The Biz. June 2013

June 2013

DELIVERED TO BUSINESS LEADERS THROUGHOUT SHREVEPORT-BOSSIER

APPof the

MONTHPage 18

2 Biz. Magazine • June 2013

June 2013 • Biz. Magazine 3

The First Word

The term, “New and Improved” has been so overused in marketing that its effec-tiveness has eroded. However, there is no other term that can accurately describethe exciting transformation of NWLA Business Monthly. For the past three years,our publication has been the heartbeat of business in the Shreveport-Bossiermarket. We have told stories of thriving industries and offered practical informa-tion to help all businesses.

As Business Monthly continued to grow in size and influence, there was a desire to makeit more than just “another publication” in the market. We wantedto give leaders a greater tool to grow their businesses. There areso many wonderful tools and resources in our area, many ofwhich are unknown to the business community at large.

After many meetings and discussions, we are proud to roll out aNew and Improved product.

New.Now known as “BIZ,” Business Monthly sports an updated look,more pages and even more relevant content — all packaged forbusy leaders who need their information “to the point.”

A new “Daily Report” provides business news straight to email inboxes Monday throughFriday mornings. Readers can sign up for the Daily Report via our website at www.nwlabusiness.com or simply scan the QR code in this column.

Improved.Biz’s distribution now includes Greater ShreveportChamber of Commerce members. Add that to theBossier Chamber of Commerce members and youhave the very best targeted b2b list anywhere.

Print and OnlineThe printed copy of BIZ is THE Reference for busi-ness leaders. Its pages are full of helpful informationthat can be implemented immediately. It is our aimto make each issue so valuable that it becomes astaple on desks throughout the marketplace.

Online, BIZ is the source for up-to-date Businessnews from Shreveport-Bossier and beyond, all with afocus on local market impact. In addition, BIZ willtake full advantage of social media to ensure timelyinformation is available wherever readers mightneed it.

So welcome to BIZ. We are so glad you are a part ofthe great things tocome in Shreveport-Bossier.

Welcome to BIZ.Business Monthly is more thanjust a New and Improved product

David Specht Jr.President of Specht Newspapers, Inc.

Read his blog about leadership atwww.DavidASpecht.com

He may be reached via email [email protected].

Scan to Sign Up ForBIZ Daily Report


Contents

Volume 4, Number 3 | ©Copyright 2013 by Specht Newspapers, Inc. All rights reserved. BIZ. is published each month by Specht Newspapers, Inc.at 4250 Viking Drive, Bossier City, LA 71111. Telephone (318) 747-7900. Information in this publication is gathered from sources considered to bereliable, but the accuracy and completeness of the information cannot be guaranteed.

20Welcome ParrotheadsOpening of Margaritaville this month brings host of sights,sounds and experiences to Shreveport-Bossier

9From the Ground Up...How to build a STEM workforcein northwest Louisiana

18The Power of OneEntrepreneurism revolutionizesEconomic Development

3 Welcome to BIZ.Business Monthly is more than just a New and Improved product

5 Winning the RoomGoing from wallflower to connector can be accomplished

6 Don’t Waste My Time (Or Yours)There is no sense in pursuing unqualified prospects

7 Where Is Your Online Fan Club?Knowing where your clients and customers can bereached is half of the online marketing battle

8 What Are We Reading?Dave Ramsey’s EntreLeadership is a multiple bestseller and a must-read.

21 Wing It For LunchPopular Monroe sports bar opens second locationon Old Minden Road

Regulars

On the CoverEconomic Development inNWLA takes cooperationfrom many entities, work-ing toward a unified goal.Read Page 17.


Win-Win Powertools

Iregularly speak to salespeople (that’severybody) about selling themselves to thepotential clients they can find in a meetingroom. Prospecting and networking is the“life-blood” of business. I believe we’re allin sales and selling all of the time. Our #1

product is us! If you buy that we’re all in sales,you’ll agree that it seems logical to take thatwhich we sell out into the market place. De-spite the logic, the fear of entering a roomfilled with strangers is often stronger than anypersuasion.

I too, was reluctant to work the room andspent many a meeting (when ordered to go)plastered against the wall or at a table withfriends and co-workers. I got the food anddrink and little else out of my investment oftime and energy.

