TEDA: Housing crunch an economic challenge

Terrebonne Economic Development Authority administrators gave an overview for parish leaders of the agency’s efforts to cultivate business in Terrebonne at a reception held March 4 in downtown Houma.

Agency CEO Mike Ferdinand ran down a few of the parish’s economic development challenges.

Many businesses in Terrebonne need skilled workers, but the parish is lacking housing, Ferdinand said.

“Bringing in labor is a concern,” he said.

And the parish is in competition for workers on quality-of-life issues.

“Workers are coming to understand they can live wherever they want,” he said, “not where they have to live.”

Ferdinand said, when deciding where to locate, privately held corporations value a community’s quality of life more than larger corporations, which are driven heavily by the bottom line.

Ferdinand also said Terrebonne has well-developed water access, but has a lack of rails.

TEDA Business Retention and Expansion Director Katherine Gilbert emphasized that the agency’s role is to aid businesses coming into Terrebonne with many facets of development, including business planning and accounting and computer services.

The banking community in the parish actively refers people to TEDA, Gilbert said.

“It’s validating for us,” she said.