Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home

Episode 30 Danny Logan - ”Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home”

Danny Logan, a farmer from North Caddo Parish, sits down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development for the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, to answer the following questions:
0:34 1. Danny, you have lived in Gilliam, in North Caddo Parish, for most of your life where you have been a farmer, raising corn, soybeans and cotton.
 
Let’s start here today. When did farming first begin on your land?
 
3:14 2. For people like me that know very little about agriculture in our area, take me through some of the shifts and changes you have seen in terms of agriculture’s place and prominence in our community.
 
8:56 3. Talk to me about some of the commercial aspects of your farm. Who are your clients and how do you transport your product to them?
 
19:08 4. Your wife Karen and you both attended university at Southwestern at Memphis (now known as Rhodes) and since college you have been very active in giving back to this community and others.
 
For instance, I know that Karen and you were involved for many years installing clean water systems for people in Haiti impacted by poverty, poor government and storm damage.
 
Talk to me about this work in Haiti, how it came about and what all it entailed.
 
26:37 5. As you look around our community, what concerns you the most?
 
28:05 6. What makes you prideful of our community?

Episode 29 Kevin Nolten - ”Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home”

Kevin Nolten, Vice President of the Cyber Innovation Center, sits down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development for the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana to answer the following questions:
 
0:50 1. All right, Kevin, you are the Vice President of the Cyber Innovation Center located in Bossier City.
 
If I do nothing else today, I want to clarify for the audience what cyber is, why people should care and what type of work is happening at this incredible campus on the eastern part of our community.
 
The campus is multi-faceted, housing I believe four buildings – the Cyber Innovation Center, General Dynamics Information Technology, the Bossier Parish Community College STEM/Louisiana Tech Academic Success Center and the Louisiana Tech Research Institute.
 
I’m not sure we will cover all four buildings but if we do our job today, people will at least have a much better handle on what all is happening at your 3,000 acre National Cyber Research Park.
 
Let’s start here. Please define in simple terms the word cyber for us lay people.
 
5:52 2. One of your missions at the Cyber Innovation Center is to educate and develop a knowledge-based workforce around STEM (science, technology, engineering and math)-related fields.
 
To that end, one of the divisions or arms of the Cyber Innovation Center is cyber.org.
 
In August of last year, cyber.org launched K-12 cybersecurity learning standards. It was the first national effort to align cybersecurity criteria and curriculum across all 50 states. Talk to me about how a K-12 school and K-12 educators connect with cyber.org and begin to utilize the curriculum you have developed.
 
14:01 3. I came across this quote of yours, “the U.S. is expected to face a shortage of 1.8 million skilled cybersecurity workers by 2022, making educating and empowering the next generation of cybersecurity professionals imperative to our future national and economic security.”
 
To date, cyber.org has influenced over 20,000 K-12 educators to teach and introduce cyber concepts to over three million students in all 50 states. But with over 52 million students in the country, we still have a lot of work to do.
 
How do we as a country speed up our efforts in cybersecurity education so that we properly meet the cybersecurity workforce demand in the future?
 
20:14 4. You once said, “a student can leave high school, attend BPCC for a 2-year degree, walk across a parking lot to the Academic Success Center to continue their education for a 4-year degree, and then literally walk across the street for a full time job at GDIT.”
 
What can I do as a parent if I want to ensure that my kid is properly prepared to have a career in STEM and/or cybersecurity?
 
27:28 5. What kind of careers exist locally for someone with a proper STEM and cybersecurity education?
 
31:28 6. Lastly, what can we do as a community to help you leverage the incredible asset you have built at the National Cyber Research Park? Specifically, how can we bolster your efforts to recruit and retain the nation’s best and brightest?

