FAIRFIELD, LA – Not so long ago, the Churchill Technology & Business Park was the frontier, 500 acres of undeveloped land on the West Bank of Jefferson Parish.
Back in 2000, community stakeholders identified that area as the future location of a business park that would cater to some of the region's growing industries including technology, healthcare and food manufacturing.
The Jefferson Parish Economic Development Commission (JEDCO) said, back then, a technology and business park on the West Bank was just an idea, one that required years of research and planning. Today, they said, that collective vision has started to take shape.
The Churchill Technology & Business Park is home to the JEDCO administrative offices and the Business Innovation Center, JEDCO's business incubator for startups. Hundreds of students also attend the Patrick F. Taylor Science and Technology Academy, a magnet school for Jefferson Parish.
Last year, JEDCO opened the Conference Center, a state-of-the-art even space where seminars and business conferences are held regularly.
This year, at the end of May, Delgado Community College broke ground on its River City Campus and Advanced Manufacturing Center of Excellence in the technology park, which will bring close to 3,000 students to the area upon the project's completion.
And, all the while, JEDCO reps said huge trucks are hauling dirt to the back of the site to raise the land well above base-flood elevation to ensure future development of the park.
Churchill Park's growth has become a catalyst for something much bigger, JEDCO reps said. The focus has expanded to include an area of over 8,000 acres of green space, which has recently been rebranded. Now called Fairfield, this area could become a distinctive, mixed-use community with a range of housing and commercial opportunities.
