CASE STUDY

Jefferson EDGE 2020 Strategic Implementation Plan and
Quality of Life Initiative

Jefferson Parish, La

Jefferson Parish, a suburb of the City of New Orleans and now the largest parish in the State of Louisiana, has historically been a model of stability and sustained economic growth. Following Hurricane Katrina, however, there has been an increasing awareness among Jefferson’s business and political leaders of the potential threats to Jefferson Parish’s economic prosperity. Changes in the regional job market, population shifts within the metropolitan area, and the out-migration of some residents following the Hurricane have made the future of the community more uncertain.

It has become clear to Parish leaders that some of the trends that the Parish is currently witnessing are typical of all mature, “inner ring” suburbs and that Jefferson—being an older suburb itself—was experiencing these challenges prior to Katrina. Hurricane Katrina has potentially accelerated these trends.

In response to this challenge, the Jefferson Economic Development Commission (JEDCO) retained GCR to lead a “dream team” of Parish business, political, and community leaders in identifying each of the unique challenges that Jefferson is facing and in charting a course to address these problems. The primary conclusion that emerged from this process was that Jefferson needed to broaden its economic development efforts beyond traditional business recruitment and retention to address the full range of issues that comprise the community’s overall quality of life.

As quality of life is an increasing determinant of a community’s socio-economic health, a comprehensive effort to generate quality of life action plans was initiated. With GCR as lead researcher, planner, and facilitator, a “strategic implementation plan” is being drafted to address each of the major quality of life challenges that the Parish is facing, from flood protection to community beautification. GCR has facilitated meetings of subject matter experts; GCR has conducted extensive research into best practices to glean additional policy direction; and GCR has synthesized these bodies of knowledge into legible, concise, yet ambitious action plans.

The plans for each thematic area (crime, education, flood control for example) contain very specific recommendations for the legislation, regulatory measures, and strategic investments that are needed to improve the quality of life in Jefferson and ensure its continued prosperity. Thus far, two plans have been completed and have been enthusiastically received by Parish leaders. The remainder of the thematic plans will be completed by the summer of 2008.