Incentives behind local expansions

Two companies in Terrebonne Parish are expanding their facilities and applying for tax incentives from the state, said Katherine Gilbert, business retention and expansion director for the Terrebonne Economic Development Authority at last week’s board meeting.

K&B Machine Works is investing $1.8 million to expand its facility in Schriever, adding 10 new jobs to the existing 170.

Gilbert said the company is only eligible for the 4 percent sales tax rebate portion from the state’s Enterprise Zone tax incentive program, which targets areas that are underdeveloped. The program also offers a $2,500 tax credit for each new job created.

Environmental Safety & Health Consulting Services is investing $2.5 million to expand its facility on Coteau Road, adding 50 new jobs. The company is also bringing in 10 new jobs at its Industrial Avenue site.

Environmental Safety is applying for a 5 to 6 percent rebate on payroll expenses and a 4 percent sales tax rebate through the state’s Quality Jobs program.

Gilbert said companies have to document new hires and submit spreadsheets to participate in the state incentive programs. They must also retain the new jobs for two to three years.

Businesses could be required to pay the rebates back to the state if the numbers are not maintained, said Anne Perry, Louisiana Economic Development representative for the Bayou Region.

Companies in Terrebonne Parish applying for state tax incentives so far in 2009 have invested $33.1 million in expansion, creating a potential $99,640 for Terrebonne and $88,360 for Louisiana in sales tax generated by new payroll, according to figures supplied by TEDA.

In other business, TEDA is close to filling a workforce developer position for its staff, said CEO Mike Ferdinand.

The position, which will pay between $38,000 and $52,000 yearly, was created by the TEDA board in February. Ferdinand said the position could be filled by the end of this week.

TEDA is looking for a candidate who can work with the Louisiana Workforce Commission (formerly the Department of Labor) and who has experience in human resources and labor and management relations. The position involves identifying needs and recruiting labor, Ferdinand said.

Establishing a workforce developer is part of TEDA’s charter. The agency’s financial statements from last year stated that employers in the parish point to a lack of qualified workers as a concern.

TEDA works with the South Central Industrial Association to administer some of the $557,500 in state funding for the Work It! Louisiana program in the area. The program promotes careers in industry for students not attending four-year colleges.

TEDA has administered $86,582 in state funds so far this year on Work It! Louisiana, according to the agency’s Profit and Loss Budget Performance for July 2009.

Another TEDA staff position is waiting to be filled in communications. TEDA was going to share the position with the Houma-Terrebonne Chamber of Commerce, but the chamber is no longer interested, Ferdinand said.

The workforce developer position will be included in TEDA’s 2010 budget.

That year’s budget, which will be issued in a few months, is based on the agency’s performance measures and indicators from 2009, Ferdinand said.

Some of those numbers are up from 2008, he said. The percentage of job growth in Terrebonne, the number of TEDA’s marketing efforts and the number of applications to Louisiana Economic Development for tax incentives from the state all increased from 2008.

However, several of those figures are lower, including the percent of income growth in Terrebonne, the number of jobs proposed to be created with tax incentives from the state, and the number of businesses receiving technical assistance from TEDA.

If some contraction in the local economy persists, numbers could continue to be lower, Ferdinand said.

Countering the negative reports, Marc Rogers, a project engineer with Houma-based T. Baker Smith, told the board that access road and sewer improvements for Gulf Island Fabrication’s marine services division in Houma are ready to go out to bid, a 45-day process.

To make the improvements, Gulf Island was awarded $2.3 million in financial assistance through the state’s Economic Development Award Program, which assists industry with infrastructure development.

However, Rogers said the project, Phase I of which will take eight to nine months to complete, will cost less than the total funds approved.

Also at last week’s meeting, Sheila Bella, TEDA’s business liaison, said the agency has received 3,667 applications for reentry badges into Terrebonne following hurricanes, 451 more than last month. TEDA is distributing the badges to businesses important to the parish’s recovery following hurricanes.

“We still haven’t seen a lot of the companies we expected to see,” Bella said. “We are encouraging them.” Many of the 1,500 applications that have been withdrawn were from utility company employees whose names will be distributed to checkpoints.

Board Chairman Mike Voisin said TEDA is corresponding with the South Louisiana Economic Council about the agency’s representation by the council, a private, Thibodaux-based economic development organization that currently represents four parishes. TEDA has not paid dues, asserting that Terrebonne Parish does not receive sufficient promotion by the council, which receives some state funding to do so.

Voisin said if a cooperative endeavor agreement is not reached with SLEC by later this year, Terrebonne’s involvement with the organization will end.