It’s a topic that’s front and center in Baton Rouge: attracting young professionals to the city.
In the latest episode of Business Report’s “Strictly Business” webcast, that topic was explored by a three-person panel: Jeremy Beyt of ThreeSixtyEight; Sabrina Galloway of Ethics and The Galloway Group; and Amanda Martin of Studyville.
A focal point of the discussion was the Better in BTR initiative, a national campaign that will soon get underway aimed at attracting this coveted demographic to the Capital Region.
According to Beyt, one of the main things keeping Baton Rouge from competing with other cities when it comes to attracting young professionals is its “branding problem.”
“The perception of Baton Rouge is broken internally and externally,” Beyt says. “The discourse has to change in order for that perception to change.”
Galloway agrees with Beyt’s assessment of Baton Rouge’s branding problem, adding that naysayers often speak much louder than those who have an affinity for the city.
“We have such a rich history, and if we talk about that and … the innovative things we have going on, that changes the dynamic,” Galloway says.
When it comes to the Better in BTR campaign, Martin is optimistic that the program will hit its goal of increasing the number of Capital Region residents between the ages of 25 and 44 by 5% by 2026. Hitting that goal will likely require buy-in from the local business community, though.
“I think we really need to rely on our business community,” Martin says. “Politicians come and go, and they’re motivated in ways that the business community is not.”
Watch the full discussion on Business Report’s “Strictly Business” archive.
