Calcasieu Parish Tax Proposal Preview

By Brett Downer
The Times Contributing Writer



You’ll have four decisions to make on Saturday, Nov. 14, on law enforcement and justice operations in Calcasieu Parish. Top officials are making their pitch to civic groups, the news media and online to advocate their proposals, but taxpayers will have the final say when they go to the polls.

THE BOTTOM LINE
There are four items on the ballot:
-- Continuation of a property tax that supports the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office — with a rollback if it passes.
-- A new tax to increase pay at the Calcasieu Parish District Attorney’s Office.
-- A bond issue to fund capital improvements for law enforcement and justice facilities.
-- A new, higher millage for courthouse and jail maintenance.
If you’re a registered voter and live in Calcasieu Parish, you’re able to vote.

As the election approaches, Sheriff Tony Mancuso is among those who are out front and are talking up the proposals — whether he is making a speech in a restaurant meeting room, speaking at a League of Women Voters forum or fielding questions from the news media.
He hopes that Calcasieu voters won’t transfer whatever frustrations they might have about tax-and-spend issues in Washington when they step into the voting machine. (Mancuso has mentioned his own post-Rita frustrations in that regard.)

“I know people are up in arms with the federal government,” Mancuso told the Times. “But on a local level, the officials are right there — and the people can see what their money is being spent on.”

CAPITAL PROJECTS
By law, it’s up to the Police Jury to see that parish agencies are properly housed. A proposal on the Nov. 14 ballot would provide more or better space or facilities for the Sheriff’s Office, 14th Judicial District Court, the DA’s Office, the Clerk of Court’s Office and Coroner’s Office. The parish points out that there haven’t been capital-improvement projects for these offices in two decades.

On the ballot are two items tied to this new effort.

One proposition is a 20-year, $55 million bond issue for capital Improvements, paid for with a property tax likely below 1.5 mills (and offset with gambling revenue).

The other proposition is a 10-year renewal of the 3.27-mill maintenance tax for the courthouse and jail — plus a 2.48-mill increase. Additionally, passage of the bond issue would trigger a 0.5-mill increase in this maintenance renewal -- in order to cover the additional maintenance needs.

If the bond issue is approved, here’s what would be built, expanded or improved:
- A new pod of single cells to separate certain people at the ever-crowded Sheriff’s Prison and the Calcasieu Correctional Center. “A single-bed bed pod will enable us to free up about 250 beds in our facility,” Mancuso told the Times. “By law, we have to classify prisoners. We have inmates who are very violent, who are mentally ill, who have contagious diseases.

We’re wasting (multi-bed) cells by having only one person in them.” He offered another example of what people are separated from others: “If we arrest some 18-year-old on, say, a drug charge at Walmart, and you put them in with a violent criminal — if something were to happen, we’d be liable civilly.” With the pod could come an expansion of the intake area with a secure walkway. Pricetag: $14.4 million.

- A new, 48,000-square-foot Family and Juvenile Court south of the Charleston in downtown Lake Charles. Pricetag: $11.5 million.
- A four-level, 469-slot parking garage at the corner of Kirby and Pithon streets with secured areas for judges and inmates. “The garage will also provide parking capacity for downtown events on evenings and weekends,” the parish touts on its Web site. Pricetag: $11.5 million.
- A new, consolidated forensic facility and crime lab. Pricetag: $8.5 million.
- Conversion of two second-floor courtrooms into one large one at the parish courthouse — and adding holding-cell capacity. Pricetag: $2.5 million.
-Relocation of the DA’s Office to the former US Unwired headquarters on Lakeshore Drive. Pricetag: $1 million.
-New use of freed-up space by the vacating Family & Juvenile Court as a storage and preservation area for the Clerk of Court’s Office. The clerk currently pays for private, off-site storage. Pricetag: $1 million.
- Other costs, such as furniture and fees, for about $4.5 million.

The bond issue for these projects would cost homeowners the following annual amount: $3.75 if their home is assessed at $100,000; $11.25 if $150,000; $18.75 if $200,000; and $26.25 if $250,000. For the homes assessed below $75,000, there’s no tax.
Here’s the formula for the maintenance proposition: $7.45 if $100,000; $22.35 if $150,000; $37.25 if $200,000; and $52.15 if $250,000.

If the bond-issue proposition passes but the maintenance proposition fails, the Police Jury will not sell bonds or put the tax into effect.

