A proliferation of coastal restoration projects and a strong industrial sector has reinvigorated Weeks Marine’s decades-long presence along the Gulf Coast, 10/12 Industry Report details in its new quarterly issue.
The company’s prosperity, as of late, has been fueled increasingly by the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, which promises a long-term revenue stream, as well as ongoing strength in the industrial construction market.
The profusion of work has helped buoy the workforce from the state’s struggling oil and gas market by providing new job opportunities for out-of-work craftsmen.
Chris Bordelon, Week’s facility manager in Houma, says some of his workers came directly from the oil and gas sector, receiving on- and off-site specialized training in collaboration with educational facilities in the area.
Additional hiring by Weeks is likely to continue, as its Dredging Division remains in growth mode—principally through the addition of new dredges to accommodate future demand. In mid-July, the company announced that it would build a new, $60 million, 310-foot-long dredge to directly support an increase in coastal restoration projects.
Weeks’ workload accelerated significantly in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and then again following the BP oil spill in 2010, when the respective natural and manmade disasters delivered a tsunami of federal and state money for coastal restoration projects.
The passage of the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act in 2006 promises to funnel additional money to the oil-producing states of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas for the purpose of coastal restoration projects, with the money coming from new offshore oil production.
While Mark Sickles, Weeks’ director of corporate and government relations and a former executive director of the Dredging Contractors of America, says the company has the expertise, equipment and logistical ability to handle the work, he fears the federal money could be in jeopardy. A Trump budget proposal might limit or eliminate the GOMESA funding, which would have a significant impact on the continuation of the coastal restoration work, as well as on Weeks’ bottom line. “That’s a big deal,” he adds. “That’s a source of revenue that we’re counting on, and the Weeks family is investing in equipment to accommodate that.”
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