Improvements to industrial plants in St. Charles Parish will total some $3 billion in the two-year period ending in 2013, St. Charles Parish Economic Development Director Corey Faucheux told the Parish Council on Monday. "We have a lot of projects going on in the two-year period. It's a record number in capital investment," he said. The projects include...
Improvements to industrial plants in St. Charles Parish will total some $3 billion in the two-year period ending in 2013, St. Charles Parish Economic Development Director Corey Faucheux told the Parish Council on Monday.
"We have a lot of projects going on in the two-year period. It's a record number in capital investment," he said.
The projects include a massive expansion at Valero's St. Charles Refinery in Norco that includes a new catalytic cracker, two new hydrogen plants being built by Air Products, and a $400 million green diesel plant that uses animal fat rather than oil as its feedstock.
Also, Dow Chemical in Taft also is in the midst of a $600 million construction project to re-start an ethylene plant.
"There are at least 300 new permanent jobs from these projects, and that's not counting the construction jobs," Faucheux said.
The parish is also working with the Port of South Louisiana to build a rail spur just downriver from Dow.
Smaller projects under way include the construction of a new main office for the M.R. Pittman construction company. The company is expected to add 15 to 20 new employees to its payroll.
Southern Precision, a high-volume machine shop, is constructing a new building in the James Business Park at a cost of between $2.5 million and $4 million. The company had been investigating other locations, but chose to stay in the parish, Faucheux said.
Inspectorate, an industrial inspection company, also is building a new facility at between $4 million and $5 million.
On a smaller scale, Faucheux said Edible Enterprises, the parish's food-business incubator in Norco has 22 tenants from nine parishes. Also, Ashton Manor, an assisted living center catering to the elderly, is about six months away from opening, and will employ 50 people.
"Those are good-paying jobs," he said.
Faucheux told the council that the parish is trying to boost its tourism industry by piggybacking on marketing done by the Destrehan Plantation Home to bring in tours of students. The parish is advertising in tourism publications trying to lure visitors who want to see more of the New Orleans area than the French Quarter.
"We're going to build on the good work that Destrehan is doing," he said.
The parish also is looking for office space for the Louisiana Small Business Resource Center, which offers advice to new or current business owners.