Chris Masingill

CEO | St. Tammany Corporation
Profiled: June 2021

⏮ REWIND

In Biz New Orleans’ first-ever Northshore issue, the cover feature was a Q&A with Chris Masingill, who shared the latest happenings in “the $12 million parish next door.”

In 2021, three-year-old economic development organization St. Tammany Corporation was busy chasing its goal; to make St. Tammany Parish the destination of choice for building and growing businesses, attracting talent, and being an incredible place for quality of life. The parish population was 263,000 in 2020 and growing fast thanks to the rise of remote work options during the pandemic. People were drawn to the Northshore’s lower crime, good schools and natural amenities, and businesses to an area boasting the highest educational attainment in the state and multiple workforce development programs. The result was a $12 billion economy — and growing fast.

St. Tammany Corporation announced 12 new projects that represented a capital investment of over $48 million and created 374 new jobs just from July 2018 to March 2021. Its leader, Arkansas native Chris Masingill, counted among his fast accomplishments launching a five-year strategic plan called THRIVE2023 and creating the St. Tammany Partnership for Industry, Workforce and Economic Development, a collaborative workforce development and talent retention initiative.

⏭ FAST-FORWARD

St. Tammany Corporation closed out its first five-year strategic plan, Thrive 2.0, in February and launched two major multi-parish initiatives. The first was Startup Northshore, a three-parish economic ecosystem that marked Idea Village’s first major affiliate. Startup Northshore has held four trainings through Idea Institute Northshore and served more than 84 founders, with 72 companies receiving assistance that equated to about $25,000 per founder.

St. Tammany Corporation also launched Northshore Healthscape, a three-parish collaborative to enhance the healthcare industry. It is currently in year two of a three-year pilot program. This fall, the collaborative will publish a major healthcare impact report that will serve as a sort of “state of the sector.”

On the infrastructure side, the parish has completed an expansion of Interstate 12, taken on multiple other road and drainage projects and, following almost a decade of work, completed the Unified Development Code (UDC), in an aim to offer reliability and consistency and transparency for developers.

St. Tammany Corporation also launched a public/private collaboration with John Crosby to form the Gulf South Commerce Park, 92 acres of which is now pad ready.

“It’s one of the most sophisticated sites,” said Masingill. “If someone is looking to relocate, they can start construction immediately.” In early September, the certification of the Lacombe Business Park was announced, marking the 11th certified site in the parish and the first new certified site in St. Tammany Parish in three years.

The parish economy is now over $15 billion, the seventh in the state, and still one of the fastest growing, with no signs of slowing down.

“We’re beginning to launch a major business attraction and marketing campaign at the beginning of the year,” noted Masingill. “We’re being proactive to grow the businesses we already have and attract new ones.”