Moving Forward

As the nation celebrated Labor Day, St. Landry Parish found cause to celebrate the working men and women who have helped the parish and its neighbors grow.

In fact, a recent study showed that a willing and versatile labor market is one of the strengths of St. Landry Parish and the Acadiana region as a whole.

The study released this spring sought to identify strengths and weaknesses of the region and to help build a strategy to target industries most suitable for the region.

It noted the availability here of a pool of skilled industrial workers, engineers, technicians, and scientists, and of experienced managers, as well as the availability of on the job training, on-the-job training assistance, and the availability of 

training at vocational and technical schools and at nearby colleges and universities.

The new study found further that the region has seen double-digit expansion of the work force over the last five years in such important areas as manufacturing, technical services, food service, and health care. It also reflected a drop in oil- and gas-related jobs due to a sharp drop in oil and gas prices, but found that even that had a silver lining — many of the job skills used in the petroleum industry are easily transferred to other industries.

“Workforce development is one of our high priorities, and technical and career training is available at many levels in St. Landry Parish,” noted Bill Rodier, executive director of St. Landry Economic Development.

“Many skills are taught at the high school level through our career and technical centers and this training continues at the post-secondary level at the T. H. Harris campus of the South Louisiana Community College system. Beyond that, Louisiana State University at Eunice and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette offer wide-ranging curriculums that include business and engineering training, as well as many other courses important to our economy.”

Better yet, Rodier notes, “We can tailor our job training to any employer’s particular needs through FastStart, the nation’s leading workforce training program.”

FastStart uses a four-step process to customized employee recruiting, screening, and training programs at no cost to eligible companies.

First comes a thorough analysis of the company’s needs, including study of any unique processes and procedures particular to the company, the skills needed at each level of operation, and the numbers and types of employees needed.

Second, FastStart seeks out qualified employees, using a variety of outreach opportunities, including campus visits, targeted career fairs, corporate recruitment services, and others. Next comes a rigorous pre-hire evaluation of potential employees to find those that best match the cultural and technical needs of the company.

Then it creates customized training programs that provide not only core skills training, but can also teach job- or task-specific skills.

“If you are committed to St. Landry Parish, we will be committed to you,” Rodier said. “We have the means to find the willing workers that you need, to give them the skills that they need, and to build the relationships beneficial to both employer and employee.

“There a number of reasons why more companies and more diverse companies are looking hard at St. Landry Parish, and a strong work ethic and reliable, productive workers, are high on the list.”