AT THE DA’S OFFICE
District Attorney John DeRosier seeks a parishwide 10-year, 0.75-mill tax. He wants to implement a performance-based plan to make pay increases possible for his employees — DeRosier himself wouldn’t get a raise out of it — and to retain talented staff.
For example, the starting salary for a secretary, now about $16,000 annually, would increase to $18,000.

DeRosier would tie an employee’s satisfactory annual evaluation to a 3 percent cost-of-living increase.

The tax would go into effect Jan. 1 if approved. It would raise an estimated $988,000 annually. For the owner of a home assessed at $150,000, the annual tax would be $5.36.

SHERIFF’S TAX
Mancuso seeks renewal of a 10-year, 7.58-mill property tax in the parish — with an automatic rollback to 4.39 mills. The tax expires in 2010; the renewal would go into effect in 2011.

The renewal-with-a-rollback is a maneuver to avoid placing the item on the ballot as a “new” tax. Mancuso is careful to point out that a reduction goes hand-in-hand with passage. In short, the Sheriff’s Office still needs part of the current millage, but not all of it, so the idea of a renewal with a rollback was considered better than a new tax proposition.

The figure of 7.58 mills is original figure when the millage was approved two decades ago.
For the owner of a home assessed at $150,000, the current tax is $58.57. If the renewal passes, the millage rollback will reduce that by $26.65 — and Mancuso plans to roll back another millage, for an additional $25.58 in savings for a property owner.

Mancuso is circulating campaign material that calculates that the passage of all four ballots, coupled with his rollbacks, will mean “you will actually see a decrease of $12.17 in your property taxes” if you own a $150,000 home.

TO LEARN MORE
For a sample ballot, connect to www.calclerkofcourt.com and, in the right column, click “Sample Ballots.” To read the full wording of the propositions as they appear on the ballot, click the “Propositions” links.

Also the Calcasieu Parish government Web site, www.cppj.net, has information, charts and video about the proposals.

For voter information, call the Registrar of Voters’ Office, 721-4000.

The polls will be open 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on election day. Have a photo ID with you when you show up.

The Tale of Two Airports: Chennault and Lake Charles Regional

By Nancy Correro
The Times of SWLA

Randy Robb, Chennault Director

It might be surprising to discover that the two local airports in Lake Charles are not only noncompetitive, but indeed have a friendly working relationship. Chennault International Airport Authority’s Randy Robb and Lake Charles Regional Airport’s Heath Allen say they are not only helping each other in business, but in turn, that helps the economy of Lake Charles.

“Heath and I coordinate a lot of our activities with the FAA [Federal Aviation Administration] and when our fire trucks burned up we were able to borrow a fire truck from the Regional Airport so it’s a real good relationship between our two airports. I’ve been to his board meeting and he’s been to my board meeting and there is a working relationship between the two airports,” said Randy Robb, Executive Director of Chennault International Airport Authority.

Heath Allen, LC Regional Director

Recently, one of Chennault’s tenants, Northrop Grumman, received a substantial contract. The U.S. Air Force awarded Northrop Grumman Corporation a nine-year contract to provide Contractor Logistics Support for its fleet of KC-10 Extender refueling tanker aircraft.

“If something good happens at Chennault, for example, the Northrop Grumman contract, with additional jobs, I’m ecstatic. I’m not worried it didn’t happen at Regional, if it happens at Chennault, it helps us out. It helps the economy and it’s helping our core business which is moving people.

Lake Charles Regional Airport Terminal

Air service hinges on the economy. If the economy is strong, then you’ve got business happening and people are on the move and going places and that is the key for us. So, we are Chennault’s biggest fans,” says Heath Allen, Executive Director of Lake Charles Regional Airport.
Because of the damage from Hurricane Rita, LC Regional just recently finished construction on their $28 million new facility.

“We are in a brand new ground-up passenger terminal—$28 million and all the bells and whistles you would find at a terminal in Houston say just on a smaller scale, of course,” said Allen.

There was Hurricane Rita damage to Chennault Airport as well. In recent news, U.S. Representative Charles W. Boustany, Jr. announced on October 20, 2009 that a grant for $1.05 million from the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA will be used to reimburse the airport authority for costs it incurred from repairs to Hanger D, which houses Aeroframe Services, LLC.

At one time, the civil and military airports were together at Chennault Airport. The Air Force wanted to get rid of the civil side. After they made the requirements for the civil side to move away from the Air Force side, they closed it. It lay fallow for a number of years until 1986.

Chennault International Airpark Main Bldg.

