Community leaders and members of the public attended a special meeting of "Project Engage" today at the Civic Center in Ville Platte. Dr. Geoff Stewart, U.L. Lafayette Moody Endowed Chair for Regional Business Development, presented a summary of the "Project Engage" reports completed by U.L. MBA consultant teams. The student teams met with community residents and leaders from Ville Platte and the parish and formulated their reports. The U.L. Team is comprised of the Louisiana Entrepreneurship and Economic Development Center with Dr. Geoff Stewart and Dr. Gwen Fontenot along with some 37 students. The three areas of study dealt with Main Street Revitalization, Industrial Development and Tourism. On the subject of Downtown, Stewart said "Bringing Ville Platte' downtown like it was at one time is doable, but it will require a lot of time and effort." Among the suggestions by the student groups is to continue having farmers markets and planning downtown musical events. They also suggested incorporating the downtown antique shops and scheduling special antique events to draw shoppers downtown. They also focused on the need to improve the sidewalks and lighting in the downtown area. The student team noted that Ville Platte is fortunate to have a certified site at the Industrial Park along with a number of industries in our parish. On the topic of Tourism, the students suggested formulating a "driving trail" for day trip visitors to come view areas of interest in our parish. Stewart said Evangeline Parish is blessed with our food and music. Among the suggestions made at the end: --have a campaign urging citizens to stay here and spend their money in the Ville Platte Evangeline Parish area; --remind citizens to clean their front yards and don't litter. In closing, Dr. Stewart urged those in attendance and the citizens of Ville Platte and Evangeline parish to "continue to be engaged be proud of your culture, food and music, be you and tell your story and stand up and make the changes we need to make."