Episode 28 Dr. Ruby Scroggins - ”Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home”

Dr. Scroggins, Former Principal of JS Clark and Supervisor of Special Education Compliance, Complaint Management, and Parent-Community Involvement for Caddo Parish, sits down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development for the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, to answer the following questions:
 
0:37 1. Dr. Scroggins, you served as the Principal of Joseph Samuel Clark from 2013-2018 and are now the Supervisor of Special Education Compliance, Complaint Management, and Parent-Community Involvement for Caddo Parish.
 
Let’s start today with this quote of yours where you said in speaking about JS Clark the following:
 
“We are a very impoverished area, and I say that because I grew up in this area. I went to the same school. I graduated from the high school two blocks away. I’ve lived the lives that these students live every day in poverty.”
 
For the moneyed community of Shreveport-Bossier that may not understand what life looks like in the Lakeside neighborhood, can you describe it for us?
 
7:28 2. In 2016, you were one of ten Louisianians to receive the Angel Award presented by the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana Foundation. In speaking about you, one of your supporters said the following:
 
“Ruby is an angel. What she’s doing here is what no other high school or elementary school or any school person is doing in this parish and that is helping their children at this school and their entire families by having a school pantry.”
 
Talk to me about the school pantry that you started with the Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana. How did it work and is it still in operation at JS Clark today?
 
15:58 3. In speaking about the Angel Award, another one of your supporters said the following:
 
“Principal Scroggins’ drive comes from her compassion to help people. She is always willing to go above and beyond to meet the need for a student and their family. It’s an unbelievable amount of time that she spends and will do whatever she can to help these families to achieve what they need.”
 
How do you explain your overwhelming compassion to help people? Or, in other words, how do you think you came to feel such a sense of service to others?
 
19:15 4. While you were the Principal at JS Clark, you started a school-based health clinic. Talk to me about why this was important and is it still in operation today?
 
24:43 5. As you look around at our community, what concerns you the most?
 
27:08 6. As you look around at our community, what makes you hopeful about the future?

Episode 27 John Tuggle -”Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home”

John Tuggle, Executive Director of Shreve Memorial Library, sits down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development for the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, to answer the following questions:
 
0:36 1. John, since 2015 you have been the Executive Director of Shreve Memorial Library, a 21-branch public library system serving the City of Shreveport and the surrounding Caddo Parish.
 
I would like to begin with the longest question I have ever asked a guest. This is an excerpt from an article in the Shreveport Times from February 9, 1920:
 
Speaking of the supreme needs of Shreveport at the First Baptist Church Sunday night, Dr. Dodd, M.D., said:
 
“There are three outstanding needs for Shreveport at the present time: First of all we need the public library. It is a necessity just as much as banks and business houses. Second, we need new school buildings, with auditorium facilities in which school spirit can be created and where public lecturers and moving picture machines can supplement the routine of mere book learning. And, third, we need a great Y.M.C.A. building. The Shreveport spirit is nobly progressive and aggressive along every line, but it must be admitted that we are backward on these three things mentioned. Many other towns of much less importance and with much less wealth than Shreveport, enjoys the privileges of libraries and Y.M.C.A. buildings."
 
All this to say, why is Shreve Memorial Library so important to our community. Or, in other words, what would our community be without Shreve Memorial Library?
 
10:16 2. I read some about it but am unsure of the current status. Talk to me if you could about the possible partnership between Southern University Law Center and the downtown Shreve Memorial Library.
 
14:45 3. I read that in the last year or so, the Shreve Memorial Library has taken on yet another role for the community, that of an entrepreneurial support engine. Tell me about this new initiative and some of the services and resources the library now provides to small business owners and entrepreneurs.
 
20:46 4. You grew up in the small town of Hot Coffee, MS and came to Shreveport from Savannah after working with their library system for nearly nine years. You are extremely involved in our community.
 
To name but a few things that I know, you serve on the board of the Gingerbread House and United Way, the Advisory Committee for the NWLA La-STEM Innovation Center, are an active Rotarian, and you try to live by Rotary’s credo “Service above Self.”
 
