Entrepreneur fest offers hope

So there at the Marriott Courtyard, right near the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center, was Gov. Bobby Jindal last week, making a pitch for his new revenue proposal, which would eliminate state income tax and add sales taxes that don’t currently exist. Jindal is billing it as a fair and flat way for Louisiana to get the money it needs to operate, and as he ticked off his talking points the crowd – members and guests of the South Central Industrial Association – kept their eyes on the podium as if Moses himself had appeared, ready to lead them to some promised land.

The introductions of people in the crowd of about 200 made clear why Jindal had received a warm welcome. He has done a good job of painting himself as a pro-business governor. And these were business people.

It’s easy to paint these folks as nothing less than pro-money. Money is, after all, the reason why most people get into business.

And a reporter, trudging from business luncheon to business luncheon, seeing the same faces at each one, the politicians and the oilfield service tycoons, the networkers, the glad-handers, can become jaded.

Who are these people that set these things up, the presidents of the organizations, the business boosters, all of them. What do they do to ensure that new people, new faces who need to get some attention, who have ideas to be nursed, have a leg up?

Or is there only so much room at the trough?

One of the organizations you hear a lot about in business circles is the Terrebonne Economic Development Authority. They have been doing a lot to help network local business people with trading partners in other countries like China. Their director, Steve Vassalo, has an impressive track record, and has helped businesses in many places reach their full potential. He also has an innate enthusiasm, and it is infectious.

This is evident when he talks about his organization’s latest pet project, which will serve as a tremendous helping hand to lots of people who want to get ahead.

The Louisiana Entrepreneurship Fest for Youth and First-Time Entrepreneurs is scheduled for Houma June 20-21, at the Civic Center.

High-school upperclassmen, university students, and even folks with no academic affiliation, as well as veterans and others, are invited to attend.

“This is something we hope to repeat year after year, an annual event,” Vassallo said, explaining what he sees as the important points of the project.

Louisiana Economic Development is working closely with TEDA on this, and if it all comes together right it could do a lot of good things for a lot of people.

The hotels should make out well, since attendees will be coming from other places.

But more importantly, it is a clarion call to anyone with a dream, anyone who believes they have that idea that could put them over the top, to find out from people who have succeeded what has worked and what has not.

At the fest’s Web site, www.laentrefest.com, there’s even information on how you can get a scholarship, in case the registration fee is a little hard to handle right now.

This is living proof that the program is not just one more of those hotel lunch things for the local upper crust. It shows a true extending of welcome to people you don’t usually see at those types of get-togethers.

There are few excuses, then, for someone with a dream to beg off attending.

“TEDA’s mission is to expand and recruit business in the Houma region. The ‘idea seeds’ planted this summer will no doubt contribute to that mission in coming years,” Vassallo says in the promotional materials.

It will be interesting to see how this all shakes out. And it will be interesting, too, for a look in the future to see how many people greeting a governor or other dignitary at a business organization luncheon were among those who showed up for the Entrepreneurship fest with a few dollars in their pockets, a few dreams in their heads and hearts and the willingness to succeed.