About NELEA
Our Leadership
Murphey McMillin — Mayor of Jena, Louisiana
Murphy McMillin was born in Jonesville, Louisiana and received all of his formal education in the State of Louisiana at McNeese State University in Lake Charles and Louisiana State University. While at McNeese McMillin received an undergraduate degree in Business Administration with minors in Accounting and Economics. While employed he later received an MBA from LSU and a Certified Management Accountant certification in Texas. For 31 years McMillin worked for 2 major oil companies in increasingly responsible positions in finance. He began his employment in Port Author, Texas with Gulf Oil Corporation and held positions in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; London, England; Houston, Texas (3 times); Soul Korea; and San Francisco, California. He elected to take early retirement and later became the CEO of Market Horizons Research Company in Jacksonville, Florida.
McMillin moved to Jena, Louisiana as a full-time resident in early 2002. In the year 2006 now Mayor McMillin decided to start a third career. He is now 3 ½ years into his tenure as Mayor of the small town of Jena, Louisiana.
He has been married to Mary Ann (Daniels) McMillin for 47 years. They have three grown daughters living in Texas with five grandchildren. McMillin says “It has been a real pleasure to return to Central Louisiana and readjust to a much slower pace of life than was experienced when living in large cities and working for large corporations. We chose Jena because we had relatives living here and it met the criteria we desired by being a small town and located in the Southern part of the USA.”
He is currently serving on the following Boards of Directors:
- Louisiana Municipal Association
- Northeast Louisiana Economic Alliance
- Kisatchie Delta Regional Planning & Development District, Inc.
- El Camino East/West Corridor Commission
- LaSalle Economic Development District
- LaSalle Association for the Developmentally Delayed
- Louisiana Municipal Gas Association
In 2009 he was appointed by Governor Jindal to serve on the Environmental Education Commission.
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Northeast Louisiana Economic Alliance is a private membership, not-for-profit corporation utilizing local, state, federal and private resources and programs to enhance the available economic elements present in our region to promote and grow.
What we do
We provide technical assistance, loan programs, technical communication, education and preside as the Coordinating Responsible Authority for the Northern and Central Renewal Communities.
Case studies
NELEA was deeply involved in bringing the Conagra Foods plant to the Delhi, LA community.
Find out what we did & current news »
Media center
NELEA recently produced a video detailing the economic opportunities still available in Louisiana during the current economic conditions.
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Useful Links
Explore related websites that assist in providing information associated with the economic development efforts and progress in Northeast Louisiana.
Renewal Louisiana
Renewal Community information, facts, Q&A's, form links and much more about the Renewal Community Inititive in Louisiana.
Louisiana Community Progress
This site is a source for information about Northeast Louisiana and economic opportunities in the region.
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