Chamber hears about upcoming events across parish

At Wednesday’s meeting of the Evangeline Chamber of Commerce, Director Renee Brown discussed ways the chamber is being proactive following the layoff of approximately 70 employees at Cameron-Schlumberger here in Ville Platte.
The chamber, according to Brown, has initiated a rapid response orientation and job fair that is slated for Tuesday, March 12, at the Ville Platte North Side Civic Center at 8:30 a.m.
According to Brown, the orientation will cover benefits, unemployment, 401k packages, as well as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for food stamps. After which time will be the job fair that is specific to the affected employees.
Brown said, “The library will be providing laptops so we can get people registered and signed up with employment applications online plus assisting with resumes.”
Brown updated the chamber on the city’s first clean up day which was held Saturday, February 16, in Ville Platte. “It was a huge success,” she exclaimed. “We had a great turnout of business people plus our 4-H junior leaders. We worked on a lot of stuff, but we still have a long way to go. We will be conducting these on a regular basis at least once a month.”
Also during the meeting, Brown updated the chamber on several upcoming events which will be happening around the parish including an open house at Wellness Plus on Monday, February 25, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.; a lunch and learn with Acadiana Center for the Arts on Thursday, February 28, at noon sponsored by Bon Aimee; the Spring Shop Local campaign set for March 29 and March 30; the annual Chamber Banquet set for either April 10 or April 24; a medical industry forum; and a business mixer in Basile.
Another event planned is the first Farmers Market in Ville Platte on Friday, March 15. According to Brown, the market will continue on the third Friday of each month from 3:00 p.m. until 6:30 p.m.
“We will have live entertainment,” she said. “We’re looking at bringing in Cajun entertainment or Swamp Pop entertainment for like a jam session and having people being able to shop and visit and spend the afternoon with us. We’re hoping it will eventually get so big that we’ll have to shut down the street in front of the Swamp Pop Museum so we can have our own Downtown Alive.”
She continued, “We are encouraging people to come give a display of what’s going on in their store and give out their business cards and encourage people to shop local. Plus, we’ll have farmers, arts and crafts, and other vendors.”
In other business, the chamber voted to accept Ville Platte Rental and Sales and David Ortego as new members.