“The properties were given up to the Parish, the city, and the school board. They got some parties together and decided it was more than a drag strip and then they got Boeing to come in here and the state gave about $50 million dollars to build the infrastructure that we now call Chennault.

We sit on a 99 year lease with the Parish, school board, and the city,” said Robb.
Since then, Chennault has bought property around the property. The golf course is still the cities and the school board is still there for the bus facility.

“Chennault is a commercial airport. We are a commercial airport because we bring in maintenance, repair and overhaul airplanes for both the military for Northrop Grumman, and the civilian side with Aeroframe,” said Robb.

They also have Million Air and it is an FBO, Fixed Base Operator. It is high-end and it caters to military and corporate airplanes. They provide all of the fueling services for Northrop Grumman, Aeroframe, and other Chennault transients.

“We are about the fourth busiest airport in Louisiana. We get that kind of volume through there. We do have charters, for instance; we fly the McNeese Football team when they go places just because we have bigger aircrafts,” said Robb.

On June 11, American Eagle started flying back into Lake Charles after a 10 year hiatus.
Continental has been in Lake Charles for quite a long time. In that time, Northwest Airlines was scheduled to come into Lake Charles, but after 9/11 they decided to pull the plug on the project before it ever got started.

“Our primary purpose is to move people. Probably one of the biggest things that affects air travel in Lake Charles is our proximity to Houston. That’s like the 800 pound gorilla in the room. It siphons off probably 25% of our market, easily. With a second air carrier coming in it just opens up more flexibility in terms of destinations,” said Allen.

Competition is good for the consumer. Since Continental was the only carrier in Lake Charles, they charged what they wanted to charge and now they have to pay attention to American.

“It was very big to get that second carrier. You don’t see a whole lot of air service expansion right now domestically. International is what most of the big carriers are focused on right now, but we were fortunate enough to be one of the few cities that got additional service,” Allen said.

Part of the reason Allen said that Lake Charles got the service was the economy here. If you look across the country, there are a lot of places doing a lot worse than Southwest Louisiana.

“The South in general seems to being doing a little bit better than the rest of the country. In fact, where they added most of the service is strictly in the South,” said Allen.

There are a lot of projects that Aeroframe is bidding on, but Robb said he was not at liberty to say which ones, however, it looks like they are going to get a major airline in here. They do airbus series airplanes and nearly every airline has airbus equipment. Fed-Ex is Aeroframe’s major customer.

“Usually, over the holiday period Fed-Ex drops off a little of the MRO, which is maintenance, repair and overhaul activities so they can fly those airplanes to deliver goods over the holiday season. They have other airplanes [they do maintenance on]. They do painting—stripping of aircraft and painting—they’re just a complete airbus MRO,” said Robb.

Million Air is a fixed base operator. They handle the transient airplanes when they come in and out of Chennault.

“What we’ve done is we’ve built them a 15,000 sq. ft corporate hangar so they can park the bigger airplanes there and they have a smaller hangar and the t-hangars. They are expanding pretty rapidly,” said Robb.

Louisiana Mill Works builds doors and door frames and they sell them predominately to builders and lumber yards as opposed to Home Depot.

“As far as the future of Chennault, it’s pretty strong we think. We are getting a lot of interest from outside because of I-10, the railroad, and the port interfaces that are right there. Our whole mission is to create jobs and to set conditions for job creation and that is what we try to do. And, of course, number one we want to help our current tenants and help attract new.

We have over $40 million dollars of direct impact to Lake Charles and about $110 million indirect impact,” said Robb.

LC Regional Airport’s number one outbound market is to Dallas. A lot of people here in Lake Charles have business in Dallas and vice versa.

“Convenience is what Lake Charles Regional is all about. We don’t have the destinations that Houston has and certainly don’t have the number of airlines—I mean you are talking 30 plus airlines in that market. A lot of times they may beat us on fairs because they have Southwest, Frontier, JetBlue, and all the low cost carriers. But, the one place we will always beat them is in convenience—and that is what we hang our hat on,” said Allen.

As the economy improves, LC Regional may see another airline coming in, but right now they’re focusing on getting American Eagle going.

“They’re doing well and they’re making money. We don’t want everything to shift over to American and leave out Continental; we have to support them both,” said Allen.

The next focus will be on Delta. They will try and get something to East Memphis or an Atlanta connection. For a community this size, they have to fly to a large hub airport. The type of aircraft that can serve a regional airport would be Houston, Dallas, Memphis, and Atlanta.

