To address the struggling Houma-Thibodaux economy, the South Louisiana Economic Council intends to help retain and expand area businesses and aggressively market the bayou region to new industries.
As The Courier reports, that’s part of the economic development agency’s 2017-19 strategic plan.
“The main thing right now is how to keep the ship from sinking,” SLEC President and CEO Vic Lafont tells The Courier. “We’ve lost a lot of good people already. The good news is that it’s going to come back. How we do with that comeback will determine how we do with the next downturn.”
The Houma-Thibodaux metro area, which includes Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes, has lost about 12,000 jobs over the past two years amid the worst oil bust since the 1980s. State figures released last week show the area lost 900 jobs last month alone. The November jobless rate was at 6%.
SLEC’s plan includes five goals the organization hopes to achieve over the three-year period. The goals include advocating for the expansion of infrastructure important to economic development and for issues important to the region’s businesses.
“We’ve tried to diversify away completely from oil and gas, but it’s never going to happen,” Lafont said. “What we did do successfully is diversify from within our industry. For example, Bollinger Shipyards, instead of building boats to service the offshore rigs, they got Coast Guard contracts. The common denominator is the infusion of technology.”
