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January 22, 2013The Thibodaux Main Street program has hired Meggie Benoit to be its new executive director.
Benoit, 22, a native of Lafourche Parish and former communications director with the Terrebonne Economic Development Authority, said she hopes to increase the public’s awareness of downtown Thibodaux.
“One of the things I suggested in the interview process was to bring awareness,” Benoit said. “I think they’re still kind of new and they hadn’t got the publicity that they need. … Just getting the word out about what you do and why you’re here and how to get involved, I think that’s important.”
Cody Blanchard, who held the post for nearly two years, resigned at the end of last year to work full time leading the advertising and marketing firm White Car Marketing and Communications.
Ten candidates – from Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes – applied for the position. The executive board interviewed four applicants and tabbed Benoit because she “had the exact background and the energy we were looking for,” said Tony Palmer, president of Thibodaux Main Street’s board of directors.
Benoit, from Chackbay, graduated from E.D. White Catholic High School and Louisiana State University with a bachelor’s degree in mass communication and a concentration on public relations.
Benoit said she became aware of the job while working with Blanchard as he did work for the South Louisiana Economic Council.
The job, which pays between $28,000 and $32,000 yearly, requires applicants to have at least a bachelor’s degree and asked for experience in historic preservation, planning, economic development, retailing, marketing, design, volunteer management, nonprofit management or small business development.
Thibodaux Main Street hosts a weekly farmer’s market in the spring and fall, the annual Downtown Arts Walk, which is in April, and Big Boy’s Main Street Cook-off in November.
A part of the Louisiana Main Street program under the lieutenant governor’s office, the program seeks to improve the social and economic qualities of downtown Thibodaux.
The program’s events figure to be its main source of revenue in the event state grant funding runs dry, which could happen following this year. Thibodaux Main Street has been under the state umbrella for five years, Palmer said.
The board’s president said the program is almost at the point of self-sustainability, a development he credits Blanchard for spurring. “What he did … is almost immeasurable,” he said. “Meggie, she’ll be able to build off of what Cody has set in place and grow it to that next level.”
Blanchard announced his resignation last November and his last official day was Dec. 31, 2012.
“[W]e have accomplished so much in the revitalization efforts of our great downtown district,” Blanchard says in a letter to downtown Thibodaux supporters. “We’ve grown existing events, implemented new events, painted buildings, added business and are so close to becoming a self sufficient organization.”
For more information on the Thibodaux Main Street program, visit www.downtownthibodaux.com.
