Economic Development Staff

Click on a region of Louisiana to find the designated Community Developer who represents that area.	Shelley MacNary, Director Clifton Avant, Manager, Area Development Merite Cain, Sr Administrative Assistant Ron Childress, Community Developer Bill Peperone, Community Developer Perry Pertuit, Senior Lead Analyst Sam Richardson, Staff Account Executive Philip Seghers, Industrial Recruiter Don Terry, Community Developer Karen K. Yates, Community Developer Pamela Webster, Associate Analyst

Shelley MacNary, Director
225-763-5057
smacnar@entergy.com

Shelley MacNary was named director of cconomic development for Entergy Louisiana, LLC and Entergy Gulf States Louisiana, L.L.C. in May of 2006. She directs business recruitment for Louisiana and is responsible for development of communities to attract such businesses. 

Shelley MacNary was formerly director of retail regulatory affairs for Entergy Solutions Ltd., the competitive retail electric affiliate of Entergy Corporation in Texas and New York. Prior to this position, she was in Entergy’s legal department specializing in real estate, transmission and distribution right of way, contracts and purchasing departments.

Prior to joining Entergy, she was an associate with Adams and Reese with primary areas of emphasis in complex real estate, commercial finance, public tax-exempt and private debt transactions. Previously, she was the first assistant state treasurer for the state of Louisiana in Baton Rouge.

Earlier she was also a banker with First National Bank of Commerce and Bank of New Orleans in the commercial credit departments and served as vice president and manager of the cash management sales department. 

She is a graduate of Jacksonville University in Florida with a bachelor of arts in psychology and received a master’s of business administration from the University of Central Florida in Orlando. She is a certified public accountant (currently inactive) and earned her juris doctorate from the Loyola School of Law in New Orleans.

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Clifton Avant, PCED, Manager, Area Development
870-261-6326
cavant@entergy.com

Clif joined the economic development department in December of 2000. His role is to serve as the catalyst for Entergy’s BusinessLINC and New Market Initiatives. Clif’s Primary responsibilities are to develop, implement, and coordinate programs designed to assist businesses as part of these new initiatives.

BusinessLINC is geared toward facilitating economic growth by encouraging large corporations to support small business owners and entrepreneurs by becoming mentors in economically distressed rural areas. The New Market Initiatives were established to encourage private sector equity investment in underserved inner city and rural communities.

Clif joined Entergy in 1982, spending time in various customer-focused positions from Meter Service Supervisor to his previous position as a Manager of Customer Relations in Louisiana. He is a native of Arkansas and a graduate of Lyon College with a B.A. in Education. He is also a graduate of the Community Development Institute and a Certified Professional Community Economic Developer (PCED).

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Merite Cain, Sr Administrative Assistant
225-763-5060
mcain@entergy.com

Ms. Cain joined Entergy over 25 years ago as a staff secretary working in Economic Development in the Marketing Department. She is currently an Asst-Administrative-Senior. She provides executive-level support to the Director of Economic Development and the staff.

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Ron Childress, Community Developer
337-431-6269
rchildr@entergy.com

Ron Childress recently joined the Louisiana Economic Development group as a community developer and will be responsible for administering the Team City program across 12 Entergy served parishes in the Lake Charles / Lafayette area.

Ron began his career with Entergy in 1977 where he worked in various operations and maintenance positions at the Nelson Plant in Westlake, Louisiana. In 1997 he accepted the opportunity to support the J-STARS program for defense contractor Northrop Grumman located at the Chennault Industrial Airpark in Lake Charles. Ron rejoined Entergy in 2000 where he managed various co-owner agreements for the Commercial Operations Group located in The Woodlands, Texas. 

Ron is a native of Lake Charles, Louisiana and has earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electronic / Electrical Technology and a Masters of Business Administration degree from McNeese State University. 

