You can check out graduates from Accelerate Northside on previous episodes of Out to Lunch - especially The Williamses and Creole Nutcracker - and see for yourself the significant difference Kevin and Jonathan's program is making. In that role, Jonathan has overseen the launch of Accelerate Northside and its “head and heart philosophy.” The idea is they don’t just teach you how, but try to understand the why of your business.Įven if you have a great idea for a business and the drive to give it everything you've got, if you don't come from a business background or grow up around entrepreneurs it can be tough to know essential business basics, and especially how to avoid making mistakes you don't need to make. Jonathan has been the LEED Center’s Program Manager since 2020. His mom used to run the Chamber of Commerce and his dad was an extension agent with Wildlife and Fisheries. Jonathan grew up in Abbeville and has long family ties to economic development. And one of the guys responsible for importing the idea was Kevin’s colleague, Jonathan Shirley. That program kicked off in 2021 and has kept growing ever since.Īccelerate Northside was modeled after a successful program offered by the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. Kevin’s behind the scenes work is essential to the success of the LEED Center’s Accelerate Northside program, which offers workshops and training for entrepreneurs. He landed at UL in 2014 as an admissions counselor and works today as the LEED Center’s Office Coordinator. Kevin got his MBA from UL and moved to Texas, thinking he’d never look back. Growth and prosperity moved southward in Lake Charles, leaving older neighborhoods behind. And that community tells a similar story. Kevin Guillory grew up on the Northside - of Lake Charles that is. And organizations like the Lafayette Entrepreneurship and Economic Development Center at UL see an opportunity to revive Lafayette’s Northside with that spirit. And opportunity left with them.īut the spirit of entrepreneurship is still very much alive. A restaurant or even a zydeco club.įast forward to the 21st century and many of those businesses have vanished. Entrepreneurship was a big part of the fabric of the community: the family grocery store or barber shop. ![]() The communities were stitched together by schools, churches - and businesses. In places like McComb, Veazey and Fightinville, families could live, work and play on their blocks. In the mid-20th century, neighborhoods on Lafayette’s northside looked a lot like neighborhoods communities are trying to build now.
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