News and Events

LOUSIANA MAIN STREET OFFERS RESTORATION GRANT OPPORTUNITIES FOR DOWNTOWN OPELOUSAS COMMERCIAL PROPERTY OWNERS

Tuesday, June 16, 2020

(Opelousas, LA) –The Opelousas Main Street program is soliciting Main Street Restoration Grant applications from downtown commercial building and/or business owners located in the Main Street district. The Louisiana Main Street program offers grants ranging from $2500 to $10,000. Grants are available for either interior or exterior rehabilitation. All work must be completed by April 30, 2021 to be eligible for reimbursement. Applications received from Opelousas Main Street building and/or business owners will compete statewide for funding with other Main Street communities. Over the years, Opelousas Main Street has received some $157-thousand dollars in redevelopment grant funds from the Louisiana Main Stree...

B 17 and other vintage planes coming to St. Landry

Monday, June 15, 2020

Opelousas will be home to some of the most famous aircraft in the world for three days at the end of this month and the public will get a chance to look them over and even ride in them. Vintage aircraft for a Summer Fly-in will begin landing at the St. Landry Parish Airport at about noon on Friday, June 26, the first day of a three-day event designed to acquaint pilots and the public with the services the airport offers, according to airport manager David Allen. Six vintage aircraft will be on display, including a B-17 Flying Fortress, one o...

St. Landry going back to work, but cautiously

Monday, May 18, 2020

Health and emergency officials are reminding St. Landry businesses to follow social distancing and other guidelines as they begin to reopen from a months-long hiatus brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. Gov. John Bel Edwards formally moved the state into Phase One of its Roadmap to a Resilient Louisiana on May 15, allowing business to open with strict social distancing, stringent sanitation requirements and a requirement for masks for employees serving the public. St. Landry businesses in need of masks for their employees can get them for free by calling the COVID Hotline, (337) 793-6208. The governor’s order specifies that Louisianans should stil...

St. Landry pilots join salute to care workers, virus victims

Thursday, May 07, 2020

Private pilots from across St. Landry Parish joined with those from across the state in flyovers to salute health care workers and coronavirus victims. On Friday, May 1, B-52 bomber pilots flew over medical centers in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, and in St. Landry the flyover was led by a World War II vintage T-6 Texan, an advanced trainer aircraft used by American and British pilots into the 1970s. The Texan and three other private planes flew in formation over Opelousas General Hospital and then continued in formation to Eunice to fly over the Acadian Medical Center in the “St. Landr...

How to Complete the U.S. Census Virtually

Wednesday, May 06, 2020

The data collected by the 2020 U.S. Census will impact the amount of federal funding St. Landry Parish receives over the next decade. Federal funds help to pay for the infrastructure projects that are important to economic development, public utility projects, hospitals and schools - all things that make our community stronger and more attractive to growing businesses. This makes it critical that everyone participate by completing the U.S. Census. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed how the Census is being conducted, but it is still happening online and via the phone - making it easy to complete the Census virtually. Thi...

St. Landry company provides materials for coronavirus R&D

Tuesday, April 21, 2020

A St. Landry Parish company already widely known as a supplier of super-clean containers for scientific research and other uses has been called on to join in the quest for a vaccine to fight the coronavirus pandemic. One of the major U.S. pharmaceutical companies has placed an order with C&G Containers and Scientific for 100,000 special bottles for use in its research and development for a vaccine, according to Lane Breaux, C&G CEO. He said he could not name the company for proprietary reasons, but that it is “one of the five major pharmaceutical companies.” His company has been doing business wit...

Demand ‘explodes’ as Bayou Teche Brewing makes sanitizer

Thursday, April 16, 2020

When Bayou Teche Brewing in Arnaudville began making hand sanitizer in response to shortages caused by the coronavirus, the plan was to provide about 20 gallons to a local nursing home, and to perhaps also make some for medical facilities, jails and other places where people are most at risk of getting and spreading the virus. The effort began when the brewery’s owners Stephanie and Karlos Knott heard about the critical shortage of sanitizer and found out that the federal agency that oversees breweries would allow them to make the high-alcohol product. They were able to pull together enough ingredients for ...

