TEDA, SCIA: Involvement key to improvement

Viewing challenges as opportunities and generating increased participation are indicators of progress, according to regional economic and industrial organization leaders.

When considering progress during the past year, those involved in the daily operations of two well-known business groups agree that not surrendering to natural or manmade challenges is critical in maintaining stability and generating growth.

“At 261 members, we have the highest membership we have ever had,” South Central Industrial Association Executive Director Jane Arnette said regarding her organization of regional business leaders. “I think there is a positive momentum and we see it as more people get involved.”

SCIA is a network of firms that promote the advancement of member corporations by providing workshops designed to enhance business performance. Members also back learning opportunities to benefit the interests of business and public concerns.

During the past year, SCIA members have hosted events to generate more than $60,000 which they invested back into the community through scholarships and other awards.

“Everything we have done has been so well received,” Arnette said. “The purpose of SCIA is to support and draw attention to issues affecting the industrial environment of the bayou region, and have an impact on those issues.”

While SCIA does not conduct its efforts as a lobbying agency, many political leaders who have been invited to attend membership meetings as guests and speakers get the message when they come face-to-face with business owners and managers that represent all who labor to make coastal Louisiana work.

“Many of our areas of influence come through the programs we offer,” Arnette said. “We conducted three employee workshops [during 2011] for our members, hosting over 100 people at each. This is a great benefit to our members because we provide CEO credits for [human resource] professionals. We also continue to be committed to coastal restoration, infrastructure, levee protection and the dredging of the Houma Navigational Canal. We advocate for issues as we deem necessary and remain an active force in our delivery.”

Assertive, increased involvement creates a strong local voice, according to Arnette, and makes this organization a progressive influence, while more passive business organizations, and the communities they represent, remain basically unnoticed.

“I still feel I can give an outside perspective [to the region’s progress],” Terrebonne Economic Development Authority CEO Steve Vassallo said as he passed the three-month mark of holding that position.

“This community has got a very diverse economic base,” Vassallo said. “Oil and gas are certainly a natural benefit of being here [and is a predominant industry], but also, the fact that we just formed a retail task force and we are a regional hub [for commerce]. Think about the level of employment here that is directly associated with that retail and commercial trade. It’s huge.”

Vassallo said that many commercial businesses, such as retailers and service oriented companies, are looking toward secondary markets such as Terrebonne Parish for location rather than larger centers such as New Orleans.

“Most of the major marketplaces are saturated now with all the retail,” Vassallo said as he noted plans for new retail additions including Kohl’s and other stores on Martin Luther King Boulevard. “That’s working in our favor.”

“Another thing, and I can’t express enough the importance, is the expansion we have with Nicholls [State University] and Fletcher [Technical Community College] expanding their campus with this new facility [on La. Highway 311] helps train so many people that are entering the workforce with additional skills,” Vassallo said.

While some secondary markets, such as the Houma-Thibodaux metropolitan statistical area, easily become bedroom communities to larger cities, in this case New Orleans, TEDA Marketing Director Michelle Edwards Eroche noted that has not been the situation here as many people commute from New Orleans into the Tri-parish area to conduct business.

Vassallo referred to Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes as a regional avenue for industry and commerce with the Port of Terrebonne, Port Fourchon, the Intracoastal Waterway and Houma Navigational Canal, and a boom opportunity for retail and service.

With that, Vassallo added that the medical community is what many might consider a well-kept secret. “With the [Mary Bird Perkins] cancer center just opening and expanding and the other medical providers, that is a big, big employment forces,” he said. “They add to the diversification.”

TEDA has undertaken aggressive projects during the past year to enhance progress in the region. These activities include the placement of a billboard at the heavily traveled intersection of Interstates 10 and 55 in St. John the Baptist Parish promoting job opportunities in Terrebonne Parish through the website terrebonneishiringnow.org.

TEDA has also instituted resources for small business owners including avenues for financing, technical assistance and workforce development. A new program connecting sponsoring business owners with entrepreneurs through Angel Funds was launched just this past month.

“Since the [oil price] crash back in the 1980s a lot of the companies learned a lot of lessons [that have influenced more contemporary progress],” Eroche said. “They are more liquid and they are able to fluctuate. Now we are at the point where we have increased 2,900 jobs [in Terrebonne Parish] since 2008.”

Eroche explained there are many factors that have kept the regional economy progressing while the remainder of the nation stalled in recent years. They include revenue generated from rebuilding following devastating hurricanes including Katrina and Rita in 2005, and Gustav and Ike in 2008. “While the rest of the country was suffering, we had [insurance money and government grants] to help us through that time,” she said.

“Although the economy has been slower than before the [April 2010 BP] oil spill, it has been progressing,” Eroche said. “Our economy has been set back, but not to the point that we cannot function.”

Vassallo made a comparison between Terrebonne Parish and his former hometown of Nashville, Tenn., which similarly operates as a consolidated government with Davidson County. He noted that while the Nashville area unemployment level is at 8.7 percent and the Louisiana level, along with that of metropolitan New Orleans, are both at 6.9 percent, the unemployment rate in Terrebonne Parish is 4.7 percent.

“That speaks volumes,” Vassallo said. “Nashville has one of the most diverse economies in the nation, and we are four points below that.”

Arnette, Eroche and Vassallo agreed that the one element that has influenced progress in the region more than any other is public involvement in not allowing their communities to sink when flooded with challenges.

“One of the things that have a direct bearing on any economy is people’s future outlook,” Vassallo said. “There is a lot of optimism here that the Gulf is going to open up again in a major way next year. A lot of companies are preparing for that right now.”

“We want to be sure we are making an impact,” Arnette added. “Look at how SCIA responded to the [offshore drilling] moratorium. The contributions we make to the bayou region make a difference.”

“One of the biggest things to overcome is insecurity,” Eroche said. “We have managed to cross right over the negative things that have happened.”

Progress for the region, according to these economic experts, is directly related to the public confidence that influences decisions and investments made by industry. Their expectations are considered business as usual.