“Northwest was bought by Delta so Delta is the only option going East for us,” said Allen.

Both Airlines are looking to Lake Charles’s future and they think it looks extremely bright. With the port, I-10, and two airports, Robb and Allen think Lake Charles is sitting in a prime location for commerce and growth.

“The port has a real nice piece of property just to the Northeast of us and we want to work with them to develop that property and whoever comes into that property if they want, they have access to the runway. There is a railway running right through that property so it is an optimum piece of property,” said Robb.

“Lake Charles is extremely fortunate to have the access that it has with the port. Most communities would die to have what we have. Look at Mobile, AL, it’s a very similar situation. They have a port, a big industrial airport, Northrop Grumman, airbuses, and then they have got their regional airport.

They play it up and Mobile does quite well because of it. I like what I see with the Chamber and what George Swift is doing. All of the elected officials seem to be on board. The sky is the limit, literally,” said Allen.

Sugarcane Bay Casino a ‘Recipe for Success’

By Nancy Correro
The Times of SWLA



Pinnacle Entertainment’s Sugarcane Bay Casino and Resort is set to begin piling work on October 19 as a result of the credit markets loosening up. The initial project estimate was $350 million and it is now $407 million.

The new casino and resort will be connected to L’Auberge Casino by a covered walkway making it convenient for the guests to walk from one to the other.

“We’ve been doing site work for some time now and have actually already completed the entrance road for the new resort so now we start our pile work and that will be utilizing local companies to produce the piles and drive them.

I don’t have the final numbers on those contracts, but one of them alone is $6 million. It will be an 18 to 24 month process,” said Kerry Andersen, Director of Community and Public Relations.

The contracts for pile production and pile driving will be local and total in the millions of dollars. Once Sugarcane Bay is built, Pinnacle Entertainment will be the second largest employer in Calcasieu Parish and will have close to a billion dollars invested in the market.

“We are in the process of succession planning right now to identify current employees who are looking to move up into management and giving them the training that they need to do that. From an employment standpoint it’s huge for the region.

We will have over $800 million invested in the market when both of these properties are finished. It’s a significant investment and we believe that that is the strongest show of faith that we can make that Southwest Louisiana is a destination of choice for not just gaming travelers, but travelers in general,” Andersen said.

Three boathouse suites which are similar to the hotel villas at L’Auberge du Lac will be built on the Calcasieu River for use by high roller guests.

“On the high end we have our boat houses. Like at L’Auberge we have the villas, those are for the high end guests and they’ll be overlooking the water. The luxury boat's houses and the butlers—those are very exciting.

We will have a very large Mojito bar that if you first go on to the property it will be a central gathering place. It has a stage inside, another entertainment venue there, which is very exciting,” said Andersen.

Pinnacle has added a 3,000 seat performance arena to the mix of indulgences at the resort.
“With a 3,000 seat arena it allows us to merge the performance budget of the two resorts and attract larger acts to the city.

It will allow us to bring in bigger names and seat 3,000 people at one time instead of a 1500 and a 1500 we would have one big night with a big act,” Andersen said.

The positive economic impact will be substantial for Lake Charles. With the contractors being local and the jobs required to operate such a large facility, Pinnacles footprint will be evident.
“We will be the second largest employer in Calcasieu Parish upon opening. There are 2,200 new jobs with Sugarcane Bay and about 400 of those are management positions,” she said.

Along with the Mojito Bar and performance arena, there will be a swimming pool, large luxury spa, 30,000 square feet of gaming including: Asian gaming area, dedicated poker room, restaurants, and retail stores.

“The spa is 24,000 square feet which is three times the size of our current spa. It has a nautical theme. It is simply stunning and state-of-the-art. It will obviously be the largest spa in the region,” said Andersen.

It seems the “upscale tropical” themed Sugarcane Bay Casino, as Kerry Andersen coined it, is an exciting project for Pinnacle Entertainment and a boon for Lake Charles’ economy.

“We think that people who come here will stay here longer now because they have more options. We will be able to attract new people to the market that have not found a reason to sample it so far. So when you combine the gaming, entertainment, and what we offer and what Lake Charles offers in the way of hunting, fishing, festivals and hospitality, we really think that that is the recipe for success.”

John Kennedy Talks State Government Reform

By Chaney Ferguson
Editor, The Times of SWLA

State Treasurer John Kennedy stopped by The Times offices to answer questions and explain exactly what the Streamlining Commission is all about:

What is the Streamlining Commission?

