The big news is that former Shreveport resident Larry English is coming to the rescue of Shreveport!

English, who is “sheltering in Harlem” from Covid-19, recently failed in his effort to “sell” another Cross Bayou development to the Shreveport city council.

Now English want to head up a self-appointed effort to rebuild Shreveport after the pandemic—along with his selected compatriots.

Here is the committee:
    
Desi Sprawls 
www.ForteandTablada.com
Director of North Louisiana Operations with Forte & Tablada, Desi is also a member of the Louisiana Engineering Society (LES) and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).  Mr. Sprawls has a very strong background in providing design planning and project management for various residential and commercial developments, as well as, public works projects.

Larry English 
https://www.airrail.us/
An attorney with decades in legal experience working with public/private projects. Mr. English is leading the Cross Bayou Point Development in Shreveport Louisiana and led the development team of Brooklyn Health Partners that was awarded the right to negotiate with the State University of New York to redevelop the $1 billion Long Island College Hospital campus. 

Art Walker
www.Communicationsone.com
President of the security’s firm Communications One, Art spearheaded state legislation to legalize the cultivation of industrial hemp. 

David Alexander 
www.vintagerealty.cm
David Alexander is co-owner of Vintage Realty Company and serves as Director of Development with over 35 years of experience in the commercial real estate business. Alexander is Director of Vintage’s multi-family development team and has been in charge of the numerous projects totaling 3,437 units throughout Louisiana and Arkansas with another 582 units either under construction or in the development phase.

Justin Sevier
https://www.buildwithvintage.com/
Justin manages Vintage Construction Group, a sister company to VINTAGE Realty. Vintage Construction is licensed in residential and commercial construction. They have been building custom and speculative homes all across Shreveport/Bossier City in planned communities. 

Dr Ray Hicks
The former president of Grambling University, Dr Hicks has decades of experience as an educator and consultant. Dr Hicks is the former Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs-Southern University. 

Daryl Joy Walters 
Joy previously served five years as the Vice President of Communications to the Young Democrats of Louisiana. In 2012, she was elected to serve the 4th Congressional District of Louisiana at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. A graduate of Wiley College, she holds a Master of Divinity degree from Princeton, Theological Seminary. 

Markey Pierre
https://sostrategy.com/team/markey-pierre/
A managing partner at Southern Strategy Group, Markey has been a strategist and fundraiser for a broad spectrum of highly visible campaigns across north Louisiana. Prior to establishing the north Louisiana office, Markey served as the Director of Government and Community/Media Affairs for a Louisiana gaming venue—routinely representing them before local government, the Legislature, and regulatory agencies.

Hannah Sprawls
Hannah Sprawls is a lifelong resident of Shreveport, LA. She has an undergraduate degree in Mass Communications with a minor in Spanish as well as a graduate degree in Liberal Arts. She has worked as a freelance writer and photographer since 2015, typically in conjunction with other full or part-time work in universities and academic libraries.

Calvin Lester
Calvin is an Assiciate professor of criminal justice at Jarvis Christian College. A highly respected provider of affordable housing and community-based development, training, and technical assistance for more than 10 years, Calvin is also a former member of the Shreveport City Council.

Dr Terence Vinson
Dr Vinson is chairman of the Department of Education at Southern University-Shreveport. He has nearly a decade of experience as an administrator in the Louisiana House of Representatives. Dr Vinson is a member of the Caddo Parish School Board. 

Paul Pratt
Paul Pratt was formerly employed with Chesapeake Energy Corporation as the Director of Corporate Government Relations-Louisiana, and most recently was a Lobbyist and Consultant. Paul has served on the city’s top civic boards: He  served as 2014-2015 Chairman of the Duck Commander Independence Bowl. He has or currently serve on the Red River Revel Board of Directors in 2009-2011, 2011- 2012

Rickey Hall
Rickey Hall is the President of Shreveport’s preeminent constriction companies and one of the city’s prominent business and civic leader. Hall builders is the largest minority owned construction firm in Shreveport


Marcel Miner
President of Phoenix Marketing 
The CEO of Phoenix Marketing, Marcel develops innovative marketing strategies for a diverse business clientele that includes AT&T and Dollar General. 

Nathaniel Manning
A retired Professor of Business & Economics at Southern University at Shreveport. He is now professor of economics at BPCC and visiting professor of economics and statistics at Centenary College.  He is an educational consultant for the American Council on Education and the Advanced Placement College Board.  Professor Manning has over 20 years as an Information Technology leader for IBM and GE Corporations.  He is a certified six sigma black belt.

Terrell Hall
Terrell is the chief operating officer at Hall Builders, the largest minority owned construction company in Shreveport. 

Josh Williams 
Williams has a private practice in SHREVEPORT. He was hired straight out of law school in 2014 by the late Caddo district attorney Charles Scott as a misdemeanor assistant district attorney in Judge Katherine Dorroh’s court. He is a graduate of the 2016-17 LSBA Leadership Class, and since that time has served as Eighth District Representative of the LSBA Young Lawyers Division.

Ben Whalen
http://www.bensbodybasics.com/
Ben is a graphic-designing, marketing, product-crafting, packing and distributing one-man show. His company, Ben’s Body Basics, is home to Shreveport’s innovative and wholesome plant-based bodycare products and was recently chosen as one of Top Five competitors in the 2019 Startup Prize.

Taylor Jamison
Taylor is executive director at the Strategic Action Council and president of the Shreveport African American Chamber of Commerce 

Robert Vinet
Robert is regional director of external affairs for AT&T Northwest Louisiana 

Jim Jones
Jimmy Jones is a native of Shreveport, La where he is very active in the community. He received his bachelors degree in Biochemistry from University of Arkansas Pine Bluff, as well as a M.B.A. from LSU. He works as a Project Engineer for a local engineering firm, an adjunct professor, while also serving as business owner of local Tech & Engineering start-up.  