It all changed when I listened to my ownwords (novel move)…. “What’s the plan?” Bet-ter yet, “What’s the plan for WINNING the

room?” Like learning to ride a bike or drive acar, if you learn and practice all of the steps,it becomes easier and more effective eachtime you do it. Winning the Room becameone of my most popular seminars.

Here are a few of the key elements:Believe that it worksArrive earlyKeep MovingBe ready with your 30-sec commercialRealize most everyone else is a little nervoustooMange your name-tag or bring your ownBe prepared to take notesListenSmileHave your business cards easily accessibleAsk for business cardsGive your cards when askedKeep moving

Resist huddling with your friends andco-workers

Take a break to eat and drinkPresent a friendly and firm handshake…ladies

tooMaintain eye contactDon’t sit downKeep movingMake the first move…they will be glad you didFollow up the next day with the people youwant to meet again

Here’s the bottom line for growing yourbusiness regardless of the product or service.Prospecting and networking is critical andmust be a consistent part of your businessgrowth. Plan, prepare and practice gettingknown in your market.

“It’s not who you know that counts….it’s who knows you.”

Winning the RoomGoing from wallflower to connector can be accomplished

Jerry FrentressSpeaker & Coach, Win-Win Power(ful)Tools for Sales, Service and EmployeeInterviewing. Website: www.WinWin-PowerTools.com.

Business Facebook:www.Facebook.com/WinWinPower-Tools . 453-6080 / Bossier City

[It’s] like learningto ride a bike or drive a car,if you learn and practice

all of the steps, it becomeseasier and more effective

each time you do it.

Tools You Can Use

When it comes to winning in Business, ithelps to have the right “tools” for the job.


Randy BrownAdvertising/Marketing Guru

He is the Advertising Sirector forBossier Newspaper Publishing Com-pany, Inc., publishers of the BossierPress-Tribune and BIZ. Magazine

Randy may be reached [email protected]

Marketing B-S (Bossier-Shreveport)

In recent editions, we have discussedBuilding Your Sales Team. More specifi-cally, we have explored and asking ques-tions (and hopefully answered questions)regarding the reasons that lead to salesrepresentative failure. Previous columns

have explored the Top Five industry agreedupon reasons for sales representative failure.In no specific order, the reasons are: 1.) Inade-quate Training, 2.) Pursuing UnqualifiedProspects, 3.) Pursuing Only the “Big Ele-phant” Accounts, 4.) Lack of Time Manage-ment and 5.) Poor Attitude. So far, we havediscussed four of the Top Five reasons forsales representative failure. This month, wewill take a look at the fifth and final reason,Pursuing Unqualified Prospects.

So, ok, we all know the routine, sales leadafter sales lead pouring in, all of this informa-tion at your disposal, so much so that you feelcompletely overwhelmed and you try to ac-complish everything all at once. How will youever get to it all? You get in a rush and do notspend the proper amount of time researchingand qualifying your prospective customers.First of all, slow down, ask yourself, are these

sales leads qualified? Secondly, do these po-tential customers have a need for my prod-ucts and/or services? Furthermore and mostimportantly, will these customers benefit frommy products or services? In short, can I helpthese businesses with my products or serv-ices?

Absolutely, no salesperson should waste pre-cious sales time in any shape, form or fashion.Essentially, the pursuit of unqualifiedprospects is nothing but a complete waste oftime. We have already addressed time man-agement and its role in sales representativefailure. Thus, as a sales representative, noth-ing is a bigger waste of time than the pursuitof unqualified prospects! If you spend themajority or even a moderate amount of yoursales time pursuing prospects that are noteven qualified to be customers for your prod-ucts or services, how can you expect to suc-ceed?

Don’t waste your time and spend day afterday merely hoping or wishing that a virtualstranger (aka: unqualified prospect) will giveyou a call. In order to be successful, you must

qual-ify

your potentialcustomers. So often these days, we

hear the following phrase used interms of political candidates “the candi-

date has been properly and thoroughly vet-ted.” As such, we must also think in thesesame terms in relation to our potential cus-tomers. Basically, our potential customersmust thoroughly and properly “vetted.”

