The good – a thriving economy; the bad – two visitors named Gustav and Ike

Line Dancing Classes (Larose)
December 30, 2008
Henrietta "Noon" Martinez Richard
January 1, 2009
Line Dancing Classes (Larose)
December 30, 2008
Henrietta "Noon" Martinez Richard
January 1, 2009

They were the events that shaped 2008. Hurricanes, major industry contracts, a healthy employment rate. Good or bad, these stories affected business and industry in the Tri-parishes and continue to leave their mark in the coming year.


1. Hurricanes Effect on Local Businesses


First came Gustav’s winds blowing away rooftops. Then came Ike’s waters washing away foundations.

But neither hurricane could stop local business owners from reclaiming their piece of the American dream.


From those who stayed behind to those who evacuated and immediately returned, even if that meant sneaking in past the checkpoints, businesses reopened quickly to ensure residents had the necessities to recover and move forward.


Owners, mangers and employees worked side by side even when there was no electricity or running water.

Organizations such as the Terrebonne Economic Development Authority and various Chambers of Commerce worked diligently and patiently to help get businesses loans and grants to recoup their losses and expand their projects.


Store parking lots became gathering places for cleanup crews, relief aid groups and temporary medical triages.


Despite its own losses, the business community donated whatever it could in hopes of forging some type of normalcy.

With the Federal Emergency Management Agency more on the ball than after hurricanes Katrina and Rita, businesses seem unlikely to struggle as mightily as three years earlier.


2. LaShip Groundbreaking


In March, Galliano-based Edison Chouest broke ground on the 20-acre, $100 million LaShip shipbuilding yard at the Port of Terrebonne.

The facility will construct vessels larger than 350 feet needed to serve the deepwater offshore oil and gas industry.


Executives for LaShip, a new Chouest subsidiary, said between 750 and 1,000 new jobs with an average annual salary of $54,000 could be created.


To construct the shipyard, the company received a $65 million interest-free loan from federal Gulf Opportunity Zone funding and $27 million from the state.

Company owner Gary Chouest said the location for LaShip was ideal because the company already has a contract with nearby oil-drilling platform maker Gulf Island Fabrication.


“We’ll be more competitive than anywhere in the U.S.,” he said. “We’ll see the best shipyard in the U.S. for oil and gas vessels. We’re going to see the Cajun work ethic.”


Bulkhead and dredging work for the shipyard began this summer, and the facility is expected to be completed sometime in 2009.

3. LA Workforce / Jobless Rate


Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes continued to have among the lowest unemployment rates in the state in 2008.


For most of the year, the rate was less than three percent. However since hurricanes Gustav and Ike, the unemployment rate has jumped to 3.6 percent in November for Terrebonne and 3.5 percent for Lafourche.

In spite of that, the demand for skilled labor, especially blue collar and health care, has never been greater.


The Louisiana Department of Labor was renamed the Louisiana Workforce Commission to better reflect the need for a more educated workforce to take Louisiana into the global economy of the 21st century.


As part of its WorkIt! Louisiana program, South Central Industrial Association launched a media campaign aimed at high school students to make them aware of career opportunities in technical and industrial fields.

Businesses and educational institutions collaborated more than ever to create scholarships and job placements in various fields where demand is greatest.


4. Rise and Fall of Gas Prices


With the price of oil peaking at $147 a barrel and the price of gasoline over $4 a gallon, companies that provide products and services for the oil and gas industry and their employees did handsomely in 2008.

For everybody else, the high fuel prices, which climbed unimpeded until September, were a drain on budgets.


Particularly hard hit were heavily diesel-dependent industries – shrimpers, fishermen, delivery companies, etc. The price of a gallon of diesel stayed above $5 for most of the year.


Local car dealers saw consumers make a shift away from large trucks and sport utility vehicles towards smaller, fuel-efficient cars.

While economists such as Dr. Loren C. Scott predicted a slight drop in oil prices to around the $80 to $100 range, few foresaw the nosedive oil prices took to under $40 a barrel.


Now state coffers are projected to be short $1.2 billion next fiscal year and $2 billion light for fiscal year 2010. It seems that south Louisiana’s economy is not recession-proof after all.


5. Bollinger’s Potential $1.5 Billion Contract

In September, Lockport-based Bollinger Shipyards, Inc. beat out five competitors to win an $88 million Coast Guard contract with a $1.5 billion potential to design and construct a series of Fast Response Cutter (FRC)/Sentinel Class patrol boats.


The deal is a firm fixed price contract with an economic price adjustment. The approximate maximum value, if all options are exercised for a total of 34 patrol boats, is $1.5 billion over six to eight years.


The program is expected to last for approximately 10 years and provide employment for approximately 500 people if all 34 boats were built, according to the company.

Bollinger will be delivering a new cutter every eight weeks at the peak of production.


The first Sentinel will be delivered to Coast Guard District 7, based in Miami, in the fall of 2010.