Governor Jindal requested the legislature create the 10 member streamlining commission to recommend ways to cut state government expenses. The governor and the legislature collaborated over the membership, a fairly representative group in the sense that there are some elected officials, some public appointed officials and some members of the private sector. Then we’ve broken it down into five subcommittees, and I chair one of them.

How do you and your committee brainstorm ways to cut spending? That has to be difficult.

We came out of the chute very quickly because, frankly, my colleagues and I have a lot of experience between us. I’ve been in and out of government for almost 20 years, and we each know what needs to be done.

John Kennedy, La. Treasurer

What needs to be done?

The problem is pretty straight forward. The budget today is 29 billion dollars. We will not have that money to spend next year or the year after. We’re going to have somewhere in the neighborhood—over the next couple of years—of 26 or 27 billion. That’s the bad news. The good news is that that’s up from 19 billion in 2005, only four years ago. So, given the shortfall, and given the fact that our constitution requires a balanced budget, we can do one of two things: we can raise taxes or we can reorganize and downsize. I contend we do the latter.

How do you suggest we reorganize and downsize?

We’re number one in the south and number 9 in the country in the number of state employees per 10,000 people. My plan is to charge state government—every department in it—with the elimination of 5,000 jobs a year for three years. No one will be fired. No one will be laid off. We have a big turn-over in state government. We have about 22% turn over. We just won’t fill the vacancies. You restructure. You reduce your layers of management; you extend your spans of control. In other words, we have one manager per three employees. The minimum would be one manager for 10 employees. Restructuring regional headquarters would save labor costs quickly—800 to 900 million dollars. You take 10-20% of those savings and use that to increase the salaries of those people on the front lines who are asked to take on additional responsibilities.

What do you see as the biggest challenge here?

Getting the legislature to agree. They’re split pretty evenly. Half of them think the answer is to raise taxes. The other half believe as I do. Some think that revenues are the answer but my response to that is the state with the largest personal income tax in America is California. The state with the highest sales tax in America is California. The state with the largest budget deficit is California. You can not solve this on the revenue side; you’ve got to solve it on the spending side.

Explain your plan for our universities.

I do not believe—and some of my colleagues disagree—that we have too many universities. I believe that we have too many universities that all want to do the same thing. It’s the way we’ve structured the university system. We’re one state. We have three systems. We have a Southern University System—all the schools there are in that system are governed by a Board of Supervisors. Then we have the LSU System and they have their Board of Supervisors, and then there’s the University of Louisiana System—McNeese is part of it— and they have their own Board of Supervisors. The statutes creating these Boards of Supervisors tell them to fight over turf, and then we have a Board of Regents which is suppose to coordinate everything. That’s a board governing a board. I have believed for many years that we should eliminate these three systems and their Board of Supervisors. We should put all the universities—and the universities are equal—on the same footing regulated by a single board.

LSU is the flagship. We can only afford one but all our other universities are important and should have their own area of expertise, their own role, their own scope and their own mission. But that doesn’t mean every university can have a nursing school or an architectural school or an engineering school or a law or medical school. We can’t afford that and we don’t need it.

Do you think the legislature will go for this?

I don’t know. It’ll be controversial. I do know this—you cannot have a 21st century higher education system without coordination, without your base being community colleges. And then you have four year schools with their role, their scope and their mission, and then you have your flagship. That’s the way Florida does it. North Carolina is another example. Your core is your community college. It’s cheaper to educate a kid in a community college. Before we had a community college system—and ours is new—kids were going to a four year school and spending their first year in remediation. Now they can go to a community college, get up to speed and move on. It will be the best thing to ever happen to our schools but I do understand that it will be controversial and there will be a lot of fear because all these schools want to be protected; they have their protectors and their mission is to grow; everybody wants more programs. We’re only 4.3 million people; we can’t afford to give every school a school for architecture and we don’t need it.

What will happen to McNeese’s school of nursing?

This doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll lose it, but in North Louisiana for example, we have schools of nursing within 25 or 30 miles of each other. If we consolidate those through economy and scale, we’ll save money and serve the students better. But I’m not an education expert. A single board may decide that we need more nursing schools. The decision ought to be based on sound education policy not politics, and right now it’s based on the programs or allocated according to the most muscle and that’s not a rational way to allocate scarce resources. We can continue doing what we’re doing if people are willing to pay more personal income tax and more sales tax, but I don’t think they are and I don’t think they should.

