Southwest Louisiana

Where will the next Silicon Valley spring up? Philip Auerswald, professor of public policy at George Mason University, knows where to look. He surveyed regional innovation trends across the U.S. and cobbled a list of up-and-coming tech centers. "The cities on this list aren't the places you'd expect to be up-and-coming centers for the next generation of technologies," said Auerswald, "But 30 years ago, few would have imagined Las Vegas as the center of a real estate boom." (forbes.com, March 10, 2008) One of those cities was Lake Charles in Southwest Louisiana, ranked by Forbes Magazine as a Top 10 Up-And-Coming Tech City.

Soaring oil profits in recent years have pumped life into Lake Charles' economy. The Port of Lake Charles is the 12th largest in the U.S. and a leading center for offshore drilling and extraction technologies used on platforms around the world. CITGO, ConocoPhillips and other players in the energy industry have expanded operations in Southwest Louisiana, rapidly making us a key choke point in America's energy distribution network. The region already boasts one liquefied natural gas facility, and three more are under construction. When those come online in a few years, as much as a quarter of all natural gas used in the U.S. will flow through Southwest Louisiana.

Southwest Louisiana is proud to have many distinguished graduates of our elementary and secondary public school systems that include Dr. Michael DeBakey, noted heart surgeon and creator of M.A.S.H. units, David Filo, co-creator of Yahoo!, Ralph Eggleston, 2000 Academy Award winner for animation and artistic director of Toy Story,andTony Kushner, author of Angels in America and Tony Award winner.

The five-parish region of Southwest Louisiana offers a great combination of interstate for trucking, extensive rail, a world-class port facility, a commercial airport offering five daily flights to Houston, TX, and an industrial airport with over 600 acres of available sites.

I-10 provides easy access to Houston, TX, only two hours to the west, and to New Orleans, about three hours to the east. Seven exits off of I-10 allow for plentiful southwest Louisiana locations with quick access. Located on the Calcasieu River, the Port of Lake Charles is the 12th largest in the US, and boasts three marine terminals and several inland terminals. It also features an on-site industrial park and six public agency sites with foreign trade zone status. Rail and trucking access are provided. Two shallow-draft ports are also located in Southwest Louisiana, all providing great access to the Gulf of Mexico. Chennault International Airport Authority is an industrial airport offering sites up to 600 acres with access to rail, road and port. Foreign trade zone status allows for duty-free storage, and assembly and manufacturing of foreign goods. Enterprise zone designation provides for special tax incentives. With its 10,000’ runway, this industrial air complex is home to companies such as Northrop Grumman, Aeroframe Services and Louisiana Millworks.

McNeese State University is located in Lake Charles and offers numerous undergraduate and graduate degrees.

Also located in Lake Charles, Sowela Technical Community College offers customized worker training programs.

Southwest Louisiana’s economy has experienced substantial growth. Cheniere Energy, Inc. opened its $756 million Sabine Pass LNG facility in Cameron Parish in April of this year. The $800 million terminal was built on a 568-acre site about four miles up the Sabine River on the state line.

Lake Charles Cogeneration LLC, a subsidiary of Leucadia National Corporation, will build a $1.3 billion gas plant on 70 acres leased along the Calcasieu Ship Channel at the Port of Lake Charles. The plant will convert petroleum coke, a byproduct of refining heavy crude oil, into synthetic natural gas and hydrogen. The products will be sold to Louisiana utilities, which will in turn sell them to their residential and commercial gas customers.

Pinnacle Entertainment will build its $350 million casino resort Sugarcane Bay in Lake Charles in Calcasieu Parish south of its L’Auberge Du Lac casino resort. The facility features a 400-room hotel, a one-story riverboat casino with 1,500 slot machines and table games, parking garage, 18-hole golf course, restaurants, tennis courts, skeet shooting range, arena and additional amenities.

A great example of Southwest Louisiana’s fast-growing economy is L’Auberge Du Lac, a $365 million hotel, casino, and Tom Fazzio-designed golf resort, joining other well-known attractions such as Isle of Capri, Delta Downs Racetrack and Casino, and Coushatta Casino Resort. And, don’t forget, you can also enjoy the world-renowned Cajun cuisine and incredible hunting and fishing. A drive along The Creole Nature Trail All-American Road offers breathtaking wildlife.

Southwest Louisiana has a variety of site and building offerings, whether you are looking for an industrial park environment or a location focused on access to water, rail, air and/or interstate.

Southwest Louisiana – we’re on the move! Visit SWLA and you’ll see plenty of reasons why your company will be successful here. For more information, call George Swift at (337) 433-3632 or email gswift@allianceswla.org. Or visit www.allianceswla.org. For sites and buildings visit www.swlaprospector.com.