“We are currently completing another contract for the USCG, Marine Protector Class Patrol Boats, with the 75th patrol boat being delivered next year” said Bollinger CEO and Chairman of the Board, Donald “Boysie” Bollinger.

6. Gulf Island Expansion


In October, Gulf Island Fabrication, Terrebonne Parish’s largest producer of offshore products, announced plans to increase its marine division.

The $27 million expansion will create an estimated 200 new jobs with an average annual salary of $53,000, according to Gov. Bobby Jindal.

The plan outline calls for a $15 million dry-dock operated under the newly-created subsidiary Gulf Island Marine Fabricators, a $6 million fabrication shop, a new warehouse and corporate headquarters.

The state gave Gulf Island $2.3 million in performance-based financial assistance to pave the access road, install a drainage system, sewage line and a water line with fire hydrants.

According to Gulf Island CEO Kerry Chauvin, it was the first time the company sought help from the state.

Chauvin cited the work ethic of south Louisianans and the Houma Navigational Canal, which let the company be competitive in the oil and gas industry, as reasons to keep the expansion project in Houma.

“We’ve had many people invite us to move to Houston, in fact, almost strong-arm us. But the board elected to stay in Terrebonne Parish,” he said. “We will be here and we will support Terrebonne Parish.”

7. Cote Blanche $500 Million Pipeline – 10/29/08

In October, Houston-based Henry Gas Storage proposed building a $500 million underground natural gas storage facility on Cote Blanche Island.

The project is expected to create 1,600 construction jobs and 20 permanent jobsin St. Mary Parish.

The project would include 12 miles of new natural gas pipeline to connect with existing natural gas pipelines in the area.

The company, a subsidiary of Houston-based Ranger Gas Storage LLC, hopes to complete permitting by the third quarter of next year.

If approved, construction would begin next year with a date for completion and operations at the site to begin in 2012.

While Henry Gas has yet to file a formal application with the parish, the federal government has started an environmental study of the company’s blueprints. The public will have an opportunity to comment on the proposed construction.

The company noted that it would launch a Web site detailing the work of the underground storage facility.

8. Houma-Thibodaux Strong Home Sales

While the country faced the continued decline in home sale prices and rise in foreclosures, the local housing market bucked the national trend and ascended throughout 2008.

The first and second quarters of the year, the Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux metropolitan statistical area had the highest one-year home appreciation rate in the country (11.22 and 9.06 percent respectively), according to the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight.

The area ranked fourth nationally during the third quarter at 5.18 percent.

From January to October 2008, the average existing home sale price in the Tri-parishes rose to $165,014, according to Bayou Board of Realtors President Pamela Testroet.

During the same time frame, the average new home construction sales price jumped to $193,651, she said.

The double impact of hurricanes Gustav and Ike put a temporary halt on the steady climb of home appreciation, but the market seems to be quickly coming back.

A survey of 23 local real estate companies showed that the average home sale price in October 2007 was $143,000. In October 2008, the average home sale price was about $164,000.

9. Leonard J. Chabert Medical Center Turns 30 – 10/29/08

Despite taking a pounding from hurricanes Gustav and Ike in September, officials of Leonard J. Chabert Medial Center had reason to celebrate this year.

The East Houma hospital commemorated its 30th year in operation in 2008.

Championed by the late state Senator Leonard Chabert, the second largest of the 10 LSU Health Care Services System hospitals has been a lifeline for the underinsured and a training ground for student physicians and residents.

Chabert suffered roof, elevator and exterior siding damage during Gustav and Ike. The building was closed for several weeks until temporary fixes were put in place.

The Terrebonne Parish Council gave the hospital $2.8 million to construct its own eight-foot levee to ease concerns about possible flooding from big hurricanes.

The 147-bed hospital was the most impacted of all state-run hospitals from the closure of Charity Hospital in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Chabert has admitted 35 percent more patients since Katrina.

The medical facility currently employs 875 people and helped stimulate $190.2 million in business activity, according to a Louisiana Hospital Administration report.

10. Houma Among Forbes’ Top 150 Cities to Work

In March, Forbes magazine ranked the Houma-Thibodaux metropolitan area 133rd out of 179 best smaller cities to do business or have a career.

With an unemployment rate that stayed under three percent most of the year, the area moved up 33 spots from last year.

The magazine also ranked Houma 29th in job growth and 74th in cost of doing business.

“This shows that we are continuing to grow, especially compared to some other areas which are in decline,” said Terrebonne Economic Development Authority CEO Mike Ferdinand at the time.

Among Louisiana cities, Houma moved ahead of Lake Charles and Monroe and only trailed Alexandria on the 2008 list.

The magazine considered labor, taxes, energy, office space costs, living costs, educational attainment, crime, the presence of four-year colleges and cultural and recreational opportunities in its rankings.

“Next year we hope to get even higher,” said Terrebonne Parish President Michel Claudet.

Hurricane Gustav victims lined up outside Home Depot in Houma to buy generators, boards and other items to begin repairing their homes. The Category 3 hurricane came ashore September 1. * File Photo