Troy Wayman has been named the new leader of One Acadiana and he intends to help improve economic development in Acadiana.

On the job less than 2 months, Wayman comes to Acadiana from Mobile, Alabama, where he was the Vice President of Economic Development for the Mobile Chamber of Commerce.

He says he immediately was attracted to the people of Acadiana and was impressed with of those associated with One Acadiana.  

"[The] inviting and welcoming nature of the people that I came in contact with and the region were amazing. The reputation of this organization, the staff...I think I underestimated them. Because when I got here and met them and spent some time with the group...they are a fantastic group of people." said Wayman.

After working 9 years in Mobile, Wayman does see some similarity's between Mobile and Lafayette.  

"One of the things my daughter asked me was 'do they celebrate Mardi Gras?,' because Mardi Gras is big in Mobile, and I said 'Honey, don't worry. We're moving to Louisiana [and] they celebrate Mardi Gras here."

- Troy Wayman, CEO & President of One Acadiana

The new CEO says he wants to touch base with all of the parishes in Acadiana and find out each parish's assets in order to help grow business.

"Each one of the nine parishes, we want to work with the local people and the local economic developers and leaders in those areas. What are your priorities? How do we help you achieve the goals that you're working towards? Because when it's all said and done, we as an organization are a resource to those various parishes." said Wayman.

Wayman also buys into the philosophy that good relationships most of the time equal good business.

"Who do people do business with? They do business with people they like. They do business with people they are comfortable with."

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