CANVAS WORKSHOP

Destination Louisville, KY

East Baton Rouge Parish (EBR) Mayor-President Melvin "Kip" Holden and the Baton Rouge Area Chamber (BRAC) have selected Louisville, Kentucky as the destination for the 2012 Baton Rouge Area Canvas Workshop. Local business and community leaders will travel to Louisville for three days and two nights to gather insights and inspiration to be utilized in the Capital Region. Based on recent successes, Louisville can provide attendants with useful information on public education, workforce development, talent retention and attraction, international business development, and riverfront development.

• Workshop Dates: Sunday, March 25, 2012 -
  Tuesday, March 27, 2012
• Location: Louisville, KY
• Cost: $2,200 per person (includes hotel and charter flight)
• Information: Contact Nancy Little at nancy@brac.org
• Registration: Register online or download the registration form »

Why Louisville?

• One of the ten best cities for commuters - Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine
• Second-best housing market in the United States - Forbes.com
• One of the ten best cities for families, education, and recreation - Parenting.com
• Fortieth-most literate city in America - Central Connecticut State University
• Fourteenth best city for business and careers - Forbes
• One of North America's small cities of the future - Foreign Direct Investment magazine
• Among the ten best college towns - Livability.com
• Fourth-most photo-friendly city in America - Popular Photography magazine
• One of America's top twenty-five bicycle-friendly cities - Bicycling Magazine
• One of the 100 safest cities in America - FreeBackgroundChecksUSA.com
• Top twenty-five of U.S. cities with the most ENERGY STAR buildings as reported by the EPA

Lessons learned

The Baton Rouge Area Canvas Workshop will soon embark on its seventh trip and follows successful trips to Austin in 2003, Nashville in 2004, Raleigh-Durham in 2006, Portland in 2007, Richmond 2009 and Pittsburg last year. A recap of past Canvas Workshop trips and their outcomes can be downloaded here. Past trips have resulted in developments such as BRAC's five-year regional economic development program, increased community support for Louisiana State University and Pennington Biomedical Research Center, and a new community mindset focused on maximizing the potential of the Baton Rouge metropolitan area.

Letter from the chair

Click here to read more about the 2012 Baton Rouge Area Canvas Workshop from committee chair, Scott Hensgens.