New Shreveport chamber chair Tom Simms says Barksdale, education priorities for 2025

There’s new leadership at the helm of the Greater Shreveport Chamber of Commerce.

Tom Simms, the Partner in Charge of the of Carr, Riggs & Ingram CPA’s and Advisors Shreveport office will be serving as the 2025 chairman of the board.

Simms has been a member of the chamber for “30 years if not longer” and is eager to be in a position to help share information to more people about what the chamber does.

He said there are a number of initiatives competing for attention, but he will be focusing on three that he believes are the most important for this year.

One is the continued rehab of the 103-year-old chamber of commerce building at 400 Edwards St. The city of Shreveport turned ownership of the building over to the chamber in 2022, and in return the chamber agreed to fund a major rehab of the historic structure.

The chamber has launched a $5 million capital campaign of the building, which was built as the city’s initial Shreve Memorial Library, to pay for the list of needed improvements and repairs.

Also of import are the educational initiatives that the state has begun with Caddo Parish’s school system.

“We’re interested in trying to help out with internships for late-stage high school children, young adults, before they go off into the trades or college, to do internships with various businesses to expose them to what the real life is out there after they graduate from high school,” Simms said.

Those internships will expose high school students to a wide variety of options, both traditional and non-traditional, he said.

Third is continued support for the mission of Barksdale Air Force Base and the airmen and women there. 

Simms said that, with confusing messages coming out of Washington, membership in the chamber could be more important now than ever, and added to the strength of those who are promoting business within the Shreveport Bossier area.

“I see the chamber as being that unifying voice for all businesses within our region, and we can support it both on economic development as well as business growth, as well as fostering the business environment in our area to help everybody,” he said. “And it is one unified voice. It’s not a fractionist group. And then those groups that we work with, I think we have harmony in how we communicate this information.”