re: $3.2 billion renewable methanol plant considered for Port of Lake Charles

quote:

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Industrial work in South LA is really moving in the right direction. I’ll take all we can get.

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The OT talks smack about Louisiana's economic outlook. A lot of that is very fair and reasonable criticism - likely driven by understandable frustration from having move to another place to get a promotion, seeing friends/family move away to build their career, etc.

But the truth is that New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Lake Charles have an industrial base that meet or exceed the blue collar opportunities present in far larger metro areas (except Houston....that place is an economic powerhouse).

Louisiana's cities fall woefully short with white collar jobs, corporate headquarters, tech, etc. especially as Georgia, Tennessee, and Texas sucks a lot of our talent and opportunity away. But our industrial and engineering sector has been very strong for quite a long time and has a lot of momentum behind it. We routinely see announcements of major expansions or new facilities in excess of $1 billion or more.

These major industrial expansions are quite astounding considering the relatively small population and very limited highway/rail network in south Louisiana. Deep draft port access along the Mississippi River and in Lake Charles goes a long way, especially in conjunction with a very well developed pipeline network and a workforce accustomed to handling that type of work environment and culture.