Baton Rouge, LA (September 12, 2022) – The Baton Rouge Area Chamber (BRAC) today released the agenda for its eleventh Regional Canvas Benchmarking Workshop, which will take place November 2-4, 2022, in Greenville, South Carolina. The topic agenda, at-a-glance, includes:
- Transforming the economy: From textiles to automotive engineering
- Lessons in leadership: Optimism & determination
- Dynamic developers, downtown & PPPs
- Inclusive redevelopment
- Entrepreneurial ecosystem/minority business accelerator
- Talent attraction/retention
- Business & education/workforce partnerships
- Serial entrepreneurship & community leadership
- Young professionals & the Future of Greenville
The complete agenda and registration can be found at brac.org/canvas.
The Regional Canvas Benchmarking Workshop is an effort by BRAC, in conjunction with the Office of the Mayor-President of East Baton Rouge Sharon Weston Broome, in which Baton Rouge Area business and community leaders travel to a peer metro area and learn how the destination city has addressed policy issues that are also important to the Capital Region.
“Greenville’s story of revitalization, inclusive redevelopment, and business partnerships makes it the perfect location for our 2022 Canvas trip,” said Helena Cunningham, BRAC board chair, founder and CEO of National Housing Consulting Services, and Canvas co-chair.
“The agenda is packed with presentations from business leaders at the forefront of Greenville’s downtown transformation, talent retention efforts, and innovative partnerships,” said Canvas co-chair John Snow, partner at Emergent Method, and Greenville area native. “We look forward to facilitating discussions between our communities and taking the lessons learned from Greenville back home in the Capital Region.”
Best practices learned at past Canvas trips and developed locally include, among others, procurement diversity efforts and the minority business accelerator from Cincinnati in 2018, recruiting Basis and Great Hearts charter schools from Phoenix in 2015, and exploring Orlando’s health and life sciences park in 2013 as a foundation for developing Baton Rouge’s Health District.
Planned activities in Greenville include the BMW Performance Center’s Driving Experience paired with a session on Greenville’s transition from textiles to automotive engineering, a walking tour of the multi-use Swamp Rabbit Trail, group dinners at community-driven restaurant group Table 301’s establishments, and a panel discussion featuring developers Robert and Bob Hughes on downtown Greenville’s revitalization through public-private partnerships.
The trip is sponsored by Visit Baton Rouge. Additional sponsorship opportunities are still available. Companies interested in sponsoring can contact BRAC’s Director of Investor Development Michelle LeJeune at michelle.lejeune@brac.org.
Event registration includes all accommodations, including flight, hotel, and food. To register or find more information on the 2022 Regional Canvas Benchmarking Workshop, visit brac.org/canvas. Registration closes in early October.
About the Baton Rouge Area Chamber
The Baton Rouge Area Chamber (BRAC) is an aggressively ambitious regional economic development organization with a bias for action. BRAC seeks to push Baton Rouge beyond the status quo, unleash its potential, and support a vibrant business community that believes the finish line does not exist. BRAC seeks to accelerate economic opportunity in the Baton Rouge Area, for everyone, through BRING IT! Baton Rouge, its five-year, regional strategic plan. Learn more about BRAC at brac.org.
Original source can be found here.