Share some of your other recommendations to the committee:

We have a Charity Hospital system. We hired a firm called Alvarez & Marsal to go in and do a performance audit at the largest Charity in New Orleans. They did—and after three months came back with their report showing how to save 72 million there. One example is there was one nurse acting as a manager to three nurses so we had three nurses actually being nurses and one who was not providing nursing services but shuffling paper. I’ve also suggested that Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi join together in areas that will save us money. We buy a lot of gravel and asphalt. We buy a lot of food for prisoners. If we bought them together we’d lower our unit costs. We all share borders. We have hundreds of bulldozers, airplanes, heavy equipment. If we share we don’t need as much or as many. It’s pooling our resources on common products or services. Wisconsin and Minnesota do it and it works.

What’s the next step?

The next step is convincing the whole commission into considering these things. We’ll start doing that in October. We have to have a report by December. I anticipate that we’ll spend a good portion of October and November discussing and there will probably be some healthy debate. Once we finish our work and everything is on the table, we’ll make a report to the governor and the legislature.

Are there any drawbacks to this plan?

Oh, sure, sure—there’s no perfect solution here. In a perfect world every penny people pay in taxes would be spent effectively. In a perfect world your legislature would say they’ve got X number of dollars to spend and have rational discussions of what their priorities ought to be. If education is a priority then that’s where they spend the money. If roads are the second priority then that’s where they spend the money. But life doesn’t work like that and neither does state government.

Economic Snapshot

By Brett Downer
The Times of SWLA


We’re more likely to have a job than the typical American, thank heavens. We’re more likely to own a home. We have more doctors to choose from — and more hospital beds to climb into — when we’re sick. We have big-dollar economic expansion under way and other prospects peeking in with interest.

We earn thousands of dollars less than the typical American worker, however. We have a tougher time staying in school — whether it’s getting a high school diploma or sticking it out through college. We’re less likely to carry insurance, and when we do, we’re paying more for it.
We’re Southwest Louisiana, and how we stack up with the nation and surrounding regions is outlined in a “Competitive Snapshot” commissioned by the Southwest Louisiana Economic Development Alliance.

The “snapshot” freezes this statistical moment in time for the sake of coordinated economic planning for the future. It was prepared by Market Street Services, an Atlanta-based consulting group which does this work for cities all over the country.

The snapshot tracked data going back four to seven years, sometimes longer, to track Southwest Louisiana trends. In addition, it compared us to three roughly comparable markets — Beaumont, Texas; the Mississippi Gulf Coast; and Mobile, Ala.— and the nation as a whole.

Market Street categorizes the issues by “People, Prosperity, Place.” Its snapshot suggests that Southwest Louisiana grow the workforce, raise wages and educational attainment, diversify the economy, “become an economic garden” for new business, leverage its existing business, expand healthcare access, “improve the environment” and increase civic capacity (more nonprofit groups), among other ideas.

Mac Holladay, the founder and CEO of Market Street, said the snapshot will help the Alliance’s “Southwest Louisiana on the Move!” economic plan.

Jobs
In baseline terms of jobs, the snapshot found that the employment picture here is just about the best anywhere.

Among the three comparison regions and the nation, Southwest Louisiana had the highest level of employment growth from 2001 to 2008. Also, between the fourth quarters of 2004 and 2008, employment growth here was 5.9 percent — far better than the state (1.2 percent) and nation (2.5 percent).

In fact, from 2000-2008, the unemployment rate actually fell here (4.3 percent to 3.9 percent.) While unemployment has gone up in 2009 — to more than 7 percent — the jobless rate is still lower than that of the state, the comparison regions and the nation.

The area’s working population grew 1 percent. That was far below the growth rate nationally (up 8 percent), but still better than the state as whole, which saw a decline.

If the snapshot’s job stats are relatively encouraging, the pay stats present a challenge.

Real per capita income in 2007 was $31,366. That was far below the nation ($38,615), Mississippi Gulf Coast ($36,133) and state ($35,100). Per capita income “is one of the best measurements of a community’s progress in economic development, because it is a key indicator of economic stability and potential buying power.”

Wages in finance, insurance and information services “lag significantly behind national wages,” the snapshot notes.

Quality of Life
The stats on heathcare and insurance represent a mixed doctor’s bag.
Lake Charles has more doctors per person than the state or nation.
Healthcare costs “as a whole” in the region are higher than the state and nation. However, it’s cheaper here to visit the doctor ($75) and dentist ($55) than the national average ($77 and $70, respectively).

