Skip Smart, PCED

                                             Director of Community Development

 

Lewis L. “Skip” Smart, III currently serves as Director of Community Competitiveness in the Office of Community Outreach Services with Louisiana (Department) Economic Development (LED).

He is a certified Professional Community and Economic Developer (PCED).   Prior to his appointment to LED in November, 2001 by Governor Mike Foster he served as Executive Director of the Livingston Economic Development Council, Inc. located in Denham Springs, LA for 13 years.  

Before joining the Livingston Economic Development Council, Skip served 3 years as Director of Management Assistance for the Greater Baton Rouge Chamber of Commerce.

He served as Chairman and member of the Board of Directors of the Community Development Council, a national board overseeing the curriculum and operation of the five Community Development Institutes located in the United States.  He serves on the advisory board of the Community Development Institute at the University of Central Arkansas, Conway, Arkansas where he received his PCED certification in 1994.

Governor Kathleen Blanco named him to the Delta Leadership Institute for 2007 – 2008, a development initiative of the eight state federal Delta Regional Authority.

Skip served on the Board of Directors of the Louisiana Industrial Development Executives Association (LIDEA) for four years and as President in 1996.  He is a founding member and past president of the Florida Parishes Economic Development Association. He served on the Board of Directors of the Greater Baton Rouge Chamber of Commerce in 1998. Skip is also a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and the International Community Development Society (CDS).   

Skip joined the Southern Economic Development Council (SEDC) in 1988 and represented Louisiana on the Board of Directors from 1997-2001 and again for 2005.   He has served on many committees and has worked to promote the benefits and values of being a member of SEDC. He chaired the host committee for the 53rd Annual SEDC Conference in New Orleans in 2004 and served on the host conference committee for the 2009 Annual Conference again in New Orleans.  

A native of Michigan, Skip graduated from Colgate University in Hamilton, NY with a BS in Political Science and received an MBA from LSU. Skip and his wife, Judy, are longtime residents of Baton Rouge. They have six grown children, fifteen grandchildren and one great grandchild.