Regional group targeting 200 businesses

The South Louisiana Economic Council (SLEC) is set to launch its target industry and lead generation program, a national campaign designed to attract new industries to the Bayou Region.

The program is being conducted in conjunction with SLEC’s regional economic development partners: Lafourche Economic Development, St. Mary Economic Development, Assumption Police Jury Development Committee, the Greater Lafourche Port Commission and Louisiana Economic Development.

SLEC began working on the program about six months ago when it contracted Michigan-based site selection firm Whittaker Associates to systemically pre-screen and identify 200 businesses that are ready to expand to the southeastern United States.

SLEC CEO Vic Lafont believes the Bayou Region offers incredible advantages for companies wanting to relocate.

“Our economy is one of the strongest in the nation right now and companies from other states certainly have taken notice,” he said in a release. “This program of targeted recruiting is designed to not only strengthen the economic base of our region, but continue to add diversity to our industrial mix by bringing in companies that complement the industries already in place here.”

Whittaker Associates has been working internationally for nearly 20 years. Closer to home, the firm has worked with economic development boards in Georgia and Texas.

According to James Edmonson, Whittaker Associates’ senior vice president, the firm has a 40 to 60 percent success rate when it comes to selecting companies that are interested in expanding, and a two to four percent rate for actual projects that take form.

“In the sales world, those numbers are pretty high,” Edmonson said.

The firm identified companies that it feels fit the natural advantages of the Bayou Region. In Edmonson’s opinion, the biggest impact will be that new companies translate into more job opportunities for residents.

Edmonson admitted that many of the businesses may not be ready to expand. However, SLEC must build a working relationship with them so that when the time for expansion comes, the companies will be thinking about the tri-parish area.

According to a SLEC release, Whittaker Associates is in the process of making contact with these selected companies. They include everything from plastic product manufacturers to professional, technical and scientific service providers to film, arts, music and entertainment companies.

The program will reportedly be managed on a regional basis through the cooperation of the Bayou Region Economic Development Committee, a group of the participating professional economic development agencies.