Eula Bruce
June 11, 2007Principal at Thibodaux High named
June 13, 2007
South Louisiana Economic Council executive director Vic Lafont said he would like to see a balance between economic development, prospecting, retention and business development, as well as, new business development to fill the many niches he sees in the local markets.
He also said there are two things the state can do to keep its current economic success going for the long term.
And he believes politics will decide south Louisiana’s fate more than anything else.
Lafont was recently reappointed to the Louisiana Economic Development Council and appointed to the Global Strategies Council for the Southern Growth Policies Board.
“Our state is at a critical crossroads in the development of our economy. We have worked hard in Baton Rouge and around the nation to make sure that impact of our region’s economy is understood as policy is formulated, not only in Baton Rouge but in Washington as well,’ said Lafont.
Lafont has served as SLEC’s executive director since 1998, as past chairman of the 17-state economic development group, the Southern Economic Development Council, and on the boar of directors of the Louisiana Industrial Development Executives Association.
While Lafont intends to stick to the Vision 202 plan as a kind of roadmap for economic development, there are some things he’d like to see changed.
“I want to see more of a balance between economic development, prospecting, retention and your business development,” said Lafont. “There’s a number of ways of creating jobs and it’s not all true business recruitment. It can also be by nurturing the companies you already have here and helping them grow. That’s job creation.”
Lafont also said he is looking at new business development more than anything, because there have been many open niches in the market since Katrina and Rita.
“Some companies that are not coming back have left some voids there in markets,” said Lafont.
He said he there are some opportunities for some new, well-intended business people to come in and fill those niches by tooling their business in the region so they aren’t offering a service or product already provided by other companies.
He wants to see those kind of business owners to come in looking for those products and services others aren’t offering, someone trying to fill a niche.
“I would like to see a little bit more assistance to those types of folks and how we can help them.”
He also said the emphasis has been on heavy outside recruiting, but predicts this may change when a new governor takes office. But, he admits the emphasis placed on recruiting doesn’t really have much of an effect on the south Louisiana region.
“It’s a market driven economy here,” said Lafont. “We need this. Let’s go get that.”
The state has seen an economic boost since the storms of 2005, but keeping the boost going is the tricky part. Lafont has two ideas in mind on how to accomplish this.
The first is about seizing opportunity.
He said what the state economy had before the storms was self-sustaining, but what has been created after the storms is further opportunity.
“When have we really been preoccupied with construction? We have a housing issue to where we need more places to live. There’s land here that people are developing,” said Lafont. “I see us only adding and diversifying what we had here before. We will strengthen what we already have, but we will diversify it a bit more.”
He said there have been talks about luring a housing manufacturing plant to the south Louisiana region.
“People say we’re the back door to the U.S., but we’re also the front door to a lot of the South American markets,” said Lafont.
He said south Louisiana should be working more with the north Louisiana lumber companies to produce a housing plant down here.
“Those are the type of opportunities that are there now, that weren’t there before.”
The other thing the state needs to focus on to keep its economy rolling is the environment.
“Of course, the big one, though, is the environmental,” said Lafont. “My god, if anything’s risen our awareness of the land loss… It’s now. It wasn’t there before. Lord knows people have been beating that drum, but now it’s really become a critical issue.”
He said a number of coastal funds, federally and through the state, will be coming into the region, which will translate into economic opportunity for some small firm or company.
In Lafont’s mind perhaps, politics will play almost as important a role in south Louisiana’s future as the construction of storm protection.
So, the upcoming elections are going to play a large part in south Louisiana’s future.
Lafont said a sizeable portion of the legislature is going to turn over in the fall, which will invariably affect the causes and projects on which the legislature focuses.
The turnover in the legislature could adjust south Louisiana’s position from solid to precarious, given a unique immediacy to the bills being proposed in the legislature right now.
“Thank god we have some really strong legislatures that are there in the mix,” said Lafont. “If we can’t get it done, now, I don’t know when we can.”
Lafont said the people in the more central and northern areas of Louisiana just don’t feel the same immediacy for a lot of the coastal restoration and road projects needed in the south Louisiana region.
“Not that they don’t care about us, but they will never feel that immediate need like we do. They have other needs and they’re going to focus on that,” said Lafont. “The only hope that we have is for our legislatures to pull our brethren from the north and said, ‘Look, I’ll help you with your issues, please help me with mine.’”