The number of hospital beds per capita (619) is far higher than the rates along the Mississippi Gulf Coast (406) and nationally (420). “Since Lake Charles has significantly more hospital beds per capita than the comparison regions, this presents an opportunity to expand capacity in medical research and training,” the snapshot notes.

Also, insurance costs more ($1,536) than the national average ($1,432). The percentage of people without insurance is 22 percent, higher that the state (21 percent) and nation (17 percent).
Education
Education lags.

Too many don’t finish high school. Too many don’t seek college or technical training. Still others enroll in a four-year college, but drop out. Some lose their jobs and need to learn a new skill set.
That’s where community and technical colleges with two-year degrees can some into play.

“I see Sowela and the other technical colleges in the region playing a key role for training -- and re-training — people for the workforce,” said George Swift, the Alliance’s president and CEO. “There are trades and crafts. Petrochemical, with the process technology program. Heath care. Gaming and tourism. Aviation.”

Entrepreneurship
An entrepreneur might find unexplored fields here.

The snapshot counted just 14,500 self-employed people, though “Beaumont had nearly 22,400, the (Mississippi) Gulf Coast had nearly 26,000 and Mobile had just over 27,800.”
Also, small-business loans, patents and research trail all other areas.
Swift sees opportunities.
Plant employees might realize helpful processes or products — then go get patents or form their own businesses. The “cultural economy” has potential for the musicians, artists, cooks and others who season the only-in-Louisiana gumbo of food, arts and entertainment. Also, “more companies are outsourcing things,” Swift said. “They need support services, consulting and technical services.”

Toward this end, the Southwest Louisiana Entrepreneurial and Economic Development Center is being formed. The Alliance is joining with the city, parish and state to build and operate a business incubator near the McNeese campus. The SEED Center, as McNeese President Bob Hebert named it, will house the Alliance offices, the university’s Small Business Development Center and the tools and resources needed to cultivate new business ventures.

Best Face Forward
The area has its challenges, economic and otherwise, when you’re showcasing the area to suitors.
Swift skipped the statistics when asked to name the first ones that came to mind. Instead, he pointed out the window.

“Litter, and the appearance of the I-10 corridor,” he said. He turned his chair toward his third-floor office window, which affords a view of the half-century-old Calcasieu River Bridge. “You have an I-10 bridge that is not attractive, wide, or safe-looking.”

“It’s not aesthetically pleasing,” he said. “There are no travel plazas that they can easily see...I-210 looks good, but most people take I-10.”

Nevertheless, he said, there’s a good face being put forward when people arrive by other means.
“The new airport is a major improvement for people’s first impression,” he said. The $28 million Lake Charles Regional Airport terminal is a rare welcome legacy of Hurricane Rita. Also, over at Chennault, “Million Air is a great-looking facility for people who arrive that way.” He also cited area casinos and golf courses as powerful imagemakers for the area.

What’s most attractive to outside prospects, Swift said, is an emerging fresh image of the state.
“There’s a new overall attitude and acceptance of the region by new companies and new people,” he said.

The Alliance helps that idea along through advertising and marketing that touts the petrochemical industry, gaming, health care and school achievement. “We can tell a good story,” Swift said. “We get past the perception of Louisiana. Ethics laws and marketing ... move away from the perception of political corruption and the things we don’t do anymore.”

Prospects
To get potential new businesses interested, “we have a database of available buildings and sites and demographics on the area. We contact developers and site consultants. We field RFPs (requests for proposals) usually through the state,” Swift said.

“Say someone wants a hundred acres, with rail (service), and along the interstate. We can be the link between government — on a local, parish or state level — and whatever a potential client might want. We’re kind of the liaison between these entities.”

“We’re also marketing the area in publications and online,” he said.

“We’re behind the scenes, working. We try to identify opportunities.”

And even with the wait-and-see national economic prospects, “people are looking here,” Swift insisted.

“Yes, people are still looking, and that’s a good sign. But they want to see that there’s an upswing in the national economy. There are about eight good prospects right now” — he declined to name them — “so we feel really good about the region.”

He added: “I don’t want to make light of a single person who has lost their job. But I talk to civic clubs all the time, and I tell them I can’t think of another place where I would rather be than Southwest Louisiana.”

FACTBOX:
It's All Part of a Plan
The “competitive snapshot” done by Atlanta consulting group Market Street Services is part of a four-part effort this year by the Southwest Louisiana Economic Development Alliance.

