City’s economic development director believes he can make a difference

There’s a reason we have two ears and one mouth.

“I’m just listening,” said Bill Sabo, Shreveport’s new economic development director. “People here, between the Council, the mayor, the Chamber and the North Louisiana Economic Partnership, they all know what needs to be done. Now it’s a matter of me listening to them and trying to figure out how we facilitate that. How do we execute it? A lot of people have ideas. The city can help execute those things. That’s what makes this job a great position.”

Sabo, who is married (Beth) and has two children living in Chicago, came to Shreveport from Fort Smith, Arkansas. For three years, he was regional director of the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center. But Sabo is not new to Louisiana. He did his undergraduate work at Tulane University, and he began his professional career in New Orleans.

“I’ve lived in Louisiana before and love Louisiana.”

Leading a President Barack Obama White House economic development initiative helped Sabo find his passion for helping others.

“Taking non-traditional tech people – whether they were military, whether they didn’t have a college education, not your typical four-year person – and putting them through basic tech training, then getting them into entry level jobs … that sparked me in economic development. I like working with people and changing their lives.”

Sabo continued to change lives as director of food, music and technology for the New Orleans Business Alliance.

“A lot of musicians in New Orleans, they play a gig, get a check and that’s it. We brought in music buyers from Los Angeles, who had projects for which they needed music. We got five people who are now getting royalties and what they call ‘mailbox money.’” Sabo also helped mom and pop food makers.

“Believe it or not, New Orleans did not have a Food and Drug Administration-compliant kitchen. You couldn’t create a sauce or a food and sell it to a grocery store. You had to go to Baton Rouge. We worked very hard on creating that.”

“It’s a good-sized city to get things done. There’s a lot going on, and the people I talk to really want things to improve.”

In his new role, Sabo plans to create a more streamlined process for businesses.

“I just read a report that there are 49 steps you have to take to start a restaurant. That seems pretty difficult.”

This leads to a bigger picture of making corporate life as easy as possible for both new and existing businesses.

“My thing is to get everybody aligned. (Cities) are the glue. We’re not necessarily the building blocks. We can pull in business, and it takes business, government and citizens in economic development. It is a three-legged stool. You can’t do it without all three.”

Before Sabo recruits companies to Shreveport, he wants to make sure Shreveport can provide what those companies need.

“As I said to the Council, if you brought in a super high-tech company, how many of our citizens are they going to hire? Probably not many. They’re going to bring them in from the outside. Can we work with local businesses, whether it’s hospitals or casinos – any of those – and upscale who we have but also look into the future? Tech is the future. AI (Artificial Intelligence) is the future. How do we get higher education and training organizations focused on that, so we really can go out and have a story to tell businesses and bring them in here?”

In some circles, Shreveport is known for being its own worst enemy – people living here looking at the glass as half-empty instead of half-full. Although Sabo has only been in Shreveport a short time, that’s something he’s already noticed.

“I get the feeling sometimes Shreveport doesn’t know what it has. People have been here a long time. Most people I’ve met have lived here their whole life. I come from a community that does not have all those businesses you have on Youree Drive. Ashley Furniture closed. Carrabba’s closed. There’s no line at Whataburger. Here, it is the opposite. I don’t think you realize not only the opportunity but what is already happening.”

Can you imagine not waiting in a line at Whataburger?

Sabo said that in economic development, cities are sometimes defined as either not having a plan, having a plan that they haven’t yet executed, or moving forward.

“I think everybody here agrees with what may need to happen. In the conversations I’ve had, I hear different things, whether it’s trying to upscale underserving communities or trying to make sure it’s easier for businesses which are here to do business. They’re the ones which are going to expand. Those are the ones which are going to hire more people immediately. (Shreveport) is not a diamond in the rough. It’s moving forward.”

And Sabo believes he can make a difference.

“It’s a good-sized city to get things done. There’s a lot going on, and the people I talk to really want things to improve. They want things to get better. It’s not just ‘Things are nice, and we’re complacent.’ Everybody wants to see this city grow.”