LED Opens COVID-19 Help Desk For Louisiana Businesses

Friday, March 27, 2020

Email, hotline support from 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Friday; more resources at opportunitylouisiana.com/covid19 BATON ROUGE, La. — Today, Gov. John Bel Edwards and Secretary Don Pierson of Louisiana Economic Development announced the opening of an LED help desk that provides email and hotline support for Louisiana businesses impacted by COVID-19. For COVID-19 business questions, LED may be reached at LEDbiz@la.gov or via the toll-free hotline, (833) 457-0531. The COVID-19 hotline is staffed from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday. Be aware that high call volumes might result in delays. Callers are encouraged to keep trying, leave a voice mail or contact LED vi...

Louisiana Opens Child Care Assistance Program to Critical Personnel Amid COVID-19 Outbreak

Tuesday, March 24, 2020

Program Allows Eligible Families to Access Subsidized Care for Children Age 12 and Under BATON ROUGE, La. -- In response to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, the Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) today opened the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) to support essential critical infrastructure personnel. By simply completing an application, these families can access subsidized care for children age 12 and under at licensed childcare centers participating in the program, or through registered and certified family childcare and in-home providers. The Governor's emergency proclamation to close all school facilities to students through at least April 13, 2020, did not include childcare an...

Agencies join for clean, attractive I-49 in St. Landry

Wednesday, March 11, 2020

The I-49 median in the heart of St. Landry Parish will be cleaner and brighter, and kept that way, as a result of a combined effort begun this month by the Central St. Landry Economic Development District (CSLEDD), the St. Landry Solid Waste Commission, and other agencies. CSLEDD, which was created to promote economic growth in the I-49 corridor, took over maintenance of the median between Harry Guilbeau Road and U.S. 190 some months ago. Among its first actions were replacement of downed light poles and upgrading the lighting at key intersections, providing regular litter pickup, and doubling the number o...

St. Landry schools praised for job preparedness training

Friday, February 28, 2020

Praise for job preparedness programs in St. Landry Parish schools reflect a growing awareness in recent years of the value of a first-rate technical education, and also bodes well for the parish work force in the future, officials say. State officials have cited the achievements of the Jobs for America Graduates (JAG) programs at Opelousas High, North Central High, Northwest High, and Opelousas Junior High. About 200 students are currently enrolled in the programs, according to St. Landry curriculum director Angela Cassimere. She said they provide students with skills needed to get a good job, and also to continue their education towar...

St. Landry tax collections reflect retail growth

Tuesday, February 11, 2020

Sales tax collections in 2019 of more than a million dollars more than the year before mirror a growing and more diversified retail base in St. Landry Parish, officials say. Total collections in 2019 were $69,912,003, up $1,070,488 over 2018, according to figures compiled by the parish school board’s tax division. Those numbers do not include state sales taxes. They do include $12.9 million for the parish school system, up from $12.0 million; $9.4 million for St. Landry Parish solid waste, down slightly from $9.5 million the year before; $5.6 million for the parish government, up 5.4 percent; and $1....

Bed and breakfast accommodations welcome St. Landry visitors

Monday, February 10, 2020

In St. Landry Parish “hospitality” is more than a word coupled with “industry.” It’s part of who we are, and visitors will find that especially true in the bed and breakfast cottages and homes nestled near some of the parish’s favorite places to visit. A dozen little inns in communities such Arnaudville, Eunice, Grand Coteau, Opelousas, and Washington, are experiencing growth driven largely by retirees and millennials, who are price conscious and are seeking home-like comforts as they travel to St. Landry Parish, where the number of visitors has been steadily increasing in over the last decade. According to industr...

Visionary master plan project initiated for Opelousas Downtown Development District

Tuesday, February 04, 2020

Opelousas, LA (February 2020) –The Opelousas Downtown Development District (ODDD), an economic development district in St. Landry Parish, announces a new project. The ODDD is preparing a Downtown Master Plan to guide the future development and design of Opelousas’s downtown. Creation of the plan will be based on the shared vision of Opelousas’s residents and stakeholders. The ODDD would like to encourage all residents and business owners to participate in this important process to shape the community’s future. The nine-month planning process will offer a variety of opportunities to become involved and give input in this important project. Following an extensiv...

