Panel: Businesses grow when communities do, and vice versa

Collaboration, cross-promotion and community engagement by businesses can help to grow the pie for everyone, say speakers at a 2012 Louisiana Smart Growth Summit luncheon, hosted by John Smith of the Downtown Business Association today. Dana Eness, executive director of The Urban Conservancy and its Stay Local! campaign, points to a pet shop owner on Freret Street in New Orleans who worked with a local developer to create monthly markets and festivals to promote the neighborhood. The area has since grown from three open businesses to 60, she says. “They have figured out how to work with residents,” she says. Leah Simon, co-owner of Tsunami and Yoga Bliss, says she virtually never says no to nonprofit community organizations she believes she might be able to help. “Associate your business with goodness,” such as using vendors that buy locally or contribute to local charities, she recommends. Robert Hebert, director of marketing at MayerIT, says business owners should use social media to talk about who they are, not necessarily tout services or products. He says a business’s social media presence can be effectively managed in a few minutes a day, and recommends that owners “like” and promote other businesses online, with the belief that those businesses will do the same in return. “If we help each other grow, we all grow together,” says Hebert, who spoke along with Eness and Simon at the “Growing Your Business Means Growing Your Community” session today. The Smart Growth Summit continues this afternoon and wraps up on Wednesday. Check out the complete schedule of events here. —David Jacobs