Eula Bruce
June 11, 2007Principal at Thibodaux High named
June 13, 2007
Weatherford in Houma received a 2007 Lantern Award from Louisiana Economic Development (LED-the Louisiana Department of Economic Development) in a ceremony held at the Governor’s Mansion in Baton Rouge last Tuesday.
The award is presented annually to businesses in Louisiana who demonstrate excellence in manufacturing, and extensive community involvement. Weatherford won for LED’s South Central Planning & Development District covering Terrebonne, Lafourche, Assumption, St. John, St. James, and St. Charles parishes. LED hands out one Lantern Award each year to eight different districts in Louisiana.
Weatherford is one of the world’s largest oilfield-services companies involved in the early stages of oil production. The company, which takes in $6.1 billion dollars in annual revenues, has 10 offices in the Houma area, and employs around 400 people locally. The Industrial Boulevard office in Houma was the recipient of the Lantern Award, which was given to Weatherford along with its local subsidiary, Gemoco.
Weatherford Gemoco is a large manufacturer of primary cementation equipment used in drilling for oil and gas.
The company was nominated for a Lantern Award by the Houma-Terrebonne Chamber of Commerce.
“Weatherford is a good business steward,” said Chamber of Commerce President Kandy Theriot. “It’s only natural we would consider nominating them.”
Terrebonne Economic Development Authority CEO Mike Ferdinand said that Weatherford is “our largest manufacturer and provide[s] a significant impact to our community’s economy. This statewide recognition acknowledges what the residents and employees of Terrebonne Parish have known for years.”
Similarly, South Central Planning & Development Commission CEO Kevin Belanger said, “Gemoco was obviously a very worthy corporation who received the Lantern Award. We are very proud of their existence here and hope to have a very long-lasting relationship with our community.”
Weatherford Gemoco “ships products worldwide with much of the global engineering support being provided from Houma,” Theriot said.
The company did not provide statistics on local employment growth, or how much equipment the company buys from Louisiana suppliers, which are two criteria used by LED to determine Lantern Award winners.
Theriot cited examples of the company’s involvement in social and educational development in Terrebonne Parish, however.
Weatherford Gemoco supports the Terrebonne Association for Retarded Citizens (TARC), United Way, Drug Abuse Resistance Education, Habitat for Humanity, the American Cancer Society, Terrebonne Foundation for Academic Excellence, Terrebonne Vo-Tech High School, and L.E. Fletcher Community Technical College. The company also runs food and toy collection drives.
Theriot mentioned specifically Gemoco’s two-week Manufacturing Experience, which the company conducts as part of its Partners in Education program co-sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce.
Gemoco uses machinists, and computer operators, to teach local schoolchildren about the manufacturing process. The students then participate in making a product.
“It shows kids what it’s like to be in a work environment,” Theriot said. “It teaches them to reach for something greater than what they may have thought. (Gemoco) spends a lot of time and money to touch the lives of teenage children.”
More broadly, Gemoco “achieved manufacturing excellence as outlined in the state’s Vision 2020 plan,” said LED Secretary Mike Olivier. The plan is a blueprint for improving Louisiana’s economy seeking, in part, to direct the state’s focus away from traditional industries, and toward information services and education.
The Vision 2020 plan states, “Petroleum products, petrochemical manufacturing, and oil and gas mining output together account for 19.4 percent of Louisiana’s total gross state product…While these industries remain important Louisiana employers, these statistics point to an over reliance on their economic output, underscoring the need to further diversify our state’s economy.”
Photo courtesy of Terrebonne Economic Development Authority * Weatherford Gemoco General Manager Pat Seely, at the podium, accepts the 2007 Lantern Award at the Governor’s Mansion last week. Also pictured, from left, are: Linda Regire, of the Louisiana Economic Development; Don Autin, retired vice president of manufacturing for Weatherford Gemoco; George Ribble, director of cementing manufacturing for Weatherford Gemoco; and Dwain Eaton, the company’s customer service manager.