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Bill Peperone, Community Developer
504-840-2562
vpepero@entergy.com

Bill Peperone has responsibility assisting nine Entergy served parishes in the New Orleans Metropolitan Area, the River Region, and the Bayou Region with their economic development plans and activities, and administering the Entergy Team City Program.

In addition, he is responsible for identifying, planning and coordinating all national and international trade shows in which Entergy Louisiana Economic Development participates.

Mr. Peperone is a Professional Community Developer (PCD) and sits on the Board of the International Community Development Council Board of Trustees. He is a graduate of the Economic Development Institute at the University of Oklahoma, a certified Economic Development Finance Professional and a Certified Trade Show Marketer. He is active in the community and serves on the Boards of the Jefferson Parish Economic Development Commission, the Jefferson Parish Chamber of Commerce and the World Affairs Council in New Orleans. He is also a Commissioner on the St. Bernard Parish Economic Development Commission. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Technology from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.

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Perry Pertuit, Senior Lead Analyst
225-763-5229
ppertui@entergy.com

Perry Pertuit is the Senior Lead Analyst for Entergy Louisiana’s Economic Development department. Among other marketing responsibilities, Perry performs necessary analysis to identify prospective industries and businesses to locate in Louisiana and a plan of action to contact these prospects, along with maintaining market trend information, managing the database of buildings and sites, the Economic Development website and Site Selection Research Center. He also works on the annual economic development marketing plan and strategies.

Perry is originally from Marrero, LA. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in mass communications, specialty in public relations from Nicholls State University and has more than 10 years of marketing experience.

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Sam Richardson, Staff Account Executive
225-763-5173
crichar@entergy.com

Sam Richardson is a Staff Account Executive responsible for recruiting and retaining business and industry in Louisiana. Richardson has a Bachelor of Science degree from Louisiana Tech University and is a graduate of the University of Central Arkansas Community Development Institute, University of Oklahoma Economic Development Institute, Texas A&M University Basic Industrial Development Course, and Council for a Better Louisiana’s Leadership Louisiana program. He is a member of Corporate Real Estate Network (Corenet), Southern Economic Development Council (SEDC), and Louisiana Industrial Development Executives Association (LIDEA).

Richardson has worked for Entergy for 25 years, working out of Lake Charles, Jennings, Baton Rouge, and the West Monroe offices.

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Philip Seghers, CEcD, Industrial Recruiter
225-763-5132
psegher@entergy.com

Phil Seghers is an Industrial Recruiter and is currently responsible for recruiting new business and industry to Entergy Louisiana’s service territory. He has extensive experience in project management, developing and managing industrial parks, directing trade show programs, managing community development organizations and recruiting.

Mr. Seghers is a Certified Economic Development Finance Professional (EDFP) and a Certified Economic Developer (CEcD). He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.

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Don Terry, Community Developer
318-329-5476/1-800-256-5503
dterry@entergy.com

Don Terry joined Entergy Louisiana in 1999 at the West Monroe Office as an Account Executive in Community Development, overseeing the Team City Program throughout Entergy’s North Louisiana service territory. Mr. Terry holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Banking, Finance and Investments from Louisiana Tech University and worked in that industry for twelve years before moving into the community and economic development field. He is also a graduate of the Community Development Institute in Conway, Arkansas.

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Pamela Webster, Associate Analyst

pwebste@entergy.com

Pamela Webster joined the economic development department as an Associate Analyst in July of 2007. Her primary responsibilities are the development and maintenance of a statewide Building and Sites database, and development of an automated system to track economic development activities. Other responsibilities include conducting research and supporting the marketing effort.

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Karen K. Yates, Community Developer
225-763-5197
kyates@entergy.com

Karen Yates joined Entergy in 1974 and has worked in various sales and marketing positions. As a community developer, she has responsibility for administering the Team City program for the Baton Rouge metropolitan area and parishes north of Lake Pontchartrain.

A native of Minden, La., she earned a bachelor’s degree from Northeast La. University in Monroe, La.

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