LAKE CHARLES, LA (AP) — A new report finds the Calcasieu Ship Channel generates $5.7 billion in local revenue and is projected to produce $4.4 billion more by 2023.
The American Press reports officials with the Port of Lake Charles and two Louisiana firms met Wednesday to talk about the ship channel's economic impact on the local, state and federal levels and its anticipated growth in line with the industrial expansion projects. The channel now accounts for 46 percent of the Lake Charles area economy.
Ed Bee, president of the Mandeville-based firm Taimerica Management, said the direct employment tied to the channel in 2014 was 36,000 workers, or 31 percent of the area workforce. With the industrial expansion and investment projects, 9,000 additional jobs are expected by 2023, a 25 percent increase.
The channel-dependent companies generated $118 million in annual local tax revenue last year, according to the report. By 2023, that total amount is estimated to be $274 million, an increase of 131 percent.
Travis Woodard, a principal with the Baton Rouge-based firm CSRS, said the ship channel is "the single most critical asset to Southwest Louisiana." "It's hard to fathom how important the channel is to our local economy," he said. "It just reinforces how important it is to make those critical infrastructure investments."
Bill Rase, port director, said the report shows the channel having a positive role moving forward.
"People need to understand that we need the interstates and the I-10 bridge," he said. "But we also need the infrastructure to keep these businesses going. Part of that infrastructure for our port is the waterway."
Jeff Bell, an official with CSRS, said 16 of the announced industrial projects in Southwest Louisiana are "channel users." He said that accounts for more than $68 billion in capital expenditures.
We're not talking about just mom-and-pop shops," he said. "These are global businesses."
Statewide, Bee said the channel accounted for 49,000 jobs in 2014, 27 percent being outside the Lake Charles area. It generated $6.7 billion in annual revenue and $155.6 million in annual tax revenue.