C-Port seeks to partner with Lafourche schools

The Lafourche Parish School Board elected its officers for the coming year and agreed to work with C-Port of Port Fourchon to help improve the lives of local students at its meeting last week.

By a unanimous vote, Louis Thibodaux was re-elected president of the Lafourche Parish School Board; Rhoda Caldwell will retain her post as vice president.

“I pledge to you that I will carry on my duties to the best of my ability,” Thibodaux told the board. “I want to thank all of you for giving me the opportunity to continue serving you.”

The board also elected three of its members – Julie Breaux, Jon Callais and Ronald Pere – to serve alongside Thibodaux and Caldwell on the advisory committee.

Pere’s election marked his third term on the committee.

“I’ve enjoyed my two years on the board and I will continue to serve it with pride,” he said.

In other business, Brett Borne, personnel manager of C-Port, is looking to better employment opportunities for area students who don’t opt to take the college route.

C-Port hopes to establish a school-to-work program with the Lafourche Parish School District.

Established in 1997, C-Port’s parent company is Edison Chouest. Borne said C-Port is “a complete, one-stop solution that pushes efficiency in deepwater material movement.”

Edison Chouest’s two existing seaport terminals, known as C-Ports 1 and 2, receive offshore supply vessels coming in from oilrigs and platforms. Borne said C-Port employees are responsible for getting vessels ready to go offshore again as quickly as possible, restocking, refueling and repairing, if necessary.

In 2001, the company employed 90 workers, Borne said. That number jumped to 217 in 2005 and 399 in 2007. Today, C-Port employs 684 people.

Borne told the board that C-Port “wants to help our students continue their education.”

“For me, continuing education comes in different forms,” he said. “Some students will go off to college and become doctors, lawyers and different areas of our workforce. Some of them are actually going to come into the workforce and that’s our goal. We want to help those students continue their education, train them and develop them to improve their lives.”

Equipping graduates with the necessary skills to earn a viable living straight out of high school is a “win-win” for industry and the school system, Borne explained. He said via their tax dollars, working graduates would help improve the school district’s coffers and provide local industry much-needed workers.

“Those tax dollars come back to the school system to help better educate the children,” he said.

Borne is scheduled to meet with the district’s curriculum committee to discuss a C-Port partnership with Lafourche Parish schools.

“This is a very important issue for us and for our community,” said School Superintendent JoAnn Matthews. “We thank C-Port for coming forward with this because it is a good thing for all of our students. We want them to know what is available here.”

Board member Al Archer welcomed the news of C-Port’s curriculum. “Mr. Borne is no stranger to the south,” he said. “This is only the beginning of, hopefully, a great partnership and only good things can come from this.”