SHREVEPORT, La. - “We’d rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it.”

That’s how Caddo Parish Commissioner Greg Young framed the parish’s newest proposed economic-development move: a $270,000 investment in a parishwide talent search and mass choir initiative meant to keep young residents from leaving northwest Louisiana.

After weeks of discussion, the Economic Development Committee voted Monday to recommend allocating the money for the project’s inclusion in the parish’s 2026 budget.

Commissioners called the funding “seed money” for a long-term plan to brand Caddo Parish as a center for music, film, and creative arts.

“It may not cost all that, but we’d rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it,” said Young.

The plan includes two major components:

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