I recently asked one of my previous guests this same question. A couple of weeks ago, I was in a meeting at the Shreveport-Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau and one of the people there made the statement that we need to work on moving our community from “a me community” to “a we community”.
 
As someone who clearly sees this as a “we community”, how do we get more people to live by “Service above Self?”
 
28:34 5. As I mentioned before, you grew up in Hot Coffee, MS and have lived in a number of other cities. To name but a few, I know you have spent time in Hattiesburg, Houston and Savannah.
 
I am always fascinated by the way that people who did not grew up here view our community. Where do you feel we struggle the most compared to other places you have lived?
 
33:22 6. Lastly, what do we do as well or better than the other cities where you have lived?

Episode 26 Clay Walker - ”Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home”

Clay Walker, Director of Juvenile Services for Caddo Parish since 2011, sits down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development with the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, to answer the following questions:
 
 
0:37 1. Clay, since 2011 you have been the Director of Juvenile Services for Caddo Parish.
 
I want to spend today talking about the issue of juvenile crime in our community - a multi-faceted, complex problem that we have been struggling with for decades.
 
Let’s start with this quote of yours:
 
“It cost 10x more to lock them up than it does to prevent it. Louisiana can’t afford it. We’re gonna continue to see brain drain and companies leave and nobody moving in.”
 
Talk to me about the economics of incarceration versus prevention.
 
3:55 2. Let’s move on to another quote of yours:
 
“For my adult life, Caddo Parish has led the world in incarceration per capita and yet here we are.”
 
7:14 3. You have said that we are not getting upstream at solving the problem. I came across another quote of yours:
 
“You’re dealing with poverty, parenting issues and with reasons kids are susceptible to gangs.”
 
And I would add trauma to the above quote.
 
What can we do better for children to help them take a healthier path rather than a gang path?
 
12:34 4. Only 304 children in a parish of 60,000 children came to the detention center last year. Of those 304, only 66 were repeat offenders and returned to the detention center after serving their time.
 
The number one factor for the 66 kids that are repeat offenders in detention is that they do not have a single pro-social adult in their life. Not a parent, not a grandparent, not an aunt, not an uncle, not a principal, not a teacher, not a coach, not a pastor, not a mentor.
 
Talk to me about all of this if you could.
 
22:50 5. You said, “When we’re dealing with things like truancy we need the school system, the parish commission, the juvenile court. We need all of those bodies together.”
 
You are in the process of creating an intergovernmental committee to address juvenile crime. Talk to me about this effort and the important role the committee will serve.
 
35:30 6. I have read that Washington State and some other states around the country are addressing the issue of crime in far different ways than we do. Can you talk to me about one or two of these other models and their level of success?
 
55:02 7. You’ve said that when 14 year olds come to see you you’re too late. That of the 66 repeat offenders mentioned above, you might turn around three. That you’re too late.
 
I know that between Kristi Gustavson and the Community Foundation’s work with the Parish and the recent passage of the City’s Shreveport Early Start Initiative that there is great work happening in the community around Early Childhood Education for 0-5 year olds.
 
What do we need to do for our 6-13 year olds to help reduce juvenile crime in the future?
 
1:05:31 8. For people out there who are listening, just the lay person who says, “I love my community. I’ve had enough of the crime. I’m convinced I need to do my part.”
 
What do you have to say to those people? Or what can they do? Or how can they get involved and play as small of a role as it may be in helping this in the future?

Episode 25 Madison Poche - ”Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home”

Madison Poche, Executive Director of the Highland Center, sits down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development for the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, to answer the following questions:
0:50 1. Madison, you’ve been a force in the community – writer for Heliopolis, former Director of Admin at SRAC, former Project Director of the GDIT/LED program at BPCC, involved in the Bikeway Pilot Program, a member of the Royal Court of Highland, Highland Restoration Association President. And that’s just scratching the surface of all of the things you’ve been involved in.
 
