Bogalusa business boom

When Bogalusa Mayor Mack McGehee stood in the entryway of the new Nielsen’s Pharmacy on South Columbia Street Thursday, cutting the ribbon to open the just-built facility, he might as well have also been celebrating the development that is expected to take place on the adjacent property.

Bill Nielsen said he has the land divided into 30 half-acre lots, that he’s done the preparation work and is now talking with “several” potential occupants, including a doctor’s office and a sports grill.

He said he believes there is great potential for light commercial business in the area.

McGehee said he feels the economic tide is beginning to turn.

Just a couple of weeks earlier, he stood with a “golden” shovel in hand on the Shopyard Square site of the soon-to-open McDonald’s.  A block away construction on the new Mr. Quik Wash was also proceeding at a steady clip.

Bogalusa is suddenly bustling, and the brick and mortar are just some of the most obvious signs of development, said McGehee. There are additional deals in the works and other negotiations in progress, he said. 

While it’s true that Factory Connection recently closed its doors in Pine Tree Plaza, a number of businesses, including an auto parts store, a variety of restaurants and others, are reportedly considering opening up in town.

“I feel that since (Hurricane) Katrina we’ve had an essentially sour economy statewide, not just here,” said McGehee. “Now I feel it’s turning. Is it completely turned? No. But I feel, after talking to people in construction, that it will happen in the first or second quarter of next year.

“We’re always six months to a year behind the national economy. I think maybe by the second quarter we’ll turn around.”

McDonald’s apparently has faith in the future of Bogalusa, the mayor said during a recent city council meeting.

“Those people have to know something to make a $1 million investment in a community,” said McGehee.

Marilyn Bateman, executive director of the Bogalusa Chamber of Commerce, was at a conference this week and could not be reached for comment, but Ryan Seal, executive director of Washington Economic Development Foundation, agreed with McGehee.

“I’m still pursuing businesses and talking to people on a regular basis,” he said. “The summer seemed a little slow, but this fall it seems to be back to business.

“Everybody predicted ’09 would be a tough year. I think we’ll start to see the light at the end of the tunnel in 2010.”

McGehee said he’s already getting a glimpse. 

“Finally things are starting to happen,” he said.