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November 13, 2012
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The South Central Industrial Association’s 250 members contend their organization grew to a level of notoriety during 2012.
SCIA’s progress includes the training and recruitment of qualified industrial workers and hosting programs intended to educate businesses on topics ranging from safety and health care to legal rights for employees and employers.
“We pride ourselves on having very active members and volunteers, and a committee structure that makes the organization work,” SCIA Executive Director Jane Arnette said. “Our board is comprised of people we look at years in advance because it is an eight-year commitment to go up and become an officer.”
Arnette said the organization’s budget is primarily comprised from dues. Added donations help SCIA conduct multiple programs and deliver educational funding. Arnette declined to disclose a dollar amount, but admitted cash flow is enough to regularly present scholarships because of the dedication of members.
Issues important to SCIA are determined with a long-term approach, but often become the focus as goals for specific years.
“Our focus on workforce development has been a critical issue for us,” Arnette said. Because of that priority, SCIA has established relationships with public school systems and institutions, including Fletcher Technical Community College and Nicholls State University, to develop educational programs specifically designed to fill workforce needs of the region.
“It is extremely important since we are a technical community college that we train in the technical areas such as welding, diesel marine, and electrician and integrated production technology,” Fletcher Technical Community College Chancellor Travis Lavigne said regarding a relationship with SCIA. “It is important that industry is aware of what we are trying to accomplish and that we have access to their expertise as we continue to improve the technology in our programs.”
Lavigne said that during 2012, SCIA raised $40,000 that created the Fletcher Technical Community College Foundation and helped in the creation of a $100,000 endowment, the proceeds of which will be used for scholarships.
WorkIt! Louisiana is a SCIA program that enters school systems and helps design curriculum. Additionally, a regional focus on workforce development was established this year. “That will always be part of this organization,” Arnette said. “We need a skilled labor force so that is going to be an ongoing thing.”
SCIA also works closely with the state legislative delegation through multiple public organizations on projects connected to coastal restoration and levee protection.
Fundraising efforts through an annual golf tournament and banquet generate funds, which are placed back into community organizations including Restore or Retreat, La.1, the Morganza Action Coalition, the Terrebonne Academic Foundation, Lafourche Education Foundation and other associations.
Arnette said that during 2012, the top three accomplishments for SCIA included its WorkIt! program, which involved bussing 300 students to BP for industrial presentations. During October, SCIA took 1,300 sophomores in the Terrebonne Parish School District to the Terrebonne Technical High School for an orientation of programs designed to launch graduates into the local workforce. SCIA is looking to do something similar in Lafourche Parish during 2013.
“Another major accomplishment this year was helping develop the maritime management curriculum at Nicholls State University,” the director said. “This goes back to the workforce. We utilized the services and College of Business at Nicholls. We originally facilitated [curriculum] and it grew from there.”
SCIA workshops are offered to non-members as well as members, but often is a draw that increases the organization’s census.
Arnette said professional continuing education units may be gained through SCIA workshops, which are free to members.
By joining forces with industrial organizations, training professionals and state agencies, SCIA offered a first-of-its-kind Safety and Environmental Management Systems seminar on Sept. 11. “This really helped get our name known,” Arnette said.
Goals for 2013 remain focused on workplace enhancement with a regional initiative being designed. Workshops will increase in frequency and span an array of topics.
“Because of new federal regulations, we are going to shoot for having three or four workshops next year rather than just two,” Arnette said. “All our events are sellouts. So, that’s really good.”
“This last year, we have been approached by a number of different parties about using our clout in a number of different areas,” founding SCIA member Charles Theriot said. “The overall idea of SCIA was not necessarily to be the highest profile group, but the one that got the most things done. We have been more concerned about getting things done than getting credit and are more about helping others than putting forward an agenda.”
Theriot said SCIA has grown in popularity because it has taken action on real projects. “People want to be involved in things that make a difference,” he said.
SCIA was established in 1997 as a non-profit organization. It has been a network for industrial business and expanded in promoting and advancing regional firms by addressing common problems and opportunities.
SCIA membership is comprised of industrial-based businesses, financial institutions and other associations including chambers of commerce, levee districts and port commissions.
While SCIA is non-partisan, it does hold influence among legislative decision-makers at the state and federal level.
South Central Industrial Association Executive Director Jane Arnette says educating a future workforce has been SCIA’s longtime goal. The organization works with educational institutions and members to ensure a qualified workforce.