Opelousas to Turn Traffic Boxes into Works of Art

Tuesday, January 07, 2020

(Opelousas, LA) - Ordinary metal traffic bozes in Opelousas will be transformed into canvases for art that will showcase the community's charter and culture. The project, titled Boxed Art, is one of the activities planned for the City's 300-year celebration which takes place this year. Led by Opelousas Tourism, with support from Mayor Alsandor and organizational support from the Celebrate Opelousas 300 Commission and Opelousas Main Street, Inc., the goal of the Boxed Art project is to enliven community space while showcasing the talent of artists in our area. A total of twelve (12) boxes are targeted for the project. Boxed Art will feature artwor...

St. Landry académie focuses on language, heritage

Tuesday, January 07, 2020

The loss of the French language in south Louisiana would be the loss of an essential part of the culture that has formed who we are, that continues to set us apart, and that must be a part of our future. But it will disappear unless students are taught to speak it, and to understand its value. That is the premise of the Académie Franco-Louisianaise, a French immersion elementary school that will begin classes in the old Sunset High School in August, according to Lindsay Smythe Doucet, its principal. As a French immersion elementary school, all of the académie's courses will b...

Opelousas-Opoly game on sale for city's tricentennial celebration

Wednesday, December 04, 2019

To ring in 300 years since the founding of Opelousas, Opelousas-Opoly will bring the history and culture of the city in a board game. Opelousas-Opoly is a limited edition, Monopoly-style board game in which properties are local landmarks or businesses that sponsored the city's year-long tricentennial celebration in 2020. So instead of Boardwalk, Park Place and Mediterranean Avenue, players can land on Morrow & Morrow Law Firm, Going, Sebastien, Fisher & LeBouef CPAs; St. Landry Chamber of Commerce, and Tony Chachere's. For game pieces, instead of a car, a shoe or a top hat, they feature a book, a train, a jukebox, a...

Savoie’s Foods Announces $12.7 Million Expansion In St. Landry Parish

Wednesday, December 04, 2019

Expansion will result in 16 new jobs, retention of 100 jobs; company to expand distribution area ST. LANDRY PARISH, La. — Today, Gov. John Bel Edwards and President Frederick Lafleur of Savoie’s Sausage and Food Products Inc. announced a $12.7 million expansion of the company’s food production facility in St. Landry Parish near Opelousas. With the expansion, the company will broaden its distribution area, bringing Cajun-style sausage and other food products to a wider region. The project includes construction of a 41,000-square-foot facility and installation of new production equipment. The larger facility will enable Savoie’s to nearly double its production. Through th...

City of Opelousas asking residents to take part in 300th anniversary celebration

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

The City of Opelousas will celebrate its tricentennial in 2020 and the community is being asked to take part in the celebration. Residents will be able to contribute to the creation of a new mural designed to celebrate the city's 300 year anniversary. Once complete, the collaborative mural, which is part of the Celebrate Opelousas 300 activities, will be digitally printed and used for the official 300 anniversary poster. A grant was recently awarded in the amount of $2,695 to Opelousas Tourism by the Acadiana Center for the Arts through the Louisiana Division of the Arts. The grant will help fund th...

Central St. Landry Economic Development District

Monday, May 27, 2019

The Central St. Landry Economic Development District is creating more opportunities for growth in the Opelousas and St. Landry Parish area by expanding the Economic Development District (EDD). Recent expansion of this district will lead to the development of commercial space for things like shopping malls, restaurants, hotels, and other businesses. This will increase the workforce and provide more jobs for local and commuting residents. There will also be room for growth in entertainment and leisure for the surrounding communities within the St. Landry Parish region, including room for new entertainment facilities, RV parks, and more! The Central St. Landry Economi...

News and Events

Right here in St Landry Parish

St Landry honors its history

St Landry has fun for every taste

Experience Cajun cooking at its best