Growing the economy is a big focus for Vernon Parish officials, and they say they've come up with a plan to do just that. The plan includes the possibility of merging a couple of communities.
One of the key focuses for the Vernon Parish Chamber of Commerce will be making sure everyone is accounted for during the 2020 Census. They say many people believe the 2010 Census missed nearly 30 percent of Louisiana's population.
The chamber says this is important because the numbers are key factors to whether a business chooses to settle in the parish or goes elsewhere. It also determines if the parish is eligible for certain grants, and when it comes to merging communities, Leesville and New Llano could be the two communities that take a direct impact.
Leesville has an estimated population of approximately 6,000, and New Llano has approximately 2,500 residents. Combining those communities will put the City of Leesville just shy of 10,000 residents.
"If we were able to combine the number of people in New Llano with the number of people in Leesville, we would have been much closer to the number one item and obstacle on those package lists... which was population density," Logan Morris, the president of the Vernon Parish Chamber of Commerce. "[Merging New Llano and Leesville] would be the quickest way to get us to that 10,000 person threshold."
Logan did explain Leesville will need to grow in other places to reach the 10,000 person threshold. City officials say a lot of businesses just skip over Leesville, and the rest of the Parish because of its population numbers.