Business View Civil and Municipal | March 2021

99 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL MARCH 2021 WEST MONROE , LOUI S I ANA Ouachita Parish. In West Monroe, Glenwood Regional Medical Center employs more than 950 people. The hospital, a 278-bed, state-of- the-art facility, offers a wide range of emergency and other comprehensive healthcare services. The Ouachita Parish School System with its 36 public schools is another major employer. Graphic Packaging International, manufacturers of packaging for consumer products, has over 800 employees in West Monroe. They are also connected to several smaller businesses that provide employment in the city. Lumen Technologies, a telecommunications company formerly know as Century Link, has their headquarters in Monroe, but is a main employer for Northeast Louisiana. University of Louisiana at Monroe is also a regional draw and a source of opportunity for West Monroe citizens. The city supports its over-55 population through the West Ouachita Senior Center. The facility has received National Senior Center Accreditation – the first of its kind in Louisiana. The prestigious award is given by the National Council on Aging to less than two percent of centers nationally, who meet specific standards of excellence. The popular facility has more than 5,000 visits per year from seniors in West Monroe and throughout the parish, and offers a range of social and exercise activities, including art classes, yoga, and line dancing. Courtney Hornsby, the Mayor’s Chief of Staff reports, “This year has been different because of COVID-19 restrictions. We’ve not been allowed to open and allow them inside, but the center is still providing services to the seniors externally. We are being safe and doing everything we can to serve them, even though they’re desperate to get back in there.” One innovative project in the works for West Monroe is Highland Park, a 60-acre former golf course owned by the city that is currently being redesigned as a multi-use property. Mitchell explains, “The middle 30 acres are wetlands, there are ponds and trees on them and it is very low. We will keep the wetlands and use a small portion, just south, as a detention basin Mayor Staci Albritton Mitchell