TEDA, SLEC sever ties; letter issued to LED

michael@tri-parishtimes.com

The Terrebonne Economic Development Authority (TEDA) has severed ties with the South Louisiana Economic Council (SLEC) following years of miscommunication and disagreement.

Michael Voisin, outgoing chairman of TEDA, issued a letter to the Louisiana Economic Development (LED) last week officially ending the relationship with SLEC.

SLEC was founded in the mid-1980s and was designated as the economic development group for Terrebonne, Lafourche, Assumption and St. Mary parishes. As a regional group, SLEC is entitled to state-issued grant money. By withdrawing from SLEC, TEDA will no longer be able to take advantage of those grants unless it partners with another regional economic development organization.

However, Mike Ferdinand, CEO of TEDA, said that its funding is not dependent on the state. “We’re already viable,” he said.

Both groups are charged with helping establish or expand local businesses. However, over the years, TEDA has advanced by solely marketing Terrebonne. Its importance in making the parish economically successful is unmistakable.

With increasing tensions about how money from the state was being used, TEDA asked for a Cooperative Endeavor Agreement (CEA) to establish SLEC’s roles and responsibilities in the local marketplace. “We hoped to better define and coordinate marketing efforts,” said Ferdinand. “We needed a better plan for the region.”

After more than a year of debate over the need for a CEA, TEDA had set a deadline of Nov. 20 to hammer out the details.

In a letter issued on Dec. 7, Voisin said, “Please appreciate that TEDA’s administration and Board has tried to formally define and implement a CEA now for months. Š It is with heavy heart that I must now formally withdraw the letter of Aug. 26, 2006, acknowledging SLEC as our regional economic development organization.”

SLEC stopped communications with TEDA in November.

Repeated phone calls to SLEC were not returned and LED refused to go into detail about the issue. At press time, Ferdinand said that TEDA had not heard from either organization.