In her keynote address today at the 52nd annual meeting of the Council for a Better Louisiana in Baton Rouge, Fox Business Network anchor Cheryl Casone touted increased dialogue among higher education institutions, corporations and state government as one way for Louisiana to continue the momentum it has gained in economic development.
“If those three things work together, Louisiana could see its economic projections realized,” Casone said, referring to the billions of dollars in energy sector projects announced for south Louisiana in the coming years.
Casone also emphasized the importance of two-year vocational and technical degrees in meeting the state’s skilled workforce demands, and underscored the importance of tax incentives in drawing more investment to Louisiana.
“It’s all about those incentives. It’s about convincing them to come,” Casone said.
But the key to Louisiana’s economic success is better advertisement, Casone added. In her reporting, Casone said, she has come across many skilled workers who are looking for a job and many companies that are in need of skilled workers, but that there’s often a disconnect in their communication with one another. Casone suggested Louisiana might turn to social media to attract more skilled workers to the state.
“There are a lot of people out there that want these jobs. Why aren’t they hearing about it? Outreach. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. All you need is on your phone,” Casone said.
Casone also suggested Louisiana promote its housing and pipeline infrastructure to better compete with states such as North Dakota, which is attracting drilling jobs but must build camps to house the workers and must ship products expensively by rail. —Kelly Connelly