By spending the time and effort necessary tobetter qualify your prospective customers,you will quickly see which prospects to keepon your call list(s) and which prospects todrop. Most all of the top performing salespeople have made this activity a daily habit. Channel the time that you save as a result ofnot spending your time on unqualifiedprospects toward your initial (thoroughly vet-ted) prospecting. Then, follow up with coldcalls on these qualified prospects. This is akey step toward insuring your future and longterm success as a sales representative!

Don’t WasteMy Time(Or Yours)

There is no sense in pursuingunqualified prospects

Don’t waste your timeand spend day after daymerely hoping or wishingthat a virtual stranger will

give you a call.


One of the questions I am asked the most is, “Do I need to be on Facebookfor my business?” The answer is this: you need to be where your clientsand potential clients are. It’s just like in the “real” world – location, lo-cation, location! Of course, social media is just one marketing tool.And Facebook is just one social media option. With over 1 Bil-lion users on Facebook, that often means you do need to

be on Facebook. However, other social media networks might bebetter for your business. Maybe you need a combination of net-works. Find out where your clients are already hanging out andmeet them there.

How do you find out? Ask them. You could use an online survey toollike SurveyMonkey.com. There is a free version, and it’s very simple tosetup and use. You can create a survey in just a few minutes and canask a variety of questions including short answer, multiple choice, andfill in the blank. A link to your survey is automatically created and yousimply email the link to your contacts. They click on the link and are taken

right to your questions.

What do you ask? Ask questions that let youknow WHERE they are online. Find out inwhich social networks they are spending theirtime. They may be checking several social net-works, but where are they spending most of theirtime.

Another thing you need to know about your contacts andfans is WHEN they are online. Once you know which social networksthey use, you need to know when to communicate with them. If they areon Facebook or Twitter, for instance, do they go there before work orschool, over lunch, after work, in the evenings, or on the weekend? Face-book pages have the Insights analytics tool which can give you somefeedback on this, too.

By knowing where and when your contacts are online, you can targetyour message to them and have a better chance of reaching them. Thereis no reason to spend time, effort or money in the wrong social networks.If you are going to have a social media presence, do your homework, andlet it be in the right place, at the right time.

Uncommon Sense Marketing

Amy KinnairdSocial Media Evangelist

She trains business owners and entre-preneurs how to use the latest mar-keting tools and techniques to attractand keep clients.

View Amy’s website at www.uncom-monsensemarketing.com.

Where Is YourOnline Fan Club?Knowing where your clients and customers can

be reached is half of the online marketing battle

You need to be whereyour clients and potentialclients are. It’s just like inthe “real” world – location,

location, location!


Biz ToolsDo Something

The speed of business is ever increasing. The successful business leaderstays on top of the tools and information to help his company grow.

Books

What are we reading?Dave Ramsey’s EntreLeadership is a multiple bestseller and a must-read for anyone in a decision making capac-ity of a business. This book not only chronicles the steps Ramsey’s company took to become one of the nation’stop companies, but also give practical steps to achieve success in any economic climate. Readers will find them-selves referring back to the pages ot EntreLeadership long after they have read it through.

What are they reading?

Million Dollar Web Presence,Chad Barr & Alan Weiss

Amy Kinnaird

The 7 Habits of HighlyEffective People, Stephen Covey

Jerry Frentress

Thou Shall Prosper,Rabbi Daniel Lapin

David Specht Jr.

Platform,Michael Hyatt

Sean Green

App of the MonthIf you aren’t using Evernote, you are missing out on one of the greatest tools for organizanizing pretty mucheverything. Evernote stores everything from scanned documents, to emails and web clippings.

Evernote is acesssible through multiple devices, so your “stuff” is awlays available to you.

A paper-free office is possible, even with the free edition of this App. Evernote is available for Apple, PC, iPhoneAndroid and a host of other platforms.

Order the book here.


If you find yourself driving down I-20 inBossier City, LA, you may notice a uniquebuilding with tall spires and architecturaldesigns that cause it to stand out from therest. That building is the Cyber InnovationCenter (CIC), which is the cornerstone of

the National Cyber Research Park. In 2008, theCIC set out on several missions, one of whichwas to build a sustainable, knowledge-basedworkforce dedicated to science, technology,engineering, and math (STEM) that could sup-port the growing needs of government, indus-try, and academia. This mission has becomeincreasingly more important as the U.S. contin-ues to fall short of meeting the STEM-work-force demand.

