Given the oil and gas industry’s post-2014 slump, the South Louisiana Economic Council is currently more focused on business retention than attraction.
The region sits in the crosshairs of a vertically integrated energy corridor, where any market fluctuation adversely impacts the oil and gas industry and has a ripple effect, 10/12 Industry Report details in its current quarterly issue.
“In the flip of a switch, all of a sudden I was in business recovery mode, triaging companies that had really been damaged by the economy,” SLEC President/CEO Vic Lafont says.
The nonprofit economic development agency was founded in the mid-1980s, when a handful of concerned industry leaders—reeling from a more significant economic downturn—joined to lessen their dependence on oil and gas.
Since those days, SLEC has evolved to meet the overall economic needs of the Bayou Region, which covers Assumption, Lafourche, St. Mary and Terrebonne parishes.
In its current triage role, SLEC helps businesses get back on their feet by assisting them with training and attracting skilled laborers, connecting them with resources and serving as a liaison with other organizations.
While true that certain industries—primarily oil and gas, agriculture and seafood—will likely remain in the Bayou Region no matter the economic conditions, SLEC’s challenge in coming years will be accommodating their manpower needs. When the oil market nosedived in 2014 and 2015, many workers fled the region looking for other work.
“We lost a tremendous amount of talent … pipefitters, welders, offshore hands, seasoned captains,” Lafont explains. “You can’t replace people like that very easily, so I’m in the mode of rebuilding the workforce right now. My job is to find ready, able, trained workers to meet that growth.”
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