Episode 18 Edgar Guzman - ”Shreveport: Bossier - My City, My Community, My Home”

Edgar Guzman, Entrepreneur and Founder of The Lot Downtown Shreveport, sits down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development with the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, to answer the following questions:

 

0:33 1. On Friday, November 20, 2020, in the middle of the first year of COVID, you and your wife Deshea opened The Lot at the old Sportran Terminal in the 400 block of Crockett.

 

Let’s begin, if we could, by talking about how that project came about.

 

2:37 2. What are some of the events currently taking place at The Lot? What are some of the things we can expect to find at The Lot over the next six months?

 

4:52 3. You once said, “We want downtown to get back up and running, and we are going to do everything we can to help that.”

 

You are now almost two years into The Lot. I would say at this point that you are far more experienced than most of us in terms of understanding the great possibilities and challenges of revitalizing downtown Shreveport.

 

In a recent interview you did with Tim Fletcher, Fletcher said, “A stronger downtown means a stronger community.”

 

Do you believe downtown Shreveport can be great again? If so, what can all of us in the community do to help make that happen?

 

7:51 4. Correct me if I’m wrong about this. You have a full-time job and The Lot is something you do in addition to your full-time job.

 

What kind of advice can you give to people in town that say, “I really care about my city and wish I could do more but I am just so busy.”

 

10:02 5. Andrew Larson once was quoted as saying, “It’s amazing what Edgar has been able to do here. His support for the community I think should be an inspiration for all of us.”

 

Why do you care so much about Shreveport-Bossier?

 

11:49 6. I think most people would agree that our community doesn’t always come together as much as it could. In one interview, you stated that you wanted The Lot to be for “every neighborhood.”

 

How do we as a community do a better job of coming together – different races, different classes, different neighborhoods?