Elaborating on this need, Vice President of theCyber Innovation Center, G.B. Cazes, shared,“Nationwide, more than 300,000 STEM-relatedjobs are currently left unfilled because em-ployers can’t find enough skilled STEM profes-sionals. By 2018, analysts are estimating thatLouisiana alone will experience an alarming69,000 job vacancies. It’s critical that we builda capable STEM workforce and that we do sofrom the ground up; such an approach in-volves us working collaboratively with K-12teachers and college faculty to engage morestudents in STEM.”

To meet this workforce demand, the CIC cre-ated the National Integrated Cyber Education

Research Center (NICERC). NICERC utilizes amulti-faceted approach by providing profes-sional development for K-12 teachers whileengaging students in project-driven STEM pro-grams and curricula. NICERC’s immersive pro-fessional development empowers teachers toconnect with and prepare their students to be-come the leaders of tomorrow. This July,NICERC will host the inaugural Education Dis-covery Forum, a professional developmentconference for leading K-12 teachers in STEMeducation.

While NICERC focuses on teacher professionaldevelopment, it also offers opportunities forinternships. Through NICERC, undergraduatestudents from Louisiana Tech University wereable to intern in the Cyber Research and De-velopment program. Additionally, NICERC co-ordinated meetings between universities inthe region and a Department of Defense(DOD) agency. From those meetings, local stu-dents are interning with the DOD agency inWashington, D.C., this summer. NICERC hasalso brought in undergraduate and graduatesstudents from across the U.S. to work as engi-neering education interns this summer. 2

G.B. Cazes said, “These internships and otheropportunities will collectively help to reversethe brain-drain, where we no longer lose ourstudents to higher education and career op-portunities elsewhere but instead, keep them

here in Louisiana.”

Many of NICERC’s local programs have seen anoverwhelming growth in participation amongstudents and educators. In the 2012-2013 Re-gional Autonomous Robotics Circuit (RARC),over 825 elementary, middle, and high schoolstudents from 48 schools in the region com-peted in a series of STEM and liberal arts chal-lenges. This represents an overwhelmingincrease of 41% in participation from lastyear! The response has been so favorable thatother regions in Louisiana have asked NICERCto bring RARC and its other programs into theircommunities. Looking ahead, this will estab-lish multiple regional sites across Louisianawhere all regional grand champions couldcome together for a statewide competition. Ultimately, the goal of NICERC’s programs andcurricula is to help students develop a curios-ity and passion for learning, which will encour-age a greater number of students to pursuecareers in the STEM fields. Whether they arestudying NICERC’s curricula, experiencing in-ternships, attending summer programs, orpreparing for a RARC competition, NICERC en-courages students to think innovatively and,most importantly, to know what opportunitiesare available for them in STEM.

To learn more about NICERC’s educa-tional initiatives, visit www.NICERC.org.

From theGround

Up...How to build a

STEM workforce innorthwest Louisiana

GB CazesAssistant Director/Vice President, CyberInnovation Center

Workforce







Bossier CityDoes Its Partfor Growth

Bossier City put its money where itsmouth was to make way for Margaritaville.

Roadwork for the newest entertainmentattraction included the widening and re-design of the East Texas/Traffic Street in-tersection at the Louisiana Boardwalk. Thisincluded building a quarter-mile-long roadoff of East Texas Street to lead to the newcasino, additional turn lanes at the cornerof East Texas and Traffic streets, and widen-ing River Colony Drive to include two sin-gle-lane roundabouts to connect to BassPro Drive.

“We provided almost $7 million worthof infrastructure improvements to facilitatethe Margaritaville development, but theimprovements we made will help access tothe entire Boardwalk,” said Mark Hudson,Bossier City engineer.

That change at East Texas and TrafficStreets is a small part of the proposed im-provements along Highway 80 from all theway up Traffic Street up to Old BentonRoad. Hudson said this rehab would makeit more attractive to any business lookingto locate there with “significant drainageimprovements,” sidewalks, vintage stylestreetlights, and improved landscaping.

“It will be more functional, but it will bealso be prettier.”

Other roadwork that is designed to im-prove ease of access for business develop-ment include the long awaited widening ofShed Road between Benton Road and Air-line Drive, a project that had been on thebooks for around 15 years. Hudson hopesto put the project out to bid before the endof the year and start construction after theHolidays.

