Lieutenant Governor Nungesser Announces Three Louisiana Certified Retirement Communities for 2020

BATON ROUGE, La. – Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser, along with the Louisiana Office of Tourism, announced the addition of three Louisiana communities designated as a Louisiana Certified Retirement Community – the cities of Breaux Bridge, West Monroe, as well as St. Mary Parish.

"I want to congratulate officials with the cities of Breaux Bridge and West Monroe, along with St. Mary Parish for their tireless work in making their communities friendly and attractive to retirees," said Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser. "With nearly 76 million baby boomers nearing retirement in the coming years, many states are working to draw them to their areas, and we thought we should take advantage to not only grow tourism but help spur economic development."

Since its beginning in 2018, the Louisiana Certified Retirement Community program has designated thirteen communities statewide. Breaux Bridge, West Monroe, and St. Mary Parish join the ten other communities named as certified retirement communities that include Kaplan; Lafayette Parish; Lake Charles; Natchitoches; Ruston/Lincoln Parish; Toledo Bend/Sabine Parish; Shreveport-Bossier City; Tangipahoa Parish; Houma/Terrebonne Parish; and Thibodaux.

The Encore Louisiana Commission is tasked with reviewing applications each year with the purpose of finding Louisiana locations focused on bringing retirees enjoyment in their "encore" of life.

Criteria used to become a certified retirement community includes: climate; demographics; tax structure at the state and local levels; local housing availability; public safety and crime index; employment and volunteer opportunities; healthcare and medical services; public transportation; recreational areas; and festival and fairs, just to name a few. Each of these communities have demonstrated qualities that make them premier locations for retirees. Part of being certified as a retirement area includes state-level marketing effort inclusion, networking opportunities and possible grant funding to support the program and help it grow. More communities will be chosen in the coming years as the program expands in order to attract a larger number of retirees.

The Encore Louisiana Commission was mandated by the Legislature in 1999 as the Louisiana Retirement Development Commission to market and promote Louisiana as a retirement community state. In 2009, the Legislature renamed the commission as the Encore Louisiana Commission with the goal of setting guidelines and requirements in developing criteria for a destination to become a Louisiana Certified Retirement Community. For more information visit www.explorelouisiana.com/retire.