KPLC-TV
February 4, 2020
By Drew Marine
LAKE CHARLES, La. — More job opportunities could be on the horizon in Southwest Louisiana, as another site has been Louisiana Economic Development, or LED, certified.
“Site certification was started because Louisiana Economic Development recognized Louisiana was losing projects to other states that had what they called site readiness programs,” Gus Fontenot, the economic development project manager for the SWLA Economic Development Alliance, said.
Now, thirty-two acres of land on the West Calcasieu Port Property is an LED certified site.
“That means we’re going out and making our facilities available for private businesses and industry that want to grow job numbers, expand the tax base of our communities and invest monies in infrastructure development,” Lynn Hohensee, the port director, said.
The certification allows this acreage to be “shovel ready”, meaning it’s already been inspected to be sure businesses and industry can move in, knowing there are no environmental issues. “We look for wetlands, is it in a flood zone? Are there any stream beds?” Fontenot said.
Due to the fact the property is LED certified, it’s readily available to lease. Hohensee hopes the convenience of their location will attract business.
“We’ve reached out to many of these projects, worked with their general contracting companies and told them we’re certainly available to help them and their subcontractors in doing the business of building these facilities,” Hohensee.
Hohensee said he expects the certification could ultimately result in the creation of 300 to 400 jobs.