The widening of Swan Lake Roadstarted in 2011 and is ongoing. Dividedinto two projects — expansion from ShedRoad to Interstate 220 and Shed Road to I-20 — the total cost of the project is $20million. Estimated time of completionis late spring/early summer 2014.


Cover Story


Cover Story

David “Rocky” Rockett says theMargaritaville Resort Casino is anexample of business-governmentcooperation.

Government & Business

WORKINGTOGETHER

Economic Development in NWLA takes cooperation from many entities,working toward a unified goal of bringing and expanding business here

When driving throughdowntown Shreve-port or Old Bossier,one can’t help butnotice the latestmonument to the

area’s growing economy. Jut-ting up into the skyline is anew tower, white, symboli-cally the color of freshness,a startling sight to anyone

who has grown accustomedto the same few buildings that

populated the urban forest of thearea along either side of the RedRiver.

The tower for the new Margaritaville ResortCasino is sure to be not only a money generatorfor the area —attracting out of town Parrot-heads (the name for rabid fans of Margaritavillebrand owner Jimmy Buffet) and bringing in lo-cals who haven’t been to a casino in a while, orever — but will bring some visible excitementlocally when it opens this month.

“The casino industry has been in our marketfor about 18 years. They were a real shot in thearm in 1995 when they came in. They were able

to bring in new job opportunities. From that,you are able to base new investments and thecommunity earned a lot of money from that.With the new boat, they raised the bar,” saidDavid “Rocky” Rockett, Executive Director/Pres-ident of the Greater Bossier Economic Develop-ment Foundation.

It’s some startling numbers: a $195 millionconstruction project, 1,200 to 1,500 positionscreated in the facility and another 700 con-struction jobs.

Developers say Bossier City will collect$4.26 to $4.8 million due to growth and $2.2million in hotel occupancy taxes. The parish canexpect to collect $12.5 million the first year thecasino is open.

Perhaps it was acutely appropriate that itwas in the shadow of this visible end of eco-nomic development means that Rocky, a manwho fights daily to bring new business to thearea, spoke about its role in what has been agreat year for development.

“This year is doing well. We have had someslow couple of years, but this year we are doingbetter. We have some opportunities to putsome manufacturers into our industrial park.We have some opportunities to grow things

along the riverfront, with the new Margaritavilleopportunity,” he said with a hint of enthusiasmbelying his matter-of-factness.

He also cited the new Benteler Steel/Tubetraining facility being built at Bossier ParishCommunity College, the new Sam’s Club set tobegin building later this year, and the $200 mil-lion-plus Bossier Parish School Board construc-tion and renovation that will start this fall asreasons to be encouraged.

“This shows all the new investment opportu-nities that are growing this year,” Rocky ex-plained.

For the GBEDF, going out and recruiting op-portunities for business growth, this year hasseen a big, what Rocky calls, “return on invest-ment.”

“My return on every investment is a new jobopportunity for Bossier City and Bossier Parish.We are the organization that the city and parishhave entrusted those opportunities to take thatmantra and move out and open up the doorsand make our plans where everybody can seewhat this community is capable of.”

STORY BYSean Green

PHOTOS BYAmanda Crane

My return on everyinvestment is a new jobopportunity for BossierCity and Bossier Parish.


The Powerof One

Entrepreneurism revolutionizesEconomic Development

Scott MartinezPresident, NLEP

He is a certified economic developer

and President of the North Louisiana

Economic Partnership, a nonprofit re-

gional economic development organi-

zation. Send comments to

[email protected].

During our recent North Louisiana Eco-nomic Partnership Annual Meetingpresented by CenturyLink, ourkeynote speaker, Rich Karlgaard, Pub-lisher of Forbes Magazine, spokeabout the “power of one” to spur eco-

nomic development. A single person canmake a huge economic impact on his or hercommunity.

Karlgaard, a recognized thought leader whenit comes to economics, explained that thereare two current schools of thought about pro-moting economic development. One schoolof thought fostered by Richard Florida in hisbook “Rise of the Creative Class” expoundsthat the Creative Class empowers communi-ties, organizations and people to harnesstheir innate creativity to achieve greater pros-perity and well-being. Florida defines the cre-ative class as a new or emergent class - ademographic segment made up of knowledgeworkers, intellectuals and various types ofartists.