I believe you grew up in New Orleans, received your undergraduate degree from Emory and a Masters in Nonprofit Administration from LSUS.
 
When and how did you come to live in Shreveport?
 
6:42 2. You are now the Executive Director of the Highland Center - a community center in the heart of Shreveport's historic, diverse, and artistic Highland neighborhood. There are a number of different ways in which the Highland Center serves the community. When I look on your website, it breaks your programs and services into three major headings.
 
Talk to me first if you could about Highland Center Ministries.
 
9:55 3. The Highland Center also offers Financial Support Services. What are some of the things that these Support Services entail?
 
12:20 4. Lastly, on the Highland Center’s website, it mentions a number of different ways in which you are a Community Resource Center. Talk to me about this if you could.
 
20:57 5. You have your ear to the ground and have been greatly involved since being in this community, what are some of the things that are holding us back?
 
29:55 6. Lastly, what makes you hopeful that we are headed in the right direction?

Episode 24 Liz Swaine - ”Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home”

 
Liz Swaine, Executive Director of the Shreveport Downtown Development Authority, sits down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development with the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, to answer the following questions:
 
0:32 1. Liz, you grew up in North Florida, went to college in Pensacola and came to Shreveport for a job with one of the local TV stations. You never intended to stay here but man are we happy you did.
 
You were the Executive Assistant to Mayor Hightower from 1998-2006 and since 2010 you have been the Executive Director of the Shreveport Downtown Development Authority.
 
We’ll probably spend most of the discussion talking about downtown because you are such an authority on all things downtown Shreveport. Let’s start if you could by talking about this quote of yours:
 
“We’ve got to have a downtown that the sidewalks don’t roll up at 5:00 in the afternoon and (nothing) happens before 8:00 in the morning. If we don’t do that, if we’re not successful at that, we’re going to be unsuccessful at almost everything else.”
 
5:08 2. We are in the middle of one of the most major developments to happen to downtown Shreveport in 25 years – the move of the state building from Fairfield to 500 Fannin. For us laymen, talk to me about why this project is so important. Also, when can we expect the move to take place?
 
12:30 3. I read that 10-15 years ago, there was almost no place to live downtown. Talk to me about the current residential situation downtown. How many units exist? What are the major residential buildings? How many downtown residents do you expect there to be in the next 3-5 years?
 
24:29 4. As I was preparing for our discussion today, I came across something that jumped out at me. I read that until a few years ago, it was illegal to have a sidewalk café in downtown Shreveport. Talk to me for a second about this. Why was that rule in place and why did it take so long to overturn it?
 
29:03 5. I believe that we have the second largest convention center in the state. How important is the convention center to downtown? Do you see it playing a larger and larger role as you continue to work to revitalize and grow downtown Shreveport?
 
35:48 6. Lastly, I know that you wish you could wave a magic wand and immediately transform downtown Shreveport into the downtown you envision. I came across another quote of yours:
 
“We’re getting it done, building by building, step by step.”
 
Talk to me about your patient, incremental approach and what do you say to residents that look at downtown and only see how much more there is left to do?
 
56:12 7. How do we move Shreveport-Bossier from me to we?

Episode 23 Sabrina Washington - ”Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home”

Sabrina Washington, Coach at the Walmart Supercenter on Shreveport Barksdale Highway, sits down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development with the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, to answer the following questions:
0:27 1. Let’s start here. Where do you work and what kinds of things are you responsible for in your job?
1:44 2. Did you grow up in Shreveport-Bossier? If so, in what neighborhoods have you lived and what schools did you attend?
2:16 3. If someone asks you what Shreveport-Bossier is like, what do you tell them?
2:50 4. What are some of the things you like most about Shreveport-Bossier?
3:50 5. What are some of the things you like least?
4:20 6. Are you hopeful about the future of Shreveport-Bossier? Why or why not?
4:58 7. Finally, I ask this question fairly often because I feel like my knowledge of our community is so limited. If I met you one Sunday at 8AM and said for the next 12 hours Sabrina I want you to show me your Shreveport-Bossier. Where all would you take me and where all would we go?