The first step was an analysis of the Beauregard Regional Airport and industrial park effort. The acreage at the site has some rail service, but needs water and sewer lines.

“It has tremendous potential long-term,” Alliance CEO George Swift said of efforts to get the facility designated as a Louisiana Megasite. “And maybe short-term.”

The second step was the competitive snapshot. It was funded by the Alliance, L’auberge du Lac Casino Resort and Louisiana Economic Development.

Next will be a Target Business Review to find targets and opportunities for economic diversification. For example, existing businesses in the petrochemical or agriculture sectors might spark related prospects for new businesses. That review will take place in mid-October.

The final phase will be an Implementation Action Plan with a timeline and benchmarks. “They will look at our five-year plan, Southwest Louisiana on the Move, to see what needs to be re-prioritized,” Swift said.

The Alliance’s plan began a year and a half ago — before the 2008 hurricane season and the national downtown — so changes are expected. Workforce development and new business recruiting, for example, have been high priorities, and will remain so. However, an emerging factor is business retention — developing opportunities from the businesses already here.
The Alliance will have a game plan “by the end of the year,” Swift said.

Legis-Gator Luncheon '09

By Chaney Ferguson
Editor, The Times of SWLA




On August 13, the Chamber of Southwest Louisiana held its annual Legis-Gator Luncheon.
Politicians, business owners and many others entered the L’Auberge du Lac Casino and Resort for a beautifully displayed lunch and to hear what is going on in the state of Louisiana.

Updates were given by Congressman Charles Boustany and Congressman Charlie Melancon. The topic on everyone’s mind was healthcare, but the speakers covered many items from the legislative agenda as well as currently relevant topics.

Senator Mary Landrieu and Senator David Vitter were unable to attend the luncheon. However, they prepared a tape to be shared with the luncheon attendees. Landrieu and Vitter spoke to the crowd providing encouragement for the future, information on the present and regrets for not being present to speak to the group in person.

Senator Willie Mount provided information to the group, always giving a personal touch since many in the audience remember her as a hands-on mayor.

Representative Jonathan Perry added comic relief with his stories of Washington and how he has represented Southwest Louisiana.

When the Washington updates concluded there was a time for state information to be provided.
Agriculture Commissioner Dr. Mike Strain, Insurance Commissioner James Donelon, Attorney General Buddy Caldwell, and Public Service Commissioner Clyde Holloway, all gave brief updates on the current state of things with the economy and their area.

Each update included statistics of past performance and stated goals for future achievement.
Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu was the keynote speaker. He spoke on ethics in state government, higher education and where the state needs to be heading.

Overall the luncheon should have left those who attended with a more well-rounded knowledge of where our state stands on many critical issues.

The Arts and Humanities Council of SWLA Welcomes New Director

As of August 19th, Mr. Matt Young has assumed the position of Executive Director of the Arts and Humanities Council of Southwest Louisiana. Working with the Council’s Board of Directors, staff and volunteers, Matt foresees great potential for strengthening the support provided to the region’s presenters, performers and artists. “I am thrilled to have this opportunity to continue the growth of Cultural Tourism and share our heritage and culture with both residents and visitors alike.” stated Young.

Over the past four years, the Council has enhanced the level of support for non-profit and performing agencies throughout Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron and Jefferson Davis Parishes. Just this year, the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury instituted the new Project Assistance Grant for project funding. The City of Lake Charles and the Convention and Visitors Bureau, as well as the Louisiana Division of the Arts all utilize the Council’s expertise in managing on-going grant programs to bolster local and regional programming.

According to the Beauregard Daily News, Young was born and raised in DeRidder. A DeRidder High School graduate, he earned a Bachelor of Arts from Louisiana Tech. After college, he worked in public relations in California, but he was drawn back to his hometown. Young has assisted the City of DeRidder, the Beauregard Parish Court House, June Jenkins Women’s Shelter, and Beauregard Parish Police Jury in securing funding from dozens of grant sources. In 2009, he has played a direct role in the creation and implementation of RealArt, the new DeRidder gallery; the Main Street Program; Beauregard Education Link; DeRidder’s Fourth of July celebration and many other programs and events.

Outgoing Executive Director Irene Vandever summed up the new Director’s abilities by stating, “I cannot imagine anyone better suited to take up the reins of the Council’s operations than Matt Young. He brings unique insight, wonderful experience in all the right areas and has energy and personality to boot!”

For more information about this, or other grant opportunities, please contact the Council at (337) 439-2787 or email director@artsandhumanitiesswla.org.