An opposing school of thought espoused byJoel Kotkin supports the “back to basics” eco-nomic development approach. Communitiesneed to concentrate on their native strengthsand assets as the real economic drivers,which in turn will attract the creative class.

While both of these theories hold merit, Karl-gaard argues that there is a third factor, an X-factor, which can rewrite the entire course ofa community’s economic future. That factor isthe impact of one entrepreneur or one com-pany to redefine what is possible in a com-munity. Karlgaard points to what Bill Gatesand Microsoft did for the economy of Seattle.Microsoft’s success convinced other entrepre-neurs, like Jeff Bezo who would later startAmazon, to set up shop in Seattle.

I’ve seen this phenomenon myself with whatDell did for Round Rock, Texas. I believe it canhappen here in Northwest Louisiana. I lookaround our region and see the entrepre-neurism that exists in our communities. Thisentrepreneurial spirit, the X-factor if you will,is contagious. It can have a ripple effectacross an entire community and region, bring-ing new investments and other like-mindedpeople to settle here.

For example, Moonbot Studios and Twin En-gine Labs have transformed the digital mediasector in Shreveport-Bossier, redefining whatis possible in North Louisiana. The app for“The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Less-more” developed by Moonbot Studios andTwin Engine Labs received international ac-claim from the New York Times, the London

Times, and Wired magazine. Following thatsuccess, Moonbot Studios won the AcademyAward for best animated short film- onceagain proving to the world North Louisiana’sdigital media sector is a rising star.

As economic developers, our job is to nurtureand encourage the entrepreneurial spirit. Re-sources, including the Louisiana Small Busi-ness Development Centers, LouisianaEconomic Gardening, Louisiana Economic De-velopment’s (LED) Small & Emerging BusinessDevelopment Program, and incubators, likeCoHabitat and InterTech Science Park, sup-port small start-up companies during their in-fancy and nurture their potential to grow intoFortune 500 companies. LED offers a host ofsmall business programs, which you can learnmore about on their website,www.louisianaeconomicdevelopment.com/small-business/programs.aspx.

Ultimately, the creative spark and entrepre-neurial drive rest with a single visionary, whodares to reinvent and revolutionize an indus-try and in turn a community. The can-dospirit which made our country great is aliveand well in North Louisiana. Can we ignite itand nurture it?

On the Economic Development Front

Moonbot Studios in Shreveport.


From the Bossier Chamber

Business in Bossier is flourishing, and has been for some time. While the nationaleconomy struggled, Northwest Louisiana was primarily shielded from the reces-sion and even thrived thanks to the Haynesville Shale activity and strategic ef-forts of local and state officials and organizations. There are many excitingdevelopments in Bossier Parish that are producing remarkable economic devel-opment prospects.

One of these opportunities is the Benteler Steel plant at the Port of Caddo-Bossier, whichwill generate 675 new direct jobs paying an average annual salary of $50,000 plus ben-efits, along with 1,540 new support jobs, creating more than 2,200 permanent jobs forthis region. The Benteler project was won with a customized incentive package createdby the collaborative efforts of Louisiana Economic Development, Bossier Parish Commu-nity College, the Red River Waterway Commission, the Caddo Parish Commission, thePort of Caddo-Bossier, the City of Bossier City, the Bossier Parish Police Jury, and theGreater Bossier Economic Development Foundation.

Many in Bossier eagerly await the opening of Margaritaville Casino and Resort. The newfacility anticipates drawing gamers from Texas andOklahoma, adding 600,000 incremental gaming vis-its, having an estimated $124 million impact onBossier Parish. Margaritaville will create 1,500 newdirect jobs and anticipates generating $12 million inlocal tax revenue annually.

Finally, the growth in Bossier Parish is truly inspiring.Population and business growth here are impressiveand obvious testaments to our great schools, qualityof life, ease of permitting, and flexible solutions forbusiness needs. Bossier is experiencing growth allaround, with retail development in North Bossier’sStirling Properties, at the Louisiana Boardwalk, and,with the Arthur Ray Teague extension, South Bossieris opening up additional land for commercial andresidential real estate development. Overall, the fu-ture of Bossier Parish looks prosperous, thanks tostrong leadership and a healthy community.

