A new Louisiana business organization has set in motion a plan to make business growth and stopping the “brain drain” major priorities for this year’s gubernatorial candidates.
The Business Congress of Louisiana recently spent $50,000 for advertising that urges candidates in the gubernatorial race to take job growth and the “brain drain,” student migration to other states for employment, more seriously.
Lane Grigsby, the group’s chairman, said the two-and-a-half-month-old political action committee was formed to capture the voices of the people of Louisiana.
Grigsby said promoting business growth in advertisements was on the top of the groups list because it targets directly stopping the brain drain dilemma the state faces.
The group hopes the ads will help the candidates see that the job growth issue is vital to the development of Louisiana.
“We want the candidates to think outside of just a two-or four-year cycle and focus on the future of Louisiana,” Grigsby said.
The 60-second advertisement shows images of professionals fading to other cities, Grigsby said. One scene shows a chef working in a restaurant. As he is cooking, his image fades until he is completely vanished. Once he has vanished Chicago appears in his place, signifying that he has left the state for another job opportunity in Chicago.
The ad’s slogan, “Let’s make Louisiana a place where people can live, not leave,” attempts to show the next leader that the state needs a pro-business governor that takes a pro-active stand on bringing business into the state, Grigsby said.
The BCL purchased about 30 advertisements a day for seven days, Grigsby said. The ads are currently being aired on cable networks including CNN and Fox News.
Grigsby said the group will not endorse a candidate because they are more worried about what the candidates do in office rather than who is in office.
Wayne Parent, LSU’s political science chairman, said organizations sponsoring ideas rather than candidates is becoming more commonplace.
“It is common, although we see more and more of it with hot-button issues like gun control and abortion,” Parent said.
Parent said this year’s election is perfect for organizations sponsoring issues rather than candidates because there are no clear-cut choices for the next governor, and getting the issues out will help voters determine who supports their ideas.
Kimberly Walker, a psychology junior, said job growth is the most important issue of the election because it may stop students from having to leave the state to find jobs.
When Walker graduates from medical school, she intends to leave the state for employment because of more opportunities and higher pay that is offered in other states.
Parent said many students also have decided to leave the state following graduation.
“Many students have already given up on staying in state after college,” Parent said. “A lot will leave state to get a job then come back in seven to eight years,” Parent said.