Port Arthur Mayor Derrick Freeman said the Tom Tom Founders Festival, where he was scheduled to speak Friday, has a little bit of everything from economic development to resiliency, from the environment to music.

“It’s like a big festival,” he said. “There’s more economic development here than anything to invest in small cities.”

Freeman was at the Charlottesville, Virginia festival Thursday. He was scheduled to speak at a session Friday for leadership on natural disasters. He said he would discuss what the city went through with Hurricane and Tropical Storm Harvey.

The Tom Tom Foundation is a non-profit organization that celebrates entrepreneurs, civic leaders and creators who are shaping cities and communities across the nation, according to the foundation website.

“Tom Tom’s signature event is a weeklong festival of ideas and culture that takes place in Charlottesville, Virginia, each April in conjunction with Thomas Jefferson’s birthday,” it read. “This cross discipline, multi-venue experience transforms the historic downtown and empowers the innovators, who are envisioning a brighter future.”

Furthermore, since its inception in 2012, the foundation’s spring and fall programming has showcased more than 740 speakers and 330 bands to 186,000 program attendees and has channeled $2.9 million to new ventures and projects.

Bloomberg LP, that describes itself as a global information and technology company that connects decision makers to a dynamic network of data, people and ideas, is at the festival. They’re assisting 10 cities through their philanthropic efforts. Freeman hopes Port Arthur is one of those cities.

He added that there are several venture capitalists there, looking to invest in smaller cities.

“Hopefully I can bring back some dollars,” he said. “I’m here to represent Port Arthur and tell them the good news that we’re rife with opportunities.”

Charlottesville was the sight of a violent confrontation in August 2017 when hundreds of white nationalists and their supporters gathered for a rally over plans to remove a Confederate statue. They were met by counter-protesters and clashed.

“This is ground zero on the statue thing,” Freeman said. “They changed the name of a park to Emancipation Park, but the statues are still there.”