Entergy
Keep in touch with what's going on around NELEA. We'll post the latest news on this page regularly.We are proud of our association with Entergy Corporation, not only because they support what we do in our 10 Parishes, but also because they are the premier company in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas that supports Economic Development. Entergy has Regional Directors who work with us on marketing to companies who may expand within Louisiana or from outside Louisiana into our beautiful state.
Entergy sponsored the development of the first and only state-owned mega site in our Region and built the website the state Department of Economic Development uses to post our sites and buildings to. The number of hits the site gets is phenominal and come from all over the world. This site was gifted to the state to improve the marketing abilities as well as the marketing opportunities of each Regional Economic Development Organization. We have been strong beneficiaries of Entergy’s efforts.
Our Region is less populous than other Regions. But our educational resources, job opportunities and efforts to bring in more is strong. There are a hosts of organizations helping to make it a reality. We are all in Economic Development: The Mayors, the Councils, the Chambers, the Workforce Investment Boards, the Planning Districts and the local economic developers in a few of our Parishes, like Kay King in Morehouse, Jon McKinney in Union, Sam Sheppard in Franklin. This year we lost Ryan Chappel of Caldwell, a tireless worker.
But the cernter piece of working with our organization on calls, conferences, assistance with marketing materials and professionalism is Entergy Corporation. Entergy leaders also serve our community with strong involvement in the organizations that touch economic development.
We are proud of this well-deserved recognition and want our readers to know.
Entergy’s Economic Opportunity and Empowerment Program Recognized by U.S. Chamber Foundation
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation named Entergy the winner of the Best Economic Opportunity and Empowerment Program during its 22nd Annual Citizens Awards.
The Citizens Awards program recognizes the most innovative and impactful corporate citizenship initiatives that raise the bar on social responsibility and advance a more equitable and sustainable future.
“Entergy has formed strong partnerships with state and local agencies to combat poverty across our region,” said Patty Riddlebarger, Entergy’s vice president of corporate social responsibility. “We are proud that the U.S. Chamber Foundation has recognized Entergy for our low-income customer outreach efforts that help power the lives of hundreds of thousands living in our communities.”
Entergy was awarded the Best Economic Opportunity and Empowerment Program for its outreach efforts to communicate with low-income customers about resources and assistance available to pay their utility bills. In response to the challenges Entergy’s communities faced in 2020, the company formed a task force to ensure eligible customers received the maximum amount of available assistance and that customers who had never needed financial assistance knew about resources available to them.
The task force leveraged a variety of communication platforms, including a robotic process automation program, to customize and deliver 3.5 million messages to more than 230,000 potentially eligible households. As a result, a record number of Entergy customers received utility bill assistance and program awareness increased by 43%. More than 250,000 utility bills were paid with $65.4 million in financial assistance, increasing the number of bills paid by 26% from 2019.
Last year, Entergy celebrated 20 years of its Low-Income Customer Initiative. Entergy is an inaugural inductee in the U.S. Chamber Foundation’s Corporate Citizenship Hall of Fame.