Episode 22 Keith Hanson - ”Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home”

Keith Hanson, Chief Technology Officer for the City of Shreveport, sits down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development with the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, to answer the following questions:
 
0:42 1. You have had such an interesting life and trajectory up to this point that if I were a true completist I would need about three or four hours with you to cover it all. That said, let’s get to some of the high points.
 
First quick background on you:
 
You attended Apollo Elementary for fifth grade, Greenacres Middle School and Airline High School. And in your own words you are a long-time resident, a (failed) 2018 city council candidate, a serial entrepreneur, and now Shreveport's first Chief Technology Officer under the Perkins administration.
 
Let’s start here. How are we doing in training our technology workforce? Is the size of that population growing in size locally?
 
Talk to me about some of the programs the local schools are offering to teach some of those skills and any other STEM-based curriculum and efforts locally you would like to highlight.
 
19:39 2. You have been deeply involved in addressing the digital divide in Shreveport-Bossier. I came across this quote of yours:
 
“The internet is not affordable for many who earn $35,000 or less, which is 42.8 percent of those living in Shreveport. Why is this an issue? Well for a number a reasons. Public Safety stems from economic stability. Economic stability stems from educational opportunity and access. And with the addition of a global pandemic, education is now heavily dependent on internet connectivity.”
 
Because it’s fascinating, talk to me first about the method you conceived of to address which neighborhoods were most in need of broadband access?
 
44:25 3. Once you determined which neighborhoods were most in need of broadband access, what is involved in bringing broadband access to those neighborhoods?
 
59:10 4. Crime is obviously on our community’s mind right now and you have been deeply involved in working to address the issue. For us laymen, talk to me a little about what is happening with the installation of cameras in downtown Shreveport. Also, talk to me about the Real Time Crime Center. What is it? And how does it work in helping to bring down crime?
 
1:20:00 5. What is holding us back from being one of the next, great small cities in America?
 
1:23:49 6. What will propel us forward?

Episode 21 Dan Farris - ”Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home”

Dan Farris, Local Attorney and Community Activist, sits down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development with the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana to answer the following questions:
 
0:36 1. Let’s start here. You once said, “Some children are dealt a rough hand, but with some support and guidance, they are fully capable of discovering and achieving their dreams and ambitions.”
You grew up in the Lakeside/Allendale neighborhood. For those out there who don’t really know what you mean when you say, “some children are dealt a rough hand”, or who have a hard time understanding what life looks like for a number of families in these neighborhoods, let’s talk for a second about that.
What would you say that many of us take for granted or are maybe unaware of, when it comes to life for many in Lakeside and Allendale?
 
4:43 2. You are a successful attorney, highly involved in the community, serving as the Former President of the Providence House Board and on the Volunteers of America LightHouse Advisory Council. You also volunteer with Junior Achievement and participated in LANO’s Community Leaders program, which began as a means to transform nonprofit board service through diversity.
All that to say, you are highly involved and have thrived where maybe a number of your childhood peers from Lakeside and Allendale have not achieved the same level of success. What do you attribute your success to?
 
15:14 3. How do we get more people like you setting aside time to get involved in the community?
 
19:53 4. In addition to practicing law and all your community service, you are also an actor, a published author of two fantasy novels, the host of a podcast, and you do voiceover work. You clearly love and understand the importance of telling stories. As you look around the community, what stories do you feel should be given more attention or are not being told enough?
 
25:30 5. What makes you hopeful about the future of Shreveport-Bossier?
 
28:30 6. Lastly, it’s a question I’ve asked numerous times. I feel like I only interact with a very small portion of the community and I am always trying to expand my understanding of what the entire community looks and feels like.
If I met you one Sunday morning at 8AM and said for the next twelve hours I want you to show me your Shreveport-Bossier, what does our day look like?