The Professional Services Committee approved Lafayette Consolidated Government initiating a $50,000 contract with a public relations firm.
As more of unincorporated Lafayette Parish opens up to development - both residential and commercial - through the completion of the Ambassador Caffery Parkway extension as well as other road projects, the city of Lafayette and LUS Fiber hope to capitalize on that growth by marketing themselves to potential new residents/customers.
The Professional Services Committee, which comprises three council members and two representatives of the Durel administration, approved Lafayette Consolidated Government initiating a $50,000 contract with a public relations firm to undertake a marketing campaign on behalf of the city and LUS Fiber. The PSC recommended three agencies: Right Angle, Sides & Associates and KJA Communications, according to Norma Dugas, clerk of the City-Parish Council. In an e-mail message just after noon Friday, Durel indicated that KJA had been selected.
This week's action comes on the heels of public squabbles among elected officials over the swath of unincorporated Lafayette Parish skirting the newly opened Ambassador Caffery South. An extension of Ambassador northward from Interstate 10 to I-49 in north Lafayette Parish is now in the planning stages. As these and other transportation corridors open up to development, the municipalities in the parish will be courting landowners, residents and developers in an effort to widen their respective tax bases. Durel has long championed Lafayette as an attractive host for residents and business, citing Lafayette's higher property values and lower insurance rates relative to the small towns.