Amy Neathery 
A former public relations executive and local entrepreneur, Amy has spent the last three years as an operations manager of over a million feet of projects in phase 1 and 2 of Shreveport Consent Decree. 


Chris Elberson
www.Somdal.com
ChRIS has over 20 years professional experience including religious, health-care, residential and commercial projects. His work has been featured in local news magazines. His healthcare experience includes leadership in the design at CHRISTUS Highland West Addition, Sutton Childrens Hospital and the Spine Institute. He is the pas President of the Louisiana and Shreveport Chapters of the AIA.


Linda Biernacki
www.Firetechsystems.com
Linda is the president of Fire Tech Systems, Inc. which provides a valuable service offering life safety needs through fire protection to commercial and industrial businesses as well as residential homes throughout six states. She is Chair of the C-100 Military Affairs Committee and served as the first woman President of the Committee of One Hundred. Appointed by Mayor Ollie Tyler she served on the City of Shreveport Architect and Engineers Selection Committee

Lea Desmarteau
www.wellnecessities.net
Linda has Twenty-four years as a business owner, community volunteer, and industry expert in the field of sleep diagnostics and allied health. Currently she is one of the nine board members of the Metropolitan Planning Commission of Shreveport and was elected Chairwomen in 2014 and again in 2015.

Demetrius Norman
Demetrius is a Senior Technical Consultant at Apple. As chair of NWLA Makerspace,  he
Oversees daily operations and charting long term vision planning and securing organizations assets.

Craig Lee
A local entrepreneur and civil rights advocate, Craig has decades of experience in marketing and finance. He has worked with three of the world’s largest Fortune 500 companies and is a proud alumni of Xavier University. 

Dr Jeremy Simms Alexander
A dentist with expertise in implantology, Cosmetic Dentistry, Orthodontics and Pediatrics, Dr Alexander holds a doctorate of Dental Surgery from Howard University, Washington, DC and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Southern University, Baton Rouge. He operates a mobile dentistry practice once a week in Shreveport. 

Roy Burrell
Caddo Parish Commissioner Roy Allen Burrell is a Democratic former member of the Louisiana House of Representatives for District 2 in Caddo and Bossier parishes in northwestern Louisiana. A business consultant, Burrell is a retired planning engineer for BellSouth Telecommunications.

State Rep Sam Jenkins
A practicing attorney, Rep Jenkins is chair of the Democratic Caucus and a former member of the Shreveport City Council. 


Otis Ellis
A former executive with JP Morgan Wealth Management, Otis has extensive experience in the global financial market 

Eric Yarbro
www.Madisonsquarerealty.com
The founder and Chairman of Madison Square Realty, Eric has decades experience in commercial real estate and has worked on some of country’s top development projects. He is currently working with the Swedish brand IKEA to bring smaller neighborhood stores to the US. 

Morris Clark
Morris is the former treasurer of Marathon Oil and advises Gateway
Development Consortium on Financing, deal structures and capital markets

Dominic Ozanne
www.Ozanne.com
Dominic is a Harvard trained lawyer who is the third generation Ozanne to
lead the firm. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ozanne Construction is one of the oldest
and largest minority owned construction firms in the country. Ozanne/Grace Hebert led the design-build team on the New Orleans Parish Criminal Justice Center after Katrina. 

Scott Metzner
www.janusproperty.com
Scott founded Janus in 1989. He was one of the earliest developers involved in Harlem's current
rebirth, matching for-profit development with public policy and community development initiatives and goals. Prior to his New York projects, he was active in national real estate markets and international master-planning and re-zoning of the largest capital markets through leadership positions at Eastdil Realty, Roseland Property Company and Daiwa Securities America. He serves on the Executive Committee of the board of Phipps Houses (New York's largest affordable housing developer/owner)

JR Chantengco 
JR heads up Black Pearl Investments, a boutique investment and capital advisory firm in NYC focused on structured finance, loan origination, acquisitions and distressed assets. JR is the 2020 President of the New York Metro Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) Chapter and involved with the Association of Asian American Investment Managers (AAAIM) and Filipinos in Institutional Real Estate (FIIRE).

Al Tindall
A trusted adviser, Al maintains a robust public and project finance practice. His clients rely on his significant experience in public policy, public and project finance, and private equity and alternative investments to develop innovative solutions that address their individual finance objectives.
Al focuses his finance practice on state and states’ authority level issues, particularly on the development and implementation of state programs created for the benefit of local municipalities.

Stan Altman
https://www.scienceartsengagementny.org/
Stan is President, Science and Arts Engagement New York, Inc; Professor, Marxe School of Public and International Affairs, Baruch College; and Visiting Professor, The City College of New York. He has over 50 years as an educator and will soon open the Harlem Gallery of Science, an innovative cultural space that brings science and technology alive by creating interactive exhibitions based on popular everyday themes, such as basketball, music and contagion, through which the concepts of STEM are introduced.
 
Daron West
Daron is a consultant for Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART).
His expertise is managing large complex construction projects includingtransit-oriented development.

Melvin Green
www.kmearchitects.com
Melvin heads up KME Architects, the architect of record for the $7.5 billion Bluetech Park, smart city (digital infrastructure city) in Las Vegas. KME is part of the design team for the $980 million expansion of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. 

Donnette Dunbar 
www.Dashmediapr.com
Donnette is the principal of Dash Media, a New York City-based firm. She has handled public relations on some of the largest real-estate projects (commercial and residential) in Northern Manhattan.