ACG Louisiana Weathers the Storm

January 2007 will mark the second anniversary for a chapter that many worried would not be able to recover from the devastation caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita more than a year ago. ACG Louisiana had only completed its eighth monthly chapter meeting in its history and was building its membership when the storm forced the chapter to suspend operations. But only three months after the floodwaters subsided, ACG Louisiana held its first monthly chapter meeting, and the chapter has been going strong since then. While the hurricanes caused the chapter’s membership to decline from 120 to approximately 100, the storms provided an opportunity for the chapter as well. Monthly luncheon speakers in 2006 were selected with an eye toward providing information to attendees interested in hearing from regional companies about lessons learned from the storms as well as being educated about some of the many tax incentives and other economic opportunities available to businesses in the region. Some of the 2006 speakers have been Thomas Beron, of the Louisiana National Guard, who spoke about his experience in New Orleans before, during, and after Hurricane Katrina; Tom Oreck, CEO of Oreck Corp., who spoke about the need for disaster recovery planning and the issues his company faced as its headquarters in New Orleans and manufacturing facility in Long Beach, Miss., were severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina; and Greg Rigamer, CEO of GCR & Associates, who shared with the audience his perspective on the changes in demographics, the impact on the housing market, and the economic outlook for businesses in the New Orleans region post-Katrina. In addition to its quality speakers, one of the unique aspects of ACG Louisiana is that it rotates its monthly chapter meetings among New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Lafayette, in an attempt to attract members from throughout the state and encourage interaction between members from different markets to enhance business development opportunities. “When we founded this chapter we chose the name ACG Louisiana rather than ACG New Orleans or ACG Baton Rouge because we felt that building a broader membership base would give us a stronger platform from which to network and grow,” notes Chapter President Les Alexander. Members have found this rotation of location to be conducive to broadening their business relationships throughout the state. The chapter is also starting to attract many members from nearby markets, such as Houston and Dallas, who are looking to prospect in the relatively untapped Louisiana market. Rotating the meeting locations gives attendees the opportunity to market in three different cities. Beyond monthly meetings, ACG Louisiana wanted to offer members greater programming but was concerned that it was still too early in its development to undertake a major event on its own. As such, the chapter reached out to ACG Houston and ACG Dallas and was invited to participate as a sponsoring chapter in the annual Texas Capital Connection. This Capital Connection is one of the best-attended events of its kind, attracting more than 1,000 attendees and such notable keynote speakers as former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. By collaborating with other chapters in the region, ACG Louisiana is able to offer its members programs that it could not offer on its own, and provide them with opportunities to expand their network into the major markets in Texas. As ACG Louisiana looks to the future, it hopes to expand its offerings to include a case competition for local universities, an annual awards program to recognize leaders in the local business community, and a golf outing. ACG Louisiana welcomes you to experience the hospitality of its chapter at an upcoming event. (c) 2006 Mergers and Acquisitions Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.majournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com