Technical training tells trend
November 13, 2012
SCIA making a difference
November 13, 2012
Economic development in Terrebonne Parish has witnessed an aggressive approach during the past year. Many business leaders have said it is unmatched when compared to previous efforts.
Terrebonne Economic Development Authority CEO Steve Vassallo confessed last week he only knows one pace – full speed ahead. He said results are not a final step, but are a progression of events people often recognize only after they are in place.
The director of Terrebonne Parish’s primary economic development agency has made himself known by being highly visible in public and willing to challenge the status quo.
“We’ve made progress in specific areas from where we were a year ago,” Vassallo said during an early morning conversation over coffee at a local bistro.
“We restructured the organization,” Vassallo said of staff changes made during January, which resulted in an approximate savings of $170,000. “It is leaner and more cost effective. Everyone has a specific task and we are working more as a cohesive unit than we ever have. We eliminated a lot of duplications and are much more effective.”
During January, the Terrebonne Parish Council charged TEDA with paying more attention to existing small business and startups. During the past 10 months, TEDA has worked closely with approximately 300 small businesses, helped them develop business plans, delivered 11 grants averaging $5,000 each, which has helped select local companies expand their operations.
“[TEDA] helped me tremendously,” Serenty-Tranquilty of Peace Salon owner Kendra Morgan said. Morgan received a $5,000 grant in August through TEDA for equipment and expansion of her Houma-based business. “This helped me get the equipment and things I needed and had not been able to get.”
An international focus came to Terrebonne Parish this year when TEDA secured an economic partnership agreements with the city of Weihai, China. As a result, companies from China have begun making arrangement to expand operations and products into Terrebonne Parish and local companies, including Motivatit Seafood and others, have begun negotiating contracts to sell Louisiana seafood in China.
“We have an alliance in place,” Vassallo said. “If we get that $500,000 grant from BP funds for tourism and industry promotion, we’re off to the races in China. If we don’t get the grant, we will have to adjust how we market ourselves.”
A TEDA delegation traveled to China during June. “I was kind of skeptical at first,” TEDA Board Commissioner Clarence Williams said following the five-day economic excursion. “Now I’m sold on having a relationship.”
TEDA anticipates a delegation from China to tour Terrebonne Parish businesses in January 2013.
Additional TEDA progress includes the development of a new website and expansion of online employment opportunity services with businesses looking for qualified employees.
TEDA members have also made road trips to Baton Rouge and Lafayette, through which they were able to sell businesses based in those cities on the idea of expanding into Terrebonne Parish.
“We have really fine-tuned our recruiting efforts domestically,” Vassallo said. “A year ago, we didn’t have any kind of retail recruitment.”
The TEDA CEO said he has made a specific effort to help Southland Mall attract retailers and revive its business viability. “We take for granted that we have a mall, but if that mall went away, it would be devastating to our economy,” he said. “We are doing everything we can to help fill spaces over there.”
Vassallo said TEDA has become better known among the region during the past year than it had ever been since its establishment in 2006.
“This time a year ago, there were a lot of unknowns about TEDA,” Vassallo said. “Now [businesses] know we give grants and offer courses to teach business leaders.”
Vassallo said to expect greater international exposure during 2013 for Terrebonne Parish in Asia, Europe and South America, as well as domestic expansion.
The TEDA executive said improvements to the Panama Canal could increase activity at the Port of Terrebonne when work through Panama is complete in 2015. In turn, efforts have begun to make that shipping connection and include considering an offshore docking facility in the Gulf of Mexico and aligned with Terrebonne Parish.
“It is a certainty that we will be recruiting for oil and gas,” Vassallo said. “We are going to continue to explore the retail market, diversify our economy and intensify what we are doing.”
“TEDA has done an outstanding job for the parish this year,” Terrebonne Parish Council Chairwoman Arlanda Williams said. “Many of the opportunities we now have we would not have had were it not for [TEDA’s] efforts this past year.”
TEDA was created by the Louisiana Legislature. It operates as a public body in partnership with the Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government, the Houma-Terrebonne Chamber of Commerce and the South Central Industrial Association. Its purpose is to attract and retain jobs in the parish by implementing the economic development strategic plans created by founding stakeholders. TEDA’s mission, Vassallo said, is strengthening the parish’s economic outlook through both business retention and expansion.
Terrebonne Economic Development Authority CEO Steve Vassallo admits the past year has been faster paced than expected by many. While helping existing business and attracting others domestically and internationally, the TEDA executive says the region benefits from diversity of industry.
