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One on One:
Reid Falconer 2007
Chairman of the Board,
St. Tammany West Chamber of Commerce 
by Stacey Paretti Rase
A registered architect with over 23 years in the real estate development industry, newly elected board chairman of the St. Tammany West Chamber of Commerce Reid Falconer has demonstrated a steadfast commitment to the northshore community. IN sat with him recently to ask about the coming year and his plans for the continuing success of the St. Tammany business community.
What do you see as the most important aspect of the Chamber’s work in our business community?
We aim to be the voice of business, to support area business and to build coalitions. One of the most important aspects, though, is our effort to work to bring resources to owners of even the smallest businesses, because some issues take a critical mass to get things done. Take the widening of Hwy. 190 in Covington, for example. That improvement directly affected area businesses. I don’t want to overstate it, but the discussion for that expansion actually started within the Chamber five years ago. Shelby LaSalle and our Transportation and Infrastructure Committee first brainstormed the idea.
What are the top issues the Chamber will tackle in 2007?
Certainly insurance. And we’ll be fighting continuously for recovery dollars. Workforce development is a key issue, as is workforce housing. I’ll be focusing on continuing along the track of Marty Mayer [outgoing chairman], although I must say that’s not like following Aaron Brooks. It’s more like following Drew Brees!
What issue are you most passionate about?
I think maintaining our cultural economy, because it’s so fundamental to our way of life here in St. Tammany. We’ve got incredible art galleries, festivals, musicians, the Tammany Trace. But, we’ve got to be careful. We can’t let ourselves lose sight of that economy as we grow. Often, that’s the first thing to go by the wayside.
“Regionalism” seems to be a buzzword these days. What does that mean to the Chamber?
We have to realize that we are no longer a suburban parish. We have all the problems and issues that urban parishes have. It’s hard to believe that St. Tammany’s population has exceeded New Orleans’. I’m an eighth-generation Louisianian, and just saying those words blows my mind. The northshore has gone from being the shy girl sitting on the sidelines waiting to get asked to dance to being the swan. We need to take advantage of that and make strategic alliances with groups or areas that are in our enlightened self-interest. We are in a position to stand on our own, yet reach out to others. I’m encouraged because we are blessed to have such visionary leaders on the northshore to lead us in the right direction.
Your motto for this year is “Let it be now, let it be us.” What do you mean by that?
I sort of took poetic license from Marty Mayer’s theme last year of “If not now, when?” We have such incredible talent and entrepreneurship here. We need to realize that if this recovery is going to take place, it’s got to start with ourselves. We can’t rely on the federal government. Our kids and grandkids will tell stories about this time, and history will judge us by our response. They will write books about us. And if there is a happy end to this story, it’s because ordinary people pulled up their bootstraps and got to work.
