Industrial projects in Louisiana – new and expanding – are booming. What is driving that growth, and what will the impact be?
For Livingston Parish, it’s really about our location. Being between Baton Rouge and New Orleans and so close to the industrial corridor along the Mississippi River makes us attractive for investment, not necessarily for the heavy industry that’s located there, but for the support industries they require. We are the concrete, the pipe, the steel, the professional services, and the workforce that feed into all of those industries. For example, some of our concrete companies won contracts with Meta and, as a result, may triple their sales in the next year or two because of that work. So, where we are seeing growth is in those support industries, because heavy industry can’t operate, they can’t be built, without our companies’ products and services. Over this last year, all of our project announcements have been from our existing companies. We are seeing them reinvesting and expanding where they already have a successful workforce and thriving business environment in place. For Livingston Parish specifically, we benefit from being part of that larger ecosystem of heavy industry. Being right on the interstate helps, as does rail. Our transportation infrastructure helps tie us into that ecosystem and benefits us all.
Meeting the increasing demand for skilled workers is a monumental challenge. Where do you see progress being made, and where do you seek greater urgency from state, regional and local leaders?
It’s not unique to Louisiana. The entire country faces workforce challenges. The good news is that we see strong collaboration between industry, government, and our education partners – both higher ed and our public school system. They are working together to align training with the actual skills employers need. Livingston Parish has one of the highest participation rates in the state for the apprenticeship/internship program. We also have an opportunity with LSU’s enrollment—37% are out-of-state students. If we can find a way to keep those students here, that is a tremendous opportunity. A lot of the companies have said, if you can get them to us, we will train them on how we do things, we just need them to come in the door. We want to show our students and their parents that modern manufacturing and industrial careers are high-paying, high-tech, and provide a stable future. Where we need urgency is scale—training enough people quickly enough to meet the demand from new and expanding projects.
Energy, manufacturing, process industries and other industrial sectors are operating on the leading edge of the technological revolution. How is the integration of AI and other emerging technologies playing out for you and your stakeholders?
This can be one of the answers to the state’s workforce problem. Technology is not eliminating jobs, but creating more opportunities. The World Economic Forum forecast that AI will displace 92 million jobs but generate 170 million new ones by 2030. It’s really changing the skill sets that are required. Any manufacturing is advanced manufacturing now, using technology for data analysis, 3D printing and more. Additive manufacturing is amazing. Instead of 17 different parts, you may bring that down to two or three. When it’s all one part, you don’t have the same failure risks, and there’s much less waste because you’re only using what you need. We’re also seeing AI used in business operations. Software is learning how companies present bids and building that knowledge into future estimates. The possibilities are endless. It’s fascinating, even if it’s a little terrifying. While some jobs may be eliminated, it’s opening up many more opportunities and helping solve some workforce challenges through efficiency.
What do you consider Louisiana’s most important recent legislative or policy wins for industry, and what do you think should be the top legislative priority for building that momentum?
The business rankings do matter, whether you put much stock in them or not. Louisiana is moving up, and I think a lot of that is based on policy changes. Companies are looking for predictability and continuity, and that’s something we are finally moving toward as a state. But we still have a long way to go—especially on insurance. We’ve got companies leasing warehouses in other states because they can’t get insurance on vehicles operating here. In some cases, if trucks cross into Louisiana, they’re no longer insured. That’s a huge hindrance to business on all levels. Insurance is also a major factor in workforce retention. People can go elsewhere and pay half or less for insurance, and they’re willing to pay more in property taxes to avoid that burden. For Livingston Parish, eliminating the inventory tax would be a big benefit. We’re not as reliant on it, and we see that as a way to support companies and attract more investment. Right now, we’re seeing organic growth from existing companies, but I’d like to see more new investment coming in, and some of these policy issues are still barriers.
What is the most critical challenge – and most exciting opportunity – affecting your organization at the moment?
A major challenge is perception—both the perception of Louisiana externally and the perception of industry within our own communities. We’ve worked for years to change how Louisiana is viewed, but if you don’t give people a new story to tell, they’ll keep repeating the old one. Even as the state has grown and evolved, we haven’t always done a good job of telling that story. Social media has made that more difficult. Misinformation and misconceptions can spread quickly, and they don’t have to be based in fact—they just have to generate a reaction. Meanwhile, industry has to respond with accurate, science-based information, often from a defensive position. That’s a tough place to be, especially in public settings where opposition voices can dominate the conversation. The opportunity is education. We’ve been hosting informational sessions to help people understand complex issues—whether it’s state programs or topics like carbon management—by focusing on the science and giving people the information they need to form their own opinions. Because many people aren’t opposed—they just don’t understand. And if we can better inform them, we can start to shift both perception and the broader conversation around industry in Louisiana.
