14-16. Baton Rouge needs more jobs to grow and support its economy to provide opportunities for young and old, McCollister writes, adding that baby boomers are twice as likely to launch a new business as millennials.
“Some in our government are under the illusion we are going to get Amazon to move here and bring 50,000 jobs with them. They will be disappointed,” he writes. “I believe most of our jobs for the future will be grown by entrepreneurs. That is why our focus should be on providing a strong ecosystem and pipeline to support entrepreneurship.”
Instead of competing with 267 other cities for Amazon’s HQ2, Baton Rouge should instead seek to discover and assist the next Jeff Bezos, Michael Dell or Mark Zuckerberg.
“But in addition to identifying talent and future entrepreneurs, what are we doing for startups
and established entrepreneurs looking for help? Is our ecosystem strong and in place now?” he writes. “BREW is not only an important week to gather and network, but also to rally ‘round our entrepreneurs, encourage them, provide teaching—and thank them. We need to make it clear to all that ‘BATON ROUGE LOVES ENTREPRENEURS’ and believes they are key to our future and that we are here to help. But we must deliver on that promise.”
Read the full column. Send your comments to editors@businessreport.com.
