Moving Forward Archive

A new economic study shows that the nine parishes of south Louisiana have real opportunities for industrial and business expansion in a handful of specific areas and that St. Landry Parish is already ahead of the game in several of those target areas.

The study done for One Acadiana by Atlanta-based Garner Economics compared this region with the Baton Rouge and Chattanooga metro areas and with the state and nation as a whole. It looked at how we can make the best use of what’s here now and what other businesses and industries would find us attractive.

It found that transportation and other assets make us well positioned to serve national and international markets, and that a labor market that includes skilled industrial workers, engineers, technicians, scientists, and seasoned managers strengthens our ability to compete.

The report also said our strength includes strong academic and technical institutions that can train workers, but also found that the K-through-12 educational system needs a boost region wide.

Garner listed five core industry groups that could be particularly interested in Acadiana: Aviation and avionics that would include such 

things as charter air services that could fly from the St. Landry airport; informatics and engineering, including 3-D printing, data centers, engineering services, industrial design, and even video game design; high value business services, including such things as accounting and corporate administration; and marine and heavy industry, which might include port and cargo operations such as those at the Port of Krotz Springs, ship and boat building, and others.

St. Landry Parish has a presence in each of those areas, according to economic development director Bill Rodier, bur he notes that two other industries identified by the study have been mainstays of the parish economy for some time.

The first of those is food and beverage processing and related support industries.

“Products from St. Landry Parish can be found across the world,” Rodier said. “We ship sauces and seasonings, sausage and boudin, vegetable oil, and, of course crawfish and farm products in big numbers,” he said.

“In fact, the St. Landry Parish development plan adopted several years ago noted that agriculture and aquaculture are significant parts of our economy and that the parish has a strong base of food processing businesses that formed here because of our cultural heritage and passion for food. That earlier study identified food processing as one of the building blocks of our future, and this latest report reinforces that idea.”

The Garner Economics report also identified heritage tourism as a major opportunity for the region, noting our “very strong cultural identity and level of cultural activity.”

Rodier notes that St. Landry has a long, pioneering history of promoting cultural tourism, “going back to the 1980s when Mayor Curtis Joubert pushed to restore the Liberty Theatre and bring the Prairie Cultural Center of Eunice.”

Parish tourism director Celeste Gomez also points out that our culture and heritage have 

been the focus of a growing tourism industry in all of St.  Landry Parish, something that was also noted in the earlier parish economic development plan. One of the major themes of parish tourism promotion is, “In St. Landry Parish we live our culture.”

Gomez notes that the Garner Economics study is supported by one done for the State Department of Culture, Recreation, and Tourism that says “authentic local culture cannot be outsourced. … It is [the one real] most likely to create jobs that will not eventually be lost.

“Overall, the Garner Report helped us better identify some opportunities for growth, and also to show the areas that we need to work hardest on,” Rodier said. “It is a good tool for us to use in deciding how we can best use our resources, and also gives us good data that we can use to tell the good news about Acadiana and St. Landry Parish to a wide range of businesses and industries.”