Economic ties link area workers to NOLA
April 25, 2012
Scaffolding offers more than one way to move up
April 25, 2012“This is a monumental event,” South Central Industrial Association Executive Director Jane Arnette said as 172 members of SCIA, Louisiana Economic Development, Terrebonne Economic Development Authority, the South Louisiana Economic Council, state trade offices and multiple business representatives talked to one another under the same roof about their common programs and goals.
Leading discussion by describing their agencies during the SCIA membership luncheon Thursday, were SLEC CEO Vic Lafont and TEDA CEO Steve Vassallo.
Demonstrating a resolve to work together after the two economic development organizations bridged a long-present rift in December 2011, Lafont and Vassallo told those in attendance what each of these group has done on its own and pitched the idea of pooling resources among all agencies represented to make the region stronger.
Lafont said his organization’s role is to bring state resources to local chambers of commerce and other economic development agencies such as TEDA and SCIA.
Lafont said success of any agency is seen in its ability to stand the test of time. He then outlined the purpose of SLEC and projects it covers regarding economics. “People need to understand that SLEC doesn’t do [business] recruiting. We provide a platform for parishes to come together and facilitate needs in the region.”
SLEC was originally established in 1984 as a program manager for the Louisiana Innovation Loan and Technical Assistance Program (ILTAP), an effort to assist small businesses in Assumption, Lafourche, St. Mary, and Terrebonne parishes.
SLEC, in cooperation with the Louisiana Office of Community Development (OCD), now provides resource assistance to small businesses in formats designed along the needs of each business involved.
Vassallo commented on the aggressive style TEDA has implemented during the past eight months as the official business generating agency of Terrebonne Parish. He also promoted a list of ongoing TEDA projects.
The TEDA CEO said one of the strongest and most frustrating elements of Terrebonne Parish is job availability. Vassallo then described recruiting campaigns undertaken by TEDA, and noted that the gap between having open positions and filling them is having a lack of qualified applicants for industrial settings.
“We had one [company] that told us that 90 percent of its applicants have some kind of cloud in their background,” Vassallo said. “We have one of the lowest unemployment rates in the United States, but there is good and bad to that.”
The TEDA administrator spoke of staffing changes within the organization and the distribution of grant funding to regional businesses with $5,000 mini-grant packages.
Vassallo promoted the ongoing sister city project being sought by TEDA to unify Terrebonne Parish with Weihai, China in an industrial and economic relationship.
Louisiana Economic Development International Services Director Larry Collins spoke briefly on the Strategies to Empower People Program.
“[The Small Business Administration STEP initiative] has given about $850,000 to help Louisiana companies export their products and services,” Collins said. “What we have created is a scholarship program [for business through TEDA and through SLEC,]” Collins said. “It has to do with marketing your business. … Our goal is to put this money in the hands of businesses.”
Lafont said coastal Louisiana has an opportunity to excel economically as never before. He explained that the times this region has been held back, was because business and government decision makers working in other parts of the country were wielding their influence. “That’s not going to happen again,” he said.