Growing in BossierA Look at Economic DevelopmentProjects Around Bossier Parish

Mike BoggsBoggs & Poole Contracting Group, Inc.

Mike is a member of the Board of Di-rectors of the Bossier Chamber ofCommerce.


NWLA Tourism

Welcome ParrotheadsOpening of Margaritaville this month brings a host of sights, sounds and experiences to Shreveport-Bossier

Donecia PeaMedia Relations, Shreveport BossierConvention and Tourist Bureau.

She is a monthly contributor to Biz.Magazine.

She may be reached via email [email protected].

When Jimmy Buffet’s MargaritavilleResort Casino opens the doors thismonth, they’ll be introducing visi-tors to a dining and entertainmentexperience like none other at theirsignature restaurant.

“We’re definitely going for more of alifestyle angle with live bands, soloists,acoustic sets all going on several nights of theweek,” Margaritaville Spokeswoman ChristyWood said. “You’re not just having dinner here.We’ve taken it to a different level.”

Here are a few features to look out for:

The volcanoSaid to be the largest in the Margaritaville

franchise, the man-made volcano sits insidethe Margaritaville restaurant. Every weekend,several times throughout the night, it will rum-ble and erupt with smoke and lava – all cre-ated using an LED lighting effect - and shootout a female performer who will slide down

the luge into a margarita blender-like structureto kick off the entertainment. The performerwill then launch into an aerial show, sur-rounded by stilt walkers and dancers.

The soundThe restaurant will use a sound system that

is a smaller, identical version of the one Buffetttravels with. Why? “He likes to make randomappearances at his casino resorts. So if hemakes one here, everything will already be set

up to the type of system he likes to play on,”Wood said. “And we’re hoping to get a lot ofrandom trips out of Jimmy.”

The settingIn keeping with the island theme, Margari-

taville’s two-floor restaurant will feature a sig-nature mural with a stage that Woodsdescribes as an exact replica of a lighthousebuoy. “The ceilings and walls are all paintedand have palm trees, and pontoon boats,” shesaid. In addition, there will be seating on thepool deck.

Visit www.ShreveportBossierFunGuide.comfor a schedule of live music performances atMargaritaville Resort Casino, as well as a com-plete list of things to see and do in Shreve-port-Bossier.


Chris JayPublic Relations and Social MediaManager, Shreveport Bossier Conven-tion and Tourist Bureau. He is amonthly contributor to Biz. Magazine.

He may be reached via email [email protected].

Lunch Break

Daq’s Wings and Grill, located at 1705Old Minden Road, is a popular Mon-roe sports bar that recently opened asecond location in Bossier City. Withabout a dozen giant televisions tunedto sports and 25 beers on tap, Daq’s

is the kind of place where you’d expect to findgood burgers and chicken wings, but not toomany surprises. At least that’s how I’d peggedthe place prior to visiting.

As it turns out, I was wrong. While blue cheesedressing does flow like water at Daq’s, and theburgers and chicken wings are fine, there arealso some genuinely fun, unexpected offer-ings here. Fried shrimp baskets ($6.99-$18.99)are tossed in hot wing sauces like citrus chipo-tle BBQ, lemon pepper and sweet red chili.Fried pickled okra ($5.49), surprisingly hard tofind in Shreveport-Bossier, are lightly-pickled,

crunchy and juicy. Appetizers and sides thatI’m looking forward to trying soon includecilantro shrimp wontons, boneless alligatorwings (really?), and roasted poblano chile conqueso. Daq’s promotes a grilled chicken sand-wich as the house specialty, but I’d have ahard time opting for a chicken sandwich overfried pickled okra and cilantro shrimp won-tons.

Daq’s does have some obstacles to overcome.Located in a building that previously housed aBurger King, the restaurant’s outward appear-ance is a bit rough and service can be spotty.But when a place has memorable food, thatmakes up for an awful lot. Did I mention thefried pickled okra?

Wing ItforLunch

Popular Monroe sports bar opens secondlocation on Old Minden Road in Bossier City

Daq’s Wings.Fried Pickled Okra.




Date post:	06-Mar-2016
Category:	Documents
Upload:	david-specht
View:	217 times
Download:	2 times

